EIC Fund makes first Horizon Europe equity decisions: 35 commitments worth about €190 million and early deals for Apix and Lattice

Brussels, November 17th 2022

Summary

›The EIC Fund has taken 35 equity investment decisions under Horizon Europe, totaling about €190 million.
›Two investments have reached signed agreements so far: Apix Analytics and Lattice Medical; a prior investment in SiPearl was announced in June 2022.
›An external fund manager, Alter Domus, and the EIB were appointed to speed up investment decisions after restructuring the EIC Fund.
›A further 24 deals have been submitted for approval and more decisions are expected in the coming weeks.
›The Equity arm complements the EIC Accelerator grant pipeline but faces a backlog and governance and delivery challenges that deserve close scrutiny.

EIC Fund moves to active investing under Horizon Europe

On 17 November 2022 the European Innovation Council announced that the EIC Fund has taken 35 equity investment decisions under the Horizon Europe framework. The 35 decisions correspond to roughly €190 million of proposed equity support. Two of those cases have progressed to signed investment agreements by the time of the announcement. The Commission presented the update as a milestone in operationalising the EIC Fund after it was restructured and brought under an external manager earlier in 2022.

What the announcement covers

Commissioner Mariya Gabriel disclosed the figures at the Slush start-up event in Helsinki. The announcement said that 35 investment decisions had been taken and that two investment agreements were already signed with Apix Analytics and Lattice Medical. The statement also noted that 24 additional deals had already been submitted into the EIC Fund investment approval process with decisions expected in the near term.

Apix Analytics:Described in the announcement as a company with a miniaturised universal gas analyser for renewable gases. The device is positioned to address gas monitoring needs across decarbonisation vectors such as hydrogen and biogas.

Lattice Medical:Described as working on breast self-reconstruction using patients' own tissue. The investment agreement with Lattice Medical was one of the first two concluded following the EIC Fund decisions.

SiPearl (previously announced):A June 2022 equity investment in SiPearl was referenced as the very first investment under the restructured Fund. SiPearl develops processors for high performance computing as part of European efforts to build domestic capabilities in critical semiconductor and supercomputing technology.

Numbers, scope and where equity sits next to grants

The EIC Accelerator combines grant and equity support. Since June 2021 the programme had selected hundreds of companies for support. The press material reported 313 companies selected under the Accelerator since June 2021, with around €680 million in grant funding allocated and 185 grant agreements signed at the time of the announcement. Over half of those selected were proposed to receive equity investments through the EIC Fund, with proposed equity sizes typically cited between €0.5 million and €15 million per company.

Metric	Value reported
EIC Fund investment decisions announced (Nov 2022)	35
Total equity represented by those decisions	About €190 million
Investment agreements signed at announcement	2 (Apix Analytics, Lattice Medical)
Further deals submitted to approval	24
Companies selected under EIC Accelerator since June 2021	313
Total grant funding to selected companies	€680 million
Grant agreements signed	185
Companies proposed to receive equity	184 (majority of selected cohort)
Typical equity ticket size range	€0.5 million to €15 million

How the EIC Fund decision process has been restructured

The EIC Fund was restructured and converted into an alternative investment fund with investment decisions delegated to an external alternative investment fund manager to comply with the AIFM regulatory framework. Alter Domus Management Company S.A. was appointed as the external fund manager in September 2022. The European Investment Bank acts as the Fund's investment adviser and performs due diligence on candidates. The Fund Manager must follow the EIC Fund Investment Guidelines and benefits from an expert advisory committee.

Alternative Investment Fund Manager (AIFM):An AIFM is a regulated entity authorised to manage alternative investment funds under EU rules. Using an AIFM separates fund management from the Commission's direct management responsibilities and aims to apply market standard governance and risk controls to public equity investing.

European Investment Bank role:The EIB performs detailed due diligence and acts as investment adviser to the EIC Fund. The EIB's involvement provides technical financial scrutiny and is intended to strengthen the robustness of investment recommendations.

The Commission said the new governance model should enable the EIC Fund to address a backlog of equity commitments and speed up the delivery of blended finance to deep tech start-ups. The EIC and the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency continue to run grant selection and business acceleration services, and to coordinate with the Fund.

What the EIC says it will do and the services offered

The EIC Fund forms the equity arm of the EIC Accelerator, which pairs non-dilutive grants with public equity to help high-risk, deep-tech ventures de-risk projects and attract follow-on private capital. Beyond finance, successful EIC Accelerator beneficiaries are offered business acceleration services that include coaching, mentoring and introductions to investors and corporate partners.

Blended finance in the EIC Accelerator context:Blended finance here means a combination of grant funding and public equity. Grants finance technology development at early stages while public equity aims to provide long term risk capital to help companies scale and to signal quality to private investors.

Operational progress and remaining backlog

Officials framed the November announcement as a significant operational step. The Commission reported that, of 184 companies proposed for equity under Horizon Europe, 58 investment recommendations had been submitted to the Fund for decisions, 43 had been discussed by the advisory committee, and 35 investment decisions had been taken with two signed agreements. Another 24 recommendations had been submitted into the approval process at that time.

Separately, earlier communications from late September 2022 explained that the external manager appointment would allow the Fund to address a backlog and that the first investment decisions were expected to be taken during October with further decisions in the months ahead. The Commission also moved to reduce internal approvals to speed grant payments by removing a College-level approval step for EIC Accelerator grants in many cases.

Context and wider policy intent

The EIC Fund was created as part of the New European Innovation Agenda and to implement the equity component of the EIC Accelerator. The stated policy goal is to position the EU as a global leader in deep tech by providing a public investor willing to take risks that private capital alone will not accept early on. The EIC is promoted as a flagship effort to help translate scientific breakthroughs into companies and to close an equity gap for capital intensive, long horizon technologies.

Critical considerations and risks to watch

The announcement is an operational milestone, but several practical and policy questions remain. Public equity investing at the scale and pace required to materially shift deep tech scale-up trajectories is hard. The Fund faces a backlog of recommended investments that it must clear while maintaining investment discipline. The combination of public grant and public equity can reduce the time to market if deployed well but also risks crowding out private investors or lengthening dependency on public capital if private follow-on funding does not materialise.

Speed versus oversight:Removing multi-layer internal approvals shortens payment timelines but reduces internal oversight steps that had been designed to ensure consistency and governance. Faster grant disbursement is beneficial for start-ups but oversight mechanisms must remain robust to prevent weaknesses in accountability.

Backlog and execution risk:The Fund inherits a backlog of recommendations from the Accelerator selection pipeline. Clearing that backlog quickly requires staffing, robust processes and sufficient co-investor appetite. Slower private follow-on investment could leave the EIC Fund exposed or necessitate larger public follow-on allocations than initially planned.

Public manager model and market signalling:Using an external AIFM aligns the Fund with market practice and creates regulatory separation from the Commission. That is intended to improve investment decision quality and speed. Yet the presence of an active public investor can alter market dynamics. The Fund needs to ensure that its investments leverage rather than replace private capital and that portfolio companies can attract later rounds from commercial investors.

Governance and key actors

The restructured model assigns different roles to key actors. Alter Domus is the external fund manager charged with final investment decisions in accordance with the EIC Fund Investment Guidelines. The European Investment Bank performs the investment due diligence and acts as adviser. EISMEA and the EIC governance bodies continue to run the grant selection and the business acceleration services.

EISMEA:The European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency administers the EIC programmes including the Accelerator grants and business acceleration services. EISMEA remains the operational interface for applicants and beneficiaries for non-equity support.

Investment guidelines and advisory committee:The Fund operates under published investment guidelines and benefits from an expert advisory committee. These elements are intended to ensure that investment choices align with policy objectives and follow due process while letting a market-oriented manager make the final calls.

Implications for European deep tech and what to monitor next

The EIC Fund represents one of the largest concentrated public equity efforts targeted at deep technology in Europe. If the Fund can reduce friction and move from commitments to active portfolio management and successful follow-on rounds, it will strengthen the EU innovation ecosystem. Key indicators to watch include the pace of deal approvals and closings, the ability of portfolio companies to attract private follow-on investment, the time between selection and disbursement, and the Fund's track record on returns and strategic impact over time.

Policymakers and stakeholders should also scrutinise the balance between speed and transparency and monitor whether public equity helps build a sustainable private venture market in Europe or simply substitutes for it. Finally, given the public nature of the capital, auditability and clear reporting on portfolio outcomes will be essential for public accountability.

Bottom line

The 35 investment decisions and the early signed deals mark an important operational step for the EIC Fund as it transitions from restructuring to deployment under Horizon Europe. The involvement of an external AIFM and the EIB adds market discipline but does not eliminate execution and market risks. The next months will show whether the Fund can clear the backlog, close deals at scale and leverage private capital to build viable deep tech champions in Europe.