Software capital falls to €1.5B despite remaining the most active sector by deal count
90 days to 2026-10-14
Software funding fell to €1.5B across 130 deals in the 90 days to 14 October 2026, down from €2.8B across 170 deals in the prior 90-day window — a 44.8% drop in capital and a 23.5% drop in deal count. Despite the decline, Software still recorded more deals than any other sector in the recent window, ahead of AI's 76 deals and Healthtech's 75, confirming it as the most active sector by count even as its capital base shrank.
In euro terms, Software now ranks behind Cloud (€5.6B), AI (€5.1B) and Fintech (€2.4B), despite AI recording fewer deals (76) than Software's 130. The gap between Software's deal volume and its capital total illustrates a broader pattern in the window: AI's funding rose from €4.7B to €5.1B even as its deal count slipped from 81 to 76, while Software's capital contracted far more sharply than its deal flow, pointing to smaller average round sizes rather than fewer transactions.
Explore the sectors →AI-generatedWritten by an AI model from Tech.eu Funding Explorer data (2026-10-15). Figures are checked against the underlying data and each draft is reviewed by an independent second model before publishing; anything unverifiable is held back. Not investment advice. Labelled for AI transparency (EU AI Act Art. 50, applicable from 2 Aug 2026).