European startup funding Q4 2020
Quarterly report · 2020-10-01 – 2020-12-31 · vs Q3 2020
Quarterly
Summary
auto-generatedIn Q4 2020, 1,096 rounds were recorded and disclosed equity funding (excluding debt and grants) reached €16B, up 5.3% versus Q3 2020. Debt rounds added a further €1.4B.
Deal count moved +28.3% versus Q3 2020, with 587 named investors participating.
UK led by equity raised with €5.1B (32.6% of equity).
Fintech was the most-funded sector at €2.8B in equity (18.1%).
The ten largest rounds accounted for 22.6% of disclosed capital, led by Farfetch's €1.1B.
276 exits were recorded this quarter worth a combined €102B.
Equity funding
€16B
▲ +5.3%excl. debt & grants · +€1.4B debt
Funding rounds
1,096
▲ +28.3%Companies funded
1,070
▲ +26.5%Named investors
587
▲ +16.2%Exits
276
▲ +52.5%Provenance: 93% of 1,096 rounds disclosed an amount · 75% of priced rounds are high-confidence · EUR totals reconcile to ECB at-date within +1.65%
Methodology →Investments
Funding within Q4 2020
by monthFunding within Q4 2020 — interactive chart.
Data table
| Amount | Deals | |
|---|---|---|
| Oct | €4.3B | 345 |
| Nov | €6.5B | 382 |
| Dec | €6.1B | 369 |
Biggest deals
top 10 by amount- 1FarfetchGrowth/Late · UK · Nov 2020€1.1B
- 2AuxmoneyDebt · Germany · Nov 2020€418M
- 3StillfrontDebt · Sweden · Dec 2020€365M
- 4ArrivalGrowth/Late · UK · Nov 2020€337M
- 5SinchGrowth/Late · Sweden · Dec 2020€320M
- 6MoloSeries A · UK · Oct 2020€293M
- 7Nano DimensionGrowth/Late · Israel · Dec 2020€280M
- 8CazooOther · UK · Oct 2020€263M
- 9Octopus EnergyGrowth/Late · UK · Dec 2020€228M
- 10Tier MobilitySeries C · Germany · Nov 2020€210M
Concentration
top 10 deals22.6%
of disclosed capital came from the ten largest rounds.
Top 10 total
€3.8B
Period total
€17B
Countries
Top countries
equity raisedQ4 2020 — top countries — interactive chart.
Data table
| Q4 2020 — top countries | |
|---|---|
| UK | €5.1B |
| Israel | €2.4B |
| Germany | €1.7B |
| Sweden | €1.3B |
| France | €1.2B |
| Switzerland | €713M |
| Netherlands | €573M |
| Spain | €459M |
| Italy | €317M |
| Ireland | €277M |
Capital by country
share of equityQ4 2020 — capital by country — interactive chart.
Data table
| Q4 2020 — capital by country | |
|---|---|
| UK | €5.1B |
| Israel | €2.4B |
| Germany | €1.7B |
| Sweden | €1.3B |
| France | €1.2B |
| Switzerland | €713M |
| Netherlands | €573M |
| Spain | €459M |
| Italy | €317M |
| Ireland | €277M |
| Other | €1.5B |
Geographic distribution
European countries shown · click a countryQ4 2020 — geographic distribution — interactive chart.
Industries
Top sectors
equity raisedQ4 2020 — top sectors — interactive chart.
Data table
| Q4 2020 — top sectors | |
|---|---|
| Fintech | €2.8B |
| Software | €2.6B |
| Transportation | €1.9B |
| Healthtech | €1.6B |
| Fashion | €1.4B |
| Cybersecurity | €1.0B |
| E-commerce | €825M |
| Consumer | €713M |
| Cleantech | €708M |
| AI | €670M |
Capital by sector
share of equityQ4 2020 — capital by sector — interactive chart.
Data table
| Q4 2020 — capital by sector | |
|---|---|
| Fintech | €2.8B |
| Software | €2.6B |
| Transportation | €1.9B |
| Healthtech | €1.6B |
| Fashion | €1.4B |
| Cybersecurity | €1.0B |
| E-commerce | €825M |
| Consumer | €713M |
| Other | €6.7B |
Stages
Funding by stage
total euro raised by round typeQ4 2020 — funding by stage — interactive chart.
Data table
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Pre-Seed | €27M |
| Seed | €711M |
| Series A | €1.9B |
| Series B | €1.7B |
| Series C | €1.8B |
| Series D+ | €1.5B |
| Early VC | €52M |
| Growth/Late | €3.5B |
| Debt | €1.4B |
| Grant | €19M |
| Crowdfunding | €58M |
| ICO | €12M |
| Other | €4.4B |
Exits
Exit activity
276
exits recorded
€102B
combined disclosed value
Exits breakdown
by typeQ4 2020 — exits by type — interactive chart.
Data table
| Q4 2020 — exits by type | |
|---|---|
| Acquisition | 224 |
| IPO | 21 |
| Unknown | 14 |
| Leveraged buyout | 9 |
| Merger | 8 |