Sifted’s Post

H2 in review 🔙 As we close out 2024, European tech’s outlook is a stark contrast to the optimism following H1’s bumper €49.9bn funding spree. Debt and equity financing slowed, funding rounds dipped to decade-lows, and megarounds fizzled. But what does the data tell us? Key takeaways:    💸 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗽 – with 2,221 deals in H2, a 29% drop from H1 and the lowest number since H2 2012. 📉 𝟯𝟮% 𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗽 𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹 – driven by sharp declines in growth (-29%) and late stage (-55%) deals.  🌱 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆-𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 – Pre-seed, seed and Series A accounted for 38% of equity funding, up from 33% in H1. 💰 𝗗𝗲𝗯𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲 – Debt financing to European startups accounted for 36% of total funding in 2024 🧯 𝗠𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝘇𝘇𝗹𝗲 – Only 45 were recorded in H2, compared to 92 in H1 — a fall of 51% 🌍 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱 – Attracting €5.4bn, driven by massive debt rounds. It finished just ahead of B2B SaaS (€5.3bn). 🌟 𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝘀 – UK (€5.5bn), Germany (€3.1bn), France (€2.6bn) and Switzerland (€1bn) each surpassed €1bn in equity funding, but all dropped 30%+ apart from Germany. The bottom line: it’s been a year of two halves for Europe’s tech scene. Curious about the biggest deals, H2 highlights and what’s next for European tech? Read the full report here 👉 https://lnkd.in/euzcjJwD #EuropeanTech #SiftedH2review #StartupEurope