European startup funding 2018
Annual report · 2018-01-01 – 2018-12-31 · vs 2017
Annual
Summary
auto-generatedIn 2018, 2,966 rounds were recorded and disclosed equity funding (excluding debt and grants) reached €23B, down 5.9% versus 2017. Debt rounds added a further €313M.
Deal count moved -11.1% versus 2017, with 3,061 named investors participating.
UK led by equity raised with €5.6B (24.3% of equity).
Software was the most-funded sector at €5.5B in equity (24.1%).
The ten largest rounds accounted for 10.9% of disclosed capital, led by Auto1's €460M.
308 exits were recorded this year worth a combined €38B.
Equity funding
€23B
▼ -5.9%excl. debt & grants · +€313M debt
Funding rounds
2,966
▼ -11.1%Companies funded
2,834
▼ -8.4%Named investors
3,061
▼ -21.7%Exits
308
▼ -50.0%Provenance: 86% of 2,966 rounds disclosed an amount · 64% of priced rounds are high-confidence · EUR totals reconcile to ECB at-date within -2.52%
Methodology →Investments
Funding within 2018
by monthFunding within 2018 — interactive chart.
Data table
| Amount | Deals | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | €5.6B | 780 |
| Feb | €5.6B | 804 |
| Mar | €1.3B | 175 |
| Apr | €323M | 2 |
| May | €21M | 3 |
| Jun | €34M | 5 |
| Jul | €307M | 69 |
| Aug | €1.6B | 202 |
| Sep | €1.8B | 230 |
| Oct | €2.1B | 244 |
| Nov | €2.7B | 225 |
| Dec | €2.0B | 227 |
Biggest deals
top 10 by amount- 1Auto1Other · Germany · Jan 2018€460M
- 2LetgoOther · Spain · Aug 2018€431M
- 3OutSystemsOther · Portugal · Feb 2018€289M
- 4UiPathSeries C · Romania · Sep 2018€227M
- 5INEADebt · Poland · Apr 2018€223M
- 6RevolutOther · UK · Feb 2018€201M
- 7Roivant SciencesOther · Switzerland · Nov 2018€178M
- 8Ozon.ruOther · Russia · Nov 2018€177M
- 9GraphcoreSeries D+ · UK · Dec 2018€176M
- 10Atom BankOther · UK · Jan 2018€168M
Concentration
top 10 deals10.9%
of disclosed capital came from the ten largest rounds.
Top 10 total
€2.5B
Period total
€23B
Countries
Top countries
equity raised2018 — top countries — interactive chart.
Data table
| 2018 — top countries | |
|---|---|
| UK | €5.6B |
| France | €3.6B |
| Germany | €3.1B |
| Israel | €2.9B |
| Spain | €1.2B |
| Sweden | €1.0B |
| Switzerland | €841M |
| Netherlands | €718M |
| Russia | €492M |
| Ireland | €407M |
Capital by country
share of equity2018 — capital by country — interactive chart.
Data table
| 2018 — capital by country | |
|---|---|
| UK | €5.6B |
| France | €3.6B |
| Germany | €3.1B |
| Israel | €2.9B |
| Spain | €1.2B |
| Sweden | €1.0B |
| Switzerland | €841M |
| Netherlands | €718M |
| Russia | €492M |
| Ireland | €407M |
| Other | €3.2B |
Geographic distribution
European countries shown · click a country2018 — geographic distribution — interactive chart.
Industries
Top sectors
equity raised2018 — top sectors — interactive chart.
Data table
| 2018 — top sectors | |
|---|---|
| Software | €5.5B |
| Fintech | €4.2B |
| Healthtech | €2.9B |
| Transportation | €2.6B |
| Cybersecurity | €1.3B |
| E-commerce | €1.3B |
| Media | €1.2B |
| Travel | €1.1B |
| Marketing | €1.1B |
| Robotics | €744M |
Capital by sector
share of equity2018 — capital by sector — interactive chart.
Data table
| 2018 — capital by sector | |
|---|---|
| Software | €5.5B |
| Fintech | €4.2B |
| Healthtech | €2.9B |
| Transportation | €2.6B |
| Cybersecurity | €1.3B |
| E-commerce | €1.3B |
| Media | €1.2B |
| Travel | €1.1B |
| Other | €9.5B |
Stages
Funding by stage
total euro raised by round type2018 — funding by stage — interactive chart.
Data table
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Pre-Seed | €1.6M |
| Seed | €702M |
| Series A | €2.0B |
| Series B | €3.0B |
| Series C | €1.8B |
| Series D+ | €1.9B |
| Early VC | €31M |
| Growth/Late | €76M |
| Debt | €313M |
| Grant | €6.3M |
| ICO | €68M |
| Other | €13B |
Exits
Exit activity
308
exits recorded
€38B
combined disclosed value
Exits breakdown
by type2018 — exits by type — interactive chart.
Data table
| 2018 — exits by type | |
|---|---|
| Acquisition | 290 |
| IPO | 8 |
| Unknown | 5 |
| Merger | 4 |
| ICO | 1 |