Swedish VC firm BackingMinds has received around €20 million from the European Investment Fund (EIF) for BackingMinds Invest III in order to seek out promising entrepreneurs and businesses often overlooked by traditional investors.
The EIF, which is part of the Luxembourg-based European Investment Bank (EIB) Group, will be the first institutional investor in the fund – backed by the EU’s InvestEU programme. This follows their €50 million fund close in 2022 and its investment in Swedish entrepreneurship platform Techarena in 2025.
“The future is never where you expect it, and neither are the founders building it,” says BackingMinds Founding Partner Sara Wimmercranz. “Some of the most innovative companies in the Nordics are being built where venture capital rarely reaches. A network is a filter. It lets through what already looks like the network and repeats the patterns of the past. As investors, we need to be more open and seek founders out. The EIF’s commitment lets us do that on a larger scale.”
BackingMinds’ EIF commitment comes amid further institutional backing for specialised European venture funds in 2026.
In Sweden, Norrsken Evolve closed a €62 million pre-Seed fund, while Turbine Capital reached a €54 million final close for Nordic DeepTech investments, both with EIF backing.
Elsewhere, Berlin-based Auxxo closed its €33.3 million Female Catalyst Fund II, Copenhagen’s Climentum Capital secured a €60 million first close for climate HardTech, including €40 million from the EIF, and Munich-based Ananda Impact Ventures raised €73 million at first close for impact investments.
Together, these fund closings represent approximately €282.3 million, excluding BackingMinds’ separate €20 million EIF commitment.
“Europe cannot afford to leave talented entrepreneurs undiscovered simply because they are outside the traditional venture capital networks,” adds EIF Deputy Chief Executive Merete Clausen. “BackingMinds has shown that promising businesses can be found in places and among founders that investors too often miss. By supporting this fund, we are helping to unlock that potential and bring more capital to companies tackling some of Europe’s most pressing challenges.”
Founded in 2016, BackingMinds is a Stockholm-based VC firm, founded by Sara Wimmercranz and Susanne Najafi to address the gaps in capital distribution. Through its two earlier funds, BackingMinds has invested in 23 companies.
Of these, 46% have had at least one female founder, 43% have had founders with immigrant backgrounds and 71% were established outside a capital city.
The new fund will finance early-stage companies primarily in Sweden and across the Nordic region, aiming to find entrepreneurial talent beyond established venture capital networks. It will seek out businesses founded by women as well as by people with immigrant backgrounds and based outside capital cities.
