The European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group launched today the European Institutional Investors Pact (EIIP) at the TechEU Equity Summit.
The Pact is a new voluntary framework designed to channel more long-term institutional capital into Europe’s technology and scale-up ecosystem. Thirteen institutional investors have already expressed their intention to channel investments into Europe’s innovation and scale-up ecosystem, including through the €15 billion European Tech Champions Initiative (ETCI) 2.0 and the €5 billion Scaleup Europe Fund.
President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said: “Talent, ideas and ambition – Europe has all of these. Now we are making sure our innovative companies can grow, scale and lead on the global stage - from Europe. By bringing together public and private partners, the goal is to unlock long-term capital for our technology. This is about turning European innovation into European industrial and economic strength."
The EIIP has been developed jointly by the European Commission and the EIB Group under the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy.
To support investors, the Pact includes two complementary elements:
- A Policy Dialogue Forum: led by the Commission, this forum will enable exchanges with institutional investors on regulatory policy developments, as well as EU investment policies.
- An Investment Platform: led by the EIB Group, this platform will help investors access to investment opportunities across Europe's venture capital and growth equity ecosystem, through sharing of investment pipelines, market intelligence, peer exchange and ecosystem insights helping investors identify opportunities. It will be developed in close cooperation with Member States and aligned with relevant national initiatives, aiming at facilitating engagement and providing pathways linked to exit.
It aims to make it easier for institutional investors to invest in European venture capital and growth equity funds, helping high-growth European companies access the capital they need to scale up and compete globally while remaining rooted in Europe.
It forms part of the broader EU effort to unlock more institutional capital, from investors such as banks, pension funds and insurance companies, for European technology and innovation, addressing one of the key funding challenges identified in Europe's competitiveness agenda.