- In 2021, the European Investment Bank Group provided a record amount of nearly €95 billion in financing. Nearly €3.42 billion of this went to Belgian projects, more than ever before in Belgium.
- The EIB signed €2.7 billion in financing, and its subsidiary, the European Investment Fund, provided another €718.5 million in investments.
- Last year, €300 million of EIB finance was provided to European life science, biotech and medtech businesses, of which one-third — €100 million — went to Belgian firms.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) and European Investment Fund (EIF), which together form the EIB Group, provided a record amount of nearly €95 billion in financing in 2021, a great deal of which — some €45 billion — went towards supporting Europe’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) during the crisis period. It was also a record year in Belgium itself, with over €3.42 billion in finance for Belgian projects. This included nearly €2.7 billion in financing from the EIB, and a further €718.5 million via the European Investment Fund, the EIB subsidiary that focuses exclusively on finance for SMEs.
“This is an extremely important result in difficult times,” said EIB Vice-President Kris Peeters. “This record amount of financing underlines the importance of European financing for various industries in Belgium. In addition, we as the EIB Group are very pleased to have been able to contribute to the recovery after last summer’s catastrophic floods.”
Carrying on from the innovation financing provided in 2020, in 2021 the EIB fully supported five Belgian medtech firms with loans and quasi-equity funding. For some of them, such as Univercells and miDiagnostics, finance was provided for important research and development programmes in connection with COVID-19. In total, the EIB made more than €100 million available to the Belgian medical technology sector.
Vice-President Kris Peeters added: “Last year, more than a third of all EIB financing for life sciences, biotech and medtech went to Belgian firms. That’s clearly a significant indicator of the success of Belgian firms in this field. With the help of the European Guarantee Fund, we were able to make a big difference for innovative companies, and we certainly want to continue in that direction.”
The European Investment Fund, the EIB’s subsidiary, expanded its collaboration with Sowalfin and PMV on finance for Belgian SMEs. The Fund also made several investments to support innovative small businesses via the V-Bio Ventures Fund, Bioqube and Finance&Invest Brussels. Money was also made available for micro-enterprises with the support of the European Commission’s Employment and Social Innovation programme, via Helenos and Microstart.