22 Nov Investments in Europe – Record Breaking Funding

Investments in Europe hit record numbers this year – and there’s still more time before the year ends. But, where is all this funding coming from?

A staggering 41.8 Bil Euros was raised by European companies in the first half of 2021, surpassing the record of 32.6 Bil Euros invested in 2020. This is also up from the 13.3 Bil Euros raised in H1 2020 – That is despite the total number of closed deals just being 20% higher than the first half of last year.

According to CNBC, the ever-growing base of US VC firms investing in European start-ups fuelled the funding race in H1 2021. The total of European VC deals with US investor participation has shot up from 359 deals in 2011 to 1,434 in 2021 (as of Oct 21 2021).

Not just in terms of number but there is a large growth in size wise of these deals. Collectively in 2011, the deals with US investor participation were 2.7 Bil Euros whereas in 2021, the collective deals were worth 50.8 Bil Euros.

What is driving this interest? Experts analyse it could be a combination of three factors:
1) More attractive valuation of European Start-ups relative to their US peers
2) A well-established VC landscape
3) An increasing number of success stories

With increasing level of fundings in Europe, supported by US investors, it is highly expected that Europe’s unicorn companies will get bigger at a faster rate and so will the number of startups joining the unicorn club.

NAOS International has been supporting Firms & VCs in the Tech & Digital space – including, FinTech, DeepTech, HealthTech and others – for more than a decade in hiring top talents for firms to capitalise on growth opportunities. Reach out to our team in Paris to learn more about how we can support you across Europe.