"The European Venture Capital landscape: an EIF perspective” is a series of publications aiming at presenting the outcome of EIF activities in the venture capital (VC) market over the past 20 years, by assessing their economic impact on European startups as well as the entire VC ecosystem. This first issue introduces readers to the series’ topic by discussing the economic rationale behind EIF VC activities and their role in the European VC market. It then moves to a geographical analysis of the portfolio of EIF-backed startups. Finally, the paper estimates the impact of EIF VC investments on the broader VC ecosystem. Evidence shows that EIF investments effectively crowded-in additional capital from other VC investors in the aftermath of the recent economic crisis.