Madrid, October 06 2020.- COFIDES is to invest in Kibo Ventures Fund III, a venture capital fund which targets investment in technology sectors in order to promote their growth and international expansion. COFIDES will contribute 5 million euros via the FONPYME. 

The fund's target size is 100 million euros. Investments will be of up to 10 million euros and will be in high-growth technology projects in the early stages of development so as to support companies in their internationalisation process.

This is COFIDES' fifth transaction in the venture capital segment, having set this objective in its Strategic Plan with the aim of promoting investment in technology startups.

COFIDES Chairman, José Luis Curbelo, commented that "by contributing to Kibo Ventures Fund III, COFIDES aims to be involved in the launch, growth and expansion phases of innovative technology companies, a strategy which, due to Covid-19, is even more important in order to overcome the economic difficulties created by the pandemic”. 

Aquilino Peña, co-founder of Kibo Ventures, highlighted that "a fundamental part of our investment proposal is that technology companies should be global, benefiting from the advantages of growing their development and engineering teams in Spain. Growth must come from their internationalisation. Having COFIDES as an investor will help us to achieve this goal”.

IMPACT ON THE SDGs

Investments made through this fund contribute to the achievement of SDG 8, as the companies in which it invests promote high value-added work, employ mainly young people and reduce gender discrimination. It will also contribute to SDG 9 by facilitating scientific research and improving technological capacity.

ABOUT KIBO VENTURES

Kibo Ventures is one of Spain's leading venture capital firms. With Fund III, it will exceed 200m euros in assets under management. Since 2012 it has invested in over 50 companies in the technology sector, supporting their internationalisation process and attracting many of the leading international funds. Its portfolio includes leading companies such as Flywire, JobandTalent, Carto, Devo, DefinedCrowd, Vilynx, Paack, Tier and Clarity.

ABOUT COFIDES

COFIDES is a state-owned company which has been offering financial support to Spanish companies investing abroad since 1988. COFIDES is accredited to the European Union (EU) to manage funds coming from the EU budget, allowing the structuring of transactions with a high impact on development. COFIDES is also accredited to the UN’s Green Climate Fund (GCF) and can therefore structure operations on climate change mitigation and adaptation. Moreover, COFIDES is the exclusive manager of FIEX and FONPYME funds on behalf of the Secretariat of State for Trade attached to the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism and also supports AECID in managing FONPRODE funds. COFIDES’s shareholders include Banco Santander, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), Banco Sabadell and CAF-Development Bank of Latin America.