As of Dec. 1, €23.3 billion has been invested across 186 funds in Europe, according to PitchBook data. The regions that typically attract the most capital saw a dip in capital raised compared to 2021, but Israel—along with Southern Europe and Central and Eastern Europe—bucked the trend.
As Europe’s venture ecosystem continues to mature, capital is increasingly spread out as limited partners seek opportunities outside the continent’s largest hubs. Despite the downturn, fund sizes are still growing larger, helping to boost capital raised in Europe.
The UK and Ireland raised the most capital for VC funds this year with €5.8 billion—a 22.7% decrease from 2021. France and Benelux came in second place, having secured €5.4 billion, just over 5% less than last year.
Israel, by contrast, raised 70.6% more for its vehicles than in 2021, landing on €2.9 billion. It is also the only region to maintain fund count, with 28 vehicles as of the beginning of December.
The Nordics saw the biggest drop, having closed 10 funds compared with 34 the previous year. The region did, however, see the largest close this year, courtesy of EQT Ventures, which amassed €1.1 billion for its third fund on Nov. 9.
Only two other vehicles surpassed the €1 billion threshold this year. London-based Northzone raised €1 billion for its tenth flagship fund in September, while Cathay Innovation announced a new €1 billion multistage capital pool in July.
Featured image of Tel Aviv’s financial district by eskystudio/Shutterstock
