The ICO selects 11 funds to invest up to €850 million from the Recovery Plan in green transition and business growth projects

AXIS, the private equity subsidiary of the ICO Group, has concluded the 17th call of Fond-ICO Global with the selection of 11 funds in which it will invest up to €850 million from the Next Generation EU funds, as part of the second phase of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.

Thanks to the public-private partnership model under which Fond-ICO Global operates, this call will enable the mobilisation of €2.4 billion towards innovative projects that drive the growth and transformation of Spanish businesses.

This is the second time a Fond-ICO Global round has been aligned with the Recovery Plan rollout. In the 16th call, a maximum of €900 million from the Next Generation EU funds was also invested. Across both calls, the ICO has approved investments in 23 private equity funds for a total of up to €1.75 billion.

The €850 million to be invested by AXIS in the 17th call will support companies at all stages of development, distributed as follows across categories: €600 million in the "Growth Capital" category, €150 million in selected "Venture Capital" funds, and €100 million in "Incubation/Technology Transfer" funds.

The selected fund managers are:

Growth Capital Category:

GPF Partners S.G.E.I.C., S.L.
Magnum Initial Investors S.à.r.l.
Oquendo Capital S.G.E.I.C., S.A.
Sherpa Capital Entidad Gestora SGEIC SA

Venture Capital Category:

Adara Ventures, S.G.E.I.C., S.A.
Antai Ventures Management, S.G.E.I.C. S.A.U.
4Founders Capital SGEIC, S.A.

Incubation/Technology Transfer Category:

Archipélago Next Ventures S.G.E.I.C., S.A
Bcombinator Venture Partners, S.L.
Demium Capital S.G.E.I.C., S.A.U.
Faraday Venture Capital S.G.E.I.C., S.A.

This call attracted 28 applications across the available categories, reflecting the growing consolidation of this successful public-private partnership model aimed at revitalising the private equity sector in Spain. It plays a key role in the second phase of the Recovery Plan rollout.

The resources deployed in this call will come from ICO Verde and ICO Empresas y Emprendedores initiatives, depending on the type of project. These initiatives are managed by ICO under the second phase of the Recovery Plan.

Investments under the ICO Verde programme will support the development of projects by Spanish companies that promote, among other things, renewable energy generation, energy efficiency, sustainable mobility, and the circular economy. Projects supported by the ICO Empresas y Emprendedores line aim to strengthen business growth.

Fond-ICO Global: Two Calls Powered by the Recovery Plan

Recovery Plan resources have allowed Fond-ICO Global to increase both the amounts it allocates to each selected fund/manager and the maximum investment percentage. This strengthens the role of the public fund as an anchor investor and underscores the public sector’s commitment to supporting the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Under these calls, Fond-ICO Global may invest up to 49% of a fund’s total size, helping funds reach their target size more quickly to begin deploying capital, while maintaining the majority stake with private investors.

Fond-ICO Global and Key Figures

Fond-ICO Global promotes the development and consolidation of the private equity fund ecosystem in Spain, from early-stage to growth and debt financing.

Across its 17 calls, Fond-ICO Global has selected 153 private funds for a total maximum investment of €5.176 billion