Societe Generale and EIB Launch €250 Million Guarantee Programme for Cleantech Scale-ups

The European Investment Bank and Societe Generale have signed a cooperation agreement backed by €250 million in EIB guarantees to jointly finance fast-growing small and mid-cap cleantech companies, targeting early-stage firms whose long production and sales cycles make it difficult to secure working capital on affordable terms. The guarantees will serve as collateral for start-ups and scale-ups seeking instruments such as advance payment or performance bonds through Societe Generale.

The EIB guarantees will be provided from InvestEU, the European Commission's programme for innovation and sustainability, enabling Societe Generale to extend working capital financing to emerging cleantech companies that would otherwise struggle to provide the collateral required for such instruments. Target sectors include the decarbonisation of the economy, sustainable use of natural resources, the circular economy, sustainable bioeconomy, and pollution prevention and control. The initiative follows an earlier collaboration between the two institutions this year focused on financing wind energy supply chain manufacturers.

Cleantech start-ups and scale-ups face a well-documented financing gap in Europe, with venture capital available for early-stage development but limited access to working capital financing needed to execute large orders and fund the extended periods between production and payment in capital-intensive industries. The EIB-Societe Generale structure addresses this directly by providing guarantee-backed working capital instruments that reduce the credit risk banks associate with companies in early revenue phases. Societe Generale plans to use the structure to accelerate support for companies it has identified as emerging leaders in its environmental transition financing portfolio.

For European cleantech companies operating in areas including green hydrogen, battery storage, sustainable materials and industrial decarbonisation, the availability of working capital on commercially viable terms is often the binding constraint on scaling up production to meet increasing demand. The EIB's involvement provides a de-risking mechanism that can unlock private bank capital at scale. Similar public-private guarantee structures are being explored by development finance institutions in India, including through the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development, to catalyse private financing for clean energy and climate technology companies.

Key figure — €250 million in EIB guarantees backing Societe Generale cleantech working capital financing