€300 million for Iberian BioTech and DeepTech as CriteriaCaixa rebrands its VC arm

CriteriaCaixa, the Barcelona-based holding company that manages the business assets of ‘la Caixa’ Banking Foundation, today announces a reboot of its startup investment business to facilitate the growth of science and technology-based high-potential emerging companies.

Through its two funds, Criteria Bio Ventures and Criteria Venture Tech, it plans to invest €300 million ($343 million) in early-stage companies. Investments will primarily be focused on Spain and Portugal, and selectively on Europe and North America. Investments in Spain represent nearly 70% of the current portfolio’s value.

According to the company, the funds will “promote transformative therapies and technologies that can have a positive impact on society, prioritising long-term value creation.”

CriteriaCaixa’s €300 million allocation comes amid continued investment in the sectors targeted by Criteria Bio Ventures and Criteria Venture Tech.

EU-Startups’ 2026 coverage of selected BioTech, clinical-trial technology, cybersecurity, AI infrastructure and semiconductor companies identified approximately €321.5 million in disclosed financing.

Spanish companies accounted for approximately €198.3 million of the comparable startup funding, including Barcelona-based Biorce, Gate2Brain and NeuralTrust, as well as Zepo Intelligence, 8Layers and semiconductor developer Openchip.

CriteriaCaixa is the exclusive independent body that manages the assets of ‘la Caixa’ Foundation. Both entities are closely related, forming a group whose main activity is to carry out its work in society through the appropriate management of its assets.

CriteriaCaixa’s gross asset value (GAV) reached €45 billion in 2025, managed through four different portfolios: the founding stake (CaixaBank), the significant investments portfolio (including listed companies such as Naturgy, Telefónica, ACS and Veolia among others), the alternative investments portfolio (including Criteria Capital Risc) and the liquidity portfolio.

As the Foundation’s investment vehicle, the objectives of CriteriaCaixa are to generate resources to guarantee its annual budget and to increase the AUM.

Within the framework of its 2030 Strategic Plan, CriteriaCaixa also voted to rebrand its venture capital management company to better align with the current positioning of the company.

Caixa Capital Risc was founded in 2002 within ‘la Caixa’. In 2013, it became a wholly-owned subsidiary of CriteriaCaixa. It will now operate under the Criteria Capital Risc brand name, reinforcing its market positioning as CriteriaCaixa’s VC investment arm.

Through its two specialised vehicles, Criteria Bio Ventures and Criteria Venture Tech, Criteria Capital Risc actively manages its investments by sitting on the boards of its portfolio companies.

Criteria Bio Ventures is the investment fund of Criteria Capital Risc specialising in BioTech and health. It aims to identify, fund and support innovative companies developing new therapies with the potential to transform disease management. It seeks to work with entrepreneurs developing disruptive therapeutic approaches focused on addressing unmet medical needs and with the potential to become new therapeutic solutions.

The fund counts the following among its portfolio:

Criteria Venture Tech is Criteria Capital Risc’s investment fund specialising in technology, with a focus on DeepTech and key vertical markets such as AI, cybersecurity, and software and data infrastructures. The fund invests in technology startups from the early stage, including pre-Seed and Seed, with the objective of assuming lead or co-lead positions. It has the ability to support the best performing companies in its portfolio, even at advanced growth stages.

Current portfolio companies include: