Throughout the year we track various data points across the European tech ecosystem, and the mid-year mark is a great time to review numbers and highlight significant milestones and what the implications might be, as well as identify trends.
Half year data (three year view, €B)
Comparing the same (H1) three-year period, the data points to a market increasingly defined by capital concentration rather than deal volume. H1 2024 was the funding peak, with €50.1 billion invested across around 2,000 deals.
H1 2025 saw funding fall by more than 30 per cent year-on-year, while deal activity remained broadly unchanged, reflecting a more disciplined investment environment.
In H1 2026, funding recovered to €44.1 billion despite deal count falling to just over 1,740. The divergence between capital deployed and transaction volume suggests investors are continuing to concentrate larger amounts of capital into fewer companies.
Biggest rounds in H1 2026
The largest funding rounds in the first half of 2026 were concentrated in cloud infrastructure, AI, robotics and other capital-intensive sectors, with six of the ten biggest transactions exceeding €1 billion.
The UK dominated the ranking with six of the ten largest deals, led by Pure Data Centres' €2.3 billion debt financing and Isomorphic Labs' €1.8 billion Series B.
Germany contributed two companies, while Sweden and France each had one.
Top 10 countries by the total amount raised in billions, H1 2026
In H1 2026, funding remained heavily concentrated in Europe's largest tech ecosystems, with the UK maintaining a dominant lead.
UK companies raised €18.7 billion across 423 deals, more than three times the total secured by Germany (€6.3 billion), while France followed closely with €6.0 billion from 132 deals. Sweden (€2.8 billion), the Netherlands (€1.9 billion) and Spain (€1.7 billion) rounded out the top six by funding.
Top 10 verticals by the total amount raised (in millions) and the number of deals, H1, 2026
European tech funding in H1 2026 was led by AI, fintech and healthtech, which together attracted nearly €15 billion in investment.
Artificial intelligence emerged as the largest sector by funding (€5.9 billion), driven by several mega-rounds, while fintech (€4.7 billion) and healthtech (€4.3 billion) combined strong deal volumes with significant late-stage financings.
Software remained the most active category by number of deals (338), highlighting sustained investor demand for enterprise and AI-enabled applications across Europe.
Investors in Q1 2025
Over 6410 investors participated in H1 2026. HTGF was the most active with 31 deals.
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