BUILDING, GROWING,

CONNECTING:
The European tech
investment landscape
CONTENTS

FOREWORD FROM STARTUP OLÉ 4 SPANISH INVESTMENT

TRENDS 42
FOREWORD FROM TECH.EU 6
SPOTLIGHT ON SPAIN AND
FOREWORD FROM STARTUP THE SME INSTRUMENT 47
EUROPE 8
CONCLUSIONS 52
INTRODUCTION 9
TOTAL DEAL NUMBERS DOWN,
KEY FUNDING TAKEAWAYS 12 BUT ECOSYSTEM CONTINUES TO
GROW AND MATURE
FUNDING BY VERTICAL 2018 13
BREXIT FAILS TO DIM INVESTMENT
IN UK TECH, BUT UK INVESTMENT
FOCUS ON FINTECH 18 DOWN IN 2018

ROUNDS BY COUNTRY 21 IPOS AND ACQUISITIONS DOWN

FROM 2017, BUT VALUE HIGHER
MULTI YEAR TRENDS 24 THAN EVER

SPOTLIGHT ON SWEDEN 27 US REMAINS TOP ACQUIRER,

MOVING FROM STRENGTH TO
MEAN AND MEDIAN FUNDING STRENGTH
TRENDS 28
SPANISH STARTUPS STAND OUT
FOR SME FUNDING
KEY M&A TAKEAWAYS 31

KEY M&A TRENDS METHODOLOGY AND

37
DISCLAIMERS 55

STARTUP OLÉ
SALAMANCA 2019
FOREWORD FROM STARTUP OLÉ

30.000 +
AT T E N D E ES
850 +
START UPS
500 +
K E Y P L AY E R S

The 5th edition of Startup OLÉ will take place in Sala-

manca, Spain on 26th - 28th March 2019.
Startup OLÉ is a tech event whose main aims are to
democratize the ecosystem giving possibilities to the
most talented startups and becoming a key bridge
connecting Iberoamerican and European ecosystems.
Supported by the European Commission-Startup Eu-
rope, the Central American Integration System (SICA),
the Ibero-American Secretary (SEGIB), Salamanca
City Council and the University of Salamanca, Star-
tup OLÉ connects startups, spin-offs and innovative
SMEs with investors, corporates, public institutions,
embassies, accelerators, universities and media, with
the help of a group of more than 300 university volun-
teers.
In the last edition of Startup OLÉ in 2018, the main ac-
tors of the national and international entrepreneurship
ecosystem met in Salamanca, becoming one of the
most important tech events thanks to the presence
of 10,000 attendees and 500 startups.
250 +
C O R P O R AT E S
50 kM 120 +
COUNTRIES
PORFOLIO INVESTMENT
& INVESTORS
The 5th edition aims to gather more than 30,000
attendees from 120 countries, 850 startups, 500
speakers and more than 250 Corporations and In-
vestors with an investment portfolio of €50.000 mi-
llion.
The 2019 edition brings important innovations such
as the support of verticals like, emergency, block-
chain, mobility, auto-tech and shared economy. We
will also celebrate a forum of entrepreneurial women
and the other novelty will be the organization of ex- DEMOCRATISING THE INSPIRING
clusive activities for investors, corporates, public ad-
ministrations/embassies, accelerators, universities,
STARTUP ECOSYSTEM WOMEN FORUM
etc, in which they will be able to develop common
strategies to support the entrepreneurship and the
generation of wealth and employment.

NEW VERTICALS COMMUNITY

EMERGENCIES LATAM &
PLASTIC FREE SEAS EUROPE

www.startupole.eu Organized by:

#PassionNeverFails

Supported by:

4 STARTUP OLÉ STARTUP OLÉ 5

SALAMANCA 2019 SALAMANCA 2019
FOREWORD FROM TECH.EU
https://tech.eu/ Tech.eu
Tech.eu is the premier source of European techno-
logy news, data and market intelligence, providing
unprecedented insights into the tech startup, invest-
ment, M&A and IPO activity across Europe (inclu-
ding Israel, Russia and Turkey).
Founded in 2013, Tech.eu combines solid editorial
products with data-driven market intelligence reports
across investment stages, geographies and sectors,
as well as bespoke event, research and consultancy
services.
Tech.eu offer a curated selection of stories on Euro-
pean startups, scale-ups, venture capital, policy and
more, through a combination of a unique online ma-
gazine, industry newsletters,reports, a podcast, job
platform and event calendar.
Since we started, one of the key aims of the team at
Tech.eu has been to track all of the funding rounds
and exits in Europe, providing the most comprehen-
6 STARTUP OLÉ
@tech_eu Tech.eu techdoteu
sive and accurate record and analysis of the Euro-
pean technology scene. At the same time we have
built a vast and broad network of people who share
our passion for Europe and all things tech. The dai-
ly conversations, meetings and discussions that we
have enrich our understanding of the ecosystem and
provide nuance, context and colour to the data. We
like to reflect this in our reports through insights and
comments from leading ecosystem players.
During the last 12 months we’ve published multiple
reports focused on the funding and M&A markets at
a Europe-wide level, as well as country and vertical
specific reports. This report focuses on the Euro-
pean, Israeli and Turkish funding markets from 2015
through 2018, and in 2018 in particular.
We’ve worked to make this report as comprehensive
and valuable as possible. For any questions or com-
ments regarding the report we invite you to email
reports@tech.eu.
SALAMANCA 2019
“There’s absolutely no question that the European
technology ecosystem(s) are rapidly maturing, parti-
cularly in major hubs such as London, Berlin, Paris,
Stockholm and others, but also across the board in
regions like the Baltics and CEE, where foundations
are being laid for the next generation of entrepre-
neurs to build category-leading tech companies in
the future. When we started Tech.eu more than five
years ago, not everybody was convinced that this ROBIN WAUTERS
was going to be the case, and that Europe would FOUNDING EDITOR
forever be reduced to playing only a minor role on TECH.EU
the global innovation stage.
when diving into the numbers and listening to the
community of entrepreneurs, investors and policy-
The optimists were right. We are seeing record after
makers with a vested interesting in seeing European
record being broken, fantastic European tech com-
tech grow up. We are already seeing positive sig-
panies changing markets and leading categories
ns in the first months of 2019, and we’ll continue to
around the world, entrepreneur-friendly policies and
monitor pan-European activity and sentiment throu-
regulations being implemented on various levels of
ghout the year.
government, and an entire new generation of foun-
ders entering the playing field. Undoubtedly, the
Thank you for reading this report; we hope it pre-
numbers continue to pale in comparison with some
sents you with an honest account of what’s happe-
of the financing rounds, valuations, exit sizes and
ning in and to European tech, and we are already
growth we are seeing from American or Chinese
looking forward to providing you with an update next
tech companies, but despite the challenges ahead
year!”
it’s becoming a lot easier to be on the optimistic side
STARTUP OLÉ 7
SALAMANCA 2019
FOREWORD FROM STARTUP EUROPE
“The European startups ecosystems have leapt
forward since 2011 when the European Commission
launched the Startup Europe initiative. In Startup Eu-
rope, we have observed the evolution of European
ecosystems. Startups ecosystems have matured
and the main challenges have shifted from lack of
capital 8 years ago to lack of talent today, from lack
of connections to Silicon Valley ecosystem to lack
of connections to other European startups ecosys-
tems, from lack of exits to too early stage exits.
Current startups ecosystems in Europe have six
main characteristics. First, there is a huge concen-
tration of startups activities in a few cities in Europe
that represent a minuscule proportion of the popu-
lation. According to StartupCities Europe Partners-
hip founder, Alberto Onetti: “Approximately 50 main
cities will be likely driving the innovation economy
in Europe in the next years, while all the other cities
and municipalities face the risk to be increasingly
marginalized. This growing gap could potentially trig-
ger disaggregation and separatisms”.
Second, startup activity is significantly driven by pu-
blic funding. Governmental agencies provide direct
grants and loans, but also contribute more capital
to VC funds (25%) than private individuals and fa-
mily offices (20%) and corporate investors (15%)
do. Third, Institutional investors (EU pension funds,
wealth sovereign funds) are almost absent from the
VC market in Europe. In fact, European VCs account
for 2% of the total capital committed to European
Buyout/VC funds by pension funds since 2013. Four,
there are many exits, but at a very stage what pre-
vents the emergence of European Tech Giants. Most
of the deals have a size of less than €100Mio. Fifth,
based on my 8 years of experience building startups
ecosystems in Europe I perceive a lack of engage-
ment (give back attitude) of the successful European
entrepreneurs in helping their local startups ecosys-
tems. The main reason mentioned to me is that the
European system is based on high taxes to the pu-
blic administrations who should be the ones, in re-
turn, responsible for using that money to develop lo-
cal ecosystems. Fifth, the return of investment of VC
funds in Europe is as good as the RoI of similar VC
funds in Silicon Valley. If these good RoIs are sustai-
Disclaimer: The information and views set out in this text are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the European
Union.
8 STARTUP OLÉ
ISIDRO LASO
BALLESTEROS
HEAD OF STARTUPS AND
SCALEUPS
STARTUP EUROPE
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
CONTINUING FELLOW AT
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY
CENTER FOR SCIENCE
AND POLICY
THOUGHT LEADER AT
UNITEDNATIONS -
ITU AGENCY
ned in the medium term, it will have a very positive
impact on attracting more institutional investors, fa-
mily offices and private investors.
Based on the current situation, as clearly backed by
the data of this second Tech.eu/Startup Ole report,
I can imagine a situation in 2024 with five main fea-
tures. First, the number of Startup Cities will increa-
se to 125-150 (startup city defined as the one with
a ratio of ”proportion of scaleups in the city versus
the total in the country divided by current proportion
of the GDP of the city in comparison to the coun-
try’s GDP” higher than 1). Second, the proportion of
public money into the startups ecosystem will de-
crease. Although the total amount of public money
might increase, the amount of non-public funds will
increase significantly more, driven by high Returns
of Investment. Third, Europe will be able to develop
leadership in startups and scaleups in some deep
tech domains endowed by the huge amount of avai-
lable European talent in deep tech. However, this
leadership might not be translated into new Euro-
pean Tech Giants due to the taxation system in Eu-
rope and the strong power of incumbents in Europe.
Finally, there will be a continuous lack of ”give back”
attitude in Europe. I honestly hope to be wrong in my
last prediction because no public programme can
ever replace the experience and connections that a
successful serial entrepreneur would provide for the
development of startups ecosystems in Europe.
I hope you enjoy reading this second ”Tech.eu/Sta-
tup Ole” report and learn as much as I have learned
reading it. We certainly need reliable data to support
evidence-based decision-making processes both for
public and private authorities in Europe.”
SALAMANCA 2019
INTRODUCTION
2018 has capped another incredible year for Euro- new markets with even newer technologies.
pe’s technology ecosystem. Over the course of the
past year, the European tech ecosystem has con- While the investment data is compelling, it is impor-
tinued to grow, mature and build connections be- tant to consider it alongside some of the less me-
tween the continent’s startup hubs and beyond. To- asurable aspects of the European tech ecosystem
day, Europe is home to more “unicorn” startups than that we’ve had the chance to see grow over the past
ever, and initial estimates of inbound investment into several years. We’ve seen, in the past year how Eu-
European startups over the past year has reached rope has continued to embrace entrepreneurship,
nearly €25 billion. with dedicated efforts by the European Union and
member states to support new technology and en-
The past year has also borne witness to a continued terprises. Many of these policy initiatives stand out,
trend of international investors supporting European from Lithuania’s efforts to become Europe’s Fintech
tech. In the past year, the ecosystem has received capital 1, to Finland’s efforts to train their workforce
notable investments in Germany’s Auto1 group from with the latest AI skills 2. Similarly, greater attention
SoftBank’s Vision Fund and and Spain’s Letgo from has been paid to support scale up companies, to
Naspers. Interest from international investors has ensure that European startups have the best foun-
continued into the early part of 2019, with further dation in their efforts to grow internationally. One no-
investments from some of the world’s largest inter- table example, Scale-Up Denmark, has notably hel-
national companies and investment firms into Euro- ped companies across the country grow regionally
pean startups, including Tencent, Alibaba, Goldman and internationally through a concentrated accele-
Sachs and SoftBank. Europe’s fintech sector con- ration environment, alongside bespoke training and
tinues to exceed expectations, and a healthy crop matchmaking 3. Other policies, such as Portugal’s
of challenger banks in the UK and on the continent new startup visa, aim to ensure companies have the
have helped attract even higher amounts of invest- best opportunity to grow and scale in the future, with
ment to Europe, as well as deliver promising pro- the right talent 4. There are many more public policies
ducts for their consumers. that are being designed and implemented all across
Europe, to support the development of new and sca-
This report focuses on some of the key investment ling tech companies.
trends that have taken place in Europe over the past
year. We aim to put these in context alongside some But it is not just domestic policy that is working to
of the continuing trends in recent years, but at the assist technical ventures in Europe. Following the
same time recognizing the continually changing na- Digitizing European Industry initiative, the European
ture of Europe’s tech landscape. The types of pro- Commission has further helped support scale up
ducts built today, in many instances could not have activities across Europe, with specialized programs
been conceived when Tech.eu first started tracking for companies in the growth phase, including the
venture deals five years ago. The markets for the- “Smart Anything Everywhere” initiative 5, as well as
se products and services continue to change, grow uniquely tailored summits curated by the Startup Eu-
and evolve, as European entrepreneurs aim to reach rope Partnership 6. In addition, the commission has
1. See “Invest Lithuania: Fintech” available at https://investlithuania.com/key-sectors/technology/fintech/
2. Delcker, Janosch.“Finland’s grand AI experiment” Politico. January 2, 2019. Available at
https://www.politico.eu/article/finland-one-percent-ai-artificial-intelligence-courses-learning-training/
3. “Scale-up Denmark” Project information available at: https://regionalt.erhvervsstyrelsen.dk/eu-scale-denmark-0
4. “Portugal Tech Visa Kicks off January 1, 2019”. Available at: https://portugalstartups.com/2018/12/portugal-tech-visa/
5. “Smart Anything Everywhere” available at https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/smart-anything-everywhere
6. “SEP Scaleup Summits”Available at https://startupeuropepartnership.eu/scaleup-summits/
STARTUP OLÉ 9
SALAMANCA 2019
supported a number of specific activities that have
sought to bring Europe’s entrepreneurs together and
build stronger networks between Europe’s startup
community.
Projects such as Soft Landing, EU Lighthouse, and
My Gateway, have already begun to build human
bridges networking entrepreneurs and ecosystem
builders across the continent through networking,
matchmaking and events. While the impact of these
activities can be difficult to quantify, the outcomes for
these entrepreneurs and their communities will only
continue to grow as these programs mature.
MEETUP.COM GROUPS DEDICATED TO TECH, BY COUNTRY, 2018
Data compiled by author’s own analysis of Meetup.com API
10
Beyond public initiatives, Europe’s founders and tech
teams continue to connect, build and grow new ven-
tures. They are coming together to learn and support
one another at large events such as Startup Olé, but
as we see from the map below, founders also con-
nect in their own communities at tech meetups and
gatherings. It is often in these spaces where pros-
pective founders begin to consider their possibilities
for entrepreneurship, and find the support they need
to begin to launch. Thus it might be unsurprising to
find the venture deals we track in this report often
correlate strongly with the amount of support to be
found in one’s local ecosystem, of which tech mee-
tups and events play a considerable role.
STARTUP OLÉ
SALAMANCA 2019
The report that follows aims to be a window into
some of the investment trends Tech.eu has collected
and analyzed on European tech in 2018. As we find,
the investment level into European tech continues
to grow, importantly reaching to new geographies
in Europe, building capacity across the continent.
While the level of private investment into Europe’s
startup ecosystem is exciting, it’s also important to
highlight the great amount of activity that these num-
bers cannot capture. Private investment is just one
part of measuring an ecosystem. As we have seen,
startups in Europe have long relied on a myriad of
funding options outside private investment to further
their ventures.
The European Commission’s SME instrument, one
of the world’s most significant investors in early stage
ventures, has also helped propel some of Europe’s
most innovative young companies. The SME instru-
ment is the largest and most competitive non-diluti-
ve grant scheme anywhere, and thousands of early
stage startups have benefited from the programme’s
funding and mentorship.
Beyond public investment, European startups have
successfully utilized alternative funding mechanis-
ms, such as ICOs (initial coin offerings), crowdfun-
ding, microinvestment, and new forms of investment
that were entirely pioneered in Europe, such as
equity token investment. Even more early stage star-
tups in Europe grow through bootstrapping, relying
on early revenue to propel their next phase of grow-
th. Many of these new forms of investment currently
lack robust mechanisms to measure and evaluate.
So while the report does not cover these investment
trends in depth, they should not be discounted when
evaluating the data that follows.
Similarly, reporting lags and the magnitude of invest-
ment deals that are never shared publicly further li-
mit the story we are able to tell with our data. At best,
the data presented here should be interpreted as
illustrative of the trends of investment into Europe’s
technology companies, with the understanding that
there is a considerable amount of activity taking pla-
ce in the ecosystem that cannot always be captured
reliably. To illustrate this complexity, we’ve included
insights from some of the leading voices in the Eu-
ropean tech world to highlight unique aspects of the
data.
As this report is released, the European Tech com-
munity assembles for Startup Olé in Salamanca at
a unique time for Europe. The 2019 edition meets
on the eve of Brexit, but as you will see in this re-
port, the enthusiasm in Europe’s tech community
has not dimmed. Over the past year, the impending
exit of the UK from the EU has failed to distract the
continent’s builders, innovators and creators from
attracting greater investment and interest than ever
before. While many in political circles considered the
potential upheaval Brexit might have on the Euro-
pean startup ecosystem, founders and entrepreneu-
rs continued largely unperturbed. The proof, howe-
ver is in the numbers, with early investment trends
from the last year continuing to find a continent full
of promise and growth.
STARTUP OLÉ 11
SALAMANCA 2019
KEY FUNDING TAKEAWAYS FUNDING BY VERTICAL 2018
2018, TOP VERTICALS OF INVESTMENT INTO EUROPE STARTUPS
In 2018, the amount of private investment invested in the European tech ecosystem reached nearly €25 bi-
llion. The United Kingdom again received the highest amount of investment volume, with 600 tracked deals
valued at over €5 billion. Investment levels from 2017 to 2018 showed another year of contracting numbers,
but the overall investment levels remained nearly level with the previous year.

TECH INVESTMENT, 2018, TOP COUNTRIES

“Having seen significant investment into startups,

the UK is now entering the scaleup phase. Ambi-
tious digital tech businesses must now grow rapidly
and navigate the challenge of becoming the global
companies that they aspire to be. There’s lots more
growth to come, even with Brexit uncertainty, but it
will take skill, aptitude and fortitude on the part of
UK founders. Tech Nation is helping by connecting
GERARD GRECH scaling businesses with peers and those who have
CHIEF EXECUTIVE already successfully made it.”
TECH NATION

12 STARTUP OLÉ STARTUP OLÉ 13

SALAMANCA 2019 SALAMANCA 2019
 2018, TOP VERTICAL OF INVESTMENT INTO 2018, TOP INVESTMENTS INTO EUROPEAN
EUROPEAN STARTUPS TRANSPORT STARTUPS

As in previous years, Fintech has remained the top vertical for investment in European tech, with over €3.58
billion invested in over 300 individual investments (excluding exits). Fintech investments were made across
the continent, with the greatest amount of dealflow going to the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, France
and Israel. However, investment into transportation showed strong growth in 2018, with large investments
into automotive shopping platforms (Auto1 and Frontier Auto), Carsharing services (Taxify and Cabify) as
well as electric scooters (Dott, CityScoot and Tier Mobility).

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 2018, TOP INVESTMENTS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN

DISTRIBUTION OF STARTUP INVESTMENT IN EUROPE, 2018

16 STARTUP OLÉ STARTUP OLÉ 17

SALAMANCA 2019 SALAMANCA 2019
FOCUS ON FINTECH

2018, MEDIAN FINTECH INVESTMENT 2018, TOP VERTICALS OF INVESTMENT INTO EUROPEAN STARTUPS
BY COUNTRY
In 2018, fintech deal flow was dominated by Euro-
pean challenger banks, largely located in the United
Kingdom. British challengers Revolut, Atom Bank,
Monzo and Starling Bank each attracted considera-
ble investment, alongside German challenger N26.
These challenger banks continue to attract inbound
investment into 2019 remaining popular with inves-
tors due to their growing customer base.

“FinTech will retain its top spot for European invest-

ment because of the very nature of financial ser-
vices. This industry underpins and supports most
other industries - civilised societies are supported by
secure regulated financial services systems. Those
systems offer people control over their money. Con-
trol over your money is power and freedom. Millions
ELIZABETH LUMLEY
of people, in the world, are denied access to secure,
DIRECTOR OF FINTECH
AND CONTENT regulated financial services systems - most of tho-
VC INNOVATIONS & se are the poor and a high percentage of those are
FINTECHTALENTS women. FinTech isn’t about a new payment app to
split a restaurant bill. FinTech is about increasing ac-
cess to secure, regulated financial services systems
that offer power and freedom to larger segments of
society. It is that very role in society that will keep
FinTech on top.”

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SALAMANCA 2019 SALAMANCA 2019
 2018, INVESTMENT INTO FINTECH, TOP DEALS
ROUNDS BY COUNTRY
€145.60 M
2018, FINTECH INVESTMENT AND DEALFLOW
BY SELECTED COUNTRIES

€145.60 M

€117.52 M

€100.62 M

€96.05 M

€95.72 M

€91.00 M

€91.00 M

€86.00 M

€71.38 M

€69.50 M

€59.15 M

€56.60 M

€56.50 M

€51.60 M

€49.72 M

€46.33 M

€45.20 M

€43.00 M

€41.50 M

€40.00 M

€38.22 M

€32.77 M

€31.82 M Luxembourg

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SALAMANCA 2019 SALAMANCA 2019
 2018, INVESTMENT BY SELECTED COUNTRY AND INDUSTRY

“I’m not sure if Spain will ever make it to the top 5,

and I’m not sure it’s relevant either. I truly believe that
in the future, we’ll see great companies being built in
a wide variety of countries and markets, and Spain
will be one of those for sure. Cabify, Typeform, Let-
go and other US-headquartered but Spanish born
companies such as AlienVault (acquired by AT&T) or
UserZoom are great examples of the evolution of the
JAIME NOVOA local ecosystem. However, guessing if Spain will be
INVESTOR bigger than Germany, the UK or France is a tough
K FUND one. I see the country has a lot going for it, not just
in terms of talent but also in terms of lifestyle that at-
tracts people from all over Europe, and it’s also one
of the few countries in Europe, with two cities in the
top 10 of entrepreneurship: Madrid and Barcelona.
Future is bright.”

Transportation

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SALAMANCA 2019 SALAMANCA 2019
MULTI YEAR TRENDS

“It’s highly uncertain at this point whether VC invest-

ment as a whole will go up or down in 2019. On ba-
lance the bearish arguments feel stronger than the
TECH.EU STARTUP INVESTMENT IN EUROPE, 2015 - 2018 bullish but we expect Applied VC investment (where
we play) will continue to grow faster than the avera-
ge.
The negative influences of Brexit, rising private com-
pany valuations through 2018, and the collapse of
NIC BRISBOURNE tech stocks in the latter half of last year will have a
MANAGING PARTNER continuing effect.
FORWARD PARTNERS The positive long-term secular trend of innovation
and value creation in technology remains in good
health. Looking further into the future, we’re confi-
dent there will be more great startups, run by great
entrepreneurs and plenty of capital seeking those
high growth opportunities.”

TECH.EU STARTUP INVESTMENT IN EUROPE, 2015 - 2018

Here, we can see how investments in European startups have changed over time. We find a generalized
positive trend from a low €3.32B in Q1 2015 leading to a high of €7.81B in Q4 2018. While funding levels
fluctuate from quarter to quarter, 2018 ended on a particularly positive note for European tech. While funding
levels have continually increased, from year to year, the number of deals has fallen since record numbers
were posted in Q4 2016.

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SALAMANCA 2019 SALAMANCA 2019
 INVESTMENT IN EUROPE, 2016 - 2018
SPOTLIGHT ON SWEDEN
2016 2017

SWEDEN, 2018 PRELIMINARY STARTUP INVESTMENT

TOP 20 INDUSTRIES

Sweden stands out in 2018 for Spotify’s successful IPO, however the country was also very successful in
raising investment across a wide variety of sectors. Sweden attracted 259 investments, which put it 5th pla-
ce overall. Swedish companies earned just under €1 billion in investments in 2018, outside of mergers and
exits.

“I think Sweden is already punching above its wei-

ght to a certain extent but there are some improve-
ments that could be done to grow even further. The
main constraints in Sweden currently is the legal
framework around corporate and income taxation,
ESOP structures and employment laws. We, as a
country, have to adapt more to what other countries
are doing here as both capital and talent moves fas-
LINUS DAHG ter than ever”
INVESTMENT DIRECTOR
INVENTURE

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SALAMANCA 2019 SALAMANCA 2019
MEAN AND MEDIAN FUNDING TRENDS
TECH.EU MEDIAN STARTUP INVESTMENT IN EUROPE
2015 - 2018 BY QUARTER

When we examine trends in mean and median investment in Europe over the past four years, an interesting
trend emerges. While the values of mean investments can fluctuate considerably due to outliers, when we
consider median investments across Europe, a clear upward trend is visible. This indicates that European
companies, over time, are generally attracting larger and larger investments.

TECH.EU AVERAGE STARTUP INVESTMENT IN EUROPE

2015 - 2018 BY QUARTER

“We are seeing an acceleration of investment pace

across European VC managers in the last couple of
years which is clearly reflected in the reduction of
the investment periods for VC funds: whereas mana-
gers used to build the portfolio for a given fund in 5
OSCAR FARRES years, it is more and more frequent to see managers
HEAD OF UNIT
completing the investment period of a fund in just 3
INVESTMENTS IN
TECHNOLOGY AND years. The consequences of this shift in the industry
INNOVATION dynamics remain to be seen.”
EUROPEAN
INVESTMENT FUND

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 KEY M&A TAKEAWAYS

TECH.EU STARTUP INVESTMENT IN EUROPE, 2015-2018

TOP INDUSTRIES

2018 was again another strong year for exit activity in
Europe, with a total value tracked amounting to over
€86 billion. While the overall number of mergers and
acquisitions was down compared to 2017, the value
of these transactions was considerably higher. In
2017, we tracked 610 deals totaling €61 billion, which
had lowered to 446 in 2018. This lowered number of
tracked transactions follows an established trend, as
the number of exit transactions has been lowering
from a high of 717 in 2015 to the steadier figures we
are seeing today. When analyzing M&A data across
Europe, it is important to remember that many of
these transactions, with the exception of IPOs are
conducted privately by companies. Often, the valua-
tion of these private deals is never disclosed, there-
fore limited data exists about the total valuation of
M&A over the course of the year. However, we can
identify a number of compelling trends for European
exits, especially when it comes to transactions by
country, or by industry type.
We find that in 2018, the United Kingdom slightly
led Germany for exit activity, with 81 exits to Ger-
many’s 79. This represents a considerable change
from 2017, where Germany represented 17.8% of all
exit activity, to the UK’s smaller share at 12%. Swe-
den, receiving 37 deals fell significantly behind their
all-time high of 120 exits posted in 2017, but this was
made up for with Europe’s most significant exit deal
of 2018, a successful IPO for Spotify.

“There’s a lagging period between the growth of the

“As of now, direct-to-consumer success stories are
almost exclusively found in the US, where the size of
the market, consumer willingness to embrace new
products and services coupled with founding team
aggressiveness in bold brand and marketing deplo-
LUCA BOCCHIO yment are the major differentiating factors versus
INVESTOR FOCUSED ON
their European counterparts. We believe Europe has
CONSUMER INTERNET,
FINTECH AND SOFTWARE huge potential for emerging DTC companies given
BUSINESSES its strong heritage in branding, category dominan-
ACCEL ce in several consumer verticals, deep supply chain
production capabilities and wealth of highly-skilled
industry talent and expertise.”
Paris startup community and the capacity to support
this growth at a later stage. It’s difficult to raise mo-
ney post-series B, except with just a few pan-Euro-
pean or US investors. And more exits requires edu-
cating traditional corporations on the importance of
acquiring tech startups, because Europe doesn’t
have that first generation of successful tech compa-
ALICE ZAGURY nies that have the capacity to acquire startups with
CO-FOUNDER AND CEO proper term sheets and at the right price—and so
THE FAMILY we rely on acquisitions by Silicon Valley companies,
which are scarce because of the geographic and
cultural distance.”

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 When we examine the types of industries represented in European exit activity, it might come as no surprise
that fintech companies were far and away the most popular segment for acquisitions.

TOP 20 INDUSTRIES FOR EXITS AND ACQUISITIONS, EUROPE 2018

TOP COUNTRIES FOR EUROPEAN EXITS AND ACQUISITIONS, 2018

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SALAMANCA 2019 SALAMANCA 2019
 TOP 5 INDUSTRIES FOR EXITS AND ACQUISITIONS BY COUNTRY, 2018

“The increasingly robust pool of innovative SMEs in

Europe is very encouraging. Yet high investors’ se-
lectivity prevails so preparation is key; that is why we
will further strengthen TechShare, our IPO educatio-
nal programme in the coming months. Despite cha-
llenging market conditions, Euronext welcomed in
ANTHONY ATTIA 2018 a number of Tech flagships IPOs from unicorns
CEO OF EURONEXT PARIS
MEMBER OF EURONEXT’S
like Adyen (Fintech) or Neoen (Cleantech) to sma-
MANAGING BOARD AND ller innovative companies like 2CRSI (electronics)
GLOBAL HEAD OF LISTING or Acacia Pharma (Life Sciences). Euronext is well
EURONEXT positioned across Europe to continue developing a
vibrant Tech community as shown since the begin-
ning of the year by the listings of Italy Innovazioni
(Italy) and Sequana Medical (Switzerland)”
James Clark: Head of Tech and Lifesciences, Primary Markets

E: jclark@lseg.com

T: mr_james_c

“The starting point for understanding public markets

is that regions, regulations and culture can have
a big impact on IPOs, with surprising results. For
example, few in Europe’s tech industry would be
aware that since 2015, Europe has hosted signifi-
cantly more tech IPOs than the US. Europe is able to
JAMES CLARK
HEAD OF TECH AND
do this, because unlike in the US, markets such as
LIFE SCIENCES London’s AIM enable smaller companies (<$500m)
PRIMARY MARKETS to list with the support of quality investors. This has
LONDON STOCK meant that since 2013, EU tech IPOs have continua-
EXCHANGE lly increased, from 31 listings to 86 in 2018. Over the
same period, US market tech listings have varied
with market cycles, with the most active year in 2014
James joined the London Stock Exchange in January 2016 in Business(60 IPOs).
Development Ina sector
with 2018, as well as the IPOs of later stage
focus on the Technology and Lifesciences industries. James brings this sector focus to help startups
and investors by demolishing the myths around public markets. James is based in London but Funding Circle and Adyen, activity
companies like
integrates with colleagues across Europe, Israel, Asia and the rest ofwas driven by smaller companies, giving us a glimp-
the world.

Over nearly 20 years, James as developed a broad range of experience sein of an exciting
marketing, future where Europe offers oppor-
policy and deep
industry knowledge around venture funding and tech startups. In recenttunities
years, asfor tech
a “one companies of all sizes.”
man think
tank” at the British Venture Capital Association, James published policy research into the role of
technology and innovation. His three major research papers Tech Country, The Missing Piece, and VC
Evolved, looked at how early stage entrepreneurship interacts with sources of growth funding.
Alongside this work, James is a member of the Tech Nation Future Fifty judging panel, is a judge for
Diversity UK’s 100 Asian Tech Stars, as well as the founder of TLA Triage, a free advice service for
In 2018, fintech companies were the most attractive companies for exits, with 47 tracked deals. This industry startups under the auspices of Tech London Advocates.

was followed by content, marketing, developer tools and gaming as the next popular exit sectors. James has an MBA from Cass Business School in London and a BA in Political Science from Macquarie
University in Sydney.

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SALAMANCA 2019 SALAMANCA 2019
 TOP FINTECH EXITS AND ACQUISITIONS, EUROPE 2018
KEY M&A TRENDS

iZettle €2,000 M

EXIT TYPES, EUROPE 2018

In 2018, the number of VC- backed exits has con-

tinued to fall, echoing trends first identified in 2017.
Tracked acquisitions and IPOs were both down in
2018, with IPOs falling to 21 from a record high of
36 in 2017. As we highlighted at the time, a decrea-
sing number of exits from year to year does not pose
particularly negative concerns. That’s because the
overall number of exits recorded in Europe remains
considerably higher than it was in the early days of
2014, when only 181 exit transactions were identified
in the tech sector. Since then, the industry has con-
tinued to mature and grow, and these results might
suggest a particular tendency for European compa-
nies to continue to build as independent companies
and remain private, until at the point they are able to
turn towards a public offering.

Spotify’s successful IPO in April 2018 sent a strong

“European tech companies face the problem that our
respective country’s borders usually limit the grow-
th of European companies. Only when a European
company surpasses those borders and reaches su-
fficient scale, do large acquisitions become feasible.”
message to the entire European tech ecosystem.
Their unique approach, which saw the company go
public as a direct listing, illustrated a confidence that
European technology companies have to exit on
their own terms. The initial public offering saw the
company valued at about €27 billion.
In June, Dutch fintech Ayden listed on Euronext in
Amsterdam for 240 euros a share, which surged
upon opening. Since the listing, Ayden’s stock price
has continued to rise, now trading over 600 euros
per share.

JITSE GROEN
CEO
TAKEAWAY.COM

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SALAMANCA 2019 SALAMANCA 2019
 TOP IPOS, 2018

“It is brilliant to see that Europe is over and over

again creating technology companies of such high
value and uniqueness that US buyers keep coming
back to Europe to acquire what they can not build
themselves. The European Union is an extraordi-
nary hotbed of innovation helped by the freedom of
labour and educational movement balanced by the
various cultural strengths of each of the members. I
PER ROMAN am very proud to operate in this extraordinary envi-
MANAGING PARTNER ronment of creativity and the only thing I would ask
GP BULLHOUND for in addition is that more large-cap companies in
Europe also recognize the value that is being crea-
ted here in this region”

EUROPEAN VC-BACKED ACQUISITIONS 2018

For the second year, the number of VC backed exits has fallen in Europe, down to 166 in 2018 from 218 in
2017. This represents a continued downward trend for VC-backed exits, which follows trends for decreased
exits overall in 2018.

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SALAMANCA 2019 SALAMANCA 2019
 TOP ACQUIRERS OF EUROPEAN STARTUPS, 2018

TOP COUNTRIES OF EUROPEAN STARTUP ACQUISITIONS, 2018

Following previous years, firms from the United States were again the top purchasers of European com-
panies, with American companies behind 71 confirmed exit deals. This number has fallen from a high of
133 in 2017. The United States was followed by the Germany and the United Kingdom, as top purchasers “In Europe, it’s time for corporations to take a leap
of European startups, which has continued to follow trends set in previous years. Despite expectations that forward in financing and acquiring startups to match
Asian companies would grow to become top purchasers of European companies, confirmed transactions their North American or Asian counterparts. This will
from these countries remained low in 2018, with notable exits to China including Infront Sports, Travelfusion, be the next wave, necessary for European start-ups
Mob Partner, Miniclip and Hasselblad. and scale-ups. It will also bring along the creation of
larger technology companies and the dynamization
of technological IPOs which, until now, are testimo-
TELMO PÉREZ nial in Europe. Acciona wants to be a key player es-
CHIEF INNOVATION AND pecially in our sectors which have, at present, a low
NEW BUSINESS OFFICER level of digitalization at a global level.”
ACCIONA

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SALAMANCA 2019 SALAMANCA 2019
SPANISH INVESTMENT TRENDS

“VC investors seem to have heavily weighted the

Spain stands out for investment in 2018, with investment flow to Spanish startups reaching over 1.18 billion transportation industry year in 2018, but this is only
for the year. While the number of deals made in Spain was down in 2018, the value of these deals soared, due to three big rounds in Cabify (130M €), Glovo
thanks to large investments in Letgo, Cabify and Glovo. (115M €) and TravelPerk (38M €). These big outliers
GONZALO TRADACETE pollute the data analysis. If we analysed on a number
GALLART of deals basis we wouldn’t find such a result. It is im-
CO-FOUNDER possible to predict which industries will get the most
MANAGER PARTNER &
funding in 2019, as again it will be strongly influen-
CHIEF INVESTMENT
OFFICER ced by 2-3 big rounds in high growth companies,
FARADAY VENTURE and their success and size of rounds will probably
PARTNERS be independent on what are the hottest industries
INVESTMENT IN SPAIN, 2015 - 2018 in 2019.”

STARTUP INVESTMENT IN SPAIN, 2016 - 2018

TOP INDUSTRIES

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SALAMANCA 2019 SALAMANCA 2019
 STARTUP INVESTMENT IN SPAIN
2016 - 2018, TOP COMPANIES

MEDIAN INVESTMENT SIZE IN SPAIN

2015 - 2018

From this accompanying table, we can easily see

how the median investment level in Spain is growing
over time. The growth in size of the country’s median
investment level indicates a maturing of the ecosys- FRANCISCO VELAZQUEZ
tem, as well as overall higher valuations of Spanish PRESIDENT
AXON PARTNERS GROUP
tech companies as a whole.

“In Spain we will see new high tech initiatives in Ar-

tificial Intelligence and Data Science based on the
different projects under development and the trac-
tion coming from Spanish multinationals who are
mostly client facing companies with high technolo-
gy demands. There will be as well a good bunch of
FERNANDO IMPUESTO rounds in different Fintech sub verticals where the
NOGUERAS opportunity in Spain is high and can be expanded
MEMBER OF SEVERAL internationally to a large scale.“
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
INCLUDING SAGGAS,
OPERATOR OF
SAGUNTO LNG TERMINAL
& CHAIRMAN OF THE
STARTUPS GAS2MOVE
AND H2GAS

“The startup ecosystem in Europe is maturing but TOP SPANISH ACQUISITIONS

there is still a huge room for growth. A new player
2018
is emerging and getting an important role in the Eu-
ropean startup ecosystem, the Corporate Venture
Capital (CVC), like our initiative, Enagás Emprende.
The corporates are finding new ways of collabora-
tions and supporting startups, including investment,
and we will surely have an important influence in the
number of EU VC-backed acquisitions. The CVC will
surely improve the ratio shown in the graph, will su-
pport several startups, will co-invest with the com-
mon VCs and will be essential for the success of
these projects due to our financial strength, network
and capacity to become either industrial, commer-
cial and technical partners / enablers.”

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SALAMANCA 2019 SALAMANCA 2019
Exits in Spain took place in many different industries. This bubble graph indicates the relative size of each
vertical where exits took place, with fintech receiving the largest amount of exit deals. This was followed clo-
sely by content, cyber security and developer tools. However, as this image clearly shows, Spanish startups
stand out to buyers across an entire range of industries.
SPANISH EXITS ACQUISITIONS BY INDUSTRY, 2018
SPOTLIGHT ON SPAIN AND
THE SME INSTRUMENT
The European Commission’s SME Instrument is one of the world’s largest investors in early stage compa-
nies. As part of the European Innovation Council’s pilot project, the SME instrument helps support top in-
novators, entrepreneurs and new companies in some of the most groundbreaking fields, that are especially
positioned to shape new markets, generate jobs and higher standards of living. As of January 2019, the SME
7
instrument has invested over €1.7 billion in over 4,300 projects . Projects related to ICT, or Information and
Communication technologies, have received the greatest amount of investment overall, totaling over €290
million by early 2019.

EIC SME INSTRUMENT BUDGET ALLOCATION, BY CATEGORY, ALL COUNTRIES

“According to the Spanish national association (AS-

CRI), venture capital investment in Spain in 2018
showed a robust performance with more than €400
million and 510 investments. Regarding AXIS Ven-
ture Capital portfolio, as at December 2018 TIC
accounts for 61% and Life Science 9% of the total
JOSE CARLOS GARCÍA
investment through the underlying funds. In 2018,
DE QUEVEDO
ICO CHAIRMAN AND AXIS reinforced its commitment with digitalization
AXIS PARTICIPACIONES as a crucial point for startup ups growth and interna-
EMPRESARIALES tionalization no matter the economic sector. In this
CHAIRMAN sense, AXIS will invest in venture capital funds with
a focus in digitalization in order to boost this alterna-
tive source of finance for SME´s and startups.”
7. EIC SME Instrument,“Our Portfolio” https://ec.europa.eu/easme/en/eic-sme-instrument. Accessed February 1, 2019.

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 EIC SME INSTRUMENT BUDGET ALLOCATION ICT, TOP 20 COUNTRIES
Of all eligible countries, Spain has continually received the greatest amount of funding for the European
Innovation Council SME Instrument, since the launch of the program.

EIC SME INSTRUMENT BUDGET ALLOCATION

TOP 15 COUNTRIES, ALL CATEGORIES

In the health category, Spanish companies were still the largest recipients of SME investment, followed
closely by Sweden and France.

EIC SME INSTRUMENT BUDGET ALLOCATION HEALTH, TOP 20 COUNTRIES

When analyzing investment by category, Spain also receives the highest amount of SME investment for
funded projects in the two highest earning categories, ICT and Health. In ICT, SME investments to Spain
successfully outstripped the next following country, France by nearly €10 million.

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 SPAIN EIC SME INSTRUMENT BUDGET
ALLOCATION, BY CATEGORY

SPAIN EIC SME INSTRUMENT BUDGET ALLOCATION, TOP 10 CATEGORIES

Beyond these two top earning sectors, Spanish companies were successful in attracting SME investment
across a range of categories. Spanish SMEs received prominent investment into projects across their entire
startup ecosystem, notably within the construction, health, energy and eco-innovation sectors. Public invest-
ment, such as SME funding is a valuable opportunity for early stage companies to acquire seed funding with
no equity outlay. Thie

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SALAMANCA 2019 SALAMANCA 2019
CONCLUSIONS
Total deal numbers down, but ecosystem
continues to grow and mature
In 2018, we have continued to notice a continued
dip in the number investment deals across Europe,
as well as a slightly smaller volume when compa-
red to 2017. However, median deal spend continues
to rise, suggesting that despite lower figures ove-
rall, the European startup ecosystem is continuing
to grow and mature, and that European companies
are beginning to attract higher valuations than in the
past. When paired with our key takeaways, it sug-
gests investors are taking European tech seriously,
indicated by the high levels of investment spend in
several key verticals, notably fintech and transporta-
tion. Fintech once again attracted Europe’s greatest
amount of investment spending, with over €3 billion
invested in the sector alone.
Brexit fails to dim investment in UK tech, but
UK investment down in 1018
The United Kingdom once again attracted the grea-
test amount of investment spend in 2018, continuing
a multi-year trend. Investments into UK tech totaled
over €5.69 billion, which vastly outpaced the next hi-
ghest earning country, France, who bested Germany
in 2018 to attract €4.43 billion in investment. While
the UK attracted the greatest amount of investment
by country in 2018, it could not outpace the incredi-
ble €7 billion it attracted in 2017, a record year. A few
other notable investment trends stand out. Spain, in
attracting over €1.1 billion in investment this year, far
outstripped the €861 million raised in 2017. Ecosys-
tems beyond Europe’s main tech hubs have also
been successful at raising investment, with notable
year on increases in countries as varied as Portugal,
Poland, Lithuania, Greece, and Hungary.
52
IPOs and acquisitions down from 2017, but “Thank you for reading this report and supporting
value higher than ever startup OLE. startup OLE has become an unique
tech-event born as a tangible and sustainable out-
In 2018 we continued to witness a falling trend in come of an H2020 project called Welcome, with the
the number of exits of European technology compa- main aims to democratize the international ecosys-
nies, however, the value of these companies rose tem (under a free ticket system), and connect both
considerably. Sweden’s Spotify went public in April sides of the Atlantic Ocean, working in close co-
2018 with one of Europe’s largest exits of all time, llaboration with Startup Europe - European Com-
proving that European companies could build and EMILIO CORCHADO mission-, the Central American Integration System
grow on their own terms. The valuation of Spotify’s CEO (SICA) and the Ibero-American Secretary (SEGIB).
STARTUP OLÉ Startup OLÉ is not just an event, is also a communi-
IPO exceeded that 2017’s largest IPO (food delivery
company Delivery Hero), by nearly six times. ty at the forefront of the innovation by promoting and
supporting startups and scaleups delivering solu-
tions in relevant new verticals such as “emergency”
US remains top acquirer, moving from
(technology to solve any type of challenges relates
strength to strength to social and natural crisis such as migration and
tsunamis) or “free plastic seas” to have the cleanest
European companies continue to be attractive ac- oceans and seas possible.”
quisitions for companies from the United States.
While some data on acquisitions remains incomple-
te, in 2018, 71 European companies were tracked
to acquisitions in the United States. While European
countries continue to receive interest from investors
from Asia and the Middle East, they figure in only a
small proportion of deals. It is expected that this inte-
rest will continue to rise in 2019, with new deals alre-
ady announced by SoftBank’s Vision Fund into Oak
North and greater interest from Chinese conglome-
rates Alibaba and Tencent into European startups.
Spanish startups stand out for SME funding
Early stage companies from Spain have continued
to attract the highest share of European Commis-
sion SME funding. While SME funding is an impor-
tant tool for all early stage innovative companies in
Europe, Spanish companies are among the largest
proportions of applicants and also the largest reci-
pients of the program. Public funding from the SME
instrument helps to relieve the burden on early stage
angel investors and seed the ecosystem with invest-
ment funding without equity.
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SALAMANCA 2019 SALAMANCA 2019
METHODOLOGY AND DISCLAIMERS
From November 2013 onwards, Tech.eu has conti-
nuously monitored over 200 sources of news and
information across multiple European regions and
languages. These sources are frequently amended
and updated to ensure accuracy, clarity and com-
pleteness of information. All of the transactions have
been analyzed by the Tech.eu team for the purpose
of our reporting, along with additional transactions
that were not reported by any of the aforementioned
sources but flagged by people from our collective
networks. In many cases, if the deal size was not
disclosed, we will have included estimates for any
transaction reported by a publication that we consi-
der reliable and trustworthy.
When a deal size was disclosed, but in a currency
different from the euro, we’ve converted the amounts
around the date the transaction was first announ-
ced or reported we cannot guarantee the converted
amount exactly mirrors the price at the time of the
closing of an agreement (mainly because that date
is rarely shared). In the text, when referring to speci-
fic investments, the deal sizes are referred to in the
context in which they were initially shared.
The companies included in this report include tran-
sactions for technology startups and digital com-
panies, as well as certain “legacy” companies we
consider to be integral to the European technology
landscape. This includes certain telcos, internet ser-
vice providers, infrastructure and high tech firms that
without, the landscape of the European technology
ecosystem would not be complete. Technology, in
our view includes digital, Web, mobile, infrastructu-
re and hardware. We also include deals in line with
cleantech, biotech and medtech, especially when
they encompass a clear IT component.
We have opted to include non-European Union
member states such as Norway, Switzerland and
others in this analysis when available, as we consi-
der them to be an integral part of the European tech-
nology industry as such. This is in line with Tech.eu’s
overall editorial policy. Furthermore, determining the
geographical country designation for some compa-
nies can be difficult. In many cases, startups that are
scaling move their headquarters to a different coun-
try, especially the UK or the US. In these cases, to
54
determine whether and where to report these deals,
we try to assess where the company keeps the ma-
jority of their operations, however our designations
may differ from those made by other sources of data
analysis.
Collecting self-reported investment and transaction
data for private companies, no matter how diligent,
will always result in incomplete information. Con-
sidering the vastness, fragmentation, and breadth
of the different languages that define Europe, it is
possible that some transactions are not included in
our analysis. Similarly, different countries often have
different reporting regimes, and some places, such
as the UK and France have more comprehensive re-
porting of their transactions than other ecosystems
around Europe. In other cases, transaction amounts
are not disclosed. We find this is often the case for
certain countries, such as Germany, and also for
acquisition figures, which often are announced, but
data is not reported. When there is considerable
missing information, it can make measuring average
and median figures for certain types of data unrelia-
ble. It is our intention to present data that is accurate,
honest and true to reporting certain trends, but it is
important to remember that reporting lags, and diffe-
rent disclosure practices ensure.
We welcome your feedback on this report and our
methodology. If you would like to report inaccuracies,
or missing information, we would gladly appreciate
your questions and comments at reports@tech.eu
and we will respond as soon as possible.
Thank you for reading our analysis.
ROBIN WAUTERS
FOUNDING EDITOR, TECH.EU
NATALIE NOVICK
RESEARCH EDITOR, TECH.EU
ANA CARRASCO CANO
GRAPHIC DESIGNER, FREELANCE
@anacarrascodesign
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