In September, the volume of invested venture capital in Europe saw a 34% decrease compared to September 2023, according to Crunchbase data. The total of invested volume reached $4 billion, spread across 483 funding rounds.
Number and volume of announced funding rounds over the past 12 months*
- Number of funding rounds
- Invested volume in $bn
Leader Industries and Investors
According to the number of conducted investments, the software startups lead the market with a total of 118 investments. AI startups secured the second spot with 65 investments, followed by SaaS startups (54).
Now, regarding the companies behind the investments, UK-based Baltic Ventures emerged this month as the most active venture capital investor, completing a total of 7 deals.
With 6 completed deals, Madrid-based Repsol Foundation takes the second spot.
Top 10 Industries of Financed Startups
- Software
- AI
- SaaS
- IT
- BioTech
- Medical
- Health Care
- Manufacturing
- FinTech
- Financial Services
Top 5 Investors with the highest number of deals
- Baltic Ventures
- Repsol Foundation
- Archie
- Techstars
- SRP
Notable funding rounds across Europe
In September, the largest funding round was a $151 million Series A secured by Newcleo, an atomic energy company that focuses on developing advanced nuclear energy technologies. The company was founded in 2021 in London.
While Seed Rounds accounted for the majority of investment rounds, making up approximately 40% of the total, the highest investment volume was seen in Series A Rounds, which accounted for $1.2 billion across 64 deals.
The largest Seed Round was secured by Forth Green Freeport, which raised $32.4 million. Founded in Edinburgh in 2024, the startup offers green technologies, alternative fuels and renewable energy manufacturing in a 45km wide Freeport site in Scottland.
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 September, London remains the hotspot of the European VC industry, with Paris securing the second spot.
As in the previous months, the UK led the way with the most investment rounds at 139, followed by France with 60 and Germany with 60.
When ranked by investment volume rather than the number of investments, Mol (Belgium) takes the 5th spot, surpassing Barcelona with $110.3mn invested.
PE Acquisitions Overview
Private Equity (PE) acquisitions increased in September by 137% to 45 compared to September 2023. Of those 45 acquisitions, 13 included companies based in the UK, followed by Germany with 6 and the Netherlands (5).
The Private Equity share as part of the total 528 investment rounds in September (VC + PE) reaches 9%.
The largest known acquisition was San Francisco-based TPG Rise Climate Fund‘s acquisition of techem, a Germany-based energy service provider for the real estate sector for $7.3 billion.
- % of all investment rounds
- Number of PE acquisitions
*All data from CrunchBase, as of October 10, 2024.
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