Creating a new EU investment platform to improve access to finance in the circular bioeconomy
At a conference on 6 December 2017 in Brussels, European Commission and European Investment Bank officials received market views on ways a new investment vehicle they are planning could coax private capital into the bioeconomy. Expected to be launched towards the end of 2018, the fund which will include €100 million in EU funding with money drawn from its current research programme, Horizon 2020, will generate new money for what officials call the ‘circular bioeconomy’.
These are some of the key suggestions that participants in the conference raised, to make the fund a success:
- Explain clearly to investors what the fund is trying to achieve, and in what areas
- The fund should strive to reward the most innovative projects currently stuck in the pre-commercial stages
- The fund should be open to as wide a range of investors as possible, from companies to wealthy individuals
- A mechanism that sees EU money take first loss in an investment would likely attract the widest number of investors
- The fund should offer improved investment-decision timelines than currently exist for companies seeking funds.
- To complement the fund, the EU should continue gathering and publishing data on funding gaps in the bioeconomy
With the support of:
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