25.10.2024

Tesi strengthens EU-level collaboration – New investor network to finance Europe’s most promising deep tech companies

Tesi has been invited to join the European Commission’s new Trusted Investors Network, which brings together a group of investors ready to co-invest in Europe’s innovative deep-tech companies alongside the EU. The Union’s investments will be made through a fund by the European Innovation Council (EIC), as a part of the EU’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program.

Initially, the network will consist of 71 investors from across Europe, including venture capital funds, public investment banks, foundations, and corporate venture funds. Collectively, these investors represent over EUR 90 billion in assets.

The network highlights the growing importance of the EIC Fund, which has so far invested nearly EUR 1 billion in 251 of Europe’s most promising startups. From Finland, around twenty high-growth companies have already received investments, including IQM and TILT Biotherapeutics, both of which have also been backed by Tesi.

“Tesi’s goal, as Finland’s state-owned investment company, is to channel even more EU funds to Finnish startups and growth companies. We are very pleased that our collaboration with the EIC is deepening further,” says Juha Lehtola, head of Tesi’s venture capital team.

The new network has strong backing from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and EU Commissioner Iliana Ivanova launched the network in Athens on 21 October 2024. The network will host various events and meetings, the first of which will take place alongside Slush in Helsinki in November 2024.

This new network is a continuation of Tesi’s EU-level collaboration, following earlier initiatives such as two market-driven co-financing programs with the European Investment Bank (EIB).

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Additional information:

Juha Lehtola, Director, Venture Capital Investments
juha.lehtola@tesi.fi
+358 40 064 7671

Picture of Juha