The European Investment Bank (EIB) Group and the European Investment Fund (EIF) have moved significantly to solve Europe’s late-stage funding gap by expanding a European Tech Champions Initiative (ETCI) “2.0” Fund-of-Funds that aims to inject the largest ever amounts of money into the continent’s tech sector at the growth stage. This expansion, which is also a part of the EIB Group’s €100 billion financing target renewal at a record level, shows that the Group is still eager to keep scale-ups and deep-tech innovators in Europe as the intense competition for talent and dealflow continues all over the world.
Early Success of ETCI 1.0
ETCI was created in February 2023 as a public-sector-anchored fund-of-funds managed by the EIF, which is supposed to attract private capital for Series B/C and later rounds. The primary idea rapidly demonstrated its viability: ETCI 1.0 managed to close about €2 billion of fund commitments and facilitated the mobilization of around €10 billion of public and private capital, thus enabling the first wave of large “mega-funds” that, in turn, have already injected capital into at least 16 European scale-ups. Some of these, officials and EIF reporting cite, have since achieved unicorn valuations. In addition, ETCI-backed managers, according to officials and EIF reports, have deployed capital across sectors such as cybersecurity, AI, deep tech, life sciences, and fintech.
ETCI 2.0: A Dramatic Expansion
Capitalizing on that momentum, the EIB Group board’s recent decisions signal a dramatic expansion of the programme. Both EIB and EIF Boards have decided to inject new money into an enlarged ETCI platform (or “ETCI 2.0”) and are eager to open the fund to a broader range of public and private investors, such as national promotional banks, pension funds, and insurers. Furthermore, the EIF has published updates on continued deployment and a mid-term evaluation of ETCI’s early phase, highlighting rapid roll-out and the growing need for much larger pools of late-stage capital in Europe.
Ambitious Targets for Scale and Mobilization
Several industry posts and briefings circulating in the market outline an ambitious goal for the new phase: an aggregate public anchor in the low-double-digit billions is expected to attract many tens of billions more from private partners, creating a substantially larger group of mega-funds to finance scale-ups across member states. A widely shared briefing suggested a €15 billion public envelope with a mobilization target of roughly €80 billion, aiming to create around 100 mega-funds and support more than 1,500 European scale-ups — figures that, if achieved, would reshape the financing environment for late-stage European companies. This blueprint is being discussed in market channels as the ETCI 2.0 plan while formal legal and financial documentation is being finalized.
Why It Matters
After early-stage venture funding, Europe’s scale-ups often fall into a “valley of large-scale capital,” with fewer local investors able to lead multi-hundred-million-euro rounds compared to the US or Asia. ETCI 2.0 seeks to reduce perceived investor risk, expand fund sizes, and accelerate IPOs and follow-on rounds within the EU. The EIB Group frames this expansion as integral to broader TechEU and industrial-policy priorities, including strategic AI, semiconductors, quantum technologies, and cleantech.
Next Steps for Implementation
The EIF will collaborate with national authorities and private investors to finalize the ETCI 2.0 mandate, terms, and anchor pipeline commitments. Market participants stress that although speed is important, careful structuring is essential to avoid crowding out private managers and to maintain commercial discipline. As formal documents are still forthcoming, stakeholders are awaiting clarity on the balance of public and private capital, governance safeguards, and performance indicators that will measure value for money and economic impact across EU member states.
