EIF anchors BackingMinds' €20M third fund for overlooked Nordic founders
What's the deal? The European Investment Fund (EIF) is committing US$26.6M, about €20 million, to BackingMindsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → Invest III, a Stockholm-based venture capital fund backing early-stage companies across Sweden and the Nordics. The EIF, which announced the move on October 20, 2026, is the fund's first institutional investor.
Who the fund targets: BackingMinds looks for founders beyond established VC networks — women, people with immigrant backgrounds, and companies based outside capital cities. It also backs commercially promising firms tackling environmental or social challenges, from cutting carbon emissions to improving healthcare and education.
The track record: BackingMinds' two earlier funds invested in 23 companies. Of those, 46% had at least one female founder, 43% had founders with immigrant backgrounds, and 71% were established outside a capital city. The firm, founded in 2016 by Sara Wimmercranz and Susanne Najafi, previously raised a €50 million second fund in 2022.
What they said: "Some of the most innovative companies in the Nordics are being built where venture capital rarely reaches," said Wimmercranz, a founding partner. "A network is a filter. It lets through what already looks like the network and repeats the patterns of the past."
Why now? The commitment is backed by the EU's InvestEU programme under a "Social Impact Equity" component, which funds businesses combining commercial ambitions with social or environmental impact. The EIF said its support should help the fund attract other institutional investors. No target size or close date was given.
The signal: The deal extends a run of EIF backing for Nordic early-stage funds, after €40 million to climate-tech investor Climentum Capital Fund IIDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and up to €30 million to Finland's Nordic Foodtech VC Fund IIDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → in 2026. What sets BackingMinds apart is the mandate: public capital applied to a broad inclusion focus rather than a single sector.
Read more: financial-news.co.uk
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