European startup funding Q3 2026
Quarterly report · 2026-07-01 – 2026-09-30 · vs Q2 2026
Quarterly
Summary
auto-generatedIn Q3 2026, 745 rounds were recorded and disclosed equity funding (excluding debt and grants) reached €19B, down 5.5% versus Q2 2026. Debt rounds added a further €8.6B.
Deal count moved -14.3% versus Q2 2026, with 1,857 named investors participating.
Germany led by equity raised with €4.6B (24.2% of equity).
AI was the most-funded sector at €6.3B in equity (33.1%).
The ten largest rounds accounted for 51.1% of disclosed capital, led by Mistral AI's €3.0B.
122 exits were recorded this quarter worth a combined €700M.
Equity funding
€19B
▼ -5.5%excl. debt & grants · +€8.6B debt
Funding rounds
745
▼ -14.3%Companies funded
736
▼ -14.2%Named investors
1,857
▼ -13.3%Exits
122
▲ +7.0%Provenance: 86% of 745 rounds disclosed an amount · 91% of priced rounds are high-confidence · EUR totals reconcile to ECB at-date within +0.07%
Methodology →Investments
Funding within Q3 2026
by monthFunding within Q3 2026 — interactive chart.
Data table
| Amount | Deals | |
|---|---|---|
| Jul | €8.7B | 269 |
| Aug | €3.2B | 166 |
| Sep | €16B | 310 |
Biggest deals
top 10 by amount- 1Mistral AISeries D+ · France · Sep 2026€3.0B
- 2NscaleDebt · UK · Sep 2026€3.0B
- 3NscaleDebt · UK · Sep 2026€2.6B
- 4HelsingSeries D+ · Germany · Jul 2026€1.6B
- 5Quantum SystemsSeries D+ · Germany · Jul 2026€1.1B
- 6NscaleDebt · UK · Jul 2026€787M
- 7Neko HealthSeries C · Sweden · Jul 2026€614M
- 8LendableDebt · UK · Jul 2026€587M
- 9TEKEVERSeries D+ · Portugal · Sep 2026€508M
- 10WonderfulSeries C · Netherlands · Sep 2026€475M
Concentration
top 10 deals51.1%
of disclosed capital came from the ten largest rounds.
Top 10 total
€14B
Period total
€28B
Countries
Top countries
equity raisedQ3 2026 — top countries — interactive chart.
Data table
| Q3 2026 — top countries | |
|---|---|
| Germany | €4.6B |
| UK | €4.4B |
| France | €3.9B |
| Sweden | €1.3B |
| Spain | €1.1B |
| Netherlands | €1.0B |
| Portugal | €589M |
| Switzerland | €502M |
| Italy | €429M |
| Finland | €200M |
Capital by country
share of equityQ3 2026 — capital by country — interactive chart.
Data table
| Q3 2026 — capital by country | |
|---|---|
| Germany | €4.6B |
| UK | €4.4B |
| France | €3.9B |
| Sweden | €1.3B |
| Spain | €1.1B |
| Netherlands | €1.0B |
| Portugal | €589M |
| Switzerland | €502M |
| Italy | €429M |
| Finland | €200M |
| Other | €1.1B |
Geographic distribution
European countries shown · click a countryQ3 2026 — geographic distribution — interactive chart.
Industries
Top sectors
equity raisedQ3 2026 — top sectors — interactive chart.
Data table
| Q3 2026 — top sectors | |
|---|---|
| AI | €6.3B |
| Robotics | €2.0B |
| Software | €1.6B |
| Healthtech | €1.6B |
| Fintech | €1.3B |
| Space | €948M |
| Energy | €931M |
| Cybersecurity | €639M |
| Cleantech | €572M |
| Deeptech | €559M |
Capital by sector
share of equityQ3 2026 — capital by sector — interactive chart.
Data table
| Q3 2026 — capital by sector | |
|---|---|
| AI | €6.3B |
| Robotics | €2.0B |
| Software | €1.6B |
| Healthtech | €1.6B |
| Fintech | €1.3B |
| Space | €948M |
| Energy | €931M |
| Cybersecurity | €639M |
| Other | €4.4B |
Stages
Funding by stage
total euro raised by round typeQ3 2026 — funding by stage — interactive chart.
Data table
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Pre-Seed | €177M |
| Seed | €787M |
| Series A | €1.5B |
| Series B | €2.2B |
| Series C | €2.8B |
| Series D+ | €6.2B |
| Early VC | €227k |
| Growth/Late | €361M |
| Debt | €8.6B |
| Grant | €106M |
| Other | €4.9B |
Exits
Exit activity
122
exits recorded
€700M
combined disclosed value
Exits breakdown
by typeQ3 2026 — exits by type — interactive chart.
Data table
| Q3 2026 — exits by type | |
|---|---|
| Acquisition | 117 |
| Merger | 4 |
| Unknown | 1 |