EIF Backs BackingMinds With $22M to Find Founders VC Misses

Jan de Vries · 2026-10-20

The European Investment Fund (EIF) is putting about $22 million (€20 million) into Swedish VC firm BackingMinds. The money goes to their new fund, BackingMinds Invest III. The goal? To find promising entrepreneurs and businesses that traditional investors often overlook. EIF is part of the Luxembourg-based European Investment Bank Group. It'll be the first institutional investor in the fund, which is backed by the EU's InvestEU programme. This follows BackingMinds' $55 million (€50 million) fund close in 2022 and EIF's investment in Swedish entrepreneurship platform Techarena in 2025. ### Why BackingMinds? BackingMinds was founded in 2016 by Sara Wimmercranz and Susanne Najafi. They started the firm to address gaps in how capital gets distributed. Through two earlier funds, BackingMinds has invested in 23 companies. The track record is telling: - 46% have had at least one female founder - 43% have had founders with immigrant backgrounds - 71% were established outside a capital city That's not accidental. It's the whole point. "The future is never where you expect it, and neither are the founders building it," says Wimmercranz, founding partner at BackingMinds. "Some of the most innovative companies in the Nordics are being built where venture capital rarely reaches. A network is a filter. It lets through what already looks like the network and repeats the patterns of the past. As investors, we need to be more open and seek founders out. The EIF's commitment lets us do that on a larger scale." ### A Wider Trend BackingMinds' EIF commitment comes amid a wave of institutional backing for specialized European venture funds in 2026. In Sweden, Norrsken Evolve closed a $68 million (€62 million) pre-seed fund, while Turbine Capital reached a $59 million (€54 million) final close for Nordic DeepTech investments, both with EIF backing. Elsewhere, Berlin-based Auxxo closed its $36.6 million (€33.3 million) Female Catalyst Fund II. Copenhagen's Climentum Capital secured a $66 million (€60 million) first close for climate HardTech, including $44 million (€40 million) from the EIF. And Munich-based Ananda Impact Ventures raised $80 million (€73 million) at first close for impact investments. Together, these fund closings represent approximately $310 million (€282.3 million), excluding BackingMinds' separate $22 million (€20 million) EIF commitment. "Europe cannot afford to leave talented entrepreneurs undiscovered simply because they are outside the traditional venture capital networks," adds Merete Clausen, deputy chief executive at EIF. "BackingMinds has shown that promising businesses can be found in places and among founders that investors too often miss. By supporting this fund, we are helping to unlock that potential and bring more capital to companies tackling some of Europe's most pressing challenges." ### What the New Fund Will Do BackingMinds Invest III will finance early-stage companies primarily in Sweden and across the Nordic region. It will seek out businesses founded by women, by people with immigrant backgrounds, and those based outside capital cities. The focus will also be on commercially promising companies that address environmental or social challenges. That ranges from reducing carbon emissions and upgrading energy efficiency to improving healthcare and bolstering education. According to the EIF, their support is aimed at helping BackingMinds Invest III attract other institutional investors. So this $22 million isn't just a check. It's a signal. It tells other investors that these founders are worth backing. And in a startup ecosystem that often repeats the same patterns, that signal matters.