The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a quasi-equity agreement worth €20 million with Finnish metaverse technology company Varjo. The Helsinki-based, industry-leading developer of virtual and mixed reality software and hardware will use the financing to increase its investments in research and development for creating a reality-based metaverse of the future, as well as to capture the strong tailwinds following the coronavirus pandemic. The financing was made available under the European Guarantee Fund (EGF). The EIB’s venture debt finance supports innovative growth companies with long-term financing and limited dilution.
EIB Vice-President Thomas Östros stated: “The EGF’s venture debt programme gives the EIB the possibility to directly support innovative companies in strategically important sectors for the future of Europe. In supporting Varjo’s growth, we not only sustain and create jobs within a highly innovative industry, but we also put ourselves squarely behind European technological know-how.”