LitCapital has successfully attracted private capital to create a Risk Capital Fund of up to EUR 20 million to invest into Lithuanian SMEs. This is the third and final equity instrument to be implemented by the EIF through the JEREMIE Holding Fund initiative in Lithuania.

This Risk Capital Fund is a key part of the Holding Fund's activity and will result in a total of up to EUR 20 million being invested into Lithuanian micro, small and medium enterprises over the next few years. Investments by LitCapital will be made in enterprises with high growth potential during their early growth stages (seed, start-up and expansion phases).

The EUR 20 million Fund will consist of EUR 14 million provided by the EIF managed JEREMIE Holding Fund and EUR 6 million raised from institutional and private investors.

Mr. Richard Pelly, Chief Executive of the European Investment Fund stated, "Through the JEREMIE Holding Fund, the Lithuanian Government has wisely established a platform which will stimulate the growth of the venture capital industry in Lithuania. EIF is pleased to have been able to make this happen through managing the Holding Fund which will deliver long term benefits to the whole SME sector."

The Fund will invest up to EUR 3 million into single SMEs with the aim to build a diversified portfolio of high growth enterprises selected by the professional and committed management team of LitCapital.

"LitCapital venture capital fund will start investing in at exactly the right time - when Lithuanian SMEs and the whole economy need capital the most. It is also a very important milestone in the development of Lithuanian venture capital industry." said Mr. Šarūnas Šiugžda, Founder and Managing Partner of LitCapital and Chairman of the Lithuanian Venture Capital Association.

According to the Advisor to the Minister of Economy Mr. Daumantas Lapinskas, "Risk capital investments into enterprises are being further supported from the State resources and this positively affects the development of capital market in Lithuania. We are observing the increased activity of the risk capital market participants, which was inspired by the activity of the first State supported funds, and we hope this process will gain momentum and continue. Risk capital is an important financial instrument for business, which is oriented towards innovative, high growth enterprises."

About JEREMIE

JEREMIE (Joint European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises) is a joint initiative launched by the European Commission (DG Regional Policy) and the European Investment Bank group to improve access to finance for SMEs in the EU within the Structural Funds framework for the period 2007-2013. JEREMIE enables the EU Member States and Regions to put money from the structural funds and also national resources into holding funds that can finance SMEs in a flexible and innovative way. Since the products will be provided on a repayment basis, funding will be reinvested and hence more SMEs will benefit from the EU resources.

EIF has currently signed 8 National (Greece, Romania, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Malta) and 3 Regional (in France - Languedoc Roussillon, Italy - Campania and Sicily) Holding Fund agreements.

The new initiative aims at developing and fostering the role of entrepreneurship within the EU in order to meet the objectives of the Lisbon agenda and help structural funds to deliver greater benefits to the market.

In Lithuania, JEREMIE Holding Fund is financed from the EU Structural Funds under 2007-2013 Economic Growth Operational Programme of Lithuania and managed by the EIF.

About EIF

EIF's central mission is to support Europe's small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) by helping them to access finance. EIF designs and develops venture capital and guarantees instruments which specifically target this market segment. In this role, EIF fosters EU objectives in support of innovation, research and development, entrepreneurship, growth, and employment. The EIF total net commitments to private equity funds amounted to over EUR 3.7bn at end 2009. With investments in over 300 funds, the EIF is a leading player in European venture due to the scale and the scope of its investments, especially in high-tech and early-stage segments. The EIF commitment in guarantees totaled over EUR 13.6bn in over 160 operations, positioning it as a major European SME guarantees actor and a leading micro-finance guarantor.

About LitCapital

LitCapital founders and team members have a long experience in private equity and venture capital industry in Lithuania and other Baltic countries. Past investments include Sonex (currently ATEA), Bauhof, Sportland, TD Baltic, etc. The fund investors include local and regional institutional as well as well known HNWI. LitCapital plans to make 8-12 investments into Lithuanian high growth SMEs, which have solid business concept and strong Management.

For additional information please see www.eif.org

or contact:

David Yormesor, EIF Communications Unit, tel +352 426 688 346, e-mail inforbd@eif.org or
Šarūnas Šiugžda, Founder & Managing Partner, LitCapital, tel. +370 5 205 4479, e-mail sarunas.siugzda@litcapital.lt