Sectors/Media/2016

Media funding in 2016

European Media startup funding raised during 2016.

In 2016, 287 European Media companies raised a combined €2.1B across 308 funding rounds. Sweden led by capital raised, and Bpifrance was the most active investor. Data as of 21 Aug 2026.

Total funding

€2.1B

disclosed, € normalized

Funding rounds

308

Companies

287

Top country

Sweden

Break down 2016 by period

Half-year

H1 H2

Quarters

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

Months

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Rank among sectors

8.7% of sector funding

Debt financing

€1.0B

47.8% of total

Top-10 round share

68.6%

of disclosed capital

Rounds ≥ €100M

Funding by month

€ raised vs rounds, by month

Top countries

by € raised

Top deals

largest disclosed rounds in 2016

Company	Stage	Date	Amount
Spotify	Debt	Mar 2016	€918M
Devialet	Series C	Nov 2016	€100M
Deezer	Series D+	Jan 2016	€100M
SoundCloud	Series D+	Jun 2016

View all 308 Media deals in 2016 →

Top investors

most active in 2016, by deal count

← All-time Media funding

Exits & M&A

60 Acquisition · 3 Merger · 2 IPO

65 exits · €1.5B disclosed.

Mail.ru Group	Acquisition	May 2016	€675M
AB Groupe	Acquisition	Jul 2016	€270M
Starman	Acquisition	Apr 2016	€208M
Time Out	IPO	Feb 2016	€108M
Edgeware	IPO	Jul 2016	€96M
News Republic	Acquisition	Mar 2016	€52M