{"id":989915,"date":"2026-05-28T09:42:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T09:42:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/989915\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T09:42:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T09:42:21","slug":"uk-could-join-major-eu-start-up-investment-fund-under-post-brexit-reset","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/989915\/","title":{"rendered":"UK could join major EU start-up investment fund under post-Brexit reset"},"content":{"rendered":"

Opens doors to \u20ac4bn investment scheme for emerging tech firms<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The UK is in talks to join a \u20ac4bn EU equity investment fund for start-ups, as London and Brussels seek to deepen cooperation years after Brexit.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ekaterina Zaharieva, the European Commissioner for Start-ups, Research and Innovation, told the Financial Times discussions are under way to allow British companies to access the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund, the EU’s flagship deep-tech investment scheme worth \u20ac4bn.<\/p>\n

Zaharieva said closer cooperation on innovation was in the “mutual interest” of both sides, although changes to existing agreements would be needed before the UK could formally join.<\/p>\n

The negotiations come nearly a decade after the Brexit<\/a> referendum reshaped relations between the two parties.<\/p>\n

The EIC Fund sits within Horizon Europe<\/a>, the EU’s \u20ac96bn scientific research and innovation programme, which the UK formally rejoined in 2024 as an “associate country” following years of political wrangling.<\/p>\n

While British universities and researchers regained access to Horizon funding, UK-based start-ups and businesses remain excluded from the programme’s equity investment arm.<\/p>\n

British investors can\u2019t fund British companies – yet<\/p>\n

The equity investment fund supports fast-growing technology firms in sectors such as AI, quantum computing, semiconductors and biotechnology.<\/p>\n

Zaharieva described the EIC as “the biggest deep-tech European fund” and said there was strong interest in finding a way for British companies to participate.<\/p>\n

“There are UK investors who are actually investing together with the EIC fund already,” she said<\/a>, noting that British backers had committed around \u20ac200m so far, but are currently unable to invest directly in UK-based companies.<\/p>\n

Under the current arrangements, only firms based in EU member states or certain participating countries can directly receive EIC equity funding.<\/p>\n

British participation would require London to contribute financially to the fund, Ms Zaharieva said, adding that any deal must remain “fair to European taxpayers.”<\/p>\n

Officials on both sides are reportedly aiming to secure an agreement before the next Horizon funding cycle begins in 2027.<\/p>\n

The forthcoming programme, due to run until 2034, is expected to exceed the current \u20ac4bn budget.<\/p>\n

Resetting relations<\/p>\n

The UK and EU are currently preparing for a summit, expected later this summer, where leaders are seeking to advance a broader “reset” in relations.<\/p>\n

Alongside the Horizon talks, the UK has also opened separate negotiations to join the EU’s proposed \u20ac5bn Scaleup Europe Fund, which is designed to support later-stage companies seeking to expand internationally.<\/p>\n

Diplomats are also working on agreements covering youth experience, agricultural trade checks and the linking of carbon emissions trading systems.<\/p>\n

Before Brexit, the UK was one of the largest beneficiaries of EU research funding, receiving more than \u20ac7bn between 2014 and 2020, over 12% of all Horizon grants awarded during that period.<\/p>\n

Industry welcomes ‘positive signals’<\/p>\n

Industry groups welcomed the prospect of deeper cooperation.<\/p>\n

Sabina Ciofu, international policy and strategy lead at techUK, said the continued exclusion of British firms from EIC equity funding represented a “significant gap” in European innovation policy.<\/p>\n

Michael Moore, chief executive of UK Private Capital, said investors across the sector were closely watching the negotiations.<\/p>\n

The UK government says no final decisions have yet been taken.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said ministers were exploring options that were “fair” and offered “best value” while helping to “grow our economies and improve lives.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Opens doors to \u20ac4bn investment scheme for emerging tech firms The UK is in talks to join a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":989916,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5226],"tags":[802,748,2000,299,5187,1699,4884,14006,1197,10689,3321,16,15],"class_list":["post-989915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brexit","tag-brexit","tag-britain","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-european","tag-european-union","tag-great-britain","tag-horizon-europe","tag-investment","tag-research-and-development","tag-startup","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116651554768220705","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/989915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=989915"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/989915\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/989916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=989915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=989915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=989915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}