Europe’s €5bn investment fund aimed at scaling up future European tech giants has disclosed that its first investment is in Finnish satellite startup Iceye.
The Scaleup Europe Fund, managed by Swedish investment firm EQT, co-led Iceye’s €1bn funding round, the fund said. It co-led the round with US private equity firm General Atlantic, which was announced in June this year. The Series F funding round valued the company at around €10bn.
The much-trumpeted fund is the latest move by the EU to help EU challengers grow from startup to tech leaders without moving to the US.
The Scaleup Europe fund is investing in tech startups across the bloc in strategic sectors, such as AI, quantum, space and biotech.
Iceye, headquartered in Finland, uses what is called synthetic aperture radar technology to capture images through cloud cover.
Victor Englesson, partner at EQT and co-head of the Scaleup Europe Fund, said: "Our first investment reflects exactly what the Scaleup Europe Fund was created to support: ambitious European founders building globally competitive companies in strategically important technologies."
Rafał Modrzewski, co-founder & CEO, Iceye, said: “Europe has the talent, technology and ambition to build globally leading companies in strategically important industries. Our own journey reflects that. My co-founder Pekka Laurila and I met as students on an Erasmus exchange, received our first funding through Horizon 2020, and we are grateful for the European Commission's role in initiating the Scaleup Europe Fund.”
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, added: “When Europe invests in its innovators, Europe invests in its future. This is the goal of our Scaleup Europe Fund: it will ensure our scale-ups can find what they need right here in Europe to grow into world-leading companies. To turn European innovation into our competitive edge.”
Image: Iceye
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