We see clear indications that tech and innovation remain the engines for economic growth in Europe and across the globe. The pool of investors, including investors exclusively focused on Europe, There is a lot of dry powder. has never been deeper. The number of unique investors in European tech has risen consistently over the past decade. VCs have raised more than $50B in new funds locally since 2021. Carbon and Energy solutions account for approximately 30% of all capital The market has heeded invested in European tech in 2023, tripling the proportion of investment the call to action on since 2021. Energy storage, clean energy and energy e昀케ciency top that trend. climate, the fastest growing segment. AI investment has soared globally, including in Europe. AI & Machine Learn- AI and automation ing companies accounted for 11% of the total investment in 2023. What’s attracted the most more, Europe already has a growing and maturing ecosystem of late-stage companies with AI at their core. Eleven mega-rounds of $100M+ were raised capital and has a robust by AI companies in Europe in 2023 alone. growth stage pipeline. Since 2014, Europe has minted more than 350 new unicorns. The conti- As one measure of the nent’s tech ecosystem is well-stocked with more than 3,900 growth-stage ecosystem’s maturity, tech companies that have the potential to become the next generation of household names and success stories. Europe also has 41,000 early-stage there is an abundance startups – and in the next 昀椀ve years alone, at least 25,000 more tech start- of companies across ups are expected to be formed. the lifecycle. Funded European companies are as likely as their American counterparts Mind the gap in funding to scale to a billion-dollar valuation after 昀椀ve years in operation. Yet U.S. and you’ll 昀椀nd incredible startups are 40% more likely to have secured venture capital funding in the same timeframe. That said, Europe’s share of global VC reached 17% in 2023 opportunity in Europe. – showing the market is awakening to this opportunity and closing the gap. 11 | A word from...