EIFO leads €200M anchor investment in EQT’s €5B Scaleup Europe Fund — TFN

• Since 2000, simply six out of 14 Danish-founded unicorns have stayed in Denmark or Europe. The others moved overseas, largely to the US, to search out late-stage funding.
• EIFO, Denmark’s nationwide promotional financial institution, has invested €200 million within the new Scaleup Europe Fund as the one nationwide promotional financial institution among the many anchor buyers. It joins eight different founding buyers, together with the European Fee, which has dedicated €1 billion, Novo Holdings, Allianz, and APG.
• The €5 billion fund is managed by EQT, which has beforehand supported corporations like Wolt, Einride, and Nothing. It plans to spend money on 30 to 40 prime European growth-stage tech corporations, with the primary funding anticipated in autumn 2026.

Europe is nice at creating startups, nevertheless it struggles to maintain them.

Out of 14 Danish-founded unicorns since 2000, solely six remained in Denmark or Europe. The remainder largely moved to the US, the place late-stage funding is simpler to acquire, funding rounds are bigger, and buyers are keen to offer extra capital.

Scaleup Europe Fund, the €5 billion fund, hopes to maintain the subsequent wave of high-growth corporations in Europe.

At present, EIFO, Denmark’s nationwide promotional financial institution and export credit score company, dedicated €200 million to the Scaleup Europe Fund, making it the one state-backed anchor investor. The fund is a part of the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund and is managed by Swedish funding agency EQT, which managed €269 billion in belongings as of March 31, 2026.

The European Fee can also be a founding investor and has dedicated €1 billion to the fund, the most important single dedication among the many founding buyers. The Fee participates on equal phrases with personal buyers and has a corresponding illustration within the fund’s governance construction.

The fund plans to spend money on 30 to 40 promising European growth-stage tech corporations, with the primary funding anticipated in autumn 2026.

Why does Europe maintain dropping its prime corporations?

The fund goals to handle a well known capital scarcity in Europe. For instance, DeepMind was sold to Google in 2014 for what Google’s former CFO referred to as “a steal.” ARM was purchased by SoftBank in 2016 for £24 billion.

Since 2019, US patrons have picked up nearly $24 billion in European spinouts, greater than native patrons. Many European corporations do properly as much as Collection B or C, however then wrestle to boost greater than €100 million to compete globally. This funding hole pushes corporations to hunt capital overseas or gradual their progress, and securing capital outdoors Europe usually means relocating the corporate.

The Scaleup Europe Fund is designed to handle this drawback. It would spend money on corporations working in areas like synthetic intelligence, quantum know-how, robotics, power tech, area, biotech, medtech, and agritech.

EQT plans one other fundraising spherical within the second half of 2026, permitting extra buyers to hitch whereas sustaining a robust European focus.

Why is EIFO the one state backer

EIFO has executed extra than simply make investments cash. Over the previous 12 months, it helped design the fund, led the method to decide on EQT as supervisor, and set the funding standards. This implies the fund is ready up for industrial success from the start, somewhat than being modified later to suit coverage targets.

Peder Lundquist, EIFO’s chief govt, says the dedication displays a structural drawback that has price Europe dearly.

“Europe clearly wants stronger capital within the later progress phases if we’re to retain our most promising corporations on the continent. With the Scaleup Europe Fund, we’re serving to tackle a important hole and guaranteeing that extra of those corporations keep in Denmark and Europe,” he notes.

Erik Balck Sørensen, EIFO’s chief funding officer, emphasised that industrial viability was important within the fund’s design.

“We’ve got been intently concerned in shaping the fund’s framework, and it has been important for us to make sure a commercially viable mannequin that may entice the strongest European corporations. On the similar time, we’ve had a transparent deal with guaranteeing the fund additionally advantages Denmark. We’re subsequently happy that it targets a number of areas of Danish energy,” he provides.

Balck Sørensen expects one or more Danish companies to receive support

EQT’s track record and the expectations it brings

EQT is a seasoned manager. Its venture arm, EQT Ventures, has helped over 140 founding groups and backed unicorns like Wolt, Einride, Handshake, Nothing, and Sana.

The Scaleup Europe Fund will deal with later-stage corporations from Collection B onwards, with investments a lot bigger than EQT Ventures’ common €1 million- € 50 million vary. This sturdy monitor file offers EQT credibility and raises expectations for outcomes.

Christian Sinding, who chairs the fund’s funding committee at EQT, notes, “Europe has the expertise, the know-how and the ambition to provide the subsequent technology of worldwide tech leaders. What has been lacking is the capital and conviction to again them at scale and velocity. With the Scaleup Europe Fund, we’re right here to vary that.”

Together with EIFO, the founding buyers embrace the European Fee, Novo Holdings, Germany’s Allianz, APG Asset Administration for the Dutch pension fund ABP, Spain’s CriteriaCaixa and Santander, and several other Italian foundations, together with Fondazione Compagnia San Paolo, Intesa Sanpaolo, and Fondazione Cariplo.

This combine is intentional, so the fund is seen as pan-European somewhat than serving only one nation’s pursuits.

It’s honest to ask if €5 billion can actually change late-stage funding in Europe. The US enterprise market usually invests far more in a single quarter, and public-private funds typically wrestle when politics will get concerned. Nonetheless, the Scaleup Europe Fund isn’t attempting to match US funding ranges.

Its aim is to verify the subsequent Spotify, Klarna, or Zendesk can select to develop in Europe. Proper now, many corporations don’t have that alternative.