EIF Guarantee will strengthen Inveready Asset Management’s capacity to finance technology-driven SMEs and small mid-caps.
Agreement is backed by the InvestEU programme.
Transaction will improve financial conditions of loans to benefit the SME technology and digital ecosystem in Spain.

The European Investment Fund (EIF) and Inveready Asset Management, a leading asset manager in Spain, have signed an agreement under the InvestEU guarantee programme that will facilitate access to finance for innovative, high-growth technology SMEs and small mid-caps.

Inveready Asset Management will benefit from a €30 million EIF guarantee line of the InvestEU Fund covering the ‘Innovation and Digitalisation’ thematic area. The targeted products included in this area will allow the Spanish asset manager to provide eligible debt financing to SMEs and small mid-caps at favourable conditions. The agreement will support SMEs and small mid-caps focused on R&D activities and with a greater need to adopt advanced technologies in their digital transformation processes.

Around seven of the investment vehicles managed by Inveready Asset Management are expected to participate in the ‘Innovation and Digitalisation’ guarantee product covering high-growth SMEs in different early-life stages with a focus on technology and life sciences, and on private markets or European alternative stock markets (BME Growth and Euronext Growth among others).

“We are pleased to see our partnership with Inveready Asset Management grow”, said EIF Chief Executive Marjut Falkstedt. “This agreement under the InvestEU programme will enable innovative small business in Spain to drive their digital transition, making them more competitive and resilient.”

“Inveready is committed to continuing our collaboration with the EIF and supporting more innovative companies in Spain in the future. We firmly believe in the potential of Spanish companies and their capacity to lead change by generating employment and competitiveness through growth and internationalisation”, highlighted Ignacio Puig, Inveready Asset Management General Partner.

This agreement follows previous successful EIF and Inveready Asset Management guarantee transactions under EU programmes such as the InnovFin Guarantee Facility, supported by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), announced in 2016 with Inveready Venture Finance. This deal made it possible to support Spanish companies like ODILO and Nextil Group.

Background information:

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 (SMEs) by helping them to access finance. The EIF designs and develops venture and growth capital, guarantees and micro-finance instruments that specifically target this market segment. In this role, it contributes to the achievement of key EU policy goals such as competitiveness and growth, innovation and digitalisation, social impact, skills and human capital, climate action and environmental sustainability.

The InvestEU programme provides the European Union with crucial long-term funding by leveraging substantial private and public funds in support of a sustainable recovery. It also helps mobilise private investments for the European Union’s policy priorities, such as the European Green Deal and the digital transition. The InvestEU programme brings together under one roof the multitude of EU financial instruments currently available to support investment in the European Union, making funding for investment projects in Europe simpler, more efficient and more flexible. The programme consists of three components: the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub and the InvestEU Portal. The InvestEU Fund is implemented through financial partners that will invest in projects using the EU budget guarantee of €26.2 billion. The entire budget guarantee will back the investment projects of the implementing partners, increase their risk-bearing capacity and thus mobilise at least €372 billion in additional investment.

Inveready is a leading alternative asset manager in Spain - investing in early-stage VC, growth VC, venture debt, strategic equity in listed companies, infrastructure and private equity - providing financing solutions to companies throughout their life-cycle.

Founded in 2008, Inveready counts on 177 active companies, 61 exits and more than €1bn of assets under management.

Some of their portfolio companies have been acquired by multinationals such as Intel, Symantec, IBM, and Facebook, whilst others are listed in public markets such as NASDAQ, the Spanish BME Growth, AIM London, and Euronext Growth. (visit www.inveready.com for more information)

Headquartered in San Sebastián (Basque Country), Inveready Asset Management is one of the main technology focused investors in Spain with over €1 billion in assets under management (AUM) – the market value of the capital contributed to a fund from which a firm invests on behalf of its clients. The Spanish asset manager has supported more than 200 companies since inception in 2008 through its investments.

Press contacts:

EIF:

Maite Cordero, m.corderomunoz@eib.org, tel. +34 606 66 82 62

José Vicente Alzola, j.alzola@ext.eib.org, mobile: +34 608143903

Website: www.eif.org — Press Office: +352 4379 21000 — press@eib.org

Twitter @eif_eu

European Commission:

Flora Matthaes, tel.: +32 229 83951, flora.matthaes@ec.europa.eu, https://investeu.europa.eu, #InvestEU

Inveready Asset Management:

Mar Fernández, mfernandez@inveready.com, tel.: +34 602255523