The European Investment Bank is likely to announce on Friday plans to pump 70 billion euros into the development of European technology firms over the next three years, EU officials said.
The program, called Tech EU, is meant to help Europe compete with China and the United States in the race for innovative clean and digital technologies.
The EIB, the biggest multilateral lender in the world with a balance sheet total of 556 billion euros, expects its own 70 bln euros to mobilize a further 250 billion euros of private cash as investors crowd into projects supported by the EIB, Reuters quoted EU officials as saying.
The 70 billion is to be split into 20 billion euros for equity and quasi-equity, 40 billion euros for loans and 10 billion for guarantees in 2025-2027, the officials said.
The plan is to complement European Commission efforts to support higher risk ventures and innovative companies throughout their investment journey, from proof of concept to an initial public offering.
The EIB wants to focus on supercomputing, artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, critical raw materials, green industries such as offshore wind, health, security and defense technologies, robotics and advanced materials, the officials said.
