The European Investment Fund has unveiled a €15bn fund of funds targeting growth-stage venture capital firms across Europe — marking the largest initiative of its type to date.
The program will allocate capital to approximately 100 venture funds, spanning mid-market vehicles targeting €300m-600m closes and mega funds pursuing €1bn+ fundraises. The EIF anticipates reaching a first close within the coming months, ahead of the summer period.
Dubbed the European Tech Champions Initiative 2, this represents an expanded sequel to the original ETCI program introduced in 2023 to address what the fund describes as Europe's persistent late-stage capital deficit relative to the United States — a shortfall the EIF quantifies at approximately €70bn.
The scale and ambition of ETCI 2 substantially exceeds its predecessor, which mobilized €3.9bn and deployed capital into 14 funds exceeding €1bn in size, including vehicles managed by prominent European firms such as Atomico, Headline and Eurazeo.
According to Uli Grabenwarter, deputy chief investment officer at the EIF, ETCI 2 constitutes a "completely different ball game" compared to the inaugural program.
European Tech Champions Initiative 2
The original ETCI secured backing from the European Investment Bank alongside six member states: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands.
ETCI 2 pursues a more geographically inclusive strategy, seeking both capital commitments from and deployment opportunities across the broadest possible spectrum of EU member states.
Grabenwarter explained to Sifted that while mature ecosystems such as Germany and France possess the infrastructure to support mega fund formation, other European markets lack comparable pipelines of late-stage companies — a reality that informed the decision to broaden eligibility criteria to encompass mid-size fund managers.
The capital structure for ETCI 2 diverges significantly from its predecessor, targeting a diverse limited partner base that extends beyond sovereign backers to include institutional allocators such as insurance companies, commercial banking institutions and pension schemes. The EIF and EIB have already anchored the vehicle with a combined €1.25bn commitment.
The EIF projects that ETCI 2 will catalyze up to €80bn in growth-stage financing for European scaleups through its multiplier effect.
Grabenwarter characterizes the initiative as "complementary" to the European Commission's proposed €5bn Scaleup Europe Fund, which will take direct equity positions in deeptech ventures. "If anything, the Scaleup Fund would be an investment target of ETCI rather than a competitor," he noted.
ETCI 2 will support funds capable of writing checks up to €200m per portfolio company — a substantial increase from the €60m average ticket size observed across ETCI 1 investments.
As of February, the original ETCI has indirectly supported 40 companies through its fund investments, including 11 unicorn-status businesses such as AI-powered translation platform DeepL, corporate travel management software provider TravelPerk and no-code web design tool Framer.
Note: This article was updated on March 25 to clarify the size of investment that ETCI 2 will enable funds to make into companies.
