Lyngby, Denmark-based PSV Hafnium, a new early-stage venture fund dedicated to deep tech, has announced its launch.
Besides the launch, the Danish fund also announced that it has secured DKK 185M (approximately €24.8M) from the European Investment Fund (EIF) and DKK 100M (approximately €13.4M) from the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO).
With a fund size cap of €80.4M (DKK 600M), PSV Hafnium aims to back science-based clean tech, health tech, and next-generation industrial solutions, and expects to invest in 30 companies.
“Deep tech is one part of the multi-faceted solution for our climate challenges,” says EIF Chief Executive Marjut Falkstedt.
“The EIF’s mission is to make sure that European businesses can access the funding they need, especially in the earliest stages of their development. Our support for this fund will contribute to meeting this critical market need and ensuring the availability of capital for novel technologies that can have a very real impact in addressing climate and environmental challenges,” adds Falkstedt.
Fund utilisation
The fund will make pre-seed and seed stage investments in science-based technology companies with strong intellectual property.
These companies should have their technologies validated in a lab or relevant environment and be led by teams with strong scientific backgrounds.
The fund has a broad sector focus but primarily sources investment opportunities in Denmark.
The fund is dedicated to investing at least 65 per cent in “Climate Action and Environmental Sustainability” as defined by EIF.
At present, PSV Hafnium has invested in four deep tech startups.
Additionally, PSV Hafnium, as part of the PSV venture house with PSV Foundry as LP in the fund, has close ties to DTU.
Here the fund is close to scientific experts and innovation, benefitting from the DTU ecosystem. DTU has the past years been ranked as no. one in Europe when it comes to engineering and technology.
Anders Bjarklev, President of DTU says, “DTU’s vision is to create value for society and the world through research that solves global challenges and supports inventions towards the market. Building bridges between university and venture environments is essential, which is why it has been crucial for us to support PSV Foundry and the Managing Partners in creating a fund with a 100% focus on deep tech.”
The investors
The EIF, a part of the EIB Group, supports Europe’s SMEs by improving their access to finance through a wide range of selected financial intermediaries.
The EIF designs, promotes, and implements equity and debt financing instruments targeting SMEs.
The Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO) is the national promotional bank and export credit agency of Denmark combined into one financial institution.
Active in over 100 countries, and with a total business volume of more than €20B, EIFO provides financial solutions for Danish companies and their global partners, while also investing in startups and funds.
Erik Balck Sørensen, CIO at EIFO, adds, “EIFO is committed to leveraging groundbreaking Danish deep tech research for transformative solutions. With the strong support of EIF Denmark now has its first-ever early-stage deep tech fund, designed to meet the segment’s specific need for patient, long-term working capital. The EIF’s sizeable engagement in PSV Hafnium is a recognition of the quality of Danish deep tech research and an endorsement of the PSV Hafnium management team. Through this investment, we hope to fast-track the commercialisation of the most promising deep tech research.”
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