EIF and AXIS team up with business angels to fund start-ups

The European Investment Fund (EIF) and AXIS, a venture capital company of the Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO), today presented the EAF-Isabel La Católica Fund, which makes €20 million available to business angels to invest in start-ups.

In which companies can you invest?

The Fund aims to support innovative SMEs. Investments will be generalist in
in terms of sector and stage of development.
The Fund's co-investments will be focused on new investments made by Business Angels.
In exceptional cases, follow-on investments ("follow-ons") could be made in existing enterprises in
their portfolios.

How does it work?

The Isabel La Católica Fund - EAF Spain creates contractual relationships with Business Angels through Co-Investment Framework Agreements ("CFAs"). In this way, a pre-defined amount of capital is made available to the Business Angels for co-investments without participating in the decision-making process.
To facilitate and streamline the process, CFAs follow standard formats, but leave room for adaptation to the specific requirements of each Business Angel. Adaptations may relate to the duration of the framework agreement, the sectoral focus, the number of investments, etc. All investment decisions will be taken by
Business Angels, so that the Isabel La Católica Fund - EAF Spain contributes an amount of capital
equivalent to that contributed by each of them. The amounts agreed in each AC may vary.
between Eur 250k and Eur 5m. The Fund does not pay management fees to the Business Angels but assumes its share.
proportionate share of the expenses related to the taking of investments.

Diego Gutiérrez Zarza