October 3 (SeeNews) - The European Investment Fund (EIF), in cooperation with the Bulgarian government, is seeking financial intermediary partners for a newly launched fund of funds designed to provide local businesses with equity finance by leveraging resources from Bulgaria's EU-backed Recovery and Resilience Plan.
The newly established financial instrument, the Recovery Equity Fund of Funds of Bulgaria (REF), will offer equity or quasi-equity investments to final recipients through three channels: innovation and growth, each with an initial budget of up to 67.5 million euro ($70.7 million), and infrastructure, with an initial allocation of 27 million euro, EIF said in a statement on its website.
You can download the 2024 Renewable energy in Southeast Europe report here
The call for expressions of interest was launched on Monday, with applications accepted until August 31, 2025.
The eligible underlying funds, managed by fund managers, could be national or regional, new or existing, and should commit to investing in Bulgaria at least the equivalent of the contribution received from the REF.
The recovery equity fund will not invest directly in businesses. Instead, the underlying investments in portfolio companies will be carried out via the selected fund partners.
The innovation budget line aims to contribute to the knowledge economy by enhancing companies’ innovative capabilities and accelerating productivity improvements. The infrastructure window targets investments in infrastructure assets that chiefly contribute to climate neutrality and speed up the green and digital transition in pre-determined priority sectors. Financing will be provided to spur growth in both start-ups and mature companies.
EIF was granted the mandate to oversee this new equity instrument on behalf of Bulgaria's Ministry of Innovation and Growth in December.
($ = 0.9551 euro)