Europe’s €5bn investment fund aimed at scaling up future European tech giants has disclosed that its first investment is in Finnish satellite startup Iceye.
The Scaleup Europe Fund, managed by Swedish investment firm EQT, co-led Iceye’s €1bn funding round, the fund said. It co-led the round with US private equity firm General Atlantic, which was announced in June this year. The Series F funding round valued the company at around €10bn.
The much-trumpeted fund is the latest move by the EU to help EU challengers grow from startup to tech leaders without moving to the US.
The Scaleup Europe fund is investing in tech startups across the bloc in strategic sectors, such as AI, quantum, space and biotech.
Iceye, headquartered in Finland, uses what is called synthetic aperture radar technology to capture images through cloud cover.
