The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a EUR 15 million ‘quasi equity’ financing with Skeleton Technologies, Europe’s leading producer of ultracapacitors and ultracapacitor based energy storage solutions built with graphene-type materials. The EIB loan announced on 10 February is guaranteed under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the heart of the Investment Plan for Europe. The EFSI-backed financing will allow the company to finance R&D to further develop its products and systems, and to better serve its customer base, which includes German automotive manufacturers, leading global engineering companies and the European Space Agency. In France, the European Investment Fund (EIF) signed an agreement on 10 February with Initiative France to provide a guarantee for micro-financing under the EU’s Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) programme. This financing will benefit socially responsible microenterprises and SMEs that create employment. It was the first EaSI operation to benefit from EFSI support. A second EaSI operation was concluded by the EIF and Nest Bank on 13 February with  an agreement to support micro-businesses in Poland with EFSI support. Thanks to the financial backing of the European Commission, EIF is providing a guarantee so that Nest Bank can provide over EUR 9 million worth of loans on favourable conditions to about 1,300 microbusinesses in Poland over the next three years.