EMEA

Introduction

Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) is a key global region, home to many of the world’s leading startup hubs such as London, Paris and Tel-Aviv to name a few.

Through a macro-lens, VC investment has been slowing globally from the highs of 2021 however there’s been a bit less of a shock in EMEA as in North America and the rest of Asia.

Venture capital investment into EMEA startups reached $71 billion in 2023, down 38% from 2022.

The share of global VC invested into EMEA-based startups is at its highest it has ever been.

In 2023, startups in the EMEA region raised over 20% total global VC investment, a proportion that has been on the general rise since 2018.

Venture Capital

By stage

Early stage
Access early-stage funding rounds into EMEA startups here on the Dealroom platform.

Breakout stage
Access breakout-stage funding rounds into EMEA startups here on the Dealroom platform.

Scaleup stage
Access scaleup-stage funding rounds into EMEA startups here on the Dealroom platform.

By country

The leading countries within the EMEA region in terms of VC funding are the UK, Germany and Israel thanks to being home to a key global ecosystems such as London, Berlin and Tel Aviv.

The table below displays the top 50 countries in EMEA by VC investment since 2018.

By city

London by far is the ecosystem leader in terms of VC investment in the region, with their startups raising more than the closest three ecosystems combined in 2022 (Paris, Berlin and Tel-Aviv).

By industry

Looking at the allocation of venture capital by industry within the EMEA region, we observe that EMEA over indexes in Payments, Financial Management Solutions, Banking, and Energy Storage startups when compared to the global trends.

Middle East, North Africa

The Middle East has seen a remarkable rise in venture capital activity, especially over the past five years. While Israel has traditionally attracted most of the region's investment, the rest of the MENA region is quickly catching up.

Direct flights between Dubai and Tel Aviv are now common, meaning the region is slowly becoming more integrated.

The Sub-Saharan Africa region is still at an earlier stage in terms of development however is one of the fastest-growing regions globally in terms of venture capital activity.

Investors

Explore the data for the most active investors into the EMEA startup ecosystem as well as the most active EMEA investors here on the Dealroom platform.

New Palo Alto

New Palo Alto (NPA) is a science and tech supercluster and the epicentre of EMEA tech. It is to EMEA what Bay Area is to North America. New Palo Alto (NPA) is a supercluster of leading European ecosystems and research hubs that sit in close proximity to each other.

The primary three tech hubs include London, Paris and Amsterdam through New Palo Alto also includes nearby local ecosystems such as Bristol, Oxford, Brussels and Rotterdam to name a few.

EMEA is more skewed towards early-stage relative to North America.

As a result, startup investment has already caught up with the Bay Area at the seed stage, now accounting for 11% of the global seed stage funding.

New Palo Alto has surpassed Bay Area at the seed stage.

Find out more about this region in this NPA Dealroom guide here.