Emerging PE managers in Europe have been pushed further to the margins of the continent’s fundraising market as LPs increasingly concentrate commitments on established firms.
Emerging managers, defined as firms on their third fund or earlier, have closed just 16 funds in Europe so far this year, less than a third of all PE fund closes and their lowest share in a decade, according to PitchBook data.
The comparison is even more stark when looking at the capital raised. Emerging managers raised just €3.4 billion (about $3.9 billion) in total, taking barely a tenth of the capital raised so far this year, while experienced managers raised €34.1 billion across 35 funds, according to PitchBook data.
With interest rates higher for longer and exits slow, LPs are limited in their ability to recycle capital, leading them to concentrate fundraising among managers with proven track records, according to PitchBook’s 2025 Annual European PE Breakdown.
Geographically, the squeeze runs deepest in Europe’s largest markets. In France, experienced firms accounted for 73% of all funds closed since 2021, the highest share on the continent, followed by 64% in the UK. However, emerging managers in Germany are still out-raising their established rivals by count.
Some recent emerging fund closes in Germany include Inseta‘s vehicle dedicated to entrepreneurship through acquisition, which closed at its €60 million hard cap in April after just three months in the market.
The fund is led by four veteran partners, including Gernot Eisinger, co-founder of Munich-based PE fund Afinum, Lukas Krauss, former investment director at Paragon Partners, and Ivana Naumovska, a professor at French business school INSEAD.
Munich-based Greenpeak Partners also reached the €300 million final close of its third fund in September, lifting the firm’s assets under management above €1 billion.
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