Cyprus Equity Fund

The Republic of Cyprus, represented by the Ministry of Finance, has entrusted EIF with the management of a new pool of funding to support innovative companies and start-ups based in Cyprus. The Cyprus Equity Fund (CEF) will make available risk financing to companies seeking primarily pre-seed and seed capital to grow their business ideas and projects. The EIF will be managing the fund-of-funds on behalf of the mandator.

CEF is co-financed by Recovery and Resilience Facility resources of the Republic of Cyprus and by Cyprus JEREMIE reflows. It aspires to contribute to the creation of a vibrant ecosystem for equity and venture capital investments in Cyprus.

The potential funding under the Cyprus Equity Fund initiative may amount up to EUR 27m.

The Cyprus Equity Fund initiative is seeking commercially focused venture capital funds that target the pre-seed and seed stages of development, across diverse range of sectors.

CEF investment strategy

Fund managers wishing to apply should demonstrate:

• An ability to secure significant private capital in addition to public support;
• A strong team and track-record of working with early stage, high-growth companies;
• A fund strategy that supports, and invests in, the promotion of regional development, female entrepreneurship, sustainability and climate initiatives.

Further selection criteria and detailed description of the investment strategy is provided in the Call documentation.

Fund managers – apply here

The EIF selects financial intermediaries based on a standard application and evaluation process including due diligence of applying fund managers. Please carefully read the call for expression of interest document below and check the eligibility criteria before applying.

Deadline for applications: 05 July 2022 (date of email receipt by the EIF)

Open Information Session

The Ministry of Finance, Republic of Cyprus and the European Investment Fund (EIF) held on the 4th of May 2022 an online information session to outline the CEF investment objectives and provide an overview of the application and selection process for interested VC fund managers. The presentation of the webinar is available here.

Please note that this presentation is made available solely for informative reasons. The Call documentation is the only one you should consult for the application process and prevails, at all times, any information provided in the ppt of the webinar.