Note: All figures are quoted from 1 January 2023 - 12 December 2023
Tech.eu Annual Report 2023 | 1






Note: All figures are quoted from 1 January 2023 - 12 December 2023
Tech.eu Annual Report 2023 | 2



CONTENT




Foreword
Key findings
Investment volume overview
Country overview
Industry overview
M&A and exit activities
Investor activity
The year of AI
Conclusion




3
4
5
11
16
19
21
25
28


Note: All figures are quoted from 1 January 2023 - 12 December 2023
Tech.eu Annual Report 2023 | 3

FOREWORD





2023 has marked the advent of a new normal. In the first
half, we saw the market bottom with valuations, round
sizes, and the number of deals resetting to pre-
pandemic levels.
This was followed by a modest upward trend in the
second half, propelled by significant shifts in AI and
growing sectors like Climatetech.
While prior years were primarily focused on top-line
growth, investors are now adopting a more holistic view
in evaluating potential investments, with an emphasis
on capital efficiency.
We are observing that higher efficiency expectations
are
leading
to businesses with more
robust
fundamentals, which we hope will drive the next wave of
successful and sustainable tech companies.
Regardless of the macroeconomic conditions, great
companies will always continue to attract capital.
Venture capital is by nature a cyclical business, and we
firmly believe that Europe will be at the forefront of
driving the next cycle over the coming decade.
With its wealth of talent, a maturing ecosystem, and a
range of entrepreneurial role models, Europe possesses
all the essential ingredients for continued expansion and
to inspire the coming generation.







Peter Specht
General Partner
Creandum
2
0
2
3

Note: All figures are quoted from 1 January 2023 - 12 December 2023
Tech.eu Annual Report 2023 | 4

KEY FINDINGS




Although down nearly 40 percent year-over-year, the
European tech ecosystem is on track to raise €67.7
billion in 2023.
2023 saw a steady stream of investments both in terms
of the number of deals and the total amounts raised
month-over-month.
From a geopolitical point of view, 2023 saw little change
in top countries funded.
This year we saw significant growth in funding amounts
for both energy and cleantech sector companies.
From this number, 778 exits were actualised by European
companies, while 698 acquisitions were made by
European companies.
In 2023, more than 13,000 investors participated in deals
within the European tech ecosystem.
€67.7
billion
4,290
deals
UK
€24.7B
€17.3B
energy &
cleantech
847
exits
13,000+
investors

Note: All figures are quoted from 1 January 2023 - 12 December 2023
Tech.eu Annual Report 2023 | 5







2023 — A different set of challenges
In 2023, the Tech.eu research team
tracked around 4,267 deals, accounting
for a total investment volume of €67.7
billion. A significant amount of this total
was in the form of debt funding and
other alternative financing deals.
Although this
figure represents a
decrease of nearly 30 percent when
compared to 2022 (€101.2 billion), it is
still over 60 percent higher compared to
2020 (€41 billion). While this year's
numbers are down from years prior, 2021
and 2022 should be viewed for what they
are — outliers.









To gain a holistic view of the European
tech ecosystem, the last four years must
be taken into account. We can see that,
although, 2023’s quarterly amounts have
decreased compared to 2021 and 2022,
they indicate growth when compared to
2020.
2021 can be characterised by the sheer
number of investments made due to the
global pandemic. This situation fueled
the explosion of industries such as e-
commerce and various software tools.
2023, while not been without
its
challenges, has called for a different
playbook.











SECTION 1
Investment volume overview

Note: All figures are quoted from 1 January 2023 - 12 December 2023
Tech.eu Annual Report 2023 | 6

2023’s data reveals a steady stream of
investments both
in
terms of the
number of deals and the total amount
raised by months.
The average number of deals during
2023 was 357, a figure that saw no major
deviations in the preceding 11 months.
Likewise, in terms of total investment
volume, the average for the past 11
months has remained constant at €5.7
billion.
September
was
2023’s
highest-
performing month
in
terms
of
investments, with
four
companies
closing deals in excess of €1 billion,
totaling approximately €9.2 billion
combined. To put this into context, 2023
saw just six companies close deals
valued at €1 billion or more.







"2023 has shown us the resilience and dynamism of the
European startup ecosystem, even amidst economic
challenges. There’s reason to be optimistic about Europe's
continued outperformance in investment volumes over the
coming year, especially with the growth in climate tech and AI,
given the continent’s overall attractiveness for talent and
stability.”


Marie-Helene Ametsreiter
General Partner
Speedinvest

Note: All figures are quoted from 1 January 2023 - 12 December 2023
Tech.eu Annual Report 2023 | 7

An overview of the number of deals in
2023 shows a nearly identical trend to
that of 2020 and a proportionally
different, yet similar trend in 2022.


As to be expected, 2021’s numbers are
completely different. However, when
compared to 2021, 2023’s H1 trend
performed better than 2021’s.








































Note: All figures are quoted from 1 January 2023 - 12 December 2023
Tech.eu Annual Report 2023 | 8






































JANUARY
SES, Luxemburg
www.ses.com

Founded in 1985, Luxembourg-
based SES aims
to
“bring
exceptional experiences to every corner of the
planet by delivering the highest video content
and providing constant connectivity.“
Today, SES has more than 70 satellites in two
different orbits. The company leverages an
extensive and intelligent network comprising
satellite and ground infrastructure, coupled with
industry-leading
expertise,
to
effectively
oversee and provide high-performance video
and data solutions across the globe.
The company received €300 million in the form
of a seven-year term loan from the European
Investment Bank (EIB), marking the bank’s
largest sum ever loan provided to a Luxembourg-
based company.

The BIGGEST deals by month
Including energy, fintech, software, healthtech, semiconductors and many more,
these were the biggest deals month-by-month across the European tech
ecosystem.


Note: All figures are quoted from 1 January 2023 - 12 December 2023
Tech.eu Annual Report 2023 | 9

FEBRUARY
PowerField, Netherlands
www.powerfield.nl

Powerfield is a Netherlands-
based
solar
company
that
develops, builds, and manages virtual power
stations, connecting solar farms to external
storage and EV charging.
The company received €500 million
in a
structured equity and portfolio investment by
EIG, an energy and infrastructure private equity
firm, together with German bank Landesbank
Baden-Württemberg.
The funding is expected to allow PowerField to
further develop its integrated platform, with a
further 500 MWp solar capacity predicted to
result from the deal's portfolio financing
element.

MARCH
Abound, UK
www.getabound.com

Abound is leveraging AI and open
banking data to generate a
holistic profile of loan applicants, resulting in a
mechanism that can offer borrowers better
interest rates than traditional institutions that
often rely on a credit score alone.
The company raised over £500 million in a
mixture of debt and equity funding, provided by
(Debt) Citi, and clients of Waterfall Asset
Management, and (Equity) K3 Ventures, GSR
Ventures, and Hambro Perks. The intention was
to use the capital to “turbocharge the growth of
affordable loans” in the UK market.

APRIL
AtlasEdge, UK
www.atlasedge.com

AtlasEdge is a European edge
data centre platform operating in
12 countries. The company was born from the
joint investment of Liberty Global, a video,
broadband, and communications company, and
DigitalBridge,
a
global
investment
firm
committed to digital infrastructure.
The company raised a scalable €725 million
finance facility consisting of €525 million in debt
financing and €200 million in uncommitted
accordion.

MAY
Low Carbon, UK
www.lowcarbon.com

Climatetech
Low
Carbon
operates
in
the
field
of
renewable energy, building a global net-zero
energy company that aims to power tomorrow
and protect the planet for future generations.
The company raised £310 million (approximately
€356M)
for
its
solar
photovoltaic
(PV)
construction facility. The funding was provided
by international banks including ABN AMRO, ING,
the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and Intesa
Sanpaolo (IMI CIB Division).

JUNE
TagEnergy, Portugal
www.tag-en.com

TagEnergy
produces
and
exchanges
cost-effective,
environmentally friendly energy in order to
expedite the transition to sustainable energy.
The company aims to generate value by
integrating renewable resources with an energy
management
platform,
dispatchable
technology,
and
innovative
financial
instruments.
In June 2023, the company closed a dual
currency (AU$ and €) green bond totalling a
maximum of €570 million (equivalent) with
Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (through its
Green Credit Fund I) and GIC as investors.

JULY
LendInvest, UK
www.lendinvest.com

LendInvest is a London-based
online marketplace for property
finance. The company offers short-term,
development, and buy-to-let mortgages to
intermediaries, landlords, and developers across
the UK.
In July 2023, the company secured £500 million
in Post-IPO debt financing from Chetwood
Financial. The investment provided additional
working capital aimed at accelerating growth.





Note: All figures are quoted from 1 January 2023 - 12 December 2023
Tech.eu Annual Report 2023 | 10

AUGUST
Philips, Netherlands
www.philips.com

Exor NV, the investment arm of
Italy's Agnelli family, became the
top investor in Philips by buying 15 percent of the
healthcare technology group in a deal valued at
approximately €2.6 billion.

SEPTEMBER
Arm, UK
www.arm.com

Arm
is
a
multinational
semiconductor company that
designs, produces, and licenses IP for digital
electronic product development.
Reopening the IPO window, in September, Arm
raised nearly $5 billion.

OCTOBER
Iwoca, UK
www.iwoca.co.uk

Iwoca is a London-based small
business lender, which offers
SME’s loans by way of embedded services as well
as a B2B payment solution for retailers all
alongside a revenue-based financing option.
In October 2023, iwoca secured a £200 million
debt facility via Barclays and Värde Partners. The
move arrived following an extension of its
existing funding line provided by Pollen Street
Capital in January of this year from £125 million
to £170 million.

NOVEMBER
ABB E-mobility, Switzerland
www.abb.com

ABB’s
e-mobility
offer
encompasses
intelligent
transportation solutions ranging from home EV
chargers to electrified fleet depots, opportunity
charging for electric buses and trucks, and high-
power chargers for the forthcoming highway
stations.
In November 2023, the company received a $547
million loan from the European Investment Bank.

DECEMBER
Mistral AI, France
www.mistral.ai

French generative AI startup
Mistral AI closed a fresh €385
million investment deal. The round was led by
Andreessen-Horowitz
with
LightSpeed
Ventures, Salesforce, and Motier Ventures, the
Parisian family office of the owners of the
Galeries Lafayette Group participating.




Note: All figures are quoted from 1 January 2023 - 12 December 2023
Tech.eu Annual Report 2023 | 11





Consistency and stability
From a geopolitical point of view, the list
of top funding countries across Europe
is as expected.
The UK took 2023’s top slot with €24.7
billion flowing to its shores. In second
place we find Germany, with €8.7 billion,
France
with €8.2
billion,
the
Netherlands with €6.1 billion, and
Sweden with €4.6 billion.

Making an appearance amongst the top
10 countries this year is Ireland, with
€1.9 billion raised in total.
Combined, the top 10 countries' total
investment volume arrived at €61.2
billion, accounting for 90 percent of
Europe’s total 2023 figure.






SECTION 2
Country overview
IRISH COMPANIES AMONG 2023'S TOP 10 BY TOTAL AMOUNT RAISED
Notable Ireland-based company rounds include:
- Wayflyer, an e-commerce revenue based financing company renewed $300
million debt in June and secured $1 billion funding in September
- TechMet, the start-up which is building projects to secure the supply of the key
metals for EVs, energy storage and renewable energy has raised a $200 million
equity round
- Dublin-headquartered payment platform NomuPay has raised $53.6 million in a
investment round co-led by Finch Capital and Outpost Ventures

Note: All figures are quoted from 1 January 2023 - 12 December 2023
Tech.eu Annual Report 2023 | 12

























Analysing by quarter, for the top 5
countries,
Q3
was
the
highest
performing quarter in terms of the total
amount raised.
The UK had significant deals announced
in Q3 including Arm’s €4.7 billion IPO and
Zenobe Energy’s €1
billion
deal.
However, the
number
of
deals
concluded (240) was lower than in Q1
(268) and Q2 (271).










Note: All figures are quoted from 1 January 2023 - 12 December 2023
Tech.eu Annual Report 2023 | 13
























THE UK



Oxbotica
www.oxa.tech

Oxford-based
autonomous
vehicle software maker Oxbotica
raised $140 million in a Series C round. The
investment round was aimed at supporting the
company’s deployment of its operating system in
multiple commercial and industrial industries
including agriculture, airports, energy, goods
delivery, mining,
and
shared passenger
transportation.










Quantexa
www.quantexa.com

Quantexa, a UK-based Decision
Intelligence
(DI)
solutions
company completed a $129 million Series E
funding round with a $1.8 billion valuation. The
round was led by GIC and included participation
from Warburg Pincus, Dawn Capital, British
Patient Capital, Evolution Equity Partners,
HSBC, BNY Mellon, ABN AMRO, and AlbionVC.

Infogrid
www.infogrid.io

London-based Infogrid raised
$90 million in a Series B round.
The capital was expected to help the company
expand, particularly in the areas of its dataset
and increasing the functionality of its building
intelligence platform.

Note: All figures are quoted from 1 January 2023 - 12 December 2023
Tech.eu Annual Report 2023 | 14

GERMANY




eGym
egym.com

Munich-based fitness tech firm
EGYM raised $225 million in a
Series F funding round. The capital was aimed at
helping the company expand into more gyms,
increase corporate subscriptions at its network
of sports and wellness facilities and press
forward with
research and development
projects, all the while progressing towards an
IPO.







Isar Aerospace
www.isaraerospace.com

Munich-based spacetech startup
Isar Aerospace
raised €155
million in a Series C funding round that saw the
company continue to drive towards the liftoff of
its Spectrum launch vehicle.

JOLT Energy
www.jolt.energy
The Dublin and Munich-based
company e-mobility company
Jolt Energy
(Jolt)
received
a €150 million investment from InfraRed Capital
Partners to bring its battery-buffered ultra-fast
charging stations to urban areas across Europe
and the US.

FRANCE



Verkor
www.verkor.com

French manufacturer of low-
carbon batteries Verkor secured
over €2 billion in a Series C funding round. The
capital, comprised of a minimum of €850 million,
a €500 million loan from the EIB, and French
government subsidies totalling approximately
€650 million, were to be used to finance the
launch of a Dunkirk-based gigafactory.

Ledger
www.ledger.com

Paris-based
digital
asset
security firm Ledger raised an
additional €100 million in a Series
C extension round. According to the company,
the newest influx of capital was aimed at
accelerating Ledger’s ambitions to “bring a new
generation of secure consumer devices to
hundreds of millions exploring critical digital
assets and blockchain-enabled technology.”

Pasqal
www.pasqal.io
Paris-based
neutral
atoms
approach quantum computing
startup Pasqal
raised €100
million in a Series B funding round. The quantum
processor maker said it would use the new
capital to further develop its research and
development efforts to build a 1,000-qubit
quantum computer in the short term and fault-
tolerant architectures in the long term.





Note: All figures are quoted from 1 January 2023 - 12 December 2023
Tech.eu Annual Report 2023 | 15

THE NETHERLANDS



Agreena
www.agreena.com

Danish climate and fintech firm
Agreena, raised €46 million in
a Series B round to further scale its soil carbon
platform. The round was led by HV Capital and
includes AENU, Anthemis with
existing
shareholders Gullspång Re:food, Kinnevik and
Denmark’s Export and Investment fund.







Weaviate
www.weaviate.io

Amsterdam-based
Weaviate
raised $50 million in a Series B
funding round to expand its team and further
develop its open source database and cloud
service to meet demands from the AI application
development market.

Crisp
www.crisp.nl

Crisp,
an
Amsterdam-based
supermarket app, raised €35
million in a Series C funding round. Having
already banked €121 million since 2018, Crisp
says that it intended to use the new investment
capital to continue to “build a better food
system”.

SWEDEN



Northvolt
www.northvolt.com

Canada’s Caisse de Depot et
Placement du Quebec (CDPQ)
invested $150 million
in Stockholm-based
sustainable lithium-ion battery maker Northvolt
via convertible notes. The financing was
provided to support the realisation of Northvolt’s
sixth gigafactory and the first outside of Europe.

Neko Health
www.nekohealth.com

Swedish start-up Neko Health
raised €60 million in a Series A
funding round. The Daniel Ek co-founded startup
intended to use the investment to drive
expansion across Europe, a recruitment drive,
and continued investment in R&D and clinical
studies.

Lassie
www.lassie.co

Swedish company Lassie, the
world’s
first preventive pet
insurance ecosystem, raised €23 million in a
Series B funding round. The investment was to
be used to develop Lassie’s ecosystem offering,
including the in-app sale of health products for
pets, grow its tech and product teams, continue
momentum in Germany and Sweden, and plan
the next international launch.





Note: All figures are quoted from 1 January 2023 - 12 December 2023
Tech.eu Annual Report 2023 | 16






Climate, finance, and health
2023 saw a diverse selection of
investment activity. Although fintech
retained its position at the top of the list,
the total amount raised by fintech
companies (€11.7 billion) just barely
surpasses that of the energy sector
(€10.2 billion). Healthtech (€7.3 billion)
claimed third place and cleantech (€7.1
billion) fourth.




However, if energy and cleantech sector
investments are to be grouped under the
umbrella
of
climatetech,
this
categorisation would
see
a
total
investment volume of €17.3 billion.
The amount raised by the top 5
industries accounts for 62 percent of
the
total
amount
raised by
all
companies.





























The biggest number of deals in 2023 was
within the fintech sector (525), followed
by healthtech
(510), and software
companies (450).

Comparing the number of deals to the
total amount raised, it is clear that these
were smaller investments compared to,
for
example,
energy
(260)
or
semiconductor (43) companies.


SECTION 3
Industry overview

Note: All figures are quoted from 1 January 2023 - 12 December 2023
Tech.eu Annual Report 2023 | 17

























If we look at the top 5 industries, we can
see that the Q3 was the busiest in terms
of total amounts raised by quarter.
Interestingly,
in
Q3
energy
and
semiconductor
companies
figures
skyrocketed due largely in part to
Europe’s largest IPO of the year, Arm's $5
billion raise, Verkor's €2 billion Series C
funding, and Zenobē's £800 million
investment from KKR and Infracapital,
all three happening at the beginning of
September.




Note: All figures are quoted from 1 January 2023 - 12 December 2023
Tech.eu Annual Report 2023 | 18




AccelerComm, UK
ww.accelercomm.com

AccelerComm raised a £21.5
million Series B funding round
with investment from Parkwalk, Swisscom,
Hostplus, and existing investors IQ Capital, Bloc
Ventures and IP Group.

Optalysys, UK
www.optalysys.com

Photonic chip maker Optalysys
raised a £21 million Series A
funding which was aimed at ‘advancing its
Enable photonic computing technology to
unlock a new form of secure processing known
as Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE)’.

Hystar, Norway
www.hystar.com

Oslo-based Hystar raised $26
million in a Series B funding
round in order to scale up commercial
operations of its green hydrogen production,
targeting a production capacity of 100MW.






Umiami
www.umiami.com

Umiami, a French foodtech firm
raised €32.5 million in a Series A
funding round to expand its plant-based meat
alternative technology in Europe and the US.


Meatable
www.meatable.com

Cultivated
meat
company
Meatable raised $35 million. This
investment brought the company's total funding
to $95 million and was led by Agronomics, with
Invest-NL join as a new investor, contributing
$17 million.


Uncommon
www.uncommonbio.co

Cambridge-based
biotech
startup Uncommon raised $30
million in a Series A funding round. Formerly
known as Higher Steaks, the startup intended to
use the investment to further develop its unique
approach to lab-grown foods.


















2023 IN SEMICONDUCTORS
2023 IN FOOD
“Europe's deeptech investment proved resilient in 2023, staying
relatively flat at ~$15bn YTD while the rest of regular tech fell 46
percent. In 2024, we expect deeptech investment will continue
rising, especially for founders and companies located in key
hubs like Greater London, Paris, and Munich where a high
density of talent creates outsized chances of success.”



Steven Jacobs
Partner & CTO
Lakestar

Note: All figures are quoted from 1 January 2023 - 12 December 2023
Tech.eu Annual Report 2023 | 19








In 2023, we tracked 847 M&A and exit
activities across the European tech
ecosystem. Out of this number, 778 exits
were for European companies, while 698
acquisitions were made by European
companies.
The majority of these deals were
undisclosed, but 76 were valued at €32
billion combined.

German companies were the busiest
both in terms of exits and acquisitions,
with 196 and 169 deals respectively. The
UK saw 149 exit companies and 151
acquiring
companies,
and
the
Netherlands recorded 104 exits and 72
acquisitions.













SECTION 4
M&A and exit activities
The BIGGEST
exit for a
European country
Cambridge-based biotech
company Abcam has been
acquired by US medical
and diagnostic tool
developer Danaher for
£4.5 billion
The BIGGEST
acquisition for a
European country
French firm Thales bought
US-based cybersecurity
company Imperva from
Thoma Bravo in $3.6 billion
deal
The BIGGEST
exit deal between
European countries
Spain’s Asterion Industrial
Partners acquired
Germany's energy utility
STEAG in a €2.6 billion
transaction

Note: All figures are quoted from 1 January 2023 - 12 December 2023
Tech.eu Annual Report 2023 | 20




Reward Gateway acquired by Edenred for £1.15
billion to 'strengthen its employee benefits value
proposition'




CapVest bought UK-based SaaS ERP Kerridge
Commercial Systems from Accel-KKR in a $1
billion deal




Rapyd expanded its global reach with $610
million PayU GPO acquisition


The Ayre Group acquired a majority stake in
nChain in a $570 million deal




BioNTech acquired Instadeep in a £562 million
deal




Nexi purchased 80 percent of Sabadell's
PayComet for €280 million




































"I’m hoping we see an uptick in consumer businesses which get
funded. Consumer spending is over 60 percent of UK GDP yet it
feels like over the last year they have struggled to raise money
compared to B2B SaaS companies. There are great consumer-
facing tech startups in London that could achieve great
success.
I think we will start to see signs of recovery throughout 2024. By
this time next year there will be more optimism in VC and
hopefully more exciting funding rounds closing too."



Ollie Purdue
Partner
Antler (London)

Note: All figures are quoted from 1 January 2023 - 12 December 2023
Tech.eu Annual Report 2023 | 21






In 2023, more than 13,000 investors
participated
in
deals within
the
European tech ecosystem.
The most active
investors
include
Germany’s High-Tech Gründerfonds

(HTGF) with 60
investments, The
European Innovation Council (EIC) and
51, and Bpifrance with 50.





Brightpick
www.brightpick.ai

Brightpick added $19 million to
an already healthy $21 million
Series B round led by Taiwania Capital and IPM
Group , Alpha Intelligence Capital, H&D Asset
Management, Venture to Future Fund, and
Kolowrat Group. First-tranche investors include
Earlybird, AI Capital, and Credo Ventures.

Quandela
www.quandela.com

Quandela, successfully secured
over €50 million from the French
government through the France 2030 Plan and
banking partners. New investors, Serena, Credit
Mutuel Innovation, and the European Innovation
Council Fund, joined the company's capital,
alongside
existing
historical
investors,
Bpifrance, OMNES Capital and Quantonation.

Qomodo
www.qomodo.me

Milan-based payment aggregator
Qomodo raised €34.5 million in
Pre-Seed funding led by Fasanara Capital and
Notion Capital, The Agnelli
family’s Exor
Ventures, Proximity Capital, and others including
SECTION 5
Investor activity

Note: All figures are quoted from 1 January 2023 - 12 December 2023
Tech.eu Annual Report 2023 | 22

Ithaca
Investment, Lumen Ventures, The
Techshop, Primo Ventures also joined the round.

Upvest
www.upvest.co

Berlin-based
fintech Upvest
secured €30 million in a funding
round led by BlackRock alongside existing
investors Bessemer Venture Partners, HV
Capital, Earlybird, Notion Capital, ABN Amro
Ventures, and 10x Capital.

Ganymed Robotics
www.ganymedrobotics.com

Parisian
computer
vision
software and surgical robotics
technologies company Ganymed Robotics raised
an additional €15 million in a Series B round
extension from The European Innovation Council
(EIC) Fund, through the EIC Accelerator Program,
Cap Horn Invest (a member of the Anaxago
Group), and Bpifrance.

FarmInsect
https://farminsect.eu/

FarmInsect, a German agritech
startup, raised €8 million via
Sandwater alongside Bayern Kapital’s growth
fund, the Minderoo Foundation’s Strategic
Impact Fund, and the European Innovation
Council Fund. Also participating in the round
were
existing
investors
HTGF
and
UnternehmerTUM Funding for Innovators.

QuantumDiamonds
www.quantumdiamonds.de

QuantumDiamonds
raised €7
million in a seed funding round
for its quantum sensing technology. The round
was led by IQ Capital and Earlybird.

Quench.ai
www.quench.ai

London-based
AI
edtech
platform Quench.ai raised $5
million in a Pre-Seed funding round. The
investors included firstminute capital, Tuesday
VC, BY Venture Partners, Ada Ventures, Plug and
Play Ventures, Notion Capital, Antler, Sequoia
Scout Fund, Northzone, and several angel
investors.

finres
http://finres.org/

Parisian fintech startup finres
raised €4.1 million. The Seed
funding round was led by Speedinvest alongside
Illuminate Financial Management. Additional
participants in the round included AFI Ventures,
Kima Ventures, Plug & Play, Raise Sherpas, Tiny
VC, Better Angle, and angel investors Anna
Katharina Alex, Michael Diguet, Renaud Visage,
and Valentine Baudouin.

Fairlyne
http://www.fairlyne.com/

The
Parisian
Resale-as-a-
Service startup Fairlyne raised
$3 million in a Seed round led by Speedinvest
and including the participation of Evolem, Kima
Ventures, and FJ Lab several angel investors.

MarketLeap
https://www.marketleap.ai/

MarketLeap,
a
Luxembourg-
based e-commerce platform,
raised €1.5 million in additional funding to
expand in the US and UK. The round includes
Notion Capital, Kima Ventures and Motier
Ventures, existing investor Expon Capital, and
others.

Maya Climate
www.maya-climate.com

Berlin-based Maya Capital raised
€1.2 million
in a Pre-Seed
financing round led by Germany’s High-Tech
Gründerfonds (HTGF), Antler, the Berlin Angel
Fund, and additional undisclosed founders and
carbon market veterans.

Genie
www.genieframework.com

Barcelona-based open-source
startup Genie announced that it
raised $1.2 million in a Pre-Seed round. The
funding was
led by Speedinvest, with
participation from Expa Ventures, Antler,
APX/Heartfelt, and Shine Capital.



Note: All figures are quoted from 1 January 2023 - 12 December 2023
Tech.eu Annual Report 2023 | 23

Yuvod
https://www.yuvod.com/

Spanish mediatech
startup
Yuvod raised €4 million for
further US expansion. The funding was led by
Palomar Capital and included Navesink Capital,
Three Angels, angel investors Bill Luby and Todd
Balestro, the Valencian Institute of Finance, and
Enisa.

Skyqraft
http://www.skyqraft.com/

AI platform Skyqraft raised $3.8
million to improve energy grid
infrastructure inspections.
The round was led by Subvenio Invest, Neptunia
Invest, and Antler, providing both financial
support and strategic guidance to solidify
Skyqraft's market position.
























“After the big AI investment run in 2023, I expect a gradually
more conservative investor sentiment as cohorts of well-
funded AI companies, specifically in the application layer, will
be wiped out by OpenAI and other fullstack providers.

Investors without deep expertise who jumped on the train too
late will learn their lesson and we’ll see less dump money
chasing AI startups.”



Dr. Andre Retterath
Partner
Earlybird Venture Capital


Note: All figures are quoted from 1 January 2023 - 12 December 2023
Tech.eu Annual Report 2023 | 24



















Note: All figures are quoted from 1 January 2023 - 12 December 2023
Tech.eu Annual Report 2023 | 25


2023 will go in the record books as the
year the world sat up and took notice of
Artificial Intelligence. Following suit,
investors'
interest
in
the
sector
skyrocketed,
alongside
lawmakers’
interest in regulatory controls.
Although UK-based companies took the
top slot in terms of total investment
volume, when it comes to AI, Germany
led the funding race, raking in €845.3
million in 2023, a figure more than
double that of the UK’s at €411.2 million
and half of the total raised amount in the
industry. Thanks in part to Mistral AI’s
last-minute entry, France claimed the
number two spot in the funding race at
€554.1 million.
In terms of the number of AI-centric
deals, the UK retains its top slot with 42
transactions, followed by Germany with
21. These two countries account for half
of all AI investments across Europe in
2023.













The year of AI

Note: All figures are quoted from 1 January 2023 - 12 December 2023
Tech.eu Annual Report 2023 | 26

Germany’s Aleph Alpha saw the biggest
AI investment in 2023 at €464 million,
followed closely by France’s Mistral AI’s
€385 million raise and Munich-based
Helsing rounding out the top three with a
€209 million funding round.
Interestingly,
and with
only
one
investment in an AI-centric startup,
Romania, makes
an
appearance
amongst the top 10 countries garnering
funding.
Bucharest-based
conversational AI outfit DRUID raised
€28 million in a Series B round.

















“ChatGPT was a wake-up call in AI's ability to manage
unstructured data effectively, especially in healthcare, with the
potential of transforming vast amounts of clinical and omics
data into meaningful insights for drug discovery. Looking
ahead, we envision the development of a novel AI-integrated
collaborative workbench for scientists that will leverage LLMs
to mingle those vast amount of data along with generative-
AI simulations – potentially revolutionising research at big
pharmas.” -



Julien Hobeika
Partner
EQT Ventures


Note: All figures are quoted from 1 January 2023 - 12 December 2023
Tech.eu Annual Report 2023 | 27


Aleph Alpha
www.aleph-alpha.com
Country: Germany
Last round: $500 million



Mistral AI
https://mistral.ai/
Country: France
Last round: €385 million



Helsing
www.helsing.ai
Country: Germany
Last round: €209 million



DeepL
www.deepl.com
Country: Germany
Last round: €93 million



Synthesia
www.synthesia.io
Country: UK
Last round: $90 million

Pixis
www.pixis.ai
Country: UK
Last round: $85 million



Everseen
www.everseen.com
Country: Ireland
Last round: €65 million



Stability AI
www.stability.ai
Country: UK
Last round: $50 million



PhysicsX
www.physicsx.ai
Country: UK
Last round: €29 million



DRUID
www.druidai.com
Country: Romania
Last round: €28 million





Note: All figures are quoted from 1 January 2023 - 12 December 2023
Tech.eu Annual Report 2023 | 28

CONCLUSION

When reviewing the performance of the European tech ecosystem over the past 349
days, it might be easy to point to declining year-over-year numbers and be quick to push
the panic button. However, perhaps as demonstrated best by the spectacular collapse
of 40-year stalwart Silicon Valley Bank back in March, the need for panic is nay.

Having been involved with the European tech ecosystem for over a decade now, and the
global landscape nearly 25, if there’s one thing I’m certain of is the cyclical nature of not
just our business sphere, but that of all.

I’ve watched the dot com bubble burst and am a veteran of the layoffs that ensued. I’ve
watched the financial crisis decimate an industry and the ripple effects it caused. I’ve
seen our entire industry (and world) turned upside down by a global pandemic, and now
stand witness to the ensuing shakeout that was anything but avoidable.

While down from 2021 and 2022’s heady days, 2023’s figures, in fact, provide me with a
fresh confirmation of the cyclical nature of profits and loss, mergers and acquisitions,
bull and bear markets, and everything in between. And a renewed sense of optimism.

To be certain, there’s no crystal ball that can magically reveal what’s in store for 2024,
but I can confidently and accurately tell you that there will be winners, there will be
losers, and that all of this has happened before, and that all of this will happen again.

Meliora,





Dan Taylor
Managing Editor
Tech.eu











Note: All figures are quoted from 1 January 2023 - 12 December 2023
Tech.eu Annual Report 2023 | 29