The European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group have launched the European Institutional Investors Pact (EIIP), a new voluntary framework aimed at channelling more long-term institutional capital into Europe’s technology and scale-up ecosystem.
The Pact was unveiled at the TechEU Equity Summit in Luxembourg, with thirteen institutional investors already signalling their intention to invest in Europe’s innovation economy. The commitments are largely expected to come through two existing vehicles: the €15 billion European Tech Champions Initiative (ETCI) 2.0 and the €5 billion Scaleup Europe Fund.
“Talent, ideas and ambition – Europe has all of these. Now we are making sure our innovative companies can grow, scale and lead on the global stage – from Europe. By bringing together public and private partners, the goal is to unlock long-term capital for our technology. This is about turning European innovation into European industrial and economic strength,” said Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.
The EIIP was developed jointly by the European Commission and the EIB Group as part of the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy. It rests on two complementary pillars: a Policy Dialogue Forum and an Investment Platform.
The Policy Dialogue Forum is led by the Commission, through which institutional investors can engage on regulatory and EU investment policy developments. The Investment Platform, on the other hand, is led by the EIB Group and will give investors access to opportunities across Europe’s venture capital and growth equity ecosystem by sharing investment pipelines, market intelligence, peer exchange and ecosystem insights.
The platform will be built in close cooperation with EU member states and aligned with existing national initiatives, with an eye to facilitating engagement and providing clearer pathways to exit.
The broader goal of the EIIP is to make it easier for pension funds, insurers, banks, and other institutional investors to invest in European venture and growth equity funds, helping fast-growing companies raise the capital they need to scale without having to look outside the bloc.
For years, the European startup ecosystem has struggled to raise late-stage and growth capital, and it has been especially adverse for startups raising rounds above €100 million. With EIIP, the Commission and the EIB aim to address this funding gap and strengthen Europe’s competitiveness in the innovation landscape.
Nadia Calviño, President of the EIB Group, said, “Our goal is clear: to provide Europe’s institutional investors with a single, credible entry point into innovation financing. In today’s world, this partnership between EU institutions and the private sector sends a powerful message of European unity, ambition and determination.”
The 13 investors that have already expressed intent to join the EIIP are targeting large EU-based funds focused on later-stage and growth equity financing, including ETCI 2.0, the Scaleup Europe Fund, and European Investment Fund-backed vehicles under InvestEU.
“What many companies still lack is access to sufficient late-stage capital. With the European Institutional Investors Pact, we are helping connect Europe’s deep pools of long-term capital with its most promising innovators so they can scale up and stay in Europe,” added Ekaterina Zaharieva, Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation.
