European startup funding 2021
Annual report · 2021-01-01 – 2021-12-31 · vs 2020
Annual
Summary
auto-generatedIn 2021, 5,074 rounds were recorded and disclosed equity funding (excluding debt and grants) reached €111B, up 125.0% versus 2020. Debt rounds added a further €8.4B.
Deal count moved +54.9% versus 2020, with 7,003 named investors participating.
UK led by equity raised with €28B (25.6% of equity).
Fintech was the most-funded sector at €25B in equity (22.1%).
The ten largest rounds accounted for 10.6% of disclosed capital, led by Northvolt's €2.3B.
1,027 exits were recorded this year worth a combined €117B.
Equity funding
€111B
▲ +125.0%excl. debt & grants · +€8.4B debt
Funding rounds
5,074
▲ +54.9%Companies funded
4,765
▲ +53.3%Named investors
7,003
▲ +376.1%Exits
1,027
▲ +42.4%Provenance: 90% of 5,074 rounds disclosed an amount · 74% of priced rounds are high-confidence · EUR totals reconcile to ECB at-date within -0.35%
Methodology →Investments
Funding within 2021
by monthFunding within 2021 — interactive chart.
Data table
| Amount | Deals | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | €5.8B | 267 |
| Feb | €7.1B | 293 |
| Mar | €9.4B | 304 |
| Apr | €7.7B | 273 |
| May | €11B | 372 |
| Jun | €14B | 452 |
| Jul | €14B | 567 |
| Aug | €11B | 437 |
| Sep | €14B | 587 |
| Oct | €8.7B | 509 |
| Nov | €8.0B | 530 |
| Dec | €8.8B | 483 |
Biggest deals
top 10 by amount- 1NorthvoltOther · Sweden · Jun 2021€2.3B
- 2AdevintaGrowth/Late · Norway · Jul 2021€1.9B
- 3TrendyolOther · Türkiye · Aug 2021€1.3B
- 4Delivery HeroDebt · Germany · Sep 2021€1.3B
- 5CinchGrowth/Late · UK · May 2021€1.2B
- 6Just Eat TakeawayDebt · Netherlands · Feb 2021€1.1B
- 7SpotifyOther · Sweden · Feb 2021€1.1B
- 8SinchGrowth/Late · Sweden · May 2021€900M
- 9GorillasSeries C · Germany · Oct 2021€858M
- 10GroverDebt · Germany · Jul 2021€847M
Concentration
top 10 deals10.6%
of disclosed capital came from the ten largest rounds.
Top 10 total
€13B
Period total
€120B
Countries
Top countries
equity raised2021 — top countries — interactive chart.
Data table
| 2021 — top countries | |
|---|---|
| UK | €28B |
| Germany | €19B |
| Sweden | €11B |
| Israel | €10B |
| France | €10B |
| Netherlands | €6.1B |
| Spain | €4.4B |
| Norway | €3.1B |
| Türkiye | €2.5B |
| Switzerland | €2.4B |
Capital by country
share of equity2021 — capital by country — interactive chart.
Data table
| 2021 — capital by country | |
|---|---|
| UK | €28B |
| Germany | €19B |
| Sweden | €11B |
| Israel | €10B |
| France | €10B |
| Netherlands | €6.1B |
| Spain | €4.4B |
| Norway | €3.1B |
| Türkiye | €2.5B |
| Switzerland | €2.4B |
| Other | €15B |
Geographic distribution
European countries shown · click a country2021 — geographic distribution — interactive chart.
Industries
Top sectors
equity raised2021 — top sectors — interactive chart.
Data table
| 2021 — top sectors | |
|---|---|
| Fintech | €25B |
| Software | €23B |
| E-commerce | €12B |
| Healthtech | €9.5B |
| Transportation | €9.2B |
| Cybersecurity | €6.2B |
| Marketing | €4.8B |
| Cleantech | €4.7B |
| Media | €4.3B |
| Energy | €3.6B |
Capital by sector
share of equity2021 — capital by sector — interactive chart.
Data table
| 2021 — capital by sector | |
|---|---|
| Fintech | €25B |
| Software | €23B |
| E-commerce | €12B |
| Healthtech | €9.5B |
| Transportation | €9.2B |
| Cybersecurity | €6.2B |
| Marketing | €4.8B |
| Cleantech | €4.7B |
| Other | €40B |
Stages
Funding by stage
total euro raised by round type2021 — funding by stage — interactive chart.
Data table
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Pre-Seed | €237M |
| Seed | €2.5B |
| Series A | €8.2B |
| Series B | €13B |
| Series C | €14B |
| Series D+ | €21B |
| Early VC | €37M |
| Growth/Late | €5.1B |
| Debt | €8.4B |
| Grant | €79M |
| Crowdfunding | €176M |
| ICO | €13M |
| Other | €47B |
Exits
Exit activity
1,027
exits recorded
€117B
combined disclosed value
Exits breakdown
by type2021 — exits by type — interactive chart.
Data table
| 2021 — exits by type | |
|---|---|
| Acquisition | 924 |
| IPO | 40 |
| Merger | 32 |
| Unknown | 16 |
| Leveraged buyout | 15 |