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National funds of funds are the backbone of Europe's venture ecosystem.
They de-risk early fund formation, crowd in private and institutional capital, and make it possible for emerging managers to get their first institutional check.
European Women in VC launched this series that puts national public investors at the centre of the conversation, exploring the strategic decisions, market conditions, and policy frameworks shaping venture capital country by country across Europe.
🇮🇸 Iceland – New Venture Fund Kria
Iceland raised €182.4 million in startup funding in 2025 — nearly fivefold year-on-year growth, and over four times Germany's per-capita VC intensity. The newly merged New Venture Fund Kria sits at the centre of this ambition: backing early-stage founders, anchoring domestic VC funds, and actively pulling in international investors. Greipsdóttir discusses how a 400,000-person island is punching well above its weight — and why pension fund participation is key to sustaining the momentum.
Hrönn Greipsdóttir
CEO, Iceland's Innovation Engine
🇬🇧 United Kingdom – British Business Bank
With £25.6 billion in total financial capacity and a freshly committed £6.6 billion for high-growth sectors, the British Business Bank is the single largest domestic LP in UK venture. Hockley — who oversees its fund investment strategy — explains how the Bank catalyses private capital at scale (its Patient Capital programme has unlocked a further £17.5 billion from third-party investors), why it backs nearly 60% of UK unicorns, and where it sees the most compelling gaps in the market today.
Christine Hockley
Managing Director & Co-Head of Funds, Fueling UK Venture Growth
🇩🇰 Denmark – EIFO Inside EIFO's Strategy
Denmark's Export and Investment Fund occupies a distinctive position: part national promotional bank, part export credit agency, and a conviction LP in climate tech, life sciences, and deeptech at a time when many investors are pulling back. Despite a 44% year-on-year drop in total Danish startup investment in H1 2025, international appetite for early-stage Danish deals is actually rising. Savic unpacks what makes Danish founders compelling to global LPs — and why patient, state-backed capital is a structural advantage, not a crutch.
Tamara Savic
Investment Director, Fund Investments
🇸🇪 Sweden – Saminvest Behind Sweden's €22.7bn Success Story
Between 2020 and 2024, Swedish startups raised €22.7 billion — trailing only the UK, Germany, and France. Behind that headline sits a compounding flywheel: Klarna alumni have founded 62 new companies; Spotify, Lovable, and others have seeded a generation of operators-turned-investors. Saminvest, the Swedish state VC with over $600 million AUM, has been a quiet architect of this ecosystem — backing emerging fund managers, impact and green tech funds, and keeping capital flowing into sectors that commercial LPs underserve. Skåninger explains the strategy, the mandate, and what comes next.
Magnus Skåninger
CEO
When we started, we tried to find emerging teams – because nobody else would.
Magnus Skåninger, Saminvest
The source of everything is the people building the nation.
Hrönn Greipsdóttir, New Venture Fund Kria
​​Don't miss. the next one.
We are continuing to map Europe's national fund-of-funds landscape, with upcoming interviews spanning Central and Eastern Europe, the Baltics, and Southern Europe. New conversations will be published as they become available.
If you represent a national public investor or fund of funds and would like to take part in the series, we'd be glad to hear from you.
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