This working group aims to strengthen investment in Europe’s bio-based industries by mobilising private capital, improving access to finance and supporting the scale-up and deployment of bio-based solutions across value chains.
CBE JU and its founding partners, European Commission and BIC, launched the group on 10 June 2026 in The Hague, during its inaugural meeting bringing together around 30 investment organisations. The launch marked the formal establishment of the platform under the Strategic Framework for a Competitive and Sustainable EU Bioeconomy adopted by the European Commission in November 2025. A call for expressions of interest to join the group remains open, with the cut-off date for applications set for 11 September 2026.
The objectives of the deployment group are to:
The group brings together a broad range of financial institutions, including national and commercial banks, venture capital and private equity funds, as well as other institutional investors engaged in financing innovation and industrial scale-up in the bioeconomy.
The focus of this deployment group is to pave the way for a new and more favourable funding landscape for the European bio-based sector by 2030. The group’s vision is to mobilise capital, create better funding opportunities and offer solutions ready for the market and industrial production. In order to do that, different investment sources available in Europe for projects with higher technology readiness level (TRL) and commercial scale deployment should be grouped and efficiently mobilised.
At its kick-off meeting on 10 June 2026 in The Hague, members formally established the group and elected its leadership. Michiel Strijland (Invest-NL) was appointed Chair, and Michael Brandkamp (European Circular Bioeconomy Fund – ECBF) was appointed Vice-Chair, providing strategic guidance for the group’s work going forward.
The membership of the group is set out below:
The group was established following a scoping event that took place in Brussels, on 22 April 2026, where representatives of financial institutions and investors met to define the mandate, tasks and operating model of the deployment group and exchange on its work plan for the 2026-2029 period. More details
The group remains open to new financial institutions wishing to join. Interested institutions should submit their expression of interest following the application procedure set out in the open call. Applications received by 11 September 2026 will be considered in the assessment round.