Startup Life/Funding/Analysis/ VC interest moves from startup to scaleup Smaller startups may have to look to non-traditional investors and governments for funding By Maija Palmer 18 January 2019 \Startup Life Don’t count SPACs out yet, European dealmakers say By Selin Bucak 21 December 2022 Startup Life/Funding/Analysis/ VC interest moves from startup to scaleup Smaller startups may have to look to non-traditional investors and governments for funding By Maija Palmer 18 January 2019 It is a great time to be a scaleup company in Europe, with fewer but bigger funding rounds happening and investor money being concentrated in fewer, but bigger funds. But will smaller startups find it harder to attract money? Pitchbook’s annual roundup of European VC activity shows the trend clearly. The amount of money invested has reached another record – €20.5bn – but the number of deals has decreased sharply. The median size for a late-stage VC deal has gone from €4m to €6.7m. The number of closed VC funds, meanwhile, has dropped to its lowest level in a decade. In 2008 155 vehicles were raised, last year it was just 62. The amount of money is only down slightly from 2008 but it is now concentrated in fewer funds. Median fund size is €123.2m – another record – compared to around €40m 10 years ago. Microfunds are becoming an ever smaller part of the total: This might make it harder to be a smaller startup raising funding. “Startups raising rounds at traditional angel & seed or early-stage round sizes may be precluded from the investment profile of a €500 million vehicle with a minimum check size of €20 million or €50 million,” the Pitchbook report notes. Pitchbook suggests small startups will have to look to non-traditional investors, especially government funds. Or they might look to Lisbon. One new fund still promising to look at earlier-stage companies – pre-seed to Series A – is Indico Capital Partners, a new VC firm which recently closed €41m of €46m committed by investors. Related Articles Why this 240-person startup stopped raising VC after its angel round By Mimi Billing Click here to read more Adia: My miscarriages exposed an unmet healthtech market By Kitty Knowles Click here to read more Swedish impact hub Norrsken Foundation goes to Rwanda By Mimi Billing Click here to read more France pledges €4bn liquidity support to startups By Marie Mawad in Paris Click here to read more Most Read 1 \Venture Capital How to raise a $33m Series A during an economic downturn 2 \Fintech Six fintech ideas VCs want you to pitch in 2023 3 \Deeptech Europe’s most active deeptech investors 4 \Deeptech Europe’s generative AI startups, mapped 5 \Consumer 20 foodtech startups to watch, according to investors
Why this 240-person startup stopped raising VC after its angel round By Mimi Billing Click here to read more