EIB announces EUR 300m investment in space
The European Investment Fund and the EU Commission announced investment of some EUR 300 million into the European space sector Wednesday, supporting ground-breaking innovation in the industry.
The EIF/EC announcement at the European Space Conference was of investment into two space tech focused funds - Orbital Ventures and Primo Space, under the first ever EU-backed equity pilot - the InnovFin Space Equity Pilot. An additional investment expected to be signed by end of Q1 will mark the full deployment of the €100m InnovFin Space Equity Pilot. These agreements are supported by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the central pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe.
Orbital Ventures, a Luxembourg based early stage fund, focuses on space technologies including downstream (communications, cryptography, data storage and processing, geolocation, earth observation) and upstream (space hardware, materials, electronics, robotics, rockets, satellites) areas. Primo Space, an Italian early-stage tech transfer investor, was the first fund selected by the EIF under this pilot; EIF is now increasing its support. The fund is one of the first technology transfer funds only focused on space technologies in Europe, and the first one in Italy, in which the Italian Space Agency is an active stakeholder. The fund invests in proof-of-concept, seed and early stages projects or companies, and will foster the commercialisation of breakthrough innovations in the space industry in Europe.
Jan. 18, 2021