European Angels Fund Is Coming To Finland

European Investment Fund chooses Finland as the next destination for its European Angel Fund co-investment program. This is a great opportunity for Finnish business angels to bring their investment capacity to the next level.

“EAF provides significant financial support while granting a maximum amount of freedom to each Business Angel.”

What does it mean for investors?

Firstly, EAF provides access to capital helping you to increase your investment capacity. With 280M euros under management, EAF enters long term contractual relationships with business angels and commit predefined amount of equity for them to co-invest into innovative companies in the seed, early or growth stage in Europe. The total available volumes for business angels typically range between EUR 250k and EUR 5m. Business angels have freedom to adopt specific requirements – such as timeframe, sector focus, and number of planned investments. Plus, the EAF shares some of the investment-related costs.

Secondly, you will get access to one of the largest investors network in Europe. EAF has established its presence in Denmark, AustriaGermanyIreland, the Netherlands and Spain, and is now available for Finnish angels. It is to be noted that the program plans to expand to other geographies, aiming to achieve a pan-European coverage.

To join EAF, one should have adequate experience in the particular investment area, track record of successful investments, good access to quality deals, as well  as financial capacity to invest at least EUR 250k in total during the lifetime of the CFA, i.e. 10 years.

What does it mean for Finnish startups?

EAF aims to support innovative small and medium-sized enterprises in all sectors and at every stage (seed, early and expansion). To date is has supported over 1.8M SMEs. Co-investments under the EAF are primarily focused on new investments by business angels. However, subsequent follow-on investments in these companies may also be included.
If you are a startup founder, hunting for a business angel from EAF is a good idea for several reasons. First of all, EAF business angels have access to one of the largest network of European investors. Secondly, EAF business investors are part of one of the largest investment funds in Europe with total 280M euros under management. This means they can connect you to top notch investors and attract more capital to your investment round.

Private investors often see EIF’s engagement in a fund as proof of a sound concept. That is exactly what happened to Finland-based waste management company Enevo in 2015. To boost its international expansion in 2015 Enevo has raised 15.8M euros round from several renowned business angels and venture capital investors including Berlin-based Earlybird Venture Capital, an international venture capital firm backed by EIF.

If you have questions regarding the European Angels Fund and how it can help your business, Juho Aminoff and Carsten Just from EIF will present an overview and answer questions regarding EIF’s new business angel co-investment program at Arctic15. Registration for the workshop is open.