EIB Venture Debt

As the ability of smaller companies to access affordable debt to sustain operations between successive large funding rounds varies between countries and has been a notable challenge in Europe, the EIB has developed a venture debt credit line that has recently been used to support energy-related start-ups. The financing structure includes bullet repayment (type of loan repayment structure where the borrower makes a single, large payment for the entire principal amount at the end of the loan term, rather than making periodic payments of principal over the life of the loan) and remuneration linked to the equity risk of the investees, and complements existing venture capital financing.

In 2024, the EIB provided venture debt to Germany-based INERATEC for a synthetic fuel plant, to US-headquartered Rondo Energy for power-to-heat storage projects in Europe, to US battery material developer Graphenix Development (GDI) for a silicon anode demonstration plant in Germany, and to German company Sunfire for the development of solid oxide electrolysers.

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