on the crypto
An EU institution known as the European Investment Fund (EIF) has signed six equity agreements with venture capital funds to support businesses under the EU's InnovFin initiative on artificial intelligence (AI ) and Blockchain.
These deals total more than $ 800 million made available to support blockchain and AI startups across Europe through equity funds located in Austria, Finland, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
AI and Blockchain among the EU priorities
The fund will particularly focus on B2B software, data / analytics, Internet of Things, smart cities, automation, language and machine learning, software as a service, fintech, cybersecurity and future of work.
"It is a priority for Europe to be at the forefront of the development of artificial intelligence / blockchain technology in order to remain competitive and improve people's lives, bringing great benefits to our society and the economy," said the administrator FEI Delegate Alain Godard before adding: “Europe is home to a world-leading blockchain and AI research community with dynamic start-ups and a wide range of traditional industries. I am pleased to be able to cooperate with the EC for invest in these six funds that are aimed at companies wishing to adopt innovative business processes and models ".
A lasting commitment
In 2019, the European Union had already invested in the experimentation of Blockchain technology, spending 674 million dollars, behind only 1,1 billion dollars from the United States. Most of the expenditure related to this trial was made by Member States rather than by the EU institutions.
As a result, today, countries like Estonia, where Blockchain technology has been used by the government for nearly ten years, are much more advanced than other European countries that are just starting to take an interest in this technology. This year, the EU promises even more with an investment plan that opens up new horizons in the sector.
The EU supports start-ups, small and medium-sized enterprises
This project is part of the € 535,4 billion European Fund for Strategic Investments (ESFI) which aims to support more than 1,4 million start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises across the European Union.
Around € 50 billion is allocated to InnovFin Equity which aims to invest in research and innovation across Europe, making it a huge package and one of the largest state-level investments in blockchain technology.
It presents itself as the race to seize the new opportunities unleashed by frontier technology, including space exploration, automation, blockchain, CRISP gene editing, machine learning and the bot economy, is intensifying especially between China and America. Europe has now entered the fray and does so with around $ 1 billion for this space alone.
