European startup funding May 2026
Monthly report · 2026-05-01 – 2026-05-31 · vs Apr 2026
Monthly
Summary
auto-generatedIn May 2026, 265 rounds were recorded and disclosed equity funding (excluding debt and grants) reached €7.2B, up 43.1% versus Apr 2026. Debt rounds added a further €3.3B.
Deal count moved -12.5% versus Apr 2026, with 767 named investors participating.
UK led by equity raised with €4.9B (67.8% of equity).
Healthtech was the most-funded sector at €2.0B in equity (28.0%).
The ten largest rounds accounted for 69.1% of disclosed capital, led by Pure Data Centres (Pure DC)'s €2.3B.
40 exits were recorded this month worth a combined €547M.
Equity funding
€7.2B
▲ +43.1%excl. debt & grants · +€3.3B debt
Funding rounds
265
▼ -12.5%Companies funded
265
▼ -11.1%Named investors
767
▼ -11.5%Exits
40
▲ +14.3%Leading country
€4.9B
67.8% of equity
Leading sector
€2.0B
28.0% of equity
Provenance: 88% of 265 rounds disclosed an amount · 94% of priced rounds are high-confidence · EUR totals reconcile to ECB at-date within -0.03%
Methodology →Investments
Funding within May 2026
by dayFunding within May 2026 — interactive chart.
Data table
| Amount | Deals | |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | €653M | 6 |
| 02 | €0 | 0 |
| 03 | €0 | 0 |
| 04 | €88M | 12 |
| 05 | €740M | 16 |
| 06 | €144M | 10 |
| 07 | €280M | 18 |
| 08 | €198M | 13 |
| 09 | €0 | 0 |
| 10 | €0 | 0 |
| 11 | €801M | 11 |
| 12 | €201M | 13 |
| 13 | €2.9B | 26 |
| 14 | €45M | 6 |
| 15 | €144M | 5 |
| 16 | €0 | 0 |
| 17 | €0 | 0 |
| 18 | €64M | 8 |
| 19 | €164M | 11 |
| 20 | €169M | 14 |
| 21 | €810M | 30 |
| 22 | €45M | 5 |
| 23 | €0 | 0 |
| 24 | €0 | 0 |
| 25 | €17M | 7 |
| 26 | €60M | 9 |
| 27 | €2.4B | 18 |
| 28 | €404M | 17 |
| 29 | €193M | 10 |
| 30 | €0 | 0 |
| 31 | €0 | 0 |
Biggest deals
top 10 by amount- 1Pure Data Centres (Pure DC)Debt · UK · May 2026€2.3B
- 2Isomorphic LabsSeries B · UK · May 2026€1.8B
- 3NscaleDebt · UK · May 2026€671M
- 4EburyOther · UK · May 2026€635M
- 5Recursive SuperintelligenceOther · UK · May 2026€555M
- 6ElevenLabsSeries D+ · UK · May 2026€471M
- 7IceyeDebt · Finland · May 2026€300M
- 8Focused EnergyOther · Germany · May 2026€207M
- 9FractileSeries B · UK · May 2026€188M
- 10QuantWareSeries B · Netherlands · May 2026€152M
Concentration
top 10 deals69.1%
of disclosed capital came from the ten largest rounds.
Top 10 total
€7.3B
Period total
€11B
Countries
Top countries
equity raisedMay 2026 — top countries — interactive chart.
Data table
| May 2026 — top countries | |
|---|---|
| UK | €4.9B |
| Germany | €571M |
| France | €384M |
| Netherlands | €276M |
| Italy | €201M |
| Spain | €178M |
| Austria | €126M |
| Ireland | €95M |
| Sweden | €80M |
| Switzerland | €73M |
Capital by country
share of equityMay 2026 — capital by country — interactive chart.
Data table
| May 2026 — capital by country | |
|---|---|
| UK | €4.9B |
| Germany | €571M |
| France | €384M |
| Netherlands | €276M |
| Italy | €201M |
| Spain | €178M |
| Austria | €126M |
| Ireland | €95M |
| Sweden | €80M |
| Switzerland | €73M |
| Other | €348M |
Geographic distribution
European countries shown · click a countryMay 2026 — geographic distribution — interactive chart.
Industries
Top sectors
equity raisedMay 2026 — top sectors — interactive chart.
Data table
| May 2026 — top sectors | |
|---|---|
| Healthtech | €2.0B |
| AI | €1.5B |
| Fintech | €1.2B |
| Software | €618M |
| Deeptech | €449M |
| Energy | €327M |
| Legaltech | €130M |
| Space | €129M |
| Foodtech | €126M |
| Cybersecurity | €126M |
Capital by sector
share of equityMay 2026 — capital by sector — interactive chart.
Data table
| May 2026 — capital by sector | |
|---|---|
| Healthtech | €2.0B |
| AI | €1.5B |
| Fintech | €1.2B |
| Software | €618M |
| Deeptech | €449M |
| Energy | €327M |
| Legaltech | €130M |
| Space | €129M |
| Other | €1.0B |
Stages
Funding by stage
total euro raised by round typeMay 2026 — funding by stage — interactive chart.
Data table
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Pre-Seed | €46M |
| Seed | €196M |
| Series A | €557M |
| Series B | €2.5B |
| Series C | €436M |
| Series D+ | €694M |
| Growth/Late | €54M |
| Debt | €3.3B |
| Crowdfunding | €2.6M |
| Other | €2.7B |
Exits
Exit activity
40
exits recorded
€547M
combined disclosed value
Exits breakdown
by typeMay 2026 — exits by type — interactive chart.
Data table
| May 2026 — exits by type | |
|---|---|
| Acquisition | 37 |
| Merger | 3 |