Europe
Introduction
Over the past two decades, Europe’s tech scene has undergone a seismic shift, moving from an outsider to a global challenger.
The continent is home to many of the world’s leading startup hubs such as London, Paris and Berlin to name a few.
Venture Capital
By stage
Venture capital investment into European startups reached $63 billion in 2023 invested across over 10K funding rounds, above pre-pandemic levels though down against the highs seen in 2021 and 2022.
Europe’s share of global venture capital increased from ~5% seen two decades ago to 20% in 2023. At the early stage level, Europe now raises a third of global seed funding.
Below we break venture capital into three distinct stages:
- Early stage ($0-15M rounds)
- Breakout stage ($15-100M rounds)
- Scaleup ($100M+ rounds)
This provides more consistent and timeless segmentation of the startup & venture capital landscape (more so than self-reported round labeling, which are applied inconsistently, especially between business cycles).
Early stage
Early stage investment in 2023 reached $17.4B, up 20% on pre-pandemic levels in 2019 though down 19% on 2022.
Access early-stage funding rounds into European startups here on the Dealroom platform.
Breakout stage
Breakout stage investment was $24B, up 26% on pre-pandemic levels in 2019 though down 31% on 2022.
Access breakout-stage funding rounds into European startups here on the Dealroom platform.
Scaleup stage
Almost all the fall in European venture capital has been at late-stage.
Late stage investment reached $21.5B, up 45% on pre-pandemic levels though megarounds saw the sharpest decline compared to other funding round sizes, down 51%, both in volume and round count.
Access scaleup-stage funding rounds into European startups here on the Dealroom platform.
By business model
European SaaS startups have raised a greater proportion of VC funding over the past decade however in 2023, nearly half of VC investment went into startups with a manufacturing business model.
Explore VC investment trends into European startups by business model here.
By industry
In 2023, the three dominant sectors for VC funding in Europe are Energy, Health and Transportation startups.
Explore VC investment by vertical here.
By leading segments
The leading segments raising the most VC investment in 2023 include Electric Mobility, EV Battery and Green Building startups.
By country
In terms of leading national ecosystems in the European continent, the UK, France and Germany have raised the most VC investment in Europe over the past decade.
Explore VC investment by country here.
By city
London, Paris and Stockholm are the leading city ecosystems in the European continent, but startup innovation is becoming increasingly distributed in Europe across other notable hubs which you can explore below.
Investors
Top investors in Europe
Explore the data for the most active investors into the European startup ecosystem as well as the most active European investors here on the Dealroom platform.
European venture capital is increasingly competitive. The number of unique investors active in Europe doubled between 2020 and 2022.
The European VC investor landscape has been thriving over the past three years, with a significant increase in the number of investors in all investment stages.
The pre-seed stage witnessed the fastest growth, followed by the series A and series B+ stages, respectively.
This trend showcases a positive outlook for the European start-up ecosystem, indicating that there is a growing interest and support for start-ups at all investment stages.
Unique active investors
Explore over 4k active investors in Europe here on the Dealroom platform.
Unicorns
Europe is home to over 500 unicorns, explore these on the platform here.
Interactive map below.
Related content
Taxonomy: To learn how Dealroom defines its entities, taxonomy, filters and more, click here
Report: Read our regular reports on European startup ecosystems here.
Dealroom Data: Explore 90k+ funded startups headquartered in Europe