European tech sector doubles in value during pandemic.

Manish Madhvani, Co-founder and Managing Partner at GP Bullhound, said: “It has become increasingly obvious that the European tech ecosystem is a force to be reckoned with, and the pandemic has only further solidified its status as a maturing sector competing on the global stage. The record value creation, the growing amounts of mega-rounds and the consistently high rates of Unicorn businesses speak for themselves, and we can be really proud of the ecosystem we have built.”

Key takeaways from our report include:

• 20 years of historical shareholder value in one year: There are 166 Unicorns in Europe, with 52 reaching this status and $382bn+ in value created in the past year; the number of Unicorns is up by 5x+ and the ecosystem’s aggregate valuation by 9x since our first Titans report in 2014, for an ecosystem valued at $801bn today.

• Boom in mega-rounds: $14.9bn was raised Q1 2021, almost one year’s worth of historical activity and nearly matching the $16.8bn total in 2020; record investment in the past year created Unicorns in record time, such as Gorillas in less than one year, as well as Hopin and Cazoo

• The consumer comes back: Enterprise Software and Fintech continue to lead the way, but E-commerce and Marketplaces combined produced over 2x last year’s number of Unicorns, with next-gen food delivery meeting vast demand

• Sweden overtakes the UK: Sweden leads the billion-dollar stables by value, thanks to significant valuation uplifts for core companies Klarna, Spotify, and Evolution Gaming; 57% of all EU states have now created a Unicorn

• Doubling of $50bn companies globally: Adyen is Europe’s first tech Titan, joining today’s 26 Titans globally, with a significant number of new entrants on the wave of IPOs

• Missing puzzle piece – IPOs: Europe represented 57% of the 14 Unicorn IPOs in the past two years for Europe and the US combined, but SPACs may hamper this balance with $100bn+ raised globally in 2021 and only $2.2bn of this in Europe, not to mention US SPACs targeting and acquiring European tech leaders

Who are our top 50 contenders to reach Unicorn status and what does it take to build a billion-dollar company? See our report for our list of companies demonstrating the greatest ambition, and key expert views from the founders and executive teams of Wolt, Vestiaire Collective, Starling Bank, Interactive Investor, Infobip and contenders Ravenpack, Overwolf, and Truelayer.

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About GP Bullhound
GP Bullhound is a leading technology advisory and investment firm, providing transaction advice and capital to the world’s best entrepreneurs and founders. Founded in 1999 in London and Menlo Park, the firm today has 10 offices spanning Europe, the US and Asia. For more information, please visit www.gpbullhound.com