With an initial funding target of €5 billion, the Scaleup Europe Fund aims to become Europe’s premier vehicle for supporting the growth of high-potential technology companies.
Following its official launch on 3 June in Brussels at the EIC Summit, the Scaleup Europe Fund has entered its operational phase. The initiative, which counts Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo among its prospective Italian founding investors, along with Intesa Sanpaolo and Fondazione Cariplo, is the largest investment vehicle ever established in Europe to support high-tech companies during their growth phase.
The fund has been launched with an initial fundraising target of 5 billion euros. Its management has been entrusted to EQT, selected for its proven ability to operate on a global scale while maintaining strong European roots. The fund will focus on investments exceeding 100 million euros in companies operating in sectors considered critical to Europe’s strategic autonomy: including artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, biotechnology, energy and space technologies, semiconductor technologies, robotics and autonomous systems, medical technologies, and dual-use technologies.
Its primary aim is to allow companies with a high potential for innovation to retain talent, expertise and operations within Europe, focusing on sectors that are vital to strategic autonomy.
Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo’s commitment to this ambitious pan-European initiative reflects a strategic philanthropic vision aimed at strengthening the innovation ecosystem. The objective is to align the Foundation’s activities with Europe’s key strategic priorities, addressing capital fragmentation while fostering the development of international networks capable of generating both economic and social value.
Participation in the fund is fully consistent with the objectives set out in the Multiannual Programming Document, which identifies support for technological transition as a fundamental driver of regional development.
The initiative is designed to strengthen Europe’s long-term competitiveness through three core pillars:
- Closing the financial gap: providing European companies with the capital required to scale globally while remaining headquartered in Europe, avoiding the need for them to seek funding abroad and relocate ownership overseas.
- Retaining talent and expertise: ensuring that scientific research carried out in Europe is translated into industrial value, high-skilled employment, and lasting technological leadership across the continent.
- Strategic autonomy: reducing technological dependence on external markets and ensuring that Europe retains control over the frontier innovations that will shape the coming decades.
The fund’s legal agreements and governance are expected to be finalised in the coming weeks. Investment activities are scheduled to commence in autumn 2026, when the first European scale-ups will be able to access funding to support their international expansion.