What happens when European research funding meets private venture capital? This question lies at the heart of a new strategic partnership: EURICE (European Research and Project Office GmbH) and INFINIRA Ventures have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Luxembourg-based venture capital firm Catalpa Ventures, laying the foundation for closer collaboration in innovation and start-up support.
Two building blocks, one ecosystem
What sets EURICE and Infinira Ventures apart as part of a shared innovation ecosystem is the combination of two roles rarely found under one roof in the European funding landscape:
EURICE as Project Builder has been bringing together science, research and technology transfer for decades – from proposal development and the management of complex Horizon Europe consortia to the valorisation of research results. This is where the projects are built from which innovations can later emerge.
Infinira Ventures as Venture Builder picks up where traditional project funding ends: research results and technologies are systematically transformed into viable start-ups, with a focus on capital structure, governance and market access.
Together, they form a continuous pathway from a publicly funded research idea to an investment-ready start-up. For investors looking for high-quality deal flow, this provides rare access to innovations that have already been tested and advanced within the European research and funding ecosystem.
Public funding meets private capital: Catalpa Ventures’ perspective
It is precisely this interplay that caught the attention of Catalpa Ventures. The Luxembourg-based venture capital firm, which specialises in Digital Health Tech investments, sees the combination of public research and innovation funding with private venture capital as a strategic opportunity – particularly for capital-intensive, research-driven business models typical of the Digital Health Tech sector.
The signed Memorandum of Understanding provides for:
- opening up the partners’ respective strategic networks to one another in order to connect public research and innovation funding more closely with private venture capital;
- regular exchanges to identify potential areas for joint collaboration;
- mutual involvement in specific projects – for example, new European collaborative initiatives or the establishment of early-stage investment funds.
Voices on the partnership
“The combination of Project Builder and Venture Builder is exactly what European research needs today: a bridge between excellent science and viable businesses. The fact that a specialised investor such as Catalpa Ventures recognises this model and wants to actively help shape it confirms that we are on the right track.”
— Jörg Scherer, Managing Director, EURICE
“For Infinira Ventures, the collaboration with Catalpa is an important step towards not only turning research results into viable start-ups, but also connecting them with the right strategic capital.”
— Klara Schneider, Managing Director, Infinira Ventures
“Alongside venture capital, EU funding provides start-ups with an effective, non-dilutive way to strengthen their financial position. One excellent example is our portfolio company Noah Labs, which was selected for the highly competitive EIC Accelerator. EURICE and Infinira Ventures know this landscape like few others. Thanks to this collaboration, our founders will now also benefit from this valuable expertise.”
— Christian Goergen, Partner, Catalpa Ventures
Find out more about Catalpa Ventures
Find out more about INFINIRA Ventures