Financing for Innovation: An evaluation of the Venture Capital Investment Programme I (2012-2019)

Venture Capital Investment Programme (VCIP) is one of the several instruments that the Bank put in place to promote innovation in its countries of operation. The distinctive element of the VCIP is the provision of direct equity to early and growth-stage companies in software and web services, semiconductors and materials, communications, mobility and media, and cleantech. VCIP I and VCIP II are the first and second frameworks of this programme. The Bank gave the green light to VCIP I and VCIP II in September 2011 and May 2018, respectively. The principal objective of these frameworks are to support the development of technology innovation and its commercialisation, and to promote venture capital investments into the EBRD Region where there are scarce financing companies. The objective of the evaluation is to assess the merits of the VCIP, including the achievement of objectives and results, and to gather insights contributing to the improvement of the Programme in the future. This evaluation covers all investments that the Bank made under VCIP I.