SEFA’s Response to the European Commission’s Consultation on Start-ups and Scale-up Strategy

The growth of start-ups and scale-ups is not only a driver of innovation but also a key pillar in enhancing the competitiveness of European businesses. In the clean energy sector, their success is particularly crucial, as it accelerates the energy transition while unlocking sustainable and affordable energy solutions for citizens.

However, many start-ups and scale-ups face significant barriers, including financing challenges, regulatory complexity, and difficulties in scaling across the EU market. Addressing these obstacles is essential to releasing their full potential and ensuring they contribute effectively to Europe's clean energy future.

Financing remains concentrated on large-scale projects, while smaller innovators struggle with high capital costs and often lack the legal, financial, and strategic expertise needed to structure investor-ready projects and bring them to market. Additionally, regulatory fragmentation across EU Member States limits cross-border expansion, making it harder for businesses to scale and attract investment. To overcome these challenges, SEFA advocates for bold policy measures to enhance the role of public capital in unlocking private investment.

This includes:

✅ Expanding guarantees, venture capital incentives, and public-private partnerships to de-risk investments in start-ups.
✅ Empowering the EIB to offer free-of-charge due diligence for small-scale clean-tech projects, facilitating aggregation and securitization to attract private capital.
✅ Strengthening bankable offtake agreements, supporting project aggregation, and expanding securitization markets to improve liquidity for clean energy investments.
✅ Accelerating financing approvals and streamlining EU-backed funding mechanisms to boost start-up competitiveness.
✅ Deepening Single-market and capital market integration to reduce regulatory burdens and enhance access to capital.

Regulatory simplification is also critical. Streamlined procedures, shorter approval times, and more predictable frameworks will accelerate innovation deployment and cross-border market expansion.

SEFA plays a crucial role in supporting these objectives by advocating for policy reforms, facilitating stakeholder dialogue, and promoting best practices in sustainable energy financing. By bridging the gap between innovators and investors, SEFA provides guidance on financing structures, advocates for derisking mechanisms, and supports project aggregation models. Through engagement with policymakers, financial institutions, and industry leaders, SEFA ensures that clean energy start-ups and scale-ups receive the support they need to thrive in the EU market.

Now is the time to unlock the potential of clean energy innovation. A stronger, more integrated, and well-financed ecosystem for start-ups and scale-ups will drive Europe’s leadership in the global energy transition.