The inaugural group of TIN includes 71 investors representing over €90 billion in assets, comprising various venture capital funds and public investment banks.

The TIN initiative is expected to lay the groundwork for further development in 2025, with a renewed focus on enhancing equity investments and supporting underrepresented groups in innovation.

The launch of TIN coincided with the first EIC Scaling Summit, which featured 120 companies from the EIC portfolio, aiming to scale 20% of them into unicorns valued over €1 billion.

As part of its broader strategy, the EU has introduced over 100 pieces of legislation affecting the digital economy since 2019, creating a complex regulatory landscape for innovative companies.

The European Commission has launched a new initiative called the Trusted Investors Network (TIN) to foster co-investment in innovative deep-tech companies across Europe.

This initiative, announced during a meeting between EU Commissioner Iliana Ivanova and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, aims to address the urgent need for increased financing in the deep tech sector.

Participants in the network have committed to a charter that emphasizes shared values and collaboration with the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund.

The TIN initiative aligns with recommendations from a report by former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, which highlighted Europe's need for larger and faster investments in critical technologies.

Europe's innovation landscape is currently challenged, as it filed only 2% of global AI patents in 2022, compared to 61% by the U.S. and 21% by China.

In response to these challenges, the EU is working to close the funding gap in its tech sector, as evidenced by a significant investment disparity where the EU and UK attracted €11 billion in AI investment in 2023, compared to €67 billion in the U.S.

Highlighted startups in the deep-tech space include Riverlane from the UK and Pilot Photonics from Ireland, with scale-ups like Axelera AI and Multiverse Computing also gaining attention.

The EU's proactive approach includes various funding programs under the EIC, which aims to support over 500 companies from 2021 to 2027, with a target funding of €1 billion.