January 30, 2020
SEATTLE, Jan. 30, 2020 -- PitchBook, the premier data provider for the private and public equity markets, today released its Q4 2019 European Venture Report, revealing venture capital (VC) deal value reached record highs with €32.4 billion total invested across 5,017 deals compared to €24.3 across 5,929 deals in 2018. All European regions set new deal value records in 2019, indicating a well-balanced and diverse ecosystem. Germany-based companies had a particularly notable year, claiming both the largest round and largest exit in 2019, while software was the most successful sector, pulling in the most capital and representing 43.0% of all exits. Total capital raised across European funds also crept up to a new record, posting €11.2 billion across 77 closed vehicles. The record values in both dealmaking and fundraising despite lower counts were helped by rising median round and fund sizes. Capital flooded in from nontraditional and international investors, with both US VC investor and CVC participation growing by more than 50% year-over-year. After a record-breaking 2018 and largely lackluster start to 2019, exits recovered in Q4 2019 to post a respectable annual exit total in line with previous trends. The sharp drop indicates 2018 was an anomaly given multiple outsized exits by companies like Spotify, Adyen and Farfetch.
"VC dealmaking in Europe appears in excellent shape heading into the new decade with new milestones likely to be set in 2020," said Nalin Patel, EMEA Private Capital Analyst at PitchBook. "Maturation was a key theme throughout 2019 as startups attracted larger rounds across the board, pushing up the median round size and pre-money valuation. The increased capital helped Europe set new records for fundraising, deal value and international and nontraditional investor participation. Although exit numbers and values were muted after US-based WeWork's canceled IPO and continued geopolitical uncertainty, we expect numerous unicorns in the ecosystem to boost exit value in the future as they look to exit."
Investment Activity
Exits
Fundraising
Additional coverage in this report includes:
Download the full report here.
About PitchBook
PitchBook is a financial data and software company that provides transparency into the capital markets to help professionals discover and execute opportunities with confidence and efficiency. PitchBook collects and analyzes detailed data on the entire venture capital, private equity and M&A landscape—including public and private companies, investors, funds, investments, exits and people. The company's data and analysis are available through the PitchBook Platform, industry news and in-depth reports. Founded in 2007, PitchBook has offices in Seattle, San Francisco, New York and London and serves more than 37,000 professionals around the world. In 2016, Morningstar acquired PitchBook, which now operates as an independent subsidiary.
For data requests, contact our PR team at pr@pitchbook.com. Data requests can take up to 72 hours.