EIC's Trusted Investor Network expands to 111 investors managing €336 billion — how it fits into Europe's deep tech finance push
- ›The European Innovation Council's Trusted Investor Network has grown to 111 members collectively managing about €336 billion in assets.
- ›The Network is designed to co-invest with the EIC Fund in high‑risk deep tech companies to help them scale in Europe.
- ›The EIC Fund reports over 150 completed investment rounds since 2021 and more than €1.6 billion in co‑investment attracted.
- ›Membership requires signing a Charter and meeting qualifying criteria that emphasise co‑investment intent and a commitment to European industrial interests.
- ›The initiative aims to address Europe’s chronic scale‑up funding gap but leaves open questions on how commitments will translate into concrete lead rounds and long term industrial anchoring.
EIC Trusted Investor Network expands to 111 investors managing €336 billion — how it fits into Europe's deep tech finance push
On 3 April 2025 the European Innovation Council (EIC) announced that its Trusted Investor Network had been enlarged to 111 members who together manage roughly €336 billion of assets. The network groups venture capital firms, corporate venture arms, family offices, national and institutional investors who have committed to the EIC Trusted Investor Network Charter and to co‑invest alongside the EIC Fund in high‑risk deep tech companies.
What the announcement says
EISMEA, the Commission agency that runs the EIC, presented the expansion as a step to mobilise more private capital for European deep tech innovators and to improve the chances that EU‑backed startups can secure the larger rounds they need to scale. The Network started in 2024 with 71 investors managing over €90 billion. The April 2025 cohort added 37 new members to reach 111 and the headline figure of €336 billion in assets under management (AUM).
| Metric | Number reported by EIC / EISMEA |
| Trusted Investor Network members | 111 (as of 3 April 2025) |
| Collective assets under management (AUM) | ≈ €336 billion |
| Network at launch (2024) | 71 members, > €90 billion AUM |
| EIC Fund investments since 2021 | > 150 investment rounds (including 60 in 2024) |
| Co‑investment attracted (reported) | > €1.6 billion (EIC reports this equates to > €3 from others for every €1 invested by EIC Fund in that calculation) |
| EIC Fund capitalisation (EIC Fund page) | Reported as > €4 billion |
| EIC Fund portfolio (figures reported on EIC site) | Reported numbers vary by page but are in the high hundreds of companies (e.g. 279 companies cited on the EIC Fund page) |
Why the Network exists and what it is intended to do
Europe consistently lags the U.S. and parts of Asia in late‑stage venture capital and growth funding for capital‑intensive deep tech. The Trusted Investor Network is pitched as a brokerage and signalling mechanism: it should make it easier for EIC‑backed firms to find lead investors, syndicate rounds, and attract the bigger checks needed to commercialise technologies such as advanced semiconductors, quantum, robotics and biotech. The EIC Fund acts as a public anchor, investing equity alongside private investors through the EIC Accelerator and the STEP Scale Up scheme.
How membership and co‑investment are meant to work
All members sign the Trusted Investor Network Charter. The Charter sets out principles such as openness, transparency, cooperation and a 'shared vision' to support European ownership and value creation. To make information sharing and co‑investment practicable the Network envisages standard 'umbrella' legal documents such as a confidentiality protocol and a non‑reliance agreement so due diligence and deal discussions can scale without repeating basic paperwork for each transaction.
| Charter feature | What it means in practice |
| Shared values | Members commit to invest in European breakthrough technologies and to 'protect/maintain' European presence and interests where possible |
| Membership eligibility | Qualified institutional investors with track record, capacity to lead or materially contribute to rounds and KYC clearance by the EIC Fund or EIF |
| Operational tools | Umbrella Confidentiality Protocol and umbrella Non‑Reliance Agreement to streamline information sharing and due diligence |
| Benefits for members | Access to EIC deal flow, sector intelligence, coordination with EIB/EIC Fund teams, potential co‑investment and syndication opportunities |
Who runs and supports the Network
The Network is an EIC initiative administered by the Commission's European Innovation Council and Small and Medium‑sized Enterprises Executive Agency (EISMEA). The EIB is the EIC Fund's sole investment adviser and acts as a central partner for co‑investment facilitation and due diligence. The EIC Fund itself is managed under an external fund manager structure. The Network will also draw on EIC Business Acceleration Services for matchmaking and events.
EIC Fund track record and context reported by the EIC
The EIC and its Impact Report highlight that since 2021 the EIC Fund has become an active early‑stage investor in Europe. The EIC reports more than 150 completed investment rounds since 2021, with 60 rounds completed in 2024 alone. The Fund also says it has attracted over €1.6 billion in co‑investments and that this equates to roughly €3 of additional private capital for every euro of EIC Fund direct investment in the calculation cited by the Commission. EIC public pages also report the Fund's capitalisation as above €4 billion and list several hundred portfolio companies across multiple thematic areas.
Why this matters for European deep tech — and what to watch for
The pitch is straightforward. Many European deep tech projects require large, patient capital rounds to move from prototypes to global markets. Public anchor capital can reduce perceived risk to private investors and help trigger larger rounds. A visible network of qualified co‑investors can also reduce search friction for founders and signal that scale paths are plausible in Europe rather than abroad.
That said, commitments and letter‑of‑intent frameworks are not the same as executed lead rounds. Promises to co‑invest or to protect European ownership can be meaningful if translated into binding term sheets, governance arrangements and follow‑on capital. The real test will be whether the Network helps produce more European‑led Series A/B rounds where a Network member or EIC Fund takes an active board seat and drives follow‑on syndication, rather than acting as a passive check writer.
How this links to other EIC initiatives and EU instruments
The Trusted Investor Network complements a wider set of EIC activities. The EIC Fund provides equity under the EIC Accelerator and the STEP Scale Up calls. The Commission is also developing the Scaleup Europe Fund as a late‑stage public‑private fund to invest in strategic technologies with large founding investors and a private market manager. The EIC Business Acceleration Services, the EIC Scaling Club and Seal of Excellence processes are other mechanisms intended to prepare companies and link them to buyers and investors.
Practical next steps and how investors or companies can engage
The Network remains open to qualified institutional investors. Interested parties should contact the EIC Fund team through the dedicated mailbox referenced on EIC pages. For companies, the usual entry routes to EIC equity and support are through the EIC Accelerator, STEP Scale Up applications or by being part of EIC portfolios, Seal of Excellence holders or the EIC Scaling Club.
| Who can apply / join | How to engage |
| Qualified institutional investors (VCs, CVCs, family offices, national promotional banks, foundations) | Contact EIC Fund team via the EIC website/dedicated mailbox; meet membership criteria and sign the Charter |
| Deep tech companies | Apply to EIC Accelerator, STEP Scale Up or seek Seal of Excellence; benefit from EIC BAS, scaling club and investor matchmaking |
Sources and transparency notes
All figures and programme descriptions used in this article are taken from EIC / EISMEA public announcements and web pages published in early April 2025 and related EIC Fund and EIC Impact Report material available on EIC websites. Where the EIC reports figures we present them as EIC reports; independent verification of co‑investment leverage and exact portfolio counts can vary across EIC pages and yearly reports and would require access to the Fund’s transactional data and standardised accounting of co‑investment flows.
The Trusted Investor Network is a pragmatic, institutional attempt to lower one element of the barrier facing European deep tech companies: finding trustworthy, patient and strategically aligned capital. Whether the Network will materially shift outcomes depends on the quality of follow‑through: hard term sheets, lead investors who actively syndicate, governance arrangements that keep IP and value anchored in Europe when that is a policy objective, and consistent data disclosure on co‑investment outcomes.