European tech funding starts out strong and steady in first half of 2018

2018 is shaping up to be a strong and steady year for European tech funding, with €5.8 billion raised in each of its first two quarters. This means European tech startups raised €11.6 billion total for H1 2018, which is exactly the same amount that was raised in H1 2017. However, don’t expect tech funding for 2018 to break the record highs set in 2017, when total funding reached €25 billion for Europe, including Russia, Israel, and Turkey.

2018 hasn’t yet seen a “mega-quarter”, as we did in 2017.

2017 showed major fluctuations in funding, whereas 2018 is holding steady. In Q1 2017, only €4.5 billion was raised, followed by a jump to €7.1 billion in Q2 2017, and in Q3 2017, tech startups raised an off the charts €7.7 billion. This was due to several mega-deals across the continent - including €1 billion for Swiss Roivant Sciences, €705 million invested in Delivery Hero by Naspers, and a round of €350 million for Deliveroo.

So far, 2018 has seen 12 mega-deals worth over €100 million, but they’re smaller than the mega-rounds raised last year. The biggest round so far has been for Germany’s Auto1 Group, a used car marketplace, which raised €460 million from Softbank in Q1. Fintech is as usual leading the way in terms of deal size, with the UK’s Atom Bank and Revolut, Germany’s N26 and Israel’s Behalf all raising mega-rounds so far this year. However if European tech funding is to compete with 2018, we will need to see at least a few really big rounds in the next two quarters.

Though €5.8 billion per quarter may seem meager compared to €7.7 billion, aside from the record quarters in Q2 and Q3 2017, its the highest amount raised in the history of European tech funding. So, overall tech funding is not on the decline, it is still strong - perhaps just stabilizing.