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Analysis

April 10, 2026

Unicorn stampede: Highest number of $1bn startups minted in Europe in four years

14 billion-dollar companies emerge across AI, defence and fintech

Europe is minting billion-dollar startups at its fastest pace in four years, fuelled by surges of investment in AI and defence.

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Éanna Kelly

Éanna Kelly is a contributing editor at Sifted, and writes Startup Life , a weekly newsletter on what it takes to build a startup. Follow him on X and LinkedIn

Ruggero Di Spigna

Ruggero Di Spigna is a Senior Insights & Product Associate at Sifted. Find him on LinkedIn

Oshin Narang

Oshin is Sifted's startup & VC analyst.

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