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The State of
European Tech
The most comprehensive data-driven analysis of European technology
THE STORY OF 2020
At the end of 2019, European tech was in its strongest ever position.
VC Capital Raised
>$16B
VC Capital Invested
$39B
$B+ VC-backed Companies
99
Explore more in the Builders chapter
But the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting economic shock threatened to derail a decade of progress.
TOP 3 MOST CITED CHALLENGES FOUNDERS FACED IN 2020
46%
32%
30%
Source:
Although we hadn’t scheduled video consultation into our product plan, it’s what frontline NHS staff needed immediately. Most GPs lacked the tools to do this, and we knew we had the capability to develop it. We worked round the clock over the weekend of March 7th and 8th, and by Monday we had released video consulting software and text-message-based pre-appointment screening for COVID-19 to 3,500 practices already using our core SMS messaging software – around 50% of England's practices. We were all hands on deck getting features out. In the space of four weeks, we were in 95% of England's GP practices, and had rolled out six major new features.
Jacob Haddad
Co-founder, accuRx
Access to capital
Pivoting the product
New sales declining
Investors and founders prepared for the worst. Governments rushed to provide liquidity.
TECH IN CRISIS
36% decline in capital invested in European tech in Q2 2020 versus Q2 2019
36%
Source:
10% decline in European tech job postings between end of Q1 2020 and end of Q2 2020
10%
Source:
Governments have injected nearly $11B in relief funds across Europe
$11B
Source:
The Black Lives Matter movement cast a spotlight on the massive racial inequity in the European tech ecosystem.
Explore more in the Diversity and Inclusion chapter
OPPORTUNITIES NOT EQUALLY DISTRIBUTED IN TECH
FUNDING GAP
61%
Black/African/Caribbean tech workers believe their background and/or identity makes it harder to succeed in the European tech industry
Source:
EUROPEAN TECH
91%
of total capital invested in European tech in 2020 went to all-men founder teams
9%
of total capital invested in European tech in 2020 went to teams with at least one woman founder
SOurce
UK TECH
0.2%
of total capital invested in UK tech in 2009-2019 went to black founding teams
99.8%
of capital invested in UK tech between 2009 and 2019 went to founding teams that are not all black
Source
The liquidity of the European exit landscape has been overshadowed by a bumper year for tech IPOs (and direct listings and SPACs) in the US.
Explore more in the Value Creation chapter
US TECH IPOS DWARFED THOSE IN EUROPE
Top 5 IPOs in 2020
Top 10 IPOs in 2020
$32B
$133B
$111B
$31B
Europe
United States
Europe
United States
Source:
$5B
September 2020 All-Time Highest Month on record
AGAINST THE ODDS, ANOTHER RECORD YEAR OF INVESTMENT
Total capital invested ($B) by month for 2019 and 2020 (cumulative)
2019
2020
Source
