Q3 2023

Summertime sadness

Last updated: 12 Oct 2023

Market 101

European VCs are very different from one another, but they all have one thing in common: they love a good summer holiday. This can often make Q3 a dull(er) quarter, but data from the past three months paints a more nuanced picture.

The point-proving snapshot: a mere 2,000 deals were signed off over the summer — the last time so few were recorded, Mad Max: Fury Road had just hit the movie theatres in late 2015. But actual cash injections were at the highest level in 12 months, with tech bringing in $18.8bn against $19bn from the same quarter last year. An interesting story — one that may suggest a turning of the prolonged VC downturn tide. Alas, a brief look at deal distribution says otherwise.

Megarounds of $100m+ ate up 50% of total injections, inflated by (incredibly) large rounds for high-capex climate infrastructure startups — including H2 Green Steel, Northvolt, Zenobe and Verkor, which racked up $4.8bn between them (or 26% of total funding). Mind you, these deals were a mix of debt-laden convertibles and traditional equity, thus falling outside the traditional VC realm.

Things were much slower at baseline: early-stage funding fell 27.6% — the lowest absolute level since Q1 2018 — with a sharper drop for Series A startups at negative 32.5% from Q2. Matched against the usual makeup of European funding, dips in early-stage cashflows are a disheartening trend, as they had kept a stable pace for a good year up until the summer.

Will things improve in Q4? A look at the past six quarters provides some clues. We know that Q4 has not outperformed Q3 since 2020, and it has only done so a meagre four times since 2012, but there’s little other evidence suggesting it shouldn’t this time around. We also know that the feeling out there is still one of (buzzword alert) “optimised stabilisation”, whereby operators try to make the best of what they find. Either way, Q4 is already seeing some cool rounds coming in — including Brite Payment’s $60m Series A and Habyt’s $42m Series C — and there’ll be more to come soon.

Early stage market map

Key facts

$17.6bn

total VC funding raised in Q3 2022

1,891

companies tracked

3,140

investors tracked

Startups tracked by Sifted

Sifted take

It’s no time for white lies and sugarcoating: Q3 2023 was not a good quarter. Things are still slow, very slow, across the board; disproportionately large rounds have just about saved tech’s face, but slight dips in earlier stages and weak exit markets are not the much-needed signs of recovery the ecosystem was expecting. Again, Q3 is seldom the fastest dog in the race, and it’s rather telling a story of stabilisation for most countries and sectors. That’s the good bit: it’s not the fall that matters, it’s the landing — Europe has survived both and it’s getting ready to rise up again.

Rising stars

Total funding

€15.6m

Stevenage, UK
2022

British biotech developing “gene silencing” tech to suppress genes associated with certain diseases. It’s backed by Mercia Asset Management, Maven Capital Partners and Calculus Capital among others.

Round

Seed

Valuation

Undisclosed


Date

2023

Size

€3.8m

Ondorse

Cyber Security

Total funding

€6.2m

Paris, France
2021

B2B identification and verification platform backed by Eurazeo and ISAI.

Round

Seed

Valuation

Undisclosed


Date

2023

Size

€3.8m

Metergrid

Energy

Total funding

€2.8m

Stuttgart, Germany
2020

Offers software that enables consumption-based electricity payments for tenants. Investors include Tiny VC, 468 Capital, Match VC and German footballer Mario Götze.

Round

Seed

Valuation

Undisclosed


Date

2023

Size

€2.7m

Correcto

Spellchecker

Total funding

€7.1m

Madrid, Spain
2021

This startup offers users help writing emails and other texts in Spanish without errors. It is backed by RiverPark Ventures, Octopus Ventures and Carya Venture Partners.

Round

Seed

Valuation

Undisclosed


Date

2023

Size

€6.5m

Early stage startups to watch

11x

London, United Kingdom
2023
Seed

1.8m

1.8m

-

36h-immo

Arnac-Pompadour, France
2019
Seed

1.5m

1.5m

-

73 Strings

Paris, France
2019
Series A

9.1m

9.1m

-

Animaj

Paris, France
2022
Series A

85m

80m

-

ARX Landsystem

Neubiberg, Germany
2021
Seed

1.1m

1.1m

-

askui

Karlsruhe, Germany
2021
Seed

6m

4.3m

-

Aviwell

Toulouse, France
2015
Seed

7.6m

2.8m

-

Awell

Brussels, Belgium
2016
Seed

6.8m

4.5m

-

Axoflow

Budapest, Hungary
2023
Seed

2.3m

2.3m

-

beeOLED

Dresden, Germany
2020
Series A

13.3m

13.3m

-

Béa Fertility

London, United Kingdom
2020
Seed

3.8m

2.9m

-

Borderless

London, United Kingdom
2022
Seed

3m

3m

-

Cardino

Berlin, Germany
2023
Seed

1m

1m

-

Cello

Munich, Germany
2022
Seed

5.4m

3.1m

-

CergenX

Shankill, Ireland
2021
Seed

1.2m

1.2m

-

Chemify

Glasgow, United Kingdom
2019
Series A

43.2m

43.2m

-

Cikisi

Liège, Belgium
2016
Seed

2.7m

2.7m

-

Coachbetter

Switzerland
2018
Seed

3.5m

2.6m

-

Codee

A Coruña, Spain
2012
Seed

4.5m

4.5m

-

ColibrITD

Paris, France
2019
Seed

1m

1m

-

Comand AI

Paris, France
2023
Seed

3m

3m

-

Communion (Formerly Join Communion)

London, United Kingdom
2022
Seed

3m

3m

-

Comptek Solutions

Turku, Finland
2017
Series A

11.4m

8m

-

constellr

Freiburg, Germany
2020
Seed

31m

17m

-

Continuum Industries

Edinburgh, United Kingdom
2018
Series A

13.9m

9.1m

-

corpus

Mittweida, Germany
2022
Seed

-

-

-

Correcto.

Community of Madrid, Spain
2021
Seed

7.1m

6.5m

-

CRESCENTA

Madrid, Spain
2022
Seed

1.5m

1.5m

-

Cycle (formerly GetHenry)

Berlin, Germany
2018
Series A

20.8m

10.3m

-

Datagalaxy

Lyon, France
2015
Seed

11.3m

9.1m

-

Dattak

Paris, France
2021
Series A

18m

11m

-

DBtune

Lund Municipality, Sweden
2020
Seed

2.8m

2.4m

-

Delft Circuits

Delft, Netherlands
2016
Series A

8.3m

6.3m

-

deskbird

St. Gallen, Switzerland
2020
Series A

17.9m

12m

-

DiagRAMS Technologies

Lille, France
2019
Seed

2.9m

1.2m

-

Distil

London, United Kingdom
2018
Seed

1.8m

1.3m

-

driveblocks

Garching bei München, Germany
2021
Seed

2.2m

2.2m

-

Egonym

Zurich, Switzerland
2021
Seed

-

-

-

Embla

Copenhagen, Denmark
2021
Series A

13.5m

10m

-

Enzai

United Kingdom
2021
Seed

3.6m

3.6m

-

Exeliom Biosciences

Paris, France
2016
Series A

22.3m

8m

-

Fairlyne

Issy-les-Moulineaux, France
2021
Seed

2.7m

2.7m

-

Fernride

Munich, Germany
2019
Series A

63.4m

17.8m

-

FINE Legal

Berlin, Germany
2020
Seed

-

-

-

finres

Paris, France
2019
Seed

4.1m

4.1m

-

Fipto

Paris, France
2022
Seed

15m

15m

-

fxhash

Lyon, France
2021
Seed

4.5m

4.5m

-

Gaia Tech

Switzerland
2021
Seed

400k

400k

-

Gensensor

Nantes, France
2021
Seed

2m

2m

-

Gradient Denervation Technologies

Paris, France
2019
Series A

17.5m

14m

-

Greenscope

Paris, France
2022
Seed

1m

1m

-

Hive Power

Manno, Switzerland
2017
Seed

920k

440k

-

Hologate

Munich, Germany
2017
Series A

8.3m

8.3m

-

Hubflo

Paris, France
2022
Seed

2m

2m

-

Immersive Fox

London, United Kingdom
2021
Seed

3.3m

3.3m

-

inContAlert

Bayreuth, Germany
2019
Seed

2.5m

1.5m

-

INVERTO

Bern, Switzerland
2022
Seed

130k

130k

-

Iventis

Lincoln, United Kingdom
2015
Seed

2.6m

1.8m

-

Ivy

Munich, Germany
2021
Series A

25.2m

18.2m

-

Kayna

Cork, Ireland
2021
Seed

1m

1m

-

Kenjo

Berlin, Germany
2019
Series A

15.6m

8.8m

-

Kenko

Paris, France
2022
Seed

1.3m

1.3m

-

Kinnu

London, United Kingdom
2021
Seed

8.1m

5.9m

-

Kuano

London, United Kingdom
2017
Seed

5.9m

2.2m

-

Lindus Health

London, United Kingdom
2021
Series A

21.5m

16.4m

-

Magic

London, United Kingdom
2021
Seed

2.3m

2.3m

-

Malo

Lille, France
2021
Seed

2.5m

920k

-

Materials Nexus

Littleport, United Kingdom
2020
Seed

2.4m

2.4m

-

Measurlabs

Helsinki, Finland
2017
Seed

2.5m

2.5m

-

memtime

Munich, Germany
2015
Series A

1m

1m

-

Metaloop

Graz, Austria
2022
Series A

15.4m

15.4m

-

Metroc

Helsinki, Finland
2019
Seed

2m

2m

-

Micron Agritech

Dublin, Ireland
2019
Seed

4.9m

2.7m

-

Mimbi

Paris, France
2023
Seed

1.5m

1.5m

-

Mindgard

Lancaster, United Kingdom
2022
Seed

3.6m

3.6m

-

Mironid

Newarthill, United Kingdom
2015
Series A

15.4m

9.4m

-

Mjuk

Vantaa, Finland
2019
Seed

7.5m

2m

-

Mob-Energy

Villeurbanne, France
2018
Series A

12.1m

10m

-

Neko Health

Stockholms kommun, Sweden
2018
Series A

60m

60m

-

Netspeak Games

London, United Kingdom
2019
Series A

11.1m

10.9m

-

Ondorse

Paris, France
2021
Seed

2.4m

3.8m

-

Openvolt

Pathhead, United Kingdom
2023
Seed

1.5m

1.5m

-

Opna

London, United Kingdom
2022
Seed

5.9m

5.9m

-

Ostrom

Berlin, Germany
2021
Series A

21.2m

7.5m

-

Peroptyx

Castlebar, Ireland
2018
Seed

3.6m

3.6m

-

Phasecraft (Formerly Phaseworks)

London, United Kingdom
2018
Series A

20.9m

15.6m

-

Polar Analytics

Paris, France
2020
Series A

-

8.2m

-

Polar Analytics

Paris, France
2020
Series A

9.4m

8.2m

-

Pollen robotics

Bordeaux, France
2016
Seed

2.5m

2.4m

-

Prolific

Oxford, United Kingdom
2014
Series A

30.3m

29.1m

-

Puraffinity

London, United Kingdom
2015
Series A

17.2m

12.6m

-

Quazel

Zurich, Switzerland
2022
Seed

1.4m

1.4m

-

Quench.AI (Formerly NewMN)

London, United Kingdom
2021
Seed

5.4m

4.5m

-

Rayon SAS

Paris, France
2021
Seed

1.8m

1.8m

-

ReCatalyst

Ljubljana, Slovenia
2021
Seed

1.7m

1.7m

-

Recruitroo

Dublin, Ireland
2022
Seed

1m

1m

-

REEV

Toulouse, France
2021
Seed

4.5m

3m

-

Refluenced

Zurich, Switzerland
2021
Seed

500k

500k

-

ReOrbit

Helsinki, Finland
2019
Seed

6.7m

6.7m

-

River BioMedics

Enschede, Netherlands
2018
Seed

3.8m

2m

-

RoomPriceGenie

Steinhausen, Switzerland
2017
Seed

3.1m

170k

-

Saeki Robotics

Lupfig, Switzerland
2022
Seed

2.1m

2.1m

-

Scoreplay

Lisbon, Portugal
2018
Seed

5.5m

4.5m

-

SeaBeLife

Roscoff, France
2019
Seed

2.6m

1.2m

-

sewts

Munich, Germany
2019
Series A

8m

7m

-

Shop Circle

London, United Kingdom
2021
Series A

109.1m

109.1m

-

Sonio

Paris, France
2020
Series A

20.2m

12.7m

-

SorareData

Paris, France
2021
Seed

2.5m

2m

-

Spot My Energy

Cologne, Germany
2023
Seed

1.6m

1.6m

-

Staff & Go

Mulhouse, France
2020
Seed

900k

900k

-

Starcart

Helsinki, Finland
2021
Seed

4.9m

3.5m

-

Statinf

Paris, France
2019
Seed

500k

500k

-

Stayrai

Munich, Germany
2023
Seed

1.2m

1.2m

-

Stokelp

Paris, France
2021
Seed

3.5m

3m

-

StreamForge

Switzerland
2009
Seed

1.1m

1.1m

-

Strise

Oslo, Norway
2016
Series A

14.5m

9.8m

-

SureIn

Berlin, Germany
2021
Seed

4.9m

4m

-

teale

Paris, France
2021
Series A

12m

10m

-

Tenpoint Therapeutics

London, United Kingdom
2020
Series A

63.6m

63.6m

-

TolerogenixX

Heidelberg, Germany
2016
Series A

7m

7m

-

Tolremo

Muttenz, Switzerland
2017
Series A

42.4m

28.4m

-

Toopi

Loupiac-de-la-Réole, France
2019
Series A

14.4m

10m

-

Traceless materials

Hamburg, Germany
2020
Series A

39.9m

36.6m

-

Traide

Berlin, Germany
2021
Seed

100k

100k

-

Translucent

London, United Kingdom
2022
Seed

9.2m

6m

-

Tresio

Zurich, Switzerland
2020
Seed

540k

540k

-

Verisian

London, United Kingdom
2023
Seed

1.2m

1.2m

-

Vertama

Berlin, Germany
2020
Seed

910k

910k

-

Viboo

Dübendorf, Switzerland
2022
Seed

1.7m

1.7m

-

Voliro

Zurich, Switzerland
2017
Seed

5m

3.3m

-

weflow

Berlin, Germany
2021
Seed

5.4m

2.9m

-

Worldover

London, United Kingdom
2022
Seed

3.6m

3.6m

-

YOND

Wiesbaden, Germany
2022
Seed

-

-

-

Zelt

London, United Kingdom
2021
Seed

3.2m

3.2m

-

Zinc

London, United Kingdom
2017
Series A

7.3m

6m

-

Zurimed Technologies

Zurich, Switzerland
2015
Series A

12.1m

12.1m

-

Europe’s success stories

Who early stage startups are up against

(Pre-)Seed

SeriesA

SeriesB

SeriesC

SeriesD+

IPO/Exit

Large-scale fossil-free steel producer targeting large European OEMs and backed by Temasek, GIC and Mercedes-Benz among others.

(Pre-)Seed

SeriesA

SeriesB

SeriesC

SeriesD+

IPO/Exit

Delivering tailored dog meals based on variables such as breed, gender, age, and weight and includes L Catterton, General Atlantic and Kreos Capital among its backers.

(Pre-)Seed

SeriesA

SeriesB

SeriesC

SeriesD+

IPO/Exit

An open ecosystem in fitness combining smart gymtech, software and services into a solution for fitness or health facilities. It raised its recent €207m Series F from Bayern Kapital, Mayfair Equity Partners and Affinity Partners.

(Pre-)Seed

SeriesA

SeriesB

SeriesC

SeriesD+

IPO/Exit

Defence AI company partnering with governments to connect existing and new hardware platforms with advanced AI. It raised its €209m Series B from General Catalyst Partners and Saab Automobile.

Sources

Data sources

Sifted Proprietary data

Dealroom.co Data

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