European startup funding Q4 2021
Quarterly report · 2021-10-01 – 2021-12-31 · vs Q3 2021
Quarterly
Summary
auto-generatedIn Q4 2021, 1,522 rounds were recorded and disclosed equity funding (excluding debt and grants) reached €24B, down 31.4% versus Q3 2021. Debt rounds added a further €1.0B.
Deal count moved -4.3% versus Q3 2021, with 3,197 named investors participating.
Germany led by equity raised with €7.5B (30.8% of equity).
Fintech was the most-funded sector at €6.0B in equity (24.5%).
The ten largest rounds accounted for 22.3% of disclosed capital, led by Gorillas's €858M.
368 exits were recorded this quarter worth a combined €50B.
Equity funding
€24B
▼ -31.4%excl. debt & grants · +€1.0B debt
Funding rounds
1,522
▼ -4.3%Companies funded
1,506
▼ -3.4%Named investors
3,197
▼ -3.3%Exits
368
▲ +15.4%Provenance: 89% of 1,522 rounds disclosed an amount · 77% of priced rounds are high-confidence · EUR totals reconcile to ECB at-date within -0.22%
Methodology →Investments
Funding within Q4 2021
by monthFunding within Q4 2021 — interactive chart.
Data table
| Amount | Deals | |
|---|---|---|
| Oct | €8.7B | 509 |
| Nov | €8.0B | 530 |
| Dec | €8.8B | 483 |
Biggest deals
top 10 by amount- 1GorillasSeries C · Germany · Oct 2021€858M
- 2N26Series D+ · Germany · Oct 2021€776M
- 3IONITYOther · Germany · Nov 2021€700M
- 4FlinkSeries B · Germany · Dec 2021€665M
- 5JobandtalentSeries D+ · Spain · Dec 2021€508M
- 6finnDebt · Germany · Dec 2021€461M
- 7ClikaliaSeries B · Spain · Dec 2021€460M
- 8MonzoOther · UK · Dec 2021€443M
- 9SellerXOther · Germany · Dec 2021€442M
- 10StorfundOther · UK · Oct 2021€355M
Concentration
top 10 deals22.3%
of disclosed capital came from the ten largest rounds.
Top 10 total
€5.7B
Period total
€25B
Countries
Top countries
equity raisedQ4 2021 — top countries — interactive chart.
Data table
| Q4 2021 — top countries | |
|---|---|
| Germany | €7.5B |
| UK | €7.5B |
| France | €2.2B |
| Spain | €1.6B |
| Sweden | €910M |
| Switzerland | €712M |
| Netherlands | €689M |
| Denmark | €541M |
| Belgium | €401M |
| Ireland | €296M |
Capital by country
share of equityQ4 2021 — capital by country — interactive chart.
Data table
| Q4 2021 — capital by country | |
|---|---|
| Germany | €7.5B |
| UK | €7.5B |
| France | €2.2B |
| Spain | €1.6B |
| Sweden | €910M |
| Switzerland | €712M |
| Netherlands | €689M |
| Denmark | €541M |
| Belgium | €401M |
| Ireland | €296M |
| Other | €2.1B |
Geographic distribution
European countries shown · click a countryQ4 2021 — geographic distribution — interactive chart.
Industries
Top sectors
equity raisedQ4 2021 — top sectors — interactive chart.
Data table
| Q4 2021 — top sectors | |
|---|---|
| Fintech | €6.0B |
| Software | €3.5B |
| Healthtech | €2.9B |
| Transportation | €2.3B |
| E-commerce | €2.2B |
| Energy | €1.5B |
| HRtech | €1.0B |
| Proptech | €825M |
| Cleantech | €782M |
| Foodtech | €644M |
Capital by sector
share of equityQ4 2021 — capital by sector — interactive chart.
Data table
| Q4 2021 — capital by sector | |
|---|---|
| Fintech | €6.0B |
| Software | €3.5B |
| Healthtech | €2.9B |
| Transportation | €2.3B |
| E-commerce | €2.2B |
| Energy | €1.5B |
| HRtech | €1.0B |
| Proptech | €825M |
| Other | €6.0B |
Stages
Funding by stage
total euro raised by round typeQ4 2021 — funding by stage — interactive chart.
Data table
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Pre-Seed | €134M |
| Seed | €853M |
| Series A | €2.1B |
| Series B | €3.9B |
| Series C | €2.8B |
| Series D+ | €3.3B |
| Early VC | €6.2M |
| Growth/Late | €51M |
| Debt | €1.0B |
| Grant | €22M |
| Crowdfunding | €80M |
| ICO | €3.1M |
| Other | €11B |
Exits
Exit activity
368
exits recorded
€50B
combined disclosed value
Exits breakdown
by typeQ4 2021 — exits by type — interactive chart.
Data table
| Q4 2021 — exits by type | |
|---|---|
| Acquisition | 346 |
| IPO | 10 |
| Merger | 9 |
| Unknown | 3 |