Keen Venture Partners gets boost from EIF to support European technology SMEs
18 Nov 2021 03:42 PM
Amsterdam-based Keen Venture Partners yesterday announced the first close of its second fund, with backing from the European Investment Fund. The EIF participated with €30 million to this second fund, after having already supported Keen's first fund in 2016. This second fund has a target size of €150 million and has now reached first close at €120 million. The EIF participation in the fund is backed by the European Commission under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the main pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe.
- European Investment Fund (EIF) backs Keen Venture Partners with €30 million in launch of its second fund, which reaches first close at €120 million.
- Financing to support SMEs across the EU, in line with Keen's first 2016 fund that was also supported by the EIF under the European Commssion's COSME programme.
- The financing is supported under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the main pillar of the European Commission's Investment Plan for Europe.
Commissioner for Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, yesterday said:
“I welcome the launch of this new fund which focuses especially on European technology companies in their early growth stage. With support from the EIF and the Investment Plan for Europe, these innovative companies will create jobs and contribute to Europe's competitiveness in the technology sector. These investments will not only boost our recovery, but also advance the digital transition at the same time.”
Robert Verwaayen, General Partner of KEEN Venture Partners, yesterday said:
“We are pleased with the backing of our existing investors and a number of high-profile new ones, demonstrating a high level of confidence in our ability to build a next generation venture capital fund.”
Alain Godard, Chief Executive of the European Investment Fund yesterday said:
“Keen is a longstanding partner of the EIB Group in the Netherlands.”
“We are happy to build on our relationship to make sure that Dutch companies will also benefit from this European financing opportunity.”
The fund will support European technology companies in their early growth stage. Examples of sectors targeted include cloud computing, machine learning, software as a service (SaaS) and digital applications. Key targeted countries for the investments are the Netherlands, France and Germany.
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