The European Investment Fund (EIF) is committing 220 million Swedish kronor, about €20 million, to BackingMinds Invest III, a Stockholm-based venture capital fund that will back early-stage companies in Sweden and across the Nordic region, according to the EIF’s announcement on 20 October 2026.
The EIF said it is the first institutional investor in the fund and that its support is projected to help BackingMinds Invest III attract other institutional investors. The announcement did not give a target size for the fund or a date for a first or final close.
Who the fund will target
According to the EIF, BackingMinds Invest III will look for entrepreneurial talent beyond established venture capital networks. It will seek out businesses founded by women and by people with immigrant backgrounds, as well as companies based outside capital cities.
The fund will also focus on commercially promising companies that address environmental or social challenges. The EIF listed examples ranging from reducing carbon emissions and upgrading energy efficiency to improving healthcare and bolstering education.
What the EIF and BackingMinds said
EIF Deputy Chief Executive Merete Clausen said: “Europe cannot afford to leave talented entrepreneurs undiscovered simply because they are outside the traditional venture capital networks. BackingMinds has shown that promising businesses can be found in places and among founders that investors too often miss. By supporting this fund, we are helping to unlock that potential and bring more capital to companies tackling some of Europe’s most pressing challenges.”
BackingMinds Founding Partner Sara Wimmercranz said: “The future is never where you expect it, and neither are the founders building it. Some of the most innovative companies in the Nordics are being built where venture capital rarely reaches. A network is a filter. It lets through what already looks like the network and repeats the patterns of the past. As investors, we need to be more open and seek founders out. The EIF’s commitment lets us do that on a larger scale.”
The earlier funds
BackingMinds’ two earlier funds have invested in 23 companies, according to the EIF. Of these, 46% have had at least one female founder, 43% have had founders with immigrant backgrounds and 71% were established outside a capital city. The EIF said BackingMinds’ first two funds have also produced several successful exits, without naming them.
BackingMinds describes itself as a Stockholm-based venture capital firm founded by Sara Wimmercranz and Susanne Najafi. The EIF’s background note says the two founders previously built some of the Nordics’ largest e-commerce companies.
The firm’s second fund was reported at €50 million in 2022. Tech.eu reported in November 2022 that BackingMinds was expanding that €50 million fund across the Nordics and increasing its focus on Denmark.
InvestEU backing
The EIF said the operation is backed by the European Union’s InvestEU programme under a “Social Impact Equity” component, which supports investment funds that finance businesses combining commercial ambitions with a positive social or environmental impact.
According to the EIF, the InvestEU Fund is deployed through implementing partners that invest using the EU budget guarantee of €26.2 billion, which is intended to mobilise at least €372 billion in additional investment.
About the EIF
The EIF is part of the Luxembourg-based European Investment Bank (EIB) Group. It describes itself as the EIB Group subsidiary specialised in providing guarantees, securitisation and equity to improve access to finance for small and medium-sized businesses and start-ups across Europe. Acting as an anchor investor, it said, it works through partnering banks and investment funds to mobilise private investment and support the venture capital ecosystem.
The EIB Group said it signed €100 billion in new financing and advisory services for more than 870 projects in 2025. The group is owned by the European Union’s 27 member states.
