Europe plans $1.7 billion venture capital fund

The European Union is set to launch a set of pan-European venture capital funds to finance emerging technology companies based in the bloc. The EU will provide the funds with a total of $430 million. It seeks to hire fund managers who will be tasked with raising a further $1.7 billion from private investors. Each fund will be required to operate across at least five member states. A key goal of the program is to provide start-ups with second-stage funding that enables them to grow into global companies, a process that is easier in the U.S. “There’s far less venture capital in Europe than in the U.S., and funds don’t have the scale or geographic scope to grow companies from early-stage to mid-cap and from mid-cap to global players,” says Carlos Moedas, EU commissioner for research, science & innovation. The average European venture capital fund is around $60 million, compared with $120 million in the U.S.