With €2.7 billion (about $2.9 billion) raised so far this year, according to PitchBook’s 2023 France Private Capital Breakdown, London is still miles ahead of its peers in terms of VC funding. Outsized rounds for late-stage companies and a plethora of unicorns have drawn plenty of capital to the city despite the more challenging environment.
But while the UK capital has held the top spot for well over a decade, other European cities have been growing their share of European VC investment.
Paris has seen the most growth over the past five years, accounting for 25% of all capital raised in the first quarter of the year by the top five cities. In general, France has had a positive start to the year, mostly because of its capital city, with dealmaking showing signs of recovery. Large rounds including crypto startup Ledger‘s €460.8 million Series C in March have helped the city grow its share of European funding.
Aside from briefly eclipsing Paris in 2021, Berlin has consistently remained Europe’s third-largest venture hub in terms of funding. It has also seen its share increase from 11.9% in 2021 to 16.7% this year. With over €300 million invested in Q1, another German city, Munich, has joined the ranks of Europe’s five largest cities for VC funding this year.
The inclusion of Munich has knocked Stockholm out of the ranking for the first time since 2018. The Swedish capital has seen a significant fall in funding with only €242.9 million invested in the first quarter of this year—a 70.2% decrease from the same period in 2021.
Tel Aviv has been another constant in the list of Europe’s top cities for VC funding in recent years, but its share of European VC funding fell from 10.9% last year to 8.3% in Q1.
Related read: PitchBook’s 2023 France Private Capital Breakdown
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