A coalition of European pension funds and other asset owners has joined forces with the European Commission to launch the Scaleup Europe Fund, a market-based, privately managed growth capital vehicle aimed at closing Europe’s late-stage funding gap for scale-ups in deep-tech and strategic sectors.
Alongside the Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group, the group of potential founding investors in the new fund include APG Asset Management, acting on behalf of Dutch pension fund ABP, Novo Holdings, EIFO (Export and Investment Fund of Denmark), CriteriaCaixa, Santander/Mouro Capital, Fondazione Compagnia San Paolo/Intesa Sanpaolo/Fondazione Cariplo, Wallenberg Investments, and BGK (Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego).
APG said in a statement: “Acting on behalf of ABP, APG is committing to investments in the thriving European scaleup ecosystem that deliver long-term returns for pension beneficiaries. While European innovation has been an existing focus in our investment strategy, this joint effort will open new doors to accelerate meaningful progress in the region, while strengthening Europe’s innovation ecosystem and technological autonomy.”
Targeting growth capital
The fund will target growth-capital and late-stage investment rounds in European strategic technology companies – including artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, semiconductors, robotics and autonomous systems.
The commission said the initiative reflects the priorities of its EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy – designed to make Europe a more competitive home for scale-ups.
At the high-level meeting on 28 October, the commission brought together top-tier private investors and asset owners to express their intention to serve as founding investors in the fund.
While the precise size of the fund has not been disclosed, it is described by the commission as “multi-billion”.
Ursula von der Leyen, the Commission’s president, said in a statement: “Europe has the ideas and the talent to build the most innovative companies in the world. But as they scale up we need to ensure they have the means to grow, attract investment and thrive right here at home. High-quality jobs and Europe’s overall competitiveness depend on it.”
According to the Q&A document accompanying the strategy, the Scaleup Europe Fund is intended as a privately managed and co-financed growth fund, complementing existing EU initiatives, such as the European Innovation Council (EIC), the European Tech Champions Initiative (ETCI), and actions under InvestEU.
It is designed to plug a known gap in European late-stage financing, helping companies that have already validated their business model to scale quickly.
Meaningful shift
From an institutional asset-owner perspective, this initiative marks a meaningful shift: rather than simply backing primary venture rounds or fund-of-funds, the vehicle invites pension funds and insurers to commit alongside other investors into significant growth rounds with a European-centric home-market bias.
Implementation details remain to be disclosed. Public procurement of the management company will follow, and the fund is scheduled to begin its first investments in spring 2026.
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