Europe’s new multi-billion late-stage and growth Fund to invest in our most promising, strategic companies
The Scaleup Europe Fund is a new, multi-billion late-stage and growth fund aimed at investing in the most promising European companies in strategic tech areas, such as artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, semiconductor technologies, robotics and autonomous systems, energy technologies, space technologies, biotechnologies, medical technologies, advanced materials, and agritech, and across all parts of Europe.
The Scaleup Europe Fund responds to the urgent need for Europe to boost investments in scaleups and close the gap with global leaders.
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The new Scaleup Europe Fund brings new momentum to Europe’s scaleup ecosystem, anchored in public-private cooperation.
Alongside the Commission, the group of founding investors in the Fund include Novo Holdings, EIFO (Export and Investment Fund of Denmark), CriteriaCaixa, Santander/Mouro Capital, Fondazione Compagnia San Paolo/ Intesa Sanpaolo/Fondazione Cariplo, APG Asset Management, acting on behalf of Dutch pension fund ABP, Wallenberg Investments and Allianz.
The Fund will be part of the existing EIC Fund umbrella structure but with a fully privately owned and market-based fund manager.
The fund is a key initiative of the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy, announced by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in her 2025 State of the Union Address, aimed at making major investments in fast-growing companies in strategic tech areas, so that "the best of Europe can choose Europe".
Evaluation ongoing: Call for expression of interest for the Fund Manager of the Scaleup Europe Fund
On 8 December 2025, The EIC Fund Board launched the call for expression of interest to recruit a highly qualified, independent and experienced fund manager to become the investment adviser and portfolio manager of the Scaleup Europe Fund.
The Call for Expressions of Interest was open for applications until 3 February 2026, 17:00 CET. It is now closed and the evaluation is ongoing.
As part of the eligibility criteria, candidates had to demonstrate a proven track record in raising and managing investment funds, substantial professional investment experience, strong expertise in growth and scaleup investments, and a commitment to leading the Fund with a dedicated team based in the EU.
The evaluation phase is now ongoing, and proposals are being assessed in line with the published selection criteria. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to enter a negotiation phase in March 2026.
What’s next
The selection of the most suitable candidate is expected in April 2026, enabling the preparation and signature of the formal agreements. The Scaleup Europe Fund is targeted to launch in Q2 2026, subject to completion of the necessary contractual and operational steps.
The successful fund manager will be appointed by the EIC Fund following an assessment of expressions of interest against the criteria set out in the call, and a negotiation phase with shortlisted candidates. The selection process is conducted under the remit of the EIC Fund as a private market procedure.
Despite Europe's thriving startup ecosystem, many innovative European companies face significant challenges in accessing the capital they need to scale up and become global leaders in Europe.
Currently, there is no fund of comparable size that provides direct equity investments in European strategic technology companies at the growth and scaleup stages, forcing many to seek funding outside of Europe.
The Scaleup Europe Fund addresses this critical gap, by providing a much-needed source of capital to support the growth of Europe's most promising technology companies in major, European-led funding rounds.
The Scaleup Europe Fund will be managed by a private, world-class management company, ensuring independent and market-based decision-making.
Together with the other founding investors, we are in the process for jointly setting up the Fund and its private management company. The public call for expression of interest for the Fund Manager of the Scaleup Europe Fund was published on 8 December 2025 and closed on 3 February 2026. The evaluation phase is now ongoing, and the selection of the most suitable candidate is expected in April 2026.
The Commission is a founding investor of the Scaleup Europe Fund, alongside the other investors. As such, the Commission will participate on equal terms with the other investors and have a corresponding representation in the Fund's governance structure.
The evaluation phase for the investment adviser-fund manager is currently ongoing, following the closure of the public call for expressions of interest on 3 February 2026. The selection of the most suitable candidate is expected in April 2026. The Scaleup Europe Fund aims to start operations in Q2 2026, with investments expected to start shortly thereafter. A second fundraising round, led by the selected fund manager, is anticipated in the second half of 2026.
Together with the founding investors, we are taking active steps for jointly setting up the Fund and its fund manager-investment adviser, with the target of launching operations in Q2 2026, with investment activities starting shortly after.
The Fund will be open to companies located in (or intending to locate to) any EU Member State or countries associated with Pillar III of Horizon Europe, and which are developing strategic technologies1 and seeking major investment amounts in growth and scaleup stages.
1This includes strategies technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, semiconductor technologies, robotics and autonomous systems, energy technologies, space technologies, biotechnologies, medical technologies, advanced materials, and agritech.
The selection of investee companies will be conducted through an open, transparent, and merit-based process, managed by the fund manager-investment adviser, who is responsible for managing the full investment cycle. This will be in conformity with the Investment Guidelines.
Further details will be shared once the setup of the Fund and its fund manager-investment adviser is more advanced. While prior participation in EIC instruments may be relevant, it will not confer any preferential treatment.
Together with other founding investors, we are promoting the Scaleup Europe Fund at key events to raise awareness within the ecosystem. Notable forthcoming events are for example the EIC Summit on 3 June.
Relevant events and announcements can also be found on the EIC website: European Innovation Council - European Innovation Council
Sourcing and investment activities will begin following the Fund’s expected operational launch in Q2 2026.
The Scaleup Europe Fund aims to provide investments beyond what the EIC currently offers, which is limited to EUR 30 million under the EIC STEP call. The Scaleup Europe Fund will have no formal or mandatory linkage to the EIC portfolio. However, the current EIC Fund portfolio may serve as a potential pipeline for the fund manager.
By providing access to significant capital to companies at growth and scaleup stage (in the range of EUR 100 million and above – including follow-on investments), the Scaleup Europe Fund will enable innovative European companies to grow into competitive, global players.
This, in turn, will benefit both innovators and investors, as Europe's pipeline of highly innovative startup companies offers promising returns on investment.
The Fund will also contribute to tackling the challenge of foreign investors benefitting from large funding rounds. Thereby the Fund will help to reduce the risk of strategic disadvantages, such as relocations, foreign control and talent outflow.
The selected founding investors are set to invest in the first closing of the Scaleup Europe Fund, foreseen to start operations in Spring 2026.
The Fund will be open to further investors in future closing(s), beyond the founding investors in the Fund's first closing.
Once a fund manager is appointed, they will be asked to undertake a second fundraising to diversify the set of investors in the Fund. This will allow additional investors to invest at the Fund level, including possibly non-European investors aligned with the SEF objectives, while maintaining strong European anchoring within the investor base.
As announced following the Commission’s high-level meeting with top-tier private investors from across Europe on 28 October 2025, the group of founding investors in the Fund now includes, besides the Commission, Novo Holdings, EIFO (Export and Investment Fund of Denmark), CriteriaCaixa, Santander/Mouro Capital, Fondazione Compagnia San Paolo/ Intesa Sanpaolo/Fondazione Cariplo, APG Asset Management, acting on behalf of Dutch pension fund ABP, and Wallenberg Investments.
The selected founding investors will join the Commission in the first closing of the Fund, with opportunities for additional investors to join later on.
The founding investors are key partners in the launch of the Scaleup Europe Fund. They comprise private investors, foundations, pension funds and more. The group of founding investors, besides the European Commission, were selected based on their interest to make a significant capital investment and to contribute deep expertise to developing the Fund.
They also align with the strategic vision of the Scaleup Europe Fund to invest at European level in a multi-billion-euro growth and late-stage fund to target the investment opportunities stemming from Europe's pipeline of excellent technology companies.