Finnvera joins EIF as shareholder

Finnvera has become a shareholder in the European Investment Fund (EIF), strengthening its role in the European Union’s small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) finance sector.

The development is expected to promote the interests of both Finland and the financial sector within the EIF, supporting banks and private equity investors.

The EIF acts as a SME finance provider in Finland.

It provided €606m ($702.6m) in financing to the SME sector in 2024, of which €561m were guarantees, primarily benefiting banks.

The organisation is primarily owned by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Commission, and it works as the EIB Group’s specialist arm for supporting SMEs with equity investments, guarantees and other financial instruments.

It has 41 entities as shareholders, both state-owned and commercial financial institutions. Finnvera is now the sole Finnish entity among these shareholders.

EIF chief executive Marjut Falkstedt said: “We are thrilled to be welcoming a Finnish entity to the family of EIF shareholders. Finnvera is already a key partner of the EIB Group and has a long-standing relationship with both the EIF and EIB.

“We are building on a successful cooperation, having worked together to introduce new financial instruments to the Finnish market that were met with strong demand.”

Finnvera and the EIF have collaborated since 1998 through various risk-sharing agreements.

Since 2019, risk-sharing has become a regular feature in Finnvera’s guarantee products such as its SME Guarantee, which is supported by the COSME loan guarantee facility.

The InvestEU-guaranteed Climate and Digitalisation Loans, developed by Finnvera and the EIF since June 2023, have totalled around €170m for Finnish SMEs and midcap businesses.

Finnvera’s services include providing guarantees, loans, export credit guarantees, and other financing options related to exports.

Owned by the State of Finland and the Export Credit Agency (ECA), Finnvera reported total exposure of €26.3bn across domestic loans and guarantees, at the end of September 2025.

"Finnvera joins EIF as shareholder" was originally created and published by Leasing Life, a GlobalData owned brand.

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