AXIS, ICO's venture capital company, is empowering the Fond-ICO Global fund with a brand-new open and continuous investment system
22 diciembre 2025
- From January 2026, fund managers and other funds will be able to put through applications at any time, without having to adapt to a time-bound call system. This will make the Fund more efficient, flexible and adaptable to market conditions
- The Fund will focus on strategies targeting growth and venture capital funds at more advanced stages, facilitating coordination with other specialised public bodies to cover earlier stages
Axis, the venture capital company of Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO), has modified the operation of Fond-ICO Global, its venture capital fund, with the aim of streamlining the fund selection process, improving efficiency and adapting more quickly to market conditions.
Fond-ICO Global is the first public fund of venture capital funds created in Spain with the aim of boosting private investment in Spanish companies. Following several enlargements, the Fund is currently endowed with EUR 4.5 billion.
The Fund has made a decisive contribution to strengthening the private equity industry in Spain and has had a key impact on the Spanish economy through business development by fostering innovation, generating employment and supporting new private equity funds and managers.
One of the main innovations approved in the operation of Fond-ICO Global is the changeover to an open and continuous investment system, allowing applications to be submitted to the fund at any time of the year. Until now, fund selection has been done through 17 periodic calls with a closed application deadline, which provided less flexibility to fund managers and other funds. The new system seeks to adapt to the maturity period of each fund, so that they can count on the participation of Fond-ICO Global as an investor at any time of the year, provided they meet the conditions established for the different categories.
In this new strategy, Fond-ICO Global seeks to consolidate its specialisation as an investor in the two categories covering the most advanced stages: Growth Capital and Venture Capital. This streamlines coordination with other public entities, such as ENISA, which specialise in the earlier stage categories (incubation/technology transfer).
Capital Growth Category
AXIS will participate with a maximum ticket of EUR 100 million in Growth Capital category funds, not exceeding 30% of the total size of the fund. The minimum size of funds applying for this category shall be EUR 200 million.
Venture Capital Category
The maximum ticket to be invested by AXIS in funds of this type will be EUR 50 million, not exceeding 40% of the total size of the fund. The minimum size of funds opting for this category shall be EUR 50 million.
In both categories, fund managers will commit to invest at least 50% of the fund's total investment in Spain.
In short, the new procedure will provide for greater management flexibility and better adaptation to fund managers’ fundraising processes.
Data on Fond-ICO Global
Since its creation, Fond-ICO Global has resolved 17 calls for proposals, approving commitments in 154 funds, 116 of which have already been subscribed for a total amount of EUR 2.67 billion.
Through the underlying funds in which Fond-ICO Global has commitments, the Fund has invested in 1,917 transactions up to 3Q25, 1,479 of which were in Spain (77%), 85% being SMEs. These investments have generated or maintained 418,403 jobs in Spain.
In the last two Fond-ICO Global calls, AXIS used European funds from the Recovery Plan and approved its participation in 24 venture capital funds amounting to EUR 1.9 billion.
The high number of funds in recent calls confirms the market's interest and Fond-ICO Global's prominent role in the Spanish venture capital ecosystem. Fond-ICO Global will continue to be an engine of development for the venture capital industry and a key instrument for economic growth, aligned with the challenges of innovation, digitalisation and sustainability.