The Basque Government, through the Departments of Industry and Finance, has created the venture capital fund HAZTEN SCALE-UP, endowed with €50 million. This fund will be managed by the Basque Country Venture Capital Management Company.
This fund strengthens the Basque Government’s capacity to accelerate the growth of startups in their scale-up phase.
According to Mikel Jauregi, Regional Minister of Industry, Energy Transition and Sustainability of the Basque Government, “in this era of industrial transformation, the Basque Government is committed to boosting the growth of Basque startups. It is more necessary than ever to create a new industrial fabric.”
Mikel Jauregi adds that “in the Basque Country, we are a benchmark in the creation of startups emerging from the advanced knowledge of our scientific and technological centres. These startups require capital to grow and become viable, sustainable businesses and to scale up.”
In his view, “through this fund we also promote investment jointly with private capital, fostering public-private collaboration. We do this so that our knowledge-based startups can accelerate their growth. The use of public-private funds will also help anchor our projects locally.”
The Basque Government aims to promote the growth of startups in order to create a new Basque industrial fabric. Investments from this fund will primarily focus on the HAZI sectors of the Basque Industry Plan 2030, which include aerospace, biosciences, advanced solutions, smart grids and storage, as well as renewable fuels.
The creation of this fund fulfils the Basque Industry Plan 2030, in coherence and alignment with the Euskadi Eraldatuz 2030 plan.
This fund complements the “Scalability Investment Programme” announced by the Basque Government in January through the Basque Institute of Finance (IVF). It is part of the deployment of the Euskadi Eraldatuz 2030 plan, a commitment of the Basque Government within the Basque Financial Alliance. It foresees €1 billion in public investment to mobilise up to €3 billion of private investment.
The Basque Financial Alliance is a key instrument to accelerate the transformation of the Basque productive ecosystem. It is a key tool in the face of structural changes and global challenges: the energy transition, digitalisation, demographic ageing, and strategic autonomy.
At present, several milestones of the Plan have already been activated. These include the launch of the Indartuz line of direct financing to industry through loans and guarantees for business transformation projects; the reinforcement and adaptation of Finkatuz as a vehicle for anchoring strategic companies, with recent benchmark transactions; and the creation of the Indartuz company, focused on large transformational investments in areas such as flexible debt, business scalability, advanced infrastructure, and social transition.
In this context, new initiatives planned in the coming months will be rolled out. These include guaranteed financing lines through Elkargi, new Indartuz investment programmes, and two new venture capital funds managed by the Basque Country Venture Capital entity, including Hazten, aimed at fostering new industry and emerging sectors.
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