EIC Trusted Investor Network grows: what was announced and why it matters

On 3 April 2025 the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency announced that the EIC Trusted Investor Network added 37 new members, bringing the total to 111 investors who together manage more than €336 billion in assets. Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation Ekaterina Zaharieva welcomed the expansion. The Network gathers venture capital funds, corporate investors and long term institutional investors who have pledged to co-invest with the EIC Fund in high potential deep tech companies based in Europe.

Numbers and claims in context

How the Trusted Investor Network is structured and what members sign up to

Membership is open to qualified institutional investors including venture capital firms, corporate venture arms, family offices and foundations. Members commit to a Trusted Investor Network Charter. The charter sets out shared values such as openness, transparency, cooperation and a stated preference to protect European presence and interests in companies receiving co-investment alongside the EIC Fund.

Mechanisms to make co-investment easier

The charter and accompanying materials emphasise standardisation. The EIC Fund and its adviser aim to implement umbrella agreements so that sensitive information can be shared efficiently and due diligence costs reduced. The European Investment Bank acts as the EIC Fund's sole investment adviser, while the EIC Fund itself is managed by an Alternative Investment Fund Manager and uses external service providers for KYC, valuation and dealflow management.

What the EIC Fund says about its track record

The EIC Fund has positioned itself as one of Europe's most active early stage technology investors since its operational start in 2021. According to the EIC Impact Report released in early April 2025, the Fund completed more than 150 investment rounds, including 60 rounds in 2024 alone. The EIC Fund also reports it has attracted substantial private co-investment and claims a leverage effect expressed as euros attracted per euro of EIC investment.

Benefits offered to network members in EIC materials

The charter lists operational and informational benefits to members. These include early access to EIC Fund pipeline and portfolios, more systematic sharing of sector intelligence, streamlined information flows for due diligence and potential board and governance coordination when co-investing. The EIC also points to Business Acceleration Services run by EISMEA as complementary support for portfolio companies.

Why the network responds to a real challenge but does not solve it on its own

European deep tech founders routinely cite two funding frictions. First, early stage grant and seed capital can be in place while series A, B and later rounds are harder to secure in Europe than in the United States. Second, due diligence and legal friction make syndication slow and expensive for complex deep tech bets. The Trusted Investor Network addresses these frictions by standardising co-investment processes and by signalling investor alignment.

However the charter is nonbinding and many commitments are phrased as best efforts. The network itself aggregates assets under management as a headline figure but that does not mean those assets will be allocated to EIC portfolio deals. Institutional investors manage diversified mandates and allocate capital according to fiduciary duties and return targets. Turning positive intent and a shared charter into sizeable and timely checks when companies need growth capital requires concrete deal terms, governance arrangements and performance incentives.

Risks, governance and accountability to watch

Key issues to monitor as the network unfolds include the following. First, whether umbrella confidentiality and non-reliance frameworks actually shorten time to close and reduce costs. Second, how conflicts of interest are managed if members have competing exposures or corporate strategic aims. Third, how the EIC and EIB balance market neutrality and state interest while protecting taxpayer funds. Fourth, the network's transparency on actual co-investment outcomes, such as number of syndications executed, amounts committed by Trusted Investors versus EIC Fund, follow-on financing and exits.

Broader policy context and ambitions

The Trusted Investor Network is part of a wider push by the Commission to build European scaleups in strategic and critical technologies. The initiative ties into Horizon Europe, the EIC work programme and initiatives intended to reduce fragmentation across national ecosystems. It also responds to political pressure to increase Europe’s strategic autonomy in areas such as semiconductors, advanced materials, quantum and green technologies.

Public backing and coordination can change market dynamics, but EU attempts to catalyse private capital have to reconcile investor return expectations with public policy goals. That tension is particularly visible in deep tech where long development cycles and capital intensity reduce the number of viable exit scenarios.

How to join or engage

The network remains open to other like minded investors. Interested parties are invited to contact the EIC Fund team through the dedicated mailbox mentioned in EIC communications. Prospective members will be assessed against the membership requirements in the charter and undertake KYC and other checks.

What to watch next

Follow up indicators that will determine whether this network moves from a signalling device to an operative co-investment engine include: the number and size of co-investments executed with Trusted Investors, the speed at which umbrella agreements are rolled out and accepted by investee companies, measurable reductions in due diligence duplication, and transparency on allocation of member capital to EIC portfolio companies. Another metric will be how many EIC-backed companies secure later stage rounds in Europe rather than relocating to foreign markets to raise growth capital.

Takeaway

The EIC Trusted Investor Network aggregates meaningful investor firepower and takes pragmatic steps to lower transaction friction through standardised agreements and information sharing. Those are useful interventions in an ecosystem that needs deeper syndication. Yet the network rests largely on voluntary commitments and a nonbinding charter. The real test will be in deal execution and in how the initiative aligns investor incentives with public policy goals without creating distortions or unintended dependencies.

Key terms explained

Sources and further reading

Primary sources for this article are the EIC and EISMEA announcements published on 3 April 2025, the Trusted Investor Network Charter published in October 2024 and related Commission press material from 2024. For additional context review EIC Fund guidance documents, EIC impact reporting and public disclosures from the European Investment Bank and EISMEA on EIC programmes.