From The Next Web · Cristian Dina · · 1m 30s
Europe's venture funds now hold 15 unicorns
The European Investment Bank's Tech Champions Initiative has backed 12 funds managing nearly four billion euros, keeping scaled startups on the continent.
In brief
The European Investment Bank's Tech Champions Initiative has backed 12 funds managing nearly four billion euros, keeping scaled startups on the continent. The European Investment Bank's Tech Champions Initiative has backed twelve venture funds holding fifteen unicorns, closing the gap between early-stage innovation…
Europe must scale startups at home
Jean-Christophe Laloux, incoming chief executive of the European Investment Fund, said Europe must give startups capital to grow without leaving the continent. He spoke at Wave by Vento in Turin on Friday.
“It's not enough to innovate in Europe. You also must be able to scale in Europe.”
Tech Champions Initiative backs twelve funds
The European Tech Champions Initiative is a fund of funds of nearly four billion euros backed by six member states and the EIB Group. It invests in venture funds of about one billion euros each.
Twelve funds already hold fifteen unicorns
The initiative has backed twelve funds, nearly three times the number of one billion euro funds in Europe five years ago. Those funds already hold fifteen European unicorns.
Italy invested one hundred fifty million euros
Italy put one hundred fifty million euros into the initiative. The funds it backs have invested nearly six hundred million euros in seven Italian companies, three of them with international partners.
Second version coming in November
Laloux expects to announce a second version of Tech Champions in November.It will back funds of three hundred million to five hundred million euros and add a platform for institutional and private investors to co-invest.
Here's the gist
The European Investment Bank's Tech Champions Initiative has backed twelve venture funds holding fifteen unicorns, closing the gap between early-stage innovation and scaling in Europe.
