Launch of the European Tech Champions Initiative 2.0

On Friday, the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group presented the second phase of the European Tech Champions Initiative (ETCI 2.0) during an EU Economic and Financial Affairs Council meeting in Brussels. The initiative, supported by 21 EU member states including Cyprus and Greece, aims to mobilize 80 billion euros in investments. ETCI 2.0 seeks to raise at least 15 billion euros in capital, which is four times the amount of the initial fund established in 2023. The EIB Group has committed to contributing up to 1.25 billion euros from its own resources. The goal is to provide financial support to over 1,500 rapidly growing European technology companies to help them scale internationally without relocating outside of Europe. The first phase of the program successfully supported 15 large investment funds and contributed to the creation of 12 European unicorns with valuations exceeding 1 billion euros. Unlike the first phase, ETCI 2.0 will now also provide support to medium-sized development funds exceeding 300 million euros.