On paper, Q1 2024 looks like a good quarter for investments in Europe, which almost returned to Q1 2022 levels, albeit with a higher average ticket size.
However, the main drivers in Q1 2024 were large loans granted to large scale ups or even established corporations. In particular, this quarter saw significant funding rounds representing cleantech maturation in product development and commercialisation.
In Q1 2024, European tech companies raised €29.9 billion over 970 deals. This number is almost doubled compared to the same period the year before (€14.7 billion raised in Q1 2023), and 10 per cent lower compared to Q1 2022 (€33.1 billion).
Looking at the Q1 over the three years, it is notable that in 2024, the European tech companies performed better than in 2023, in terms of the total raised amount, but not at the level recorded in 2022.
According to our data, in Q1 2024 the European tech companies raised €29.9 billion, which is doubled compared to Q1 2023 (€14.7 billion), and 10 per cent lower compared to Q1 2022 (€33.1 billion).
This shows renewed resilience for Europe’s tech scene, although the data is skewed by several large investments this quarter.
The best performing month in Q1 was January, with €17 billion raised in total, over the 326 funding deals.
If we compare the data in the three year period we will notice that in 2024 the intensity of the investments (in terms of the investment amount) are decreasing month over month which was not the case in 2023 and in 2022.
Over the course of 972 deals in Q1 2024, four companies closed the deals worth a couple of billions (each):
- Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt announced that it has raised $5 billion to finance the expansion of both its original gigafactory, Northvolt Ett, as well as that of Revolt Ett, the company’s first recycling plant which is expected to begin processing its first materials soon.
- H2 Green Steel secures over 4.5 billion in loan financing, to complete the factory construction in Boden.
- French firm ACC secured €4.4 billion to construct three gigafactories for lithium-ion battery cell production.
- German greentech unicorn Enpal secured over €1 billion in refinancing for residential solar systems.
With the changes in the interest in Industries, the geopolitical aspect also changes. Thus, in Q1 2024 Sweden took the lead position, with €12.3 billion raised over 52 deals. The two biggest deals of Q1 (Northvolt and H2 Green Steel) contributed significantly to these numbers.
France was in second place with €5.7 billion (80 deals), followed by Germany which collected €3.6 billion (160 deals), the UK with €3.5 billion (213 deals) and the Netherlands with €1.2 billion (72 deals).
Sweden is solidifying its position as a frontrunner in greentech with major investments like Northvolt's expanding battery gigafactory and recycling plant, alongside H2 Green Steel's loan for a green steel facility.
While the US has players like Electra who opened the world’s first green steel pilot factory last month, Sweden's concentrated efforts position it as a key competitor in the race to a greener future.
Cleantech was the best-performing industry in Q1 2024. The cleantech companies raised €12.4 billion over 67 deals.
Among the top 10 deals in Q1 2024, five companies are from the cleantech industry and they collected together €12 billion.
Transportation came in second place (€6.3 billion), followed by fintech (€2.6 billion), energy (€1.8 billion) and software (€1.3 billion).
When it comes to the number of deals, software is leading the list with 138 deals, followed by healthtech (122 deals), fintech (109 deals), cleantech (67 deals) and energy (66 deals).
It’s unsurprising that software represents the highest number of deals given the continued growth of generative-AI embedded solutions for enterprise, creative industries, and business automation.
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It remains to be seen what the coming months will bring given an caution and conservatism in investment. These economic headwinds could potentially lead to a decrease in overall investment activity throughout the year, impacting startup growth and innovation, or the potential for a delayed surge in investment activity later in the year.
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