\Venture Capital 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 \Venture Capital Which footballers invest in startups? By Maija Palmer 18 December 2020 \Venture Capital 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. Advertisement 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. Advertisement Help Sifted get bigger and better (and get a sneak peak at our future plans). Please take our reader survey. Take the survey Terms of Use Related Articles Only 21% of tech unicorns are led by women, report shows By Freya Pratty Click here to read more Black entrepreneurs receive just 0.24% of capital in the UK By Freya Pratty Click here to read more Systemic barriers for minority business owners persist, report shows By Freya Pratty Click here to read more Time to stop using the term BAME By Erika Brodnock and Johannes Lenhard Click here to read more Get the best of Sifted in your inbox By entering your email you agree to Sifted’s Terms of Use Sign up to \Future Proof Sifted’s weekly \Corporate Innovation roundup email By entering your email you agree to Sifted’s Terms of Use Most Read 1 \Fintech Inside Revolut’s bid to become a bank 2 \Venture Capital Europe’s top climate tech investors 3 \Mobility Glovo partners with real estate investor to pile €100m into ‘dark stores’ 4 \Venture Capital Klarna cofounder Niklas Adalberth’s Norrsken Foundation launches €100m impact fund 5 \Mobility Last-mile-delivery startup Budbee raises €52m as ecommerce booms
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