SPI fund

What they do

Launched in 2014 by Bpifrance, the SPI fund (Sociétés de Projets Industriels) was created to bridge the "valley of death" between R&D and full-scale industrial production. Financed by the French government's investment programs (Programme d’Investissements d’Avenir and France 2030) alongside the European Investment Bank, it acts as an informed, minority equity investor. The fund is highly distinctive for its willingness to finance capital-intensive, high-risk, first-of-a-kind industrial plants and shared manufacturing sites. Within the European ecosystem, SPI has built a strong reputation as a crucial catalyst for deeptech, green chemistry, and foodtech startups transitioning from pilot phases to commercial manufacturing.

What they look for

The SPI fund aims to support projects with strong business and employment opportunities in industrial sectors that play a structural role in the national economy. It specifically targets the industrialization phase of a technology, helping companies build their first industrial units or transform production methods (e.g., Industry 4.0). They explicitly look for projects that create value, possess a good profitability-risk ratio, and contribute significantly to the ecological and energy transition. A primary mandate is the reindustrialization of France; therefore, they look for projects that will create a large number of qualified, non-relocatable direct and indirect jobs. They invest in project companies, joint ventures (often partnering startups with established corporates), and directly into startups where industrialization is the core strategy.

Stage

Seed, Series A, Series B+

Sectors

Deeptech, Climate, Food and agriculture, Healthcare, SaaS

Based

Paris, FR