EU and EIB Group join forces to support up to €48 billion in R&I investment

Over the next seven years, it is expected that the “InnovFin – EU Finance for Innovators” products will make available more than €24 billion of financing for research and innovation (R&I) by small, medium and large companies and the promoters of research infrastructures. This finance is expected to support up to €48 billion of final R&I investments.

“InnovFin – EU Finance for Innovators” will consist of a range of tailored products – from guarantees for intermediaries that lend to SMEs to direct loans to enterprises – helping support the smallest to the largest R&I projects in the EU and countries associated to Horizon 2020, the new EU research programme for 2014-20. InnovFin builds on the success of the Risk-Sharing Finance Facility, developed under the seventh EU framework programme for research and technological development (FP7), which helped provide over €11 billion of finance to 114 R&I projects worth more than €30 billion.

The EIB Group consists of the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund (EIF). The European Investment Bank will provide loans to medium to larger companies, or guarantees to banks lending to them. The EIF will provide guarantees to banks lending to small and medium-sized firms and – at a later stage – invest in venture capital funds providing start ups and fast-growing firms with equity.

InnovFin guarantees and loans will be backed by funds set aside under Horizon 2020 and by the EIB Group for the purpose of supporting R&I investment, which by nature is riskier and harder to appraise than tangible investments. All are demand-driven instruments, with no prior allocations between sectors, countries or regions.These debt instruments will be complemented in the near future by a suite of equity instruments managed by the EIF.In total, some €2.7 billion of Horizon 2020’s near €80 billion budget will support these financial instruments.

source: EU press release