The European Investment Fund (EIF), established in 1994, is a financial institution for the provision of finance to SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises), headquartered in

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

. It is part of the European Investment Bank Group. It does not lend money to SMEs directly; rather it provides finance through private banks and funds. Its main operations are in the areas of

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to start-up company, startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth poten ...

and guaranteeing loans. Its shareholders are: the European Investment Bank (62%); the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

, represented by the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

(29%); and 30 privately owned EU financial institutions (9%). The European Investment Bank Group is able to assist the development of a broader creative, green ecosystem through the European Investment Fund: venture capital funds, technical transfer, business perspectives, and private-sector equity (infrastructure funds) in general. Since 2015, the EaSI Guarantee Instrument (EU Programme for Employment and Social Innovation), managed by the European Investment Fund, has provided over €280 million in guarantees across Europe and is expected to provide over €3 billion in financing to micro-enterprises and

social enterprises A social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in financial, social and environmental well-being. This may include maximizing social impact alongside profits for co-owners. Social enterprises ca ...

. In the coming years, the EIF intends to continue providing assistance to these types of final beneficiaries in areas heavily impacted by the transition to a

low-carbon economy A low-carbon economy (LCE) or decarbonised economy is an economy based on energy sources that produce low levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. GHG emissions due to human activity are the dominant cause of observed climate change since the mi ...

Sources

European Investment Fund {{EU-stub

See also

Sources