Amid a slowdown in startup funding globally in Q4’15, dollars going to European VC-backed companies dropped by roughly 17% from the previous quarter to just under $3B. Deal activity also ticked down slightly, to 338 deals, down from 347 deals in Q3’15. However, its worth noting that every quarter in 2015 saw $3B or more raised. Deals have now topped 300 for 12 of the last 13 quarters (Q3’14 was the exception).
Also, the decline in funding and deals was far more dramatic globally, so Europe was clearly more resilient than other regions.
Using CB Insights data, we dig into trends and top investors in Europe.
Deal and dollar trends
Q4’15 saw $2.97B going to European startups on 338 deals. The funding decrease was partially due to fewer mega-rounds, with Europe seeing just three $100M+ financings versus six a quarter prior.
Largest rounds
The 10 largest European rounds of Q4’15 accounted for more than $1.3B in funding.
The top rounds include investment into food delivery startup Deliveroo, which raised an $100M Series D in November 2015 led by DST Global and Greenoaks Capital Management. Fin tech payments company Ebury raised a private equity round of $83M in November 2015, led by 83North and Vitruvian Partners.
Top VC Investors
High-Tech Gruenderfonds in Germany was the most active VC investor in Europe. Rounding out the top 3 VCs in Europe are the UK-based Business Growth Fund and Munich-based Holtzbrinck Ventures.
See the list of the 18 most active VC investors below.
