• European tech has grown rapidly over the past decade, with a world-leading early-stage startup ecosystem. Challenges remain in unlocking growth-stage funding.
• European tech could be worth $8 trillion ten years from now, employing a world-class talent pool of 20 million people.

Brussels, Belgium,� 19 November 2024 – A special 10th anniversary edition of the State of European Tech report, produced by Atomico with key data contributions from Invest Europe, celebrates a decade of remarkable growth and resilience in European technology. The report details the ecosystem's transformation, its global potential, and the hurdles to overcome for sustained success.

Since 2015, European tech companies have raised a cumulative $426 billion, ten times the amount raised in the previous decade. The report, compiled by Atomico with Invest Europe and other data partners, projects European tech investment to reach $45 billion in 2024, comparable to the $47 billion secured last year.

The report highlights:

• Strong fundamentals for early-stage startups: Europe has become a global leader in early-stage funding, boasting 35,000 startups, more than any other region. Cities like London, Berlin, and Paris are now among the world's top innovation hubs.
• Challenges in growth-stage funding: Despite 8x growth companies since 2014, European firms often rely on US investors for larger rounds, risking talent and economic leakage. European pension funds allocate just 0.01% of their $9 trillion in assets to European VC, underscoring the need for institutional support.
• Talent and sustainability strengths: With 3.5 million people employed, European tech has created 2.5 million jobs since 2015, growing at par with the US. Moreover, 21% of European tech investment supports sustainability initiatives, double the US rate.

Eric de Montgolfier, CEO of Invest Europe, commented:

• "Innovation is the heartbeat of Europe’s future. Venture capital plays a vital role in fostering startups that tackle global challenges, drive the energy and digital transitions, and secure Europe’s position on the global stage."
• "European venture capital is a catalyst for more than financial returns—it powers job creation, competitiveness, and groundbreaking innovation. With the right policies and incentives, it can elevate Europe’s tech ecosystem to launch world-class startups and deliver transformative benefits across the continent."

The State of European Tech 2024 also delves into emerging areas like AI and deeptech, which have captured 33% of Europe’s total funding levels this year.

In this retrospective edition of the State of European Tech report, Atomico examines the evolution of the European tech ecosystem over the last ten years. The report forecasts that in ten years’ time European tech could have an ecosystem value of $8 trillion and a world class talent pool of 20 million employees.

For the full interactive report, visit this page. Download the report here.� 

To learn more about how Venture Capital drives Europe’s progress, please read Invest Europe’s Venture Capital: Fuelling European Innovation report.

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NOTES TO EDITORS

The report aims to be a useful, credible, and transparent data-driven look at the European tech ecosystem. Data partners include Invest Europe, dealroom.com, S&P Global Market Intelligence, Pitchbook, Revelio Labs, Ravio, and Crunchbase.
Orrick, HSBC Innovation Banking, Amazon Web Services, Slush and Atomico also created a survey to supplement the fact-finding data with some qualitative analysis. The survey was conducted during September and October, 2024. More than 3,500 fully qualified responses were received.

About Invest Europe
Invest Europe is the association representing Europe’s private equity, venture capital and infrastructure sectors, as well as their investors. We have over 650 members, split roughly equally between private equity, venture capital and limited partners – with some 110 associate members representing advisers to our ecosystem. Those members are based in 57 countries, including 42 in Europe, and manage 60% of the European private equity and venture capital industry’s €1.15 trillion of capital under management. Businesses with private capital investment employ 10.9 million people across Europe, 5% of the region’s workforce.