About EIF

The European Investment Fund (EIF) is the European Union (EU) body specialised in small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) risk financing. 

EIF indirectly supports SMEs by means of equity (venture capital and private equity) and guarantee instruments. 

As a fund of funds, EIF provides equity instruments through venture capital, growth and lower mid-market funds, to improve the availability of risk finance to high growth and innovative SMEs. 

EIF provides guarantees and credit enhancement, through securitisation, to financial institutions such as banks and guarantee institutions, to improve their lending capacity and the availability and terms of debt they can offer to beneficiary SMEs. 

Established in 1994, EIF is owned by the European Investment Bank (EIB) (64%) and the European Community, through the European Commission (27%). EIF also has a significant shareholding from public or private banks and financial institutions (31 from 17 countries, making up 9%).  EIF is since June 2000 part of the EIB group. 

EIF operates using either its own funds or those available through mandates given by EIB (the Risk Capital Mandate or RCM), the EU (the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme or CIP), Member States or other third parties. 

Uniquely for a European body, EIF has a core objective to earn an appropriate return for its shareholders, through a commercial pricing policy and a balance of fee and risk based income, alongside its goal to contribute to the pursuit of Community objectives. 

EIF benefits from AAA-ratings from the three major rating agencies and has the status of a Multilateral Development Bank which allows financial institutions to apply a 0% risk weighting under Basel II on assets guaranteed by EIF. 

EIF is active in the enlarged Europe which includes the EU 27, EFTA and Candidate Countries and other European countries.