ICO invests in 7 funds to mobilise more than 1,000 million euros in public-private partnerships to boost the growth of Spanish companies

23 diciembre 2022

  • AXIS, the venture capital company of the ICO Group, announces the 15th call of Fond-ICO Global.
  • This call increases the volume of investment that the funds have to allocate to Spanish companies, in order to promote their growth and contribute to consolidating the economic recovery.
  • In the 15 calls for proposals, 130 funds have been selected to invest a maximum of 3,426 million euros which, in collaboration with private investors, will mobilise more than 11,400 million euros for Spanish companies.

AXIS, the venture capital subsidiary of the ICO Group, has resolved the 15th call of Fond-ICO Global with the selection of 7 funds in which it will invest 410 million euros, being the largest after the 14th call.

Fond-ICO Global is the first public venture capital fund of funds created in Spain. Thanks to the leverage effect generated by the public-private partnership scheme under which this vehicle operates, with the 410 million approved investment, the selected funds will be able to mobilise more than €1 billion in financing for Spanish companies.

The fund managers whose funds have been selected are as follows:

In the category of Capital Expansion:
•    Alantra Capital Privado, SGEIC, S.A.U.
•    Nexxus Iberia, SGEIC, S.A.
•    Proa Capital de Inversiones, SGEIC, S.A.

In the Venture Capital category:
•    All Iron Ventures, SGEIC, S.A.
•    Bynd Venture Capital SCR, S.A.
•    Inveready Asset Management, SGEIC, S.A.

In the Incubation/Technology Transfer category:
•    Sancus Capital, SGEIC, S.A. 

The EUR 410 million to be invested by AXIS is distributed as follows between the categories: EUR 300 million will be invested in the funds selected in the "Expansion Capital" category, EUR 90 million in the selected "Venture Capital" funds and EUR 20 million in the "Incubation/Technology Transfer" fund. 

New features introduced in the 15th Call

Some new features have been introduced in this call to multiply the capacity to mobilise resources in public-private partnerships aimed at consolidating the growth of Spanish companies at all stages of development and helping to consolidate the recovery. 

Specifically in the Venture category, as a new feature, the funds selected by Fond-ICO Global must meet two requirements: invest at least 50% of the resources in Spanish companies and double Fond-ICO Global's contributions. In previous calls, only one of the two conditions had to be met.  

In addition, in the Expansion category, the participation of private investors in the funds is encouraged. To this end, the weight of Fond-ICO Global in the selected vehicles may not exceed 40% of the total size of the fund. The aim of this measure is to attract a greater contribution of private capital to promote investments in consolidated growth companies.  

Likewise, the assessment of the digitisation and sustainability of companies and projects is consolidated as qualitative criteria in the selection of funds, with higher scores being awarded to those funds that fall under articles 8 and 9 of the European Union regulation.

With the 15th call of Fond-ICO Global, the ICO Group strengthens its commitment to the development of the venture capital sector by promoting complementary financing channels to the banking sector as a strategic instrument to underpin the recovery of the Spanish economy and boost the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Fond-ICO Global and its main figures

Fond-ICO Global promotes the development and consolidation of the private VC fund ecosystem in Spain from the early stages to growth and debt. It is endowed with €4.5 billion, following an extension in July 2020 for an additional €2.5 billion for the period 2021-2027.

In the 15 Fond-ICO Global calls that have been made, 130 private funds have been selected to invest a maximum of 3,426 million euros.  It is estimated that the multiplier effect of Fond-ICO Global, together with private sector investments, will inject more than €11.4 billion into Spanish companies and a total mobilisation of resources of €30.288 billion.

The positive evolution of Fond-ICO Global demonstrates the consolidation of this successful public-private partnership model aimed at boosting the venture capital sector in Spain.

About AXIS

Axis acts in public-private partnership with the venture capital sector in all areas of activity and currently has commitments to manage up to €7.15 billion in its four funds: Fond-ICO Global, Fond-ICO Next Tech, Fond-ICO Pyme, and Fond-ICO Sustainability and Infrastructures. These commitments will allow a joint mobilisation of public and private resources of more than €15 billion over the next five years, depending on the private sector's capacity to absorb resources and materialise projects.