The European Investment Fund (EIF) commits €30 million to Wind II, an Article 9 fund targeting a total of €130 million.
Wind II focuses on early-stage tech companies developing climate adaptation solutions for essential services and infrastructure industries.
Based in France, Wind invests in companies across Europe.

Wind, a European venture capital firm built and backed by entrepreneurs, has secured a €30 million commitment from the European Investment Fund (EIF) for Wind II, its new early-stage Article 9 fund. The investment follows Wind II’s first closing at €90 million and is set to drive the development of cutting-edge Deeptech solutions across Europe’s essential services and infrastructure industries.

Wind’s second fund, Wind II aims to address critical areas vital to human well-being and environmental health, such as food and air quality, mobility, energy, construction, and security. The fund will invest in early-stage French and European tech companies whose cutting Deeptech solutions enable essential services and infrastructure to adapt to the challenges posed by climate change, while operating in a manner that respects the environment.

Marjut Falksteadt, EIF Chief Executive says: “The effects of climate change on critical sectors and infrastructures are becoming increasingly visible. It is therefore vital that we intensify our support for innovations that help industry and society to transition to a greener and more sustainable future. The EIF’s participation in Wind II underlines this commitment to supporting companies that harness cutting-edge technologies to create sustainable solutions. These investments are essential to ensure the sustainability of our planet and maintain long-term growth.”

“We are thrilled that the European Investment Fund has endorsed Wind II’s investment thesis” says Thierry Vandewalle, Founding Partner at Wind. “This partnership will allow us to drive the development of technologies that are both sustainable and commercially viable.”

To date, the EIF has invested in around 800 European VC firms of which around 100 French VC firms.

“From a business perspective, investing in Wind is a smart decision for our investors; recent data indicates that industrial startups tend to exit more quickly and at higher valuations compared to more traditional SaaS models.” adds Xavier Gury, Founding partner at Wind.

Wind II plans to invest in approximately 30 startups, with ticket sizes ranging from €500,000 to €5 million. The fund has already backed three pioneering companies to date: Eclipse (energy storage solutions), Sopht (green IT), and Entroview (battery diagnostics for gigafactories and automobile constructors). Other Wind investors include major institutional players such as Bpifrance, BNP Paribas, Sopra Steria, and over 120 successful entrepreneurs to date.

Wind II will be addressing two major pillars of the European Union (“EU”) Taxonomy climate mitigation and adaptation and as such, its strategy is considered fully aligned with the European Green Deal. It will strongly contribute towards EIF’s Climate Targets and Public Policy Objectives regarding Sustainability & Green Transformation.

“We anticipate the final closing in 2025, providing an opportunity for new strategic investors to join us on this promising journey,” concludes Thierry Vandewalle.

Background information

The European Investment Fund (EIF):The European Investment Fund (EIF) is part of the European Investment Bank Group (EIB Group). Its central mission is to support Europe's micro, small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) by helping them to access finance. The EIF designs and develops venture and growth capital, guarantees and microfinance instruments that specifically target this market segment. In this role, it contributes to the achievement of key EU policy goals such as competitiveness and growth, innovation and digitalisation, social impact, skills and human capital, climate action and environmental sustainability.

The EIB Group, consisting of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Investment Fund (EIF), reported total financing signatures in France of €12 billion in 2023, approximately €6.9 billion of which went to climate action and environmental sustainability projects. Globally, the EIB Group signed €88 billion of new financing in 2023.

Wind: Founded in 2015 by successful repeat entrepreneurs, Thierry Vandewalle and Xavier Gury, Wind is a European VC with a strong track record in financing and mentoring tech companies from Preseed to series A. Having invested in over 80 startups to date across multiple sectors, and completed 29 successful exits, Wind is now channelling its expertise into climate adaptation. Wind recently launched its new Article 9 fund, Wind II, with the aim of supporting highly innovative climate companies across Europe’s essential services and infrastructure industries.

Press contacts

EIF: Christophe.alix | c.alix@eib.org, tel.: +33 6 11 81 30 99 | www.eif.org – X: @eif_eu

WIND: Helen O’Reilly-durand | helen@wind.capital, tel.: +33 6 24 36 82 21 | www.wind.capital