Spain will contribute 1 billion euros to a new European fund to support cutting-edge technology startups in which Germany, France, Italy and Belgium will also participate, in addition to the European Investment Bank Group (EIB), for a total investment of 3.75 billion euros.
The First Vice-President and Minister for Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, Nadia Calviño, formalized the launch of the initiative this Monday in Brussels in a joint declaration with the Ministers of Economy and Finance of Germany, Christian Lindner; France, Bruno Le Maire; Italy, Giancarlo Giorgetti, and Belgium, Vincent Van Peteghem, in the margins of the Eurogroup.
Calviño has expressed her satisfaction because she considers that this initiative is filling a «gap» that had been pointed out by the business ecosystem. «It is the natural step and shows that together we are stronger,» she stressed, before underlining that, in order to achieve its objectives, Europe must act together and not separately with different national plans.
«I am impressed that we have made it happen in one year and I hope that in another year we will be able to celebrate the key investments that will take Europe to a different scale,» he remarked.
The aim of the European Tech Champions initiative is to facilitate funding for Europe’s leading innovative start-ups in order to create an entrepreneurial ecosystem that enables the development of cutting-edge projects with global scale potential.
The Spanish government has already approved an initial contribution of 400 million euros for the new European fund, while, for the second phase, the total committed contribution will reach 1 billion euros in 2023.
The Spanish contribution will be made through the Next Tech fund, a Recovery Plan initiative to foster the development of innovative high-impact digital projects and investment in growth companies by strengthening public financing instruments, attracting international funds and boosting the venture capital sector.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
