Marseille-Provence 2013 a larger, decades-long, multibillion-dollar development effort to revitalize the city. The official designation of European Capital of Culture was created in 1985 with the goal of building ties between citizens of the European Union by celebrating both the diversity of European culture and its common history and values. The event is also considered an opportunity for a city or region raise its international profile and to foster urban renewal through investment in culture and tourism. Thus far, more than 40 cities have received the European Capital of Culture designation. The city of Marseille launched its candidacy to host the European
Aster (venture capital company) European Investment Fund (EIF) contributed €20 million to the Aster fund. This investment gave Aster a total of €105 million. According to the business newspaper "Les Echos", this was the first investment by an institutional player in France's risk capital market . According to an assessment by the AFIC Cleantech Club fundraising barometer, Aster was the third largest French investment fund investing in cleantech companies in 2012. In January 2013, Aster invested in Building IQ, which specialises in energy efficiency software. In November 2013, after already being invested in EcoFactor's capital, Aster took part in a second round of fundraising