Head of Department for Bilateral Trade Relations at Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Brussels has launched a club of #investors in a bid to lure more money to high-risk #tech ventures. The investors could be tapped to coinvest alongside a fund the #EuropeanCommission launched in 2021. The #fund focuses on companies working on unproven, research-heavy technologies, which often struggle to attract the necessary funding to bring their products to the market. The "trusted investors" network was launched in Athens on Monday by outgoing European #innovation chief Iliana Ivanova. Seventy-one investors joined the club, representing more than €90 billion in assets, according to a Commission official. Among the investors is the NATO Innovation Fund. The official added that among the investors are United Kingdom-based Atomico (backer of European fintech companies such as Stripe and Klarna) and Sweden's EQT, as well as state-funded investors like French Bpifrance and Dutch Invest-NL. With its 2021 fund, the Commission takes on actual ownership stakes in tech companies through a proxy, a sharp breakaway from its regular practice of issuing grants or supporting private tech investors. Since the fund launched, it has invested nearly €1 billion in more than 250 European startups. Private investors added another €4 billion in coinvestments. The new club is meant to boost that number significantly. #investorsclub
