By Mark McSherry
The European Investment Fund (EIF) announced it is committing a total of €90 million to three funds that incorporate Portuguese venture capital to accelerate the growth of startup companies primarily in the country’s deep tech and cybersecurity sector in Europe.
The EIF pledges, announced at this year’s Web Summit in Lisbon, will enable the three funds — Armilar Venture Partners IV, Faber Tech III and 33N Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Software Fund — to leverage more than €400 million of capital for tech startups, with operations already underway.
“The new financing highlights international confidence in Portugal as a technology hub while demonstrating the critical role of the EIF in promoting strategic investments in the technology sector in Europe,” said the EIF.
Portugal Minister for the Economy, Pedro Reis, said: ‘We are very pleased with this achievement to boost Portugal entrepreneurship, venture capital and venture capital sectors.
“I strongly believe that startups and scale-ups will be critical for the digital and green transitions, driving the innovation that is indispensable to achieve them and, ultimately, our goals for sustainable economic growth.
“Our venture capital funds have a key role to play thanks to their ability to finance disruptive innovation,’ emphasised the, who was present when the investments were announced.”
EIF CEO Marjut Falkstedt said: “We are excited to support the next generation of innovation through these venture capital funds, which play an essential role in accelerating the growth of tech startups and in bolstering digital security in Europe.
“Our collaboration with local and international partners underlines our commitment to creating a robust and resilient ecosystem in the field of technology.”
The commitments by the EIF, which is part of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group, are backed by the InvestEU programme aiming to mobilise over €372 billion in additional investments between 2021 and 2027.
The 33N Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Software Fund, which specialises in cybersecurity and infrastructure software, has already held its first closings.
Faber is a team specialising in early-stage investment in science-based companies, having invested in over 50 deep tech startups, including one unicorn. Its new fund, Faber Tech III, aims to support the first stages of startups in applied science fields such as AI for specific industries, robotics, computational biochemistry, data infrastructure, and new computing technologies. The fund will focus on the Iberian Peninsula and Southern Europe, with selective investments across the rest of Europe and occasionally beyond.
Armilar Venture Partners is one of Portugal’s most established venture capital funds. Its new fund, Armilar Venture Partners IV, aims to mobilise between €120 million and €250 million, supported by institutional investors, including the EIF.
The fund’s strategy is to focus on startups with strong technological differentiation in areas from computing to AI, HealthTech to SpaceTech, cybersecurity to productivity, with a primary focus on Portugal and Spain, as well as across Europe.