Portugal joins European fund for tech companies

Portugal has joined the second phase of the European Tech Champions Initiative (ETCI 2.0), a pan-European investment alliance aiming to mobilize up to €80Bn to transform over 1,500 tech scale-ups into global leaders, the European Investment Bank (EIB) announced in a statement.

The official launch of this second phase of the flagship initiative took place in Brussels, on the sidelines of the European Union’s Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin) meeting, bringing together the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group, the governments of 27 Member States, and leading institutional investors and private asset managers.

Portugal’s Minister of State and Finance, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, attended the meeting and highlighted the project’s importance for both the national and European economies.

“Portugal supports ETCI 2.0 as a practical initiative to deepen European capital markets, mobilise private investment, and help innovative companies scale up and compete in international markets,” stated the Portuguese official, as cited in a press release.

ETCI 2.0 aims to raise up to €15Bn in equity—approximately four times the amount of the initial fund launched in 2023—with this sum expected to leverage a total investment of up to €80Bn for the European technology ecosystem.

The final size of the fund will be determined in the second half of 2026, following the first closing. The EIB Group has already committed to injecting up to €1.25Bn into this new phase.

Source: AICEP