As most of the investments to be made under the ETF Start-up scheme will be in unquoted, illiquid entities, the realisation of those investments will be based on the distribution of the proceeds received by the intermediary funds from the sale of their investments in SMEs.
The European Technology Facility (ETF) is part of the "Amsterdam Special Action Programme (ASAP)" launched in 1997 by the European Investment Bank. ETF aims to provide venture and equity capital for high-technology and fast growing SME projects by taking equity participations in specialised venture capital funds. ETF has been launched in November 1997 and has a budget of 125 MEuro for a period of three years.
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ETF Startup is part of the European Commission's Growth & Employment Initiative and aims to provide risk capital to innovative SMEs through investment in relevant specialised venture capital funds. ETF Startup will reinforce the existing facilities by targeting a segment of the venture capital market with a higher inherent investment risk, notably innovative SMEs at establishment and early stages. It will also be able to support funds operating regionally or funds focused on a specific sectors such as information and communication technologies, health care, biotechnology and environmental protection or venture capital funds linked to research centres and science parks. By focusing on a segment of the market with a higher element of risk, ETF Startup will reach innovative SMEs which neither the European Investment Bank nor the EIF can easily support because of their statutory higher risk criteria. An indicative figure of Euro 150-190 million is envisaged for this scheme over the period 1998-2000 (Euro 50 million in 1998).
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