First six agreements signed under InnovFin Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain pilot

The European Investment Fund (EIF), backed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), has signed the first six equity agreements with venture capital funds under the new InnovFin Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain pilot. The agreements were signed with equity funds in Austria, Finland, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, and are expected to bring €700 million of additional funding to emerging tech companies across Europe with a focus on the development and use of artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies. This includes the advancement of promising applications in the fields of smart cities, automation, language and machine learning as well as cybersecurity. Thierry Breton, Commissioner for Internal Market, said: “Europe needs more investments in highly innovative digital companies. I welcome the collaboration with the EIF which resulted in the first EU-wide investment fund to support the incubation and scale-up of highly innovative AI and blockchain technologies.” The press release is available here. So far, the Investment Plan for Europe has mobilised €535 billion of investment across the EU, supporting over 1.4 million SMEs in the process.