European startup funding 2015
Annual report · 2015-01-01 – 2015-12-31 · vs 2014
Annual
Summary
auto-generatedIn 2015, 2,689 rounds were recorded and disclosed equity funding (excluding debt and grants) reached €15B, up 65.5% versus 2014. Debt rounds added a further €298M.
Deal count moved +19.8% versus 2014, with 1,410 named investors participating.
UK led by equity raised with €4.3B (27.7% of equity).
Software was the most-funded sector at €2.7B in equity (17.7%).
The ten largest rounds accounted for 18.3% of disclosed capital, led by Delivery Hero's €496M.
705 exits were recorded this year worth a combined €96B.
Equity funding
€15B
▲ +65.5%excl. debt & grants · +€298M debt
Funding rounds
2,689
▲ +19.8%Companies funded
2,450
▲ +22.7%Named investors
1,410
▲ +34.9%Exits
705
▲ +287.4%Provenance: 81% of 2,689 rounds disclosed an amount · 20% of priced rounds are high-confidence · EUR totals reconcile to ECB at-date within +0.82%
Methodology →Investments
Funding within 2015
by monthFunding within 2015 — interactive chart.
Data table
| Amount | Deals | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | €1.0B | 245 |
| Feb | €1.5B | 207 |
| Mar | €892M | 241 |
| Apr | €1.2B | 189 |
| May | €892M | 179 |
| Jun | €2.1B | 230 |
| Jul | €1.7B | 241 |
| Aug | €910M | 171 |
| Sep | €1.7B | 248 |
| Oct | €1.2B | 236 |
| Nov | €1.5B | 251 |
| Dec | €1.4B | 251 |
Biggest deals
top 10 by amount- 1Delivery HeroSeries D+ · Germany · Feb 2015€496M
- 2SpotifySeries D+ · Sweden · Jun 2015€479M
- 3OneWebSeries A · UK · Jun 2015€456M
- 4O3b NetworksGrowth/Late · Netherlands · Dec 2015€435M
- 5FanDuelSeries D+ · UK · Jul 2015€246M
- 6BlaBlaCarSeries D+ · France · Sep 2015€178M
- 7Reward GatewayGrowth/Late · UK · Jul 2015€169M
- 8AuxmoneySeries C · Germany · Oct 2015€150M
- 9Global Fashion GroupGrowth/Late · Germany · Jul 2015€150M
- 10INFINIDATSeries B · Israel · Apr 2015€139M
Concentration
top 10 deals18.3%
of disclosed capital came from the ten largest rounds.
Top 10 total
€2.9B
Period total
€16B
Countries
Top countries
equity raised2015 — top countries — interactive chart.
Data table
| 2015 — top countries | |
|---|---|
| UK | €4.3B |
| Germany | €3.0B |
| Israel | €1.8B |
| France | €1.5B |
| Sweden | €1.0B |
| Netherlands | €1.0B |
| Switzerland | €614M |
| Spain | €523M |
| Denmark | €250M |
| Ireland | €219M |
Capital by country
share of equity2015 — capital by country — interactive chart.
Data table
| 2015 — capital by country | |
|---|---|
| UK | €4.3B |
| Germany | €3.0B |
| Israel | €1.8B |
| France | €1.5B |
| Sweden | €1.0B |
| Netherlands | €1.0B |
| Switzerland | €614M |
| Spain | €523M |
| Denmark | €250M |
| Ireland | €219M |
| Other | €1.4B |
Geographic distribution
European countries shown · click a country2015 — geographic distribution — interactive chart.
Industries
Top sectors
equity raised2015 — top sectors — interactive chart.
Data table
| 2015 — top sectors | |
|---|---|
| Software | €2.7B |
| E-commerce | €2.2B |
| Fintech | €1.9B |
| Healthtech | €1.8B |
| Telecom | €1.4B |
| Media | €1.4B |
| Foodtech | €1.3B |
| Marketing | €1.0B |
| Transportation | €867M |
| Consumer | €819M |
Capital by sector
share of equity2015 — capital by sector — interactive chart.
Data table
| 2015 — capital by sector | |
|---|---|
| Software | €2.7B |
| E-commerce | €2.2B |
| Fintech | €1.9B |
| Healthtech | €1.8B |
| Telecom | €1.4B |
| Media | €1.4B |
| Foodtech | €1.3B |
| Marketing | €1.0B |
| Other | €7.1B |
Stages
Funding by stage
total euro raised by round type2015 — funding by stage — interactive chart.
Data table
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Pre-Seed | €370k |
| Seed | €1.0B |
| Series A | €2.5B |
| Series B | €2.0B |
| Series C | €1.8B |
| Series D+ | €3.4B |
| Early VC | €850M |
| Growth/Late | €3.4B |
| Debt | €298M |
| Grant | €37M |
| Crowdfunding | €7.6M |
| Other | €490M |
Exits
Exit activity
705
exits recorded
€96B
combined disclosed value
Exits breakdown
by type2015 — exits by type — interactive chart.
Data table
| 2015 — exits by type | |
|---|---|
| Acquisition | 620 |
| Buyout | 35 |
| IPO | 29 |
| Merger | 21 |