Fond-ICO Pyme

Endowed with 250 million euros

ICO SME Fund: Sustainability, digitalisation and social impact of the entrepreneurial ecosystem

The ICO SME Fund was the first fund created by Axis and has a size of 250 million euros

What is the objective of the ICO SME Fund?

This fund was set up in 1993 with the aim of promoting the growth of the business fabric and job creation through participation in Spanish SMEs, with equity and quasi-equity instruments.
It now operates mainly by investing in funds that in turn invest in strategic or innovative activity segments, such as sustainability and social impact or the entrepreneurial ecosystem, as well as promoting complementary financing to bank loans through different financing types: business angels or diversified debt (crowdlending/crowdfunding).

With investments from the ICO SME Fund, Axis contributes to the consolidation of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, job creation and the economic stimulations, while also mobilising private sector resources.

This public-private partnership model pays special attention to supporting strategic projects focused on digitalisation and sustainability.

Where do we invest?

The ICO SME Fund's investment strategy focuses on channelling resources to companies through co-investments with other venture capital funds and investments in funds that are especially dedicated to sustainability and social impact, as well as business angels and diversified debt.

The ICO SME Fund also contemplates investments in Spanish companies with a certain degree of maturity that want to finance their expansion process or, to a lesser extent, are in its early stages, either through loans or equity participation, always in co-investment with other private equity funds, on a minority basis, without becoming a reference partner, and only for a limited time adapted to the project's period of maturity.

What are our resources for?

The resources that we invest go to financing companies’ expansion, which specifically include:

Innovations.
Asset purchases.
Internationalisation.

And expressly exclude:

Debt restructuring and refinancing.
Working capital requirements.
Substitution of shareholders.

What is the investment range?

From 750,000 to 15 million euros, with a target average investment of 5 million euros, depending on the contribution from the co-investor fund.

Different Initiatives developed by the ICO SME Fund

Within the framework of the ICO SME Fund, a series of initiatives have been developed to foster financing that is complementary to bank financing, thus allowing for participation based on objective criteria in certain strategic activity segments (sustainability and social impact) and financing types (crowdfunding, crowdlending, business angels), providing greater flexibility and reducing the material and management costs of certain participations.

The ICO SME Fund invests in the following initiatives:

With a 100 million euro endowment, it aims to develop and invest in funds that invest in companies leading projects in different sectors and that have a significant social and/or sustainability impact.

This initiative is a pioneering one, as it focuses on financing companies that act in areas with a high social impact, such as health, education, social innovation, rural development, labour inclusion, green transition, circular economy, sustainable agriculture and gender equality, among others.

These investments provide a measurable positive social or environmental impact, where profitability is not the vehicle's top priority, rather the impact of the investment on society.
It will invest up to 49% of the Fund's size, with a maximum ticket of 10 million euros, in funds with a commitment to invest at least 70% in Spanish companies and is open to co-investment with other major institutional investors in this investment field

This is a pan-European Initiative managed by the European Investment Fund (EIF) to support business angel activities in Europe. It provides capital to business angels and other non-institutional investors with the objective of financing innovative companies through co-investments. The main promoters of this initiative are the EIF and Axis, with the EIF managing the initiative.

The European Angels Fund ("EAF") I and II, endowed with 30 million and 40 million euros, respectively, represent the Spanish component of a pan-European initiative aimed at promoting and supporting international collaboration between business angels and family offices, helping these non-institutional investors to become a real capital alternative for innovative entrepreneurs and companies. Fully implemented, the EAF will cover several countries or regions at the pan-European level.

The fund works together with business angels to extend their investment capacity in Spain and co-invest with them in companies in the seed phases, the early stage and expansion. The activity of the EAF seeks to adapt to the investment style of each business angel, without interfering in the decision-making process or in the management of the investments.

This initiative is endowed with 50 million euros and seeks to ensure that a large number of Spanish SMEs can quickly and efficiently access new sources of financing and an alternative to banks, thus promoting the growth of the business fabric, technological development and job creation in Spain.

It will invest up to 30% of the size of the fund with a maximum target of 15 million euros. These funds will be able to finance companies, either alone or in co-investment with other investors or crowdlending/crowdfunding platforms
.

This initiative was approved in April 2020 to temporarily strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem and cover the liquidity needs of innovative technology-based companies with high growth potential, which found it difficult to access new financing rounds due to the economic impact of Covid.

With a 50 million euro endowment, and in order to try to cover part of this temporary lack of financing and support these early-stage companies and others in the venture capital ecosystem, Axis developed this investment initiative in funds that provide priority financing to SMEs and technology companies in our country that are having temporary cash flow problems.

It will invest up to 49% of the size of the fund with a maximum target of 25 million euros

La información y los documentos que aparecen en esta página web son exclusivamente de carácter informativo. Ningún contenido de esta página web puede interpretarse como una oferta, ni invitación ni recomendación, para la suscripción o la adquisición, la tenencia o la venta de cualquier activo financiero.

Cabe la posibilidad de que la distribución de la información y los documentos contenidos en esta página web estén prohibidas o limitadas por ley en algunas jurisdicciones. El acceso queda denegado a aquellas personas a las cuales estas restricciones, en tales jurisdicciones, les sean de aplicación. La información y los documentos contenidos en esta página web no se dirigen a, ni se presentan para ser vistos por, ni distribuidos a ninguna persona residente o físicamente presente en EE.UU., salvo lo estipulado en la Norma 144A de acuerdo con la Ley sobre Activos Financieros (Securities Act) en relación con "inversores institucionales cualificados" (QIBs).

Se deniega el acceso a toda persona a quien estas restricciones les sean de aplicación. Cada visitante de esta página web tiene la obligación de informarse debidamente y a cumplir con las restricciones correspondientes. El Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO) no asume ninguna responsabilidad en caso de alguna infracción en este sentido.

NO SOY RESIDENTE EN EE.UU. NI EN NINGUNA JURISDICCIÓN EN QUE EL ACCESO A ESTA INFORMACIÓN ESTÉ LEGALMENTE LIMITADA Y ESTOY DE ACUERDO CON LO EXPUESTO ANTERIORMENTE

Como consecuencia de la información anterior, en esta sección de esta página web usted confirma que no es residente en los EE.UU. ni en ninguna jurisdicción en que el acceso a esta información esté legalmente limitada y que no distribuirá aviso alguno ni documentación contenida en la misma a alguna persona residente en los EE.UU. ni en ninguna jurisdicción en que el acceso a esta información esté legalmente limitada. Ninguna información desplegada en las siguientes secciones constituye una oferta de venta de activos financieros en los EE.UU.

ACEPTO NO ACEPTO

El Instituto de Crédito Oficial no ha efectuado ni tiene la intención de efectuar el registro de cualquiera de sus activos financieros (ni tampoco la garantía de los mismos ha sido o será registrada), de acuerdo con la Ley estadounidense de 1933 sobre activos financieros o con cualquier Ley estatal estadounidense sobre activos financieros que resulten de aplicación, ni realizará oferta pública de venta de activos financieros en los EE.UU. El ICO cumple la normativa en materia de exención de la inscripción de sus activos financieros, de acuerdo con la mencionada ley estadounidense de 1933 sobre activos financieros, según la cual éstos se ofrecerán a la venta sólo a "inversores institucionales cualificados", según lo previsto en la Norma 144A.