PORTUGAL TECH: Instituição Financeira de Desenvolvimento (IFD) and EIF launch a new equity investment programme in Portugal

• IFD and EIF invest EUR 100m in venture capital and tech transfer in Portugal.
• The partnership is expected to mobilize up to EUR 100m of additional capital from private investors.

The European Investment Fund (EIF) and Instituição Financeira de Desenvolvimento (IFD) and is launching a new investment programme, to target investments in tech transfer projects, start-ups, and SMEs based in Portugal. The new investment programme - Portugal Tech, aims to attract private and institutional capital to invest in Portuguese technology-based companies.

IFD and EIF will each commit EUR 50 million to this jointly developed programme, plus support from the national competitiveness agency - IAPMEI. The combined commitments of EUR 100 million are expected to catalyse between EUR 40 and 100 million of additional private and institutional capital.

The programme will select 4 to 6 Portuguese teams with experience in managing venture capital and tech transfer funds primarily focused on investing not only in Portuguese companies but also in projects developed in connection with research or academic institutions, incubators and accelerators established or operating in Portugal.

Commenting on this initiative, EIF Chief Executive Pier Luigi Gilibert said “We are very pleased to sign this important agreement, which will enable the EIF to leverage on IFD’s local knowledge and access to the Portuguese market to help develop the venture capital and tech transfer ecosystems in Portugal. This is an important milestone in our partnership with IFD and the first joint initiative under the EIF-NPI Equity Platform.”

According to Henrique Cruz, IFD Executive President, “The partnership Portugal Tech aims at overcoming the decline in venture capital investment observed since 2011, as a result of the crowding-out of national institutional investors, such as banks, insurance companies and pension funds. Many venture capital operators alerted IFD about the lack of private funding available to invest with longer horizons – the so-called patient money. Moreover, this programme will benefit from EIF’s long experience and well-proven track record in selecting effective venture capital teams.”

Portugal Tech will cover up to 70% of commitments to venture capital and tech transfer funds, provided that the funds are able to raise the remaining 30% of capital from private and independent investors.

Ten years since the launch of PVCi, its first fund-of-fund focused on private equity in Portugal, EIF is continuing to play a role in the transformation of the Portuguese venture capital and private equity landscape.

About IFD

Instituição Financeira de Desenvolvimento (IFD) is the national development bank of Portugal. IFD develops financial instruments to address market gaps in funding SMEs and MidCaps. More info about IFD and its activity here.

About the EIF

The European Investment Fund (EIF) is part of the European Investment Bank Group. Its central mission is to support Europe's micro, small and medium-sized businesses by helping them to access finance. EIF designs and develops both venture and growth capital, guarantees and microfinance instruments which specifically target this market segment. In this role, EIF fosters EU objectives in support of innovation, research and development, entrepreneurship, growth and employment.

About EIF-NPI Equity Platform

The EIF launched the EIF-NPI Equity Platform in 2016 in the context of the Investment Plan for Europe, and as a response to priorities set by EU stakeholders and national promotional institutions (NPIs). Co-sponsored by the European Commission, this initiative is a framework for institutionalising cooperation, knowledge sharing, and best practices in the area of equity investments for onward financing to SME (and Midcap) between EIF and NPIs across Europe. Since its launch, the Platform’s General Forum has expanded its membership to include 40 NPIs from across Europe.

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