Last month saw 312 VC investments across Europe, with $6.0 billion invested in total – a 12% decrease in funding volume compared to July last 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, AI leads with 135 investments, followed by Health Care with 99 and Energy with 52, each ahead of the next industry, FinTech (48).
Bpifrance was the most active investor with 7 investments. Followed by Y Combinator, SFC Capital and IBB Ventures with 5 investments each and General Catalyst (4 Investments) rounding out the top five most active investors.
Top 10 Industries of Financed Startups
- AI
- Health Care
- Energy
- FinTech
- Manufacturing
- PropTech
- BioTech
- Web
- Retail
- Food and Beverage
Top 5 Investors with the highest number of deals
- Bpifrance
- Y Combinator
- SFC Capital
- IBB Ventures
- General Catalyst
Notable funding rounds across Europe
In July, the largest funding round was a $1.2 billion Series D by Quantum Systems, a Gilching-based Venture which builds AI-powered eVTOL drones for defense, security, and surveying, specializing in aerial intelligence solutions. Founded in 2015 in Germany, Quantum Systems raised the investment mainly to accelerate growth and scale software-defined autonomous systems across air, land and sea.
Seed Rounds made up the largest share of rounds (41%). Despite that, the largest volume of $1.47bn was invested in 7 Series C Rounds.
The largest Seed Round was secured by microagi, a Munich-based company which is building the deployment layer of the next industrial era. Founded in 2025 in Germany, microagi raised $55 million (47.7 million) in July.
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
In July, London remained the leading hotspot for European VC by number of investments (56), followed by Berlin (16), Paris (14), Barcelona (9) and Stockholm (8).
The most investments by country were in the UK (96), followed by Germany (47) and Spain (33).
When ranked by investment volume rather than the number of investments, Gilching ($1.2bn) with one investment takes the Top 1 and San Sebastian ($570mn) with one investment and Munich ($555mn) with 7 investments join London and Stockholm in the top 5 cities.
VC Exit Overview
In July, 42 exits including one IPO took place.
With 19 exits, Health Care companies were the largest exit industrie, followed by FinTech (16) and AI (11) companies.
Most companies exited are based in the UK with 11 exits, followed by Germany with 8 exits.
- Number of Acquisition Exits
- Number of IPO Exits
PE Acquisitions Overview
In July, 59 PE acquisitions (16% of all VC and PE investment rounds) were conducted, an increase of 3pp compared to last month.
With 13 acquisitions, the UK saw the highest number of companies acquired in July.
Health Care (15), Manufacturing (12) and FinTech (12) were the top acquisition industries mentioned.
The standout deal was KKR’s €~6.8 billion acquisition of DCC Energy, an international services group increasingly focused on energy distribution and related solutions.
- % of all investment rounds
- Number of PE acquisitions
*All data from CrunchBase, as of August 3, 2026.
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
M&A European Roll-Up Market Report – August 2026
August 2026 presented a 20% year-over-year decrease in the number of PE-backed acquisitions. In addition to FinTech, private equity investors are also targeting Software and Marketing. Learn all about it in our report and case study, including ETL Systems' acquisition of Amphinicy Technologies.
September 11, 2026
VC Landscape European Venture Capital Landscape – August 2026
With 200 investments and $2.8 billion raised across Europe, August saw a 53% decrease in volume and 38% fall in deal count month over month. The largest round of the month was a $400 million Series C by the Stockholm-based company Lovable a company which provides an AI-driven platform enabling users to generate and deploy web applications and websites from natural language prompts.
September 7, 2026
M&A European Roll-Up Market Report – July 2026
July 2026 presented a 20% year-over-year decrease in the number of PE-backed acquisitions. In addition to FinTech, private equity investors are also targeting Health Care and Consulting. Learn all about it in our report and case study, including Kafeterija’s acquisition of Eddy's.
August 19, 2026
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