Madrid, July 28, 2025. The Co-investment Fund (FOCO), managed by COFIDES, will invest €80 million in the Cathay Innovation III Fund, managed by Cathay Innovation SAS.
Cathay Innovation III is a 1 billion venture capital fund dedicated to artificial intelligence — the largest out of the European Union — and has already completed 16 investments globally, half of which are in European startups. Focused on four key industrial sectors — consumer, healthcare, financial services, and energy/mobility — the fund targets digital companies with high growth potential, strong value creation capacity, and international scalability, thereby contributing to the transformation of Spanish industry. A sizeable part of the European allocation will be directed toward Spanish companies with strong digital and growth prospects.
The fund will invest at least 160 million euros with these characteristics in Spanish companies. Cathay Innovation has been actively investing in Spain since 2016, supporting high-potential companies in scaling internationally. Notable investments include Glovo, Wallbox, and Payflow. Its most recent investment is in Abacum, a rapidly growing, AI-native business planning platform (FP&A) founded in Barcelona.
More operations are expected to materialize in the coming years. Furthermore, in line with FOCO’s investment commitment, the fund manager plans to open an office in Spain.
Ángela Pérez, Chairperson and CEO of COFIDES, stated: “With this investment, we are fulfilling FOCO’s mandate, as the Cathay Fund is focused on supporting the digitalization of Spanish companies with high growth potential, global scalability, and value creation capacity. FOCO is helping to transform Spanish industry by combining technology and impact to foster a more competitive productive sector.”
Jacky Abitbol, Managing Partner at Cathay Innovation, said: “Welcoming FOCO as a strategic partner in Fund III marks a key milestone in our mission to accelerate digital transformation in Spain and across Europe. We have been long time investors in Spain and are especially optimistic in the future success of the next generation of Spanish tech entrepreneurs on the international scene. By leveraging our global platform, we offer founders the scale, insights, and corporate access needed to thrive across the world. We’re excited to support the next generation of Spanish entrepreneurs building AI-powered solutions that are poised to reshape entire industries.”
ABOUT CATHAY INNOVATION
Cathay Innovation is a multistage venture capital firm, affiliated to Cathay Capital, investing in founders building transformative businesses across Europe, North America, Asia, Latin America and Africa. Its platform connects founders with investors and its ecosystem of leading Fortune500 corporations to help startups scale and transform industries with consumer to enterprise and AI solutions in commerce, fintech, digital health and mobility / energy. Founded in Paris in 2015, Cathay Innovation now manages over €2.5B AUM with additional offices in San Francisco, Berlin, Madrid, Shanghai and Singapore and has invested in over 120 startups including Chime, Pinduoduo (NASDAQ: PDD), Glovo, Wallbox (NYSE: WBX), Owkin, Getaround, Ledger, ZenBusiness, Alma, Descartes Underwriting and more. o learn more, visit us at www.cathayinnovation.com
CO-INVESTMENT FUND FOR ATTRACTION OF FOREIGN INVESTMENT (FOCO)
FOCO is a fund created by the Government through the addendum to the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) and has resources from the NextGenerationEU instrument. The purpose of FOCO, which is endowed with €2,000M, is to favor foreign investment in the Spanish economy, boosting access to financing for companies linked to the ecological and digital transitions, as well as biotechnology and technological innovation. FOCO investments must be contributed by a foreign co-investor and may be made through direct investment in companies or investment funds. The fund is fully operational and project proposals for FOCO funding can be submitted to foco@cofides.es.
ABOUT COFIDES
COFIDES is a state-owned trading company that manages state funds, as well as its own resources and those of third-party institutions. COFIDES's mission is to support the internationalization of the Spanish economy, attract foreign investment into strategic sectors in Spain, promote the impact economy, and contribute to global economic development. COFIDES is also instrumental in strengthening the solvency of Spanish companies, particularly in response to challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic. COFIDES’s shareholders include the Spanish State, Banco Santander, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), Banco Sabadell, and CAF-Development Bank of Latin America.
