New Scaleup Europe Fund: Billions in funding for Europe’s strategic technologies

Europe wants to enable more innovative companies to grow – ideally within Europe. The new Scaleup Europe Fund is a multi-billion funding instrument designed specifically to support technology-intensive growth companies. Biotechnology and agritech are also explicitly included among the strategic technology sectors targeted.

Many European start-ups are developing highly innovative technologies – but, by the time they reach the growth and scaling phase at the latest, they come up against a familiar hurdle: a lack of sufficient growth capital. This is precisely where the new Scaleup Europe Fund comes in.

The fund is expected to reach a total value of around 5 billion euros. The European Commission is contributing 1 billion euros, with further funding coming from private and institutional investors. EQT has been selected as the preferred fund manager. The first investments are expected in autumn 2026.

The scheme is aimed at European companies in strategically important technology sectors. These include, amongst others, biotechnology, medical technology, advanced materials, agritech, energy and cleantech, robotics, semiconductors, quantum and AI technologies. The aim is to support companies in the growth and scale-up phases with significantly larger funding volumes than have previously been possible through existing EIC instruments. Individual funding rounds may be in the region of 100 million euros or more.

This is particularly relevant for the industrial bioeconomy: technology-intensive companies, in particular, often have to make substantial investments before new processes, plant or bio-based products become marketable on an industrial scale. In future, the Scaleup Europe Fund can help to bridge precisely this funding gap in the later stages of development.

The fund is currently still being set up. Once the legal and organisational structure has been finalised, EQT will take charge of selecting potential portfolio companies. Companies from EU Member States and from countries associated with Pillar III of Horizon Europe that are developing strategic technologies are eligible to apply.

For TransBIB, this development sends an important signal: in addition to knowledge, suitable partners and scaling infrastructure, the industrial bioeconomy also requires sufficient growth capital to ensure that technological innovations can be turned into competitive industrial applications.