After roughly a year of planning, speculating and negotiating, the European Commission’s €5bn Scaleup Europe Fund is ready to invest, with its first deals expected in the coming weeks.
The Commission announced on Tuesday that the fund, run by Swedish investment firm EQT, completed all legal proceedings and will finally start investing after months of chatter over which companies it will back.
“From today, [the Scaleup Europe Fund] will ensure our scaleups can find what they need right here in Europe to grow into world-leading companies,” European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement.
Sifted recently reported the fund was in talks to lead or co-lead a fresh funding round for French AI titan Mistral, which is said to be targeting €3bn in new capital. The Scaleup fund has also reportedly been in talks with Franco-German spacetech The Exploration Company for its new round, which Sifted understands could be around $350m; EQT declined to comment.
EQT previously told Sifted that it has a pipeline of over 100 startups. It will typically lead or co-lead investments of between €100m-500m.
EQT is still helping fundraise the remainder of the €5bn target; existing LPs include Novo Holdings, EIFO (the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark), Santander/Mouro Capital, APG Asset Management on behalf of Dutch pension fund ABP, Wallenberg Investments and Allianz.
Sifted recently reported that the UK was also in talks to invest in the Scaleup fund via the British Business Bank, although the French government has pushed back.
