The EIF and the Spanish Ministry of Economy launch €500 million equity scheme under the RRF

The Spanish Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise and the European Investment Fund (EIF), part of the EIB Group, have launched Climate and Infrastructure, a new financing instrument with €500 million in Regional Resilience Fund resources to back equity investment in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-caps.

The initiative was presented at an event in Madrid attended by representatives from the EIF, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise; equity fund managers and SpainCap, a Spanish venture capital and private equity industry association.

The new instrument targets infrastructure funds focused on climate action, sustainability and digitalisation, investing in areas such as the energy transition (renewable energy generation, distribution and storage), energy efficiency, sustainable transport, sustainable food service and digital infrastructure.

The instrument provides a further option for financing investment in SMEs, mid-caps and infrastructure projects to support the green and digital transition, while also meeting growing equity fund sector demand for this kind of financing.

Climate and Infrastructure is being financed under the Regional Resilience Fund, which directs funding from Spain’s Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (part of the NextGenerationEU programme) to drive environmental and social investment in its autonomous communities. It is led by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise and managed in collaboration with the EIB Group.

The implementation of this new Regional Resilience Fund instrument comes in addition to the European Investment Fund’s successful rollout of other small business and mid-cap support facilities using NextGenerationEU funds, such as the Alternative Lending for Sustainable Development instrument and the InvestEU Member State compartment programme.

The EIF is part of the EIB Group. Its central mission is to support Europe’s microenterprises and SMEs by helping them to access finance. The EIF designs and develops venture and growth capital, guarantees and microfinance instruments that specifically target this market segment. In this role, it contributes to the achievement of key EU policy goals such as competitiveness and growth, innovation and digitalisation, social impact, skills and human capital, climate action and environmental sustainability.

The Regional Resilience Fund (FRA) was created to facilitate access to NextGenerationEU loans from the Spanish Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan for the autonomous communities, with the aim of boosting investments and developing projects in eight priority areas: social and affordable housing; urban renewal; transport and sustainable tourism; the energy transition; water and waste management; the care economy; research, development and innovation; and the competitiveness of industry and SMEs.

The fund is led by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise, which takes input from the autonomous communities and cities for investment decision-making and looks to the EIB Group as a strategic management partner.

In June 2024, the EIB Group and the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise signed the agreement to launch the Regional Resilience Fund, including a direct financing mechanism, to co-finance EIB-supported operations in sectors like renewable energy, clean transport and sustainable infrastructure; an intermediated mechanism managed by financial intermediaries selected by the EIB, to support projects in urban development and sustainable tourism; and two intermediated instruments and a guarantee programme managed by the EIF that will facilitate SME financing for innovation, sustainability and competitiveness.