GVC Gaesco Launches $75M InfraTech Fund for Energy & Digital Startups

Jan de Vries · 2026-03-17

So, here's something interesting happening across the pond. GVC Gaesco Alternative Investments, part of the Barcelona-based financial group, just launched a new fund. We're talking about a $75 million pot of money specifically for InfraTech startups. You know, the companies building the physical and digital backbone of our modern world—energy systems, industrial tech, data infrastructure. It's called the Resilient Infratech Ventures fund, or RIF for short. They created it to solve a real problem. See, a lot of these hardware and infrastructure tech companies are capital-intensive. They need serious money to build prototypes, scale manufacturing, and deploy systems. But they often fall into a weird gap. They're too asset-heavy for traditional venture capital firms, which typically look for software's high margins. Yet, they're also too innovative and risky for conventional infrastructure financiers who like steady, predictable returns. ### Why This Fund Fills a Critical Gap Paco Illueca, the General Manager, put it well. He said, “Through our client network, we're seeing growing demand for alternative strategies linked to the real economy and technological innovation.” In simpler terms? Sophisticated investors are looking beyond stocks and bonds. They want to put money into tangible technologies that will power the future. Hardware and digital infrastructure are becoming incredibly attractive. This $75 million fund enters a pretty active European investment scene. Just look at 2025 so far: - Volve Capital in Amsterdam closed a $9.6 million debut fund for early-stage Benelux and DACH startups. - Ventech in Paris raised a massive $187 million for its sixth flagship fund. - Catalpa Ventures in Luxembourg announced a $32 million HealthTech-focused fund. - Sweden's Incore Invest hit $42.7 million for its second growth-stage tech fund. That's over $270 million in new capital right there. Compared to those, GVC Gaesco's fund is mid-sized, but its focus is what makes it unique. It's zeroing in on the intersection of energy, industry, and digital infrastructure—a combo you don't see as a standalone mandate every day. ### The Hands-On Experience Behind the Strategy Davide Cannarozzi, Managing Partner of RIF, shared the team's background. “We spent nearly twenty years building this specialisation, first as founders and managers of tech companies, then as investors.” That hands-on experience taught them something crucial. Capital-intensive companies can't scale with traditional equity alone. They need a more sophisticated financial structure to truly unlock their potential. That's the insight driving this whole fund. GVC Gaesco itself is no spring chicken. Founded in 1971, they've got over 50 years in wealth management, brokerage, and corporate finance. They know their way around capital markets. So, what exactly will the RIF fund invest in? They're targeting tech applied to three increasingly interdependent sectors: - **Energy**: Think storage solutions, smart grids, industrial electrification. - **Industry**: Automation, resource efficiency, advanced manufacturing. - **Digital Infrastructure**: Data centers, connectivity networks, critical backend tech. The goal is to find companies whose work boosts European competitiveness. The fund will primarily invest in Europe, with a keen eye on Southern European markets like Spain, Italy, France, and Portugal. And it's all official—the fund has received the green light from Spain's National Securities Market Commission (CNMV). It's a smart move. While software gets a lot of headlines, the physical and digital systems that make our economy run are undergoing a massive transformation. This fund is betting that the companies building that new foundation are a solid opportunity. For investors tired of the same old options, it's a compelling alternative. For startups in the InfraTech space, it's a much-needed source of specialized capital that understands their unique challenges. The race to rebuild our infrastructure is on, and now there's a new player at the starting line.