Europe Bets €80bn to Build Next Generation of Tech Unicorns

Europe’s most promising tech startups will soon have a new reason to stay close to home as the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group, along with all 27 EU countries and major private investors, prepares to invest up to €80bn (US$68bn) to build the continent’s next generation of tech giants.

The move marks the launch of the second phase of the European Tech Champions Initiative, called d ETCI 2.0. 

Unveiled recently in Brussels, the fund aims to channel equity investments directly into highly innovative tech scaleups, giving them the financial means to become global leaders without having to move operations to the US.

The first phase of the ETCI has already proven to be a success, having supported 15 funds across the continent and nurtured the development of 12 unicorns, a term used to describe privately held startups valued at more than US$1bn.

Now, ETCI 2.0 is building on from that blueprint.

“The partnership is all about scale and speed, powering European pioneers with the capital they need to grow,” says Nadia Calviño, Group President of EIB. 

“This is a decisive step to address the funding gap for scale ups, making sure that ideas, technologies and innovative firms born in Europe can stay and thrive in Europe.”

Simon Harris, Finance Minister for the Government of Ireland, echoed the sentiment, noting the vital addition of new capital streams to the mix.

“Ireland supports the launch of the European Tech Champions Initiative 2.0, which marks an important step in closing Europe’s scale-up financing gap,” he says. 

“The inclusion of mid-sized funds to ensure scale-up needs at all stages can be met and the involvement of institutional investors to mobilise private capital at scale are crucial developments, further aligning the initiative with Europe’s competitiveness agenda.”

The strategy behind the billions

So, how does an €80bn (US$68bn) investment actually reach a promising software developer or green-tech engineering firm?

Rather than writing checks directly to individual startups, ETCI 2.0 acts as a “fund of funds”, according to EIB.

The initiative has a target fundraising size of up to €15bn (US$17bn) – roughly four times larger than its 2023 predecessor – with the EIB Group directly investing up to €1.25bn (US$1.4bn). 

That core capital will then be used to attract and mobilise up to €80bn(US$91.2bn) in total investments for more than 1,500 scaleups.

To distribute the cash, ETCI 2.0 will anchor the creation of more than 100 investment funds. For the first time, this will include mid-sized growth funds to help companies at earlier stages of scaling.

It will also support up to 45 “mega-funds”, which will write the late-stage checks averaging €200m (US$228m) that individual tech companies need to compete on the world stage.

To keep everything connected, the initiative is rolling out a pan-European investment platform. Supported by a newly developed digital tool, this platform will act as a pipeline, giving private investors direct market intelligence, ecosystem insights and a structured route into Europe’s most promising growth-stage tech companies.

The initiative is already drawing significant private firepower, with investors like Danske Bank, Banco Santander, BBVA, AltamarCAM and Italian asset managers Azimut Holding and Green Arrow Capital.