- Its objective is to provide SMEs with alternative financing to banking, through Venture Capital.
- This initiative is part of the commitment announced by the President of the Government in the Debate on the State of the Nation to improve access to finance for Spanish companies.
- It is estimated that FOND-ICO Global will participate and serve as a catalyst for the creation of more than 40 Venture Capital funds with mostly private capital, which will mobilize resources of more than 3,000 million euros.
- These privately managed funds will invest in business projects in all their stages of development: from their first stages to their expansion.
The Official Credit Institute has approved the launch of FOND-ICO Global. It is the first public venture capital “Fund of Funds” created in Spain, endowed with 1,200 million euros, with the aim of promoting the creation of privately managed venture capital funds that make investments in Spanish companies in all its stages of development. The “Fund of Funds” will be managed by AXIS, the Venture Capital Company 100% owned by ICO.
This initiative is part of the measures included in the "Plan for Economic Stimulation and Support for Entrepreneurs" announced by the President of the Government in the Debate on the State of the Nation.
The measure approved by ICO aims to improve the financing of Spanish SMEs, increasing their level of capitalization and competitiveness, diversifying their sources of financing and promoting their internationalization.
The creation of FOND-ICO Global responds to one of the main requests from the Venture Capital sector, which demanded greater involvement of the public sector in the creation and development of alternative financing routes to bank financing for companies, especially in early stages of development.
Investments of over 3,000 million euros
AXIS, the management company of the ICO group, through a public bidding system, will be in charge of selecting, over the course of four years, the most appropriate private venture capital funds and managers so that the contribution of FOND-ICO Global acts as an “investor anchor ”in order to attract private national and international investors.
The final objective of the creation of this “Fund of Funds” is to promote non-bank financing of projects that combine innovation and entrepreneurship, investing in companies from the start, and during all phases of development, improving their competitiveness and internationalization.
FOND-ICO Global has a time horizon of four years to make investments in the different private funds in which it participates. It is estimated that during this time it will collaborate in the creation of more than 40 new Venture Capital funds in their different modalities, from the “Venture Capital” (where appropriate, including the incubation phases) to the so-called “Expansion Capital”.
The objective is to achieve a multiplier of public-private funds adapted to each type of activity, so that the “Fund of Funds” managed by AXIS serves as a catalyst for the creation of new privately managed Venture Capital funds that mobilize resources for an amount greater than 3,000 million euros.
With the launch of this "Fund of Funds" the catalog of Venture Capital products promoted by ICO through AXIS is completed.
In November 2012, the European Angels Fund Isabel la Católica Co-investment Fund was launched, designed and managed jointly with the European Investment Fund (EIF) to co-invest with Business Angels. Through this Fund, capital is provided to non-institutional investors seeking to invest in the first stages of business projects launched by entrepreneurs.
About Axis:
Venture capital company 100% owned by ICO, has been operating in the venture capital market for 25 years and throughout its history has made investments in more than 140 companies for a total amount of more than 300 million euros.
