At the end of this year, European startups will attract a record amount of funding in the amount of $ 121 billion – more than in the last four years combined. This is stated in a study by the Atomico venture capital fund.
The pace of investment picked up after a slight decline in Q2 and Q3 2020, showing an increase of 50 p.p. in April-June 2021. The number of unicorns (private companies with a market capitalization of $ 1 billion or more) in Europe increased from 223 at the end of 2020 to 321 at the present time. In addition, the number of “ten horns” – startups with an estimate of more than $ 10 billion – has more than doubled this year, from 12 to 26.
The total value of European technology companies in the public and private sector for the first time exceeded the $ 3 trillion mark, of which the former account for $ 2 trillion, the latter for $ 1.03 trillion. Moreover, the first trillion was reached only in December 2018.
Great Britain remained the leader in terms of attracted investments. In the first nine months alone, 68 investment rounds from $ 100 million each were completed in the country – this is more than a third of all such rounds in Europe this year. At the same time, records for large investment rounds were also set by Germany (37), France (23), Sweden and the Netherlands (both countries – 8), as well as Spain (6).
According to Atomico, there are 100 European unicorn companies grouped in Britain – it is also the leader on the continent in this indicator. The second place is taken by Germany (51), the third – by France (31). The top five are closed by Sweden (21 startups with an estimate above $ 1 billion) and the Netherlands, where there are 20 such companies.
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