New EIB–Angelini Ventures Partnership Strengthens Europe’s Innovation Ecosystem with Major Funding for Emerging Health Technologies

New EIB–Angelini Ventures Partnership Strengthens Europe’s Innovation Ecosystem with Major Funding for Emerging Health Technologies

(IN BRIEF) The European Investment Bank and Angelini Ventures have signed a €150 million funding agreement to support early- and growth-stage European startups in biotechnology, medical technology, and digital health. Each partner will invest €75 million over six years in seven to ten companies ready for market expansion. This marks the EIB’s first partnership with a corporate venture capital fund in the healthcare sector and supports the EU’s broader TechEU strategy to accelerate technological leadership. Angelini Ventures, founded in 2022, has already invested €125 million in 22 startups and will strengthen its European presence through this initiative. As the first investment under the new agreement, the partners expect to co-fund Adcytherix, a French company developing next-generation antibody-drug conjugates. The initiative also addresses Europe’s ongoing scale-up challenges by increasing capital availability, enhancing competitiveness, and supporting the region’s innovation ecosystem.

(PRESS RELEASE) LUXEMBOURG, 2-Dec-2025 — /EuropaWire/ — The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Angelini Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Angelini Industries, have signed a landmark agreement to provide €150 million in financing for emerging European companies in biotechnology, medtech, and digital health. This marks the first time the EIB has partnered with a corporate venture capital fund in the healthcare sector, underscoring the EU’s commitment to strengthening innovation-driven industries across the continent. Under the agreement, both partners will contribute €75 million over the next six years.

Through this collaboration, Angelini Ventures and the EIB intend to co-invest in seven to ten European startups, focusing on technologies ready for market entry and capable of delivering high-impact solutions in healthcare, biotherapeutics, diagnostics, and the digital transformation of medical services.

“Initiatives like this strengthen Europe’s ability to lead technological innovation and generate tangible benefits for people, patients and businesses,” said Gelsomina Vigliotti, EIB Vice-President. She emphasized that investments in biotechnology and digital health accelerate research, elevate patient care, and support the growth of companies shaping the next generation of healthcare.

The partnership, presented at Angelini Ventures’ headquarters in Rome, aligns with TechEU, the EIB Group’s major investment programme aimed at enhancing Europe’s technological competitiveness between 2025 and 2027. Through TechEU, the EIB Group plans to deploy €70 billion in equity, quasi-equity, loans, and guarantees to stimulate €250 billion in real-economy investment. The new agreement also strengthens Angelini Ventures’ presence in European innovation ecosystems: since its creation in 2022 with €300 million from Angelini Industries, the fund has already invested €125 million across 22 startups.

Sergio Marullo di Condojanni, CEO of Angelini Industries, noted that the partnership marks an important step in expanding the group’s innovation agenda across Europe. “Being selected by the EIB for this ambitious initiative is a valuable opportunity to transform excellent research into products and services that improve people’s lives and drive economic development in Europe.”

Angelini Ventures CEO Paolo Di Giorgio added that the agreement reinforces the fund’s global outlook and ability to scale emerging technologies. He highlighted that greater access to strategic capital and partnerships is essential for accelerating market pathways and strengthening the competitiveness of European innovators.

As an initial action under the new partnership, Angelini Ventures and the EIB intend to co-invest in the second financing round of Adcytherix, a French biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). The deal is nearing completion following a first round led in October by Bpifrance alongside Kurma Partners, Andera Partners, and Angelini Ventures. ADC technologies combine targeted antibodies with advanced cytotoxic payloads to increase precision, reduce toxicity, and overcome resistance to current therapies.

Europe’s venture landscape

The announcement comes as Europe continues to face challenges scaling startups into global competitors. According to the European Commission’s startup and scale-up strategy, significant structural gaps remain between Europe and markets such as the United States and Asia — particularly in transitioning research to commercialization and supporting companies in scaling to late-stage maturity.

Recent data illustrates the divide: in 2024, the United States recorded 15,000 funding rounds totalling €210 billion, while Asia posted 11,000 rounds at €70 billion. Europe saw 9,600 rounds worth €57 billion, representing declines of 16% in deal count and 8% in value compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, nearly 30% of European unicorns relocated outside the EU between 2008 and 2021.

Despite these challenges, Italy showed resilience, with €1.5 billion invested across 417 rounds in 2024 — a 31% increase from 2023. Life sciences alone attracted €300 million across 62 rounds, including a €12 million investment in Serenis co-led by Angelini Ventures, one of the year’s notable transactions.

The EIB–Angelini Ventures partnership aims to strengthen Europe’s innovation environment, encourage the next wave of deeptech and life sciences scale-ups, and help keep scientific and economic value within the region.

Background information

The European Investment Bank (ElB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States. Built around eight key priorities, we finance investments that contribute to EU policy objectives by bolstering climate action and the environment, digitalisation and technological innovation, security and defence, cohesion, agriculture and bioeconomy, social infrastructure, the capital markets union, and a stronger Europe in a more peaceful and prosperous world.  The EIB Group, which also includes the European Investment Fund (EIF), signed nearly €89 billion in new financing for over 900 high-impact projects in 2024, boosting Europe’s competitiveness and security. The EIB Group signed 99 operations totalling €10.98 billion in Italy in 2024, unlocking almost €37 billion of investment in the real economy. All projects financed by the EIB Group are in line with the Paris Climate Agreement, as pledged in our Climate Bank Roadmap. Almost 60% of the EIB Group’s annual financing supports projects directly contributing to climate change mitigation, adaptation, and a healthier environment. Fostering market integration and mobilising investment, the funds made available by the Group unlocked over €100 billion in new investment for Europe’s energy security in 2024 and mobilised a further €110 billion for startups and scale-ups. Around half of the EIB’s financing within the European Union is directed towards cohesion regions, where per capita income is lower than the EU average.

High-quality, up-to-date photos of EIB headquarters for media use are available here.

Angelini Ventures is an international venture capital company and part of Angelini Industries, an Italian industrial group working in health, industrial technology and consumer goods. Angelini Ventures was formed in 2022 with planned investments of €300 million, about €125 million of which have already been allocated to startups developing innovative solutions and ideas in biotechnology and digital health. It invests in innovative companies in Europe and North America that can improve patients’ life expectancy and quality of life. The company is based in Rome and has a global team of 17 professionals working in nine cities (Rome, Milan, Turin, London, Singapore, Boston, Berlin, Copenhagen,Geneva, New York, Munich, and Basel). Angelini Ventures is part of Angelini Industries’ strategy to promote innovation by combining existing capabilities and new skills to identify, finance and implement solutions that innovate on traditional healthcare models.

Angelini Industries is an international industrial group founded by Francesco Angelini in Ancona in 1919. It is a robust, well-structured industrial business with around 5 600 employees that operates directly in 21 countries, generating annual revenues of €1.6 billion. Angelini Industries operates in the health, industrial technology and consumer goods sectors. Guided by the Angelini family for over 100 years, group stands out for its investment strategy focused on growth, a governance model that combines the long-term vision of family businesses with the practices of listed companies, in-depth knowledge of markets and business sectors, and a commitment to promoting sustainable growth for people, communities, ecosystems and the planet.

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SOURCE: European Investment Bank