European startup funding 2023
Annual report · 2023-01-01 – 2023-12-31 · vs 2022
Annual
Summary
auto-generatedIn 2023, 4,469 rounds were recorded and disclosed equity funding (excluding debt and grants) reached €59B, down 27.8% versus 2022. Debt rounds added a further €15B.
Deal count moved -10.0% versus 2022, with 7,710 named investors participating.
UK led by equity raised with €20B (33.6% of equity).
Energy was the most-funded sector at €9.8B in equity (16.5%).
The ten largest rounds accounted for 25.0% of disclosed capital, led by Arm's €4.7B.
877 exits were recorded this year worth a combined €34B.
Equity funding
€59B
▼ -27.8%excl. debt & grants · +€15B debt
Funding rounds
4,469
▼ -10.0%Companies funded
4,252
▼ -9.7%Named investors
7,710
▼ -12.3%Exits
877
▼ -13.1%Provenance: 85% of 4,469 rounds disclosed an amount · 95% of priced rounds are high-confidence · EUR totals reconcile to ECB at-date within -0.12%
Methodology →Investments
Funding within 2023
by monthFunding within 2023 — interactive chart.
Data table
| Amount | Deals | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | €4.7B | 388 |
| Feb | €4.5B | 387 |
| Mar | €5.8B | 415 |
| Apr | €4.0B | 372 |
| May | €4.3B | 361 |
| Jun | €5.8B | 422 |
| Jul | €4.7B | 356 |
| Aug | €6.9B | 315 |
| Sep | €16B | 399 |
| Oct | €3.4B | 390 |
| Nov | €5.6B | 367 |
| Dec | €9.0B | 297 |
Biggest deals
top 10 by amount- 1ArmOther · UK · Sep 2023€4.7B
- 2VismaOther · Norway · Dec 2023€3.0B
- 3PhilipsOther · Netherlands · Aug 2023€2.6B
- 4VerkorSeries C · France · Sep 2023€2.0B
- 5Stegra (H2 Green Steel)Other · Sweden · Sep 2023€1.5B
- 6NorthvoltDebt · Sweden · Aug 2023€1.1B
- 7NorthvoltDebt · Sweden · Dec 2023€1.1B
- 8Zenobe EnergyOther · UK · Sep 2023€1.0B
- 9WayflyerOther · Ireland · Sep 2023€931M
- 10ThinCatsDebt · UK · Sep 2023€807M
Concentration
top 10 deals25.0%
of disclosed capital came from the ten largest rounds.
Top 10 total
€19B
Period total
€75B
Countries
Top countries
equity raised2023 — top countries — interactive chart.
Data table
| 2023 — top countries | |
|---|---|
| UK | €20B |
| France | €8.0B |
| Germany | €7.3B |
| Netherlands | €5.8B |
| Norway | €3.6B |
| Sweden | €3.0B |
| Switzerland | €2.1B |
| Spain | €1.8B |
| Ireland | €1.6B |
| Italy | €1.2B |
Capital by country
share of equity2023 — capital by country — interactive chart.
Data table
| 2023 — capital by country | |
|---|---|
| UK | €20B |
| France | €8.0B |
| Germany | €7.3B |
| Netherlands | €5.8B |
| Norway | €3.6B |
| Sweden | €3.0B |
| Switzerland | €2.1B |
| Spain | €1.8B |
| Ireland | €1.6B |
| Italy | €1.2B |
| Other | €5.0B |
Geographic distribution
European countries shown · click a country2023 — geographic distribution — interactive chart.
Industries
Top sectors
equity raised2023 — top sectors — interactive chart.
Data table
| 2023 — top sectors | |
|---|---|
| Energy | €9.8B |
| Software | €8.7B |
| Healthtech | €7.2B |
| Fintech | €6.4B |
| Semiconductors | €5.4B |
| Cleantech | €4.5B |
| Transportation | €3.8B |
| AI | €2.2B |
| E-commerce | €2.1B |
| Deeptech | €1.1B |
Capital by sector
share of equity2023 — capital by sector — interactive chart.
Data table
| 2023 — capital by sector | |
|---|---|
| Energy | €9.8B |
| Software | €8.7B |
| Healthtech | €7.2B |
| Fintech | €6.4B |
| Semiconductors | €5.4B |
| Cleantech | €4.5B |
| Transportation | €3.8B |
| AI | €2.2B |
| Other | €13B |
Stages
Funding by stage
total euro raised by round type2023 — funding by stage — interactive chart.
Data table
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Pre-Seed | €398M |
| Seed | €2.6B |
| Series A | €5.8B |
| Series B | €4.9B |
| Series C | €4.5B |
| Series D+ | €2.0B |
| Early VC | €9.7M |
| Growth/Late | €859M |
| Debt | €15B |
| Grant | €390M |
| Crowdfunding | €74M |
| ICO | €49M |
| Other | €38B |
Exits
Exit activity
877
exits recorded
€34B
combined disclosed value
Exits breakdown
by type2023 — exits by type — interactive chart.
Data table
| 2023 — exits by type | |
|---|---|
| Acquisition | 848 |
| Merger | 23 |
| IPO | 3 |
| Buyout | 2 |
| Unknown | 1 |