At the BlueInvest Days 2022 in Brussels, Commissioner Virginius Sinkevičius and European Investment Fund (EIF) Deputy Chief Executive, Roger Havenith have announced a new dedicated equity initiative for the blue economy under InvestEU. The initiative will mobilise an additional €500 million of EU funds for financial intermediaries investing in this sector. Commissioner Sinkevičius also announced that the European Commission’s successful BlueInvest initiative will continue beyond 2022 until 2026.
European Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius, responsible for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, praised the achievements of the BlueInvest initiative, which in the past 3 years has been highly successful in terms of getting hundreds of SMEs coached and matched with investors. The initiative has led to a large number of financing deals being signed, has strengthened the investment landscape for the blue economy, increased investor awareness and helped bridge the finance gap for blue technology SMEs and start-ups.
From BlueInvest to InvestEU Blue Economy
InvestEU Blue Economy, the scaled-up equity initiative that builds on the BlueInvest Fund pilot under European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), brings together the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF), the EIB Group and InvestEU financeSearch for available translations of the preceding linkEN•••, thereby mobilising an additional €500 million of EU funds for financial intermediaries investing in this sector. This will result in €1,5 billion of risk-financing available to innovative and sustainable blue economy SMEs and start-ups, via financial intermediaries. The call for expression of interest will be soon published by the EIF.
As a novelty the BlueInvest platform as well as the EIF and European Investment Bank (EIB) will provide capacity building and advisory support for financial intermediaries and impact investors targeting investments in the blue economy.
Originally published by Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries
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