February saw 411 VC investments across Europe, with $2.7bn invested in total. While the number of investments declined by 29% year-over-year, the investment volume declined by 16% year-over-year.
Number and volume of announced funding rounds over the past 12 months*
- Number of funding rounds
- Invested volume in $bn
Leading Industries and Investors
According to the number of conducted investments, the Health Care startups again lead the market with a total of 128 investments in the broader industry. AI startups secured the second spot with 100 investments, closely followed by FinTech startups (71).
Regarding the investors behind those funding rounds, the EIC Accelerator emerged as the most active VC investor, participating in 25 deals. With this, the accelerator leads ahead of Bpifrance (12 deals), CDP Venture Capital (10 deals), Fuel Ventures (5 deals) and Merica Ventures (5 deals) among the top 5 investors of the month.
Top 10 Industries of Financed Startups
- Health Care
- AI
- FinTech
- Web
- BioTech
- Food and Beverage
- Retail
- Manufacturing
- Energy
- PropTech
Top 5 Investors with the highest number of deals
- EIC Accelerator
- Bpifrance
- CDP Venture Capital
- Fuel Ventures
- Merica Ventures
Notable funding rounds across Europe
In February, the largest funding round was a $142 million Venture Round secured by OrganOx, a startup developing innovative medical devices to preserve human organs outside the body, increasing success rates for organ transplants. The company was founded in 2008 in Oxford.
While Seed Rounds accounted for a major part of investment rounds, making up approximately 37% of the total rounds, the highest investment volume was seen in Venture Rounds, which accounted for $904 million across 100 deals.
The largest Seed Round was secured by NanoPhoria. The Health Care and Biotech company, founded in 2022 in Milan, raised €15.0 million.
Number and total volume of financing rounds per stage
- Number of funding rounds per stage
- Volume of financing rounds per stage in $mn
Detailed overview by stage
European VC Industry Hotspots
When ranking by the number of conducted investments, London remains the hotspot of the European VC industry in February. Paris, Berlin, and Barcelona keep their ranks in the top five cities, followed by Stockholm on fifth place.
During February, the UK led the way with the most investment rounds at 95, once again followed by France with 52. Also Germany keeps its third spot with 48 investments.
When ranking the cities by investment volume rather than the number of investments, Cambridge ($187.8mn), Dublin ($181.0mn), and Oxford ($173.8mn) join London and Paris in the top 5.
VC Exit Overview
In February, 31 exits took place. However, following 8 months which each included at least one IPO exit, no IPO took place in February.
With 13 exits, FinTech companies present the largest exit industry of the month, followed by Food and Beverage (8) and Retail (5) companies.
Most companies exited in the UK with 12 exits, followed by 9 companies in France.
- Number of Acquisition Exits
- Number of IPO Exits
PE Acquisitions Overview
Private Equity (PE) continues its uptrend against the previous year with February acquisitions increasing by 32% to 33, compared to February 2024. With 9 acquisitions, the UK saw the highest number of companies acquired while FinTech companies dominated also as the top acquisition targets with 9 acquisitions.
The Private Equity share as part of the total 444 investment rounds in February (VC + PE) doubled increased by 3 percentage points compared to last year, reaching 7% .
However, with 33 acquisitions February presented the first month with less than 40 acquisitions since September 2024.
The largest known acquisition was Fortress Investment Group’s acquisition of Loungers, UK-based
operator of bar, restaurant and café chains, for £354 million.
- % of all investment rounds
- Number of PE acquisitions
*All data from CrunchBase, as of March 10, 2025.
Partner with us
Unlock the full potential of your financial strategy with Trustventure’s expert guidance. Whether you’re navigating challenges in the financial sector, seeking advice on corporate financing, or enhancing your planning and controlling processes, we’re here to empower your journey and help you create transparency and confidence for you and your investors.
Ready to elevate your financial game? Reach out to us today using our contact form or drop us a direct message at office@trustventure.de. Work with us to achieve your financial success! 🚀
Other articles
VC Landscape Germany Venture Capital Landscape – Q2 2026
Between an increase of 5% in invested VC volume and a €600mn funding round in the DefenseTech space, Germany is closing its venture capital landscape Q2 2026. Learn all about it in our latest analysis.
July 22, 2026
VC Landscape European Venture Capital Landscape – June 2026
With 420 investments and $7.5 billion raised across Europe, June saw a 18% increase in volume and 43% rise in deal count month over month. The largest round of the month was a $1.4 billion Series C by the Metzingen-based company Neura a company which builds AI-powered cognitive robots for industrial and everyday use.
July 21, 2026
M&A European Roll-Up Market Report – June 2026
June 2026 presented a 3% year-over-year decrease in the number of PE-backed acquisitions. In addition to Software, private equity investors are also targeting FinTech, Health Care and Consulting. Learn all about it in our report and case study, including Blend360’s acquisition of In516ht.
July 8, 2026
M&A European Roll-Up Market Report – May 2026
May 2026 presented a 45% year-over-year increase in the number of PE-backed acquisitions. In addition to Marketing, private equity investors are also targeting Software, FinTech and Consulting. Learn all about it in our report and case study, including RSK’s acquisition of HV Energy Systems.
June 15, 2026
VC Landscape European Venture Capital Landscape – May 2026
With 293 investments and $6.3 billion raised across Europe, May saw a 31% increase in volume and 10% decrease in deal count month over month. The largest round of the month was a $2.1 billion Series B by the London-based company Isomorphic Labs an AI-first drug design and develoment company that transforms drug discovery to design and evaluate new medicines.
June 8, 2026
VC Landscape Germany Venture Capital Landscape – Q1 2026
Between an increase of 6.5% in invested VC volume and a €350mn funding round in the AI space, Germany is closing its venture capital landscape Q1 2026. Learn all about it in our latest analysis.
May 20, 2026
VC Landscape European Venture Capital Landscape – April 2026
With 327 investments and $4.8 billion raised across Europe, April saw a 42% decrease in volume and 9% fall in deal count month over month. The largest round of the month was a $1.1 billion Seed Round by the London-based company Ineffable Intelligence, which develops machine learning systems that learn through interaction and experience.
May 13, 2026
M&A European Roll-Up Market Report – April 2026
April 2026 presented a 0% year-over-year increase in the number of PE-backed acquisitions. In addition to Consulting, private equity investors are also targeting Software, FinTech and Transportation. Learn all about it in our report and case study, including NOD’s acquisition of Paintworks.
May 11, 2026
M&A European Roll-Up Market Report – March 2026
March 2026 presented a 19% year-over-year increase in the number of PE-backed acquisitions. In addition to FinTech, private equity investors are also targeting Consulting, Software and Marketing. Learn all about it in our report and case study, including Syndigo’s acquisition of Taggstar.
April 16, 2026
VC Landscape European Venture Capital Landscape – March 2026
With 360 investments and $8.2 billion raised across Europe, March saw a 86% increase in volume and 6% rise in deal count month over month. The largest round of the month was a $2.0 billion Series C by the London-based company Nscale, which builds AI data centers and provides GPU cloud infrastructure that companies use to train, run, and scale large AI models.
April 9, 2026