YPOG advises ECBF on structuring €300 million growth fund

Berlin – A YPOG team led by Fabian Euhus provided comprehensive legal, regulatory and tax advice to ECBF Management (ECBF) on structuring of the first European Circular Bioeconomy Fund. The European Circular Bioeconomy Fund I (ECBF I) is the first venture fund dedicated to the circular bioeconomy and thus a more sustainable economy. The ECBF I has now reached its final closing at approximately €300 million, exceeding its targeted volume of €250 million.

In total, the investor base now comprises 25 limited partners, including Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank, Allianz France, Invest NL and existing investors from previous rounds such as the European Investment Bank (EIB), Nestlé, BÜFA, NRW.BANK and Koehler Group. ECBF I intends to finance growth companies in the bioeconomy and biobased circular economy that commits with Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) integration. As of today, the impact fund has already made investments in sustainable growth companies such as PeelPioneers, Prolupin, Aphea Bio, Nuritas, Elicit Plant and Protix.

The team around Fabian Euhus, on which expertise ECBF already relied in connection with its two previous closings, advised on all legal, regulatory and tax matters which includes projects of these teams during their tenure at SMP.

“Europe has set itself the goal of becoming climate neutral by 2050. Large-scale initiatives like ECBF I support targeted measures and thus make an important contribution to achieving this goal. That makes this complex mandate a particularly exciting and important one for us”, says YPOG Partner Fabian Euhus.

Advisors ECBF Management:

Dr. Fabian Euhus (Lead, Fund Structuring), Partner
Dr. Saskia Bong (Fund Structuring), Associate
Lennart Lorenz (Regulatory Law), Partner
Dr. Niklas Ulrich (Regulatory Law), Associate
Dr. Tammo Lüken (Tax), Partner
Dr. Sebastian Schwarz (Tax), Associated Partner

About ECBF

The European Circular Bioeconomy Fund I (ECBF I) is a fund initiated by the European Union in the field of bioeconomy and circular economy. The ECBF I invests in visionary European entrepreneurs who are driving the transition from a fossil-based to a bio-based economy. The fund aims to fill a financing gap in the European bioeconomy, in particular to strengthen Europe's leading expertise in circular technologies. The ECBF I was established in 2020 with a €100 million commitment from the European Investment Bank (EIB) backed by a guarantee from InnovFin – EU Finance for innovators under Horizon 2020. ECBF I is based in Luxembourg, managed by Hauck & Aufhäuser Funds Services S.A. as Alternative Investment Fund Manager (AIFM) and advised by an experienced investment team at ECBF Management GmbH.

About EIB

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals. Between 2016 and 2020, the EIB provided €31.1 billion of co-financing to the agriculture/bioeconomy sector. 

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