“Private capital from Europe is still too scarce for scale-ups, especially in their growth phase. With our new fund, we aim to close this financing gap in North Rhine-Westphalia,” says Gabriela Pantring, Chairwoman of NRW.BANK’s Managing Board. “In geopolitically challenging times, it is crucial that key technologies are developed, scaled and retained in Europe for the long term. This includes innovations from many technological fields, ranging from deep tech, green tech and Industry 4.0 to defence and dual-use technologies. By financing these future technologies, we are strengthening both technological sovereignty and resilience here in our state – and thus for Europe as a whole.”

Mona Neubaur, Vice Prime Minister and Economics Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, adds: “The start-up ecosystem in North Rhine-Westphalia is becoming ever stronger. Thanks to our state initiatives and NRW.BANK’s early-stage funding, we surpassed Berlin for the first time in 2025 in terms of the number of start-ups founded. However, successful start-ups are still too often dependent on external capital and frequently move their headquarters elsewhere as a result. This is precisely where NRW.Venture EU Tech&Scale comes in – ensuring that new technologies and business models contribute to prosperity and employment right here at home.”

Growth capital for future technologiesThe new fund invests in highly innovative scale-ups based in North Rhine-Westphalia. These young tech companies have already successfully developed their solutions, brought them to market, and are now in the growth phase – a stage often requiring substantial capital. With NRW.Venture EU Tech&Scale, NRW.BANK specifically supports them during this phase, enabling them to grow in North Rhine-Westphalia over the long term and create new jobs.

In total, the fund allows for up to an additional 200 million euros to be made available for investments in young growth companies. To this end, in December 2025 NRW.BANK concluded a corresponding guarantee agreement with the European Commission for 100 million euros. NRW.BANK is thus the first Implementing Partner in Germany to have signed a guarantee agreement with the European Commission.

More information about the fund can be found at www.nrwbank.de/tech-scale(Link opens in a new window)

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InvestEU
The InvestEU programme(Link opens in a new window) provides the European Union with crucial long-term funding by leveraging substantial private and public funds in support of a sustainable recovery. It also helps mobilise private investments for the European Union's policy priorities, such as the European Green Deal and the digital transition. The InvestEU programme brings together under one roof the multitude of EU financial instruments currently available to support investment in the European Union, making funding for investment projects in Europe simpler, more efficient and more flexible. The programme consists of three components: the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub and the InvestEU Portal. The InvestEU Fund is implemented through financial partners that will invest in projects using the EU budget guarantee of 26.2 billion euros. The entire budget guarantee will back the investment projects of the implementing partners, increase their risk-bearing capacity and thus mobilise at least 372 billion euros in additional investment.

NRW.BANK - the promotional bank for North Rhine-Westphalia
NRW.BANK is the promotional bank of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). In close partnership with its owner, the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Bank helps to strengthen SMEs and start-ups, create affordable housing and improve public infrastructure. To fulfil its mandate, NRW.BANK offers people, enterprises and local authorities tailor-made financing solutions and advisory services. It cooperates with its financing partners, in particular all banks and savings banks, on a competition-neutral basis. NRW.BANK operates largely independently of the state budget. In order to accelerate the transformation processes, the promotional bank provides effective promotional impulses – for a sustainable, climate-neutral and digital North Rhine-Westphalia.

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