The European Investment Fund (EIF) and the Catalan Finance Institute (ICF) have signed a limited portfolio guarantee agreement worth €40 million with the support of the InvestEU programme. The agreement will enable ICF to mobilise up to €57 million to support sustainability projects undertaken by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-caps in Catalonia.

This guarantee is backed by the InvestEU portfolio guarantee product for sustainability and climate change mitigation. The InvestEU programme aims to mobilise more than €372 billion of additional investment between 2021-2027 to boost EU policy priorities.

The new agreement with the EIF will enable ICF to improve the conditions of ICF EcoVerda loans and to provide finance to more businesses and organisations that want to scale up climate investment and projects in Catalonia. This may include operations to reduce carbon footprint and non-renewable energy consumption, to improve energy efficiency and green energy generation capacity, and to promote electric vehicles, among other aims.

This agreement is a further example of cooperation between the EIF and ICF, after both parties signed their first guarantee agreement in February 2024. The first agreement was signed to mobilise up to €64 million to support companies and organisations involved in social, cultural and creative projects in Catalonia, and was also backed by the InvestEU programme.

Since 2018, ICF has provided financing for 84 businesses, organisations, residents’ associations and energy communities. It has done so by granting €167.6 million in ICF EcoVerda loans to support projects that benefit the environment.