In conjunction with the sixth-annual Midas List Europe, produced by Forbes in partnership with TrueBridge Capital Partners, we’re excited to take a deep dive into the top ten companies driving the biggest returns for this year’s leading European and Middle Eastern venture capitalists.
In a clear indication of current market conditions, only one of this year’s company drivers went public during the year, as IPOs have been and continue to be scarce. Similarly, the current fundraising environment is a far cry from the easier money that has defined the past two years. Still, past downturns have notoriously brought forth new generations of exceptional entrepreneurs and companies, as well as showcased the staying power of industry incumbents. The drivers of this year’s list, while facing stiff headwinds in some cases, appear to be well-positioned to meet the continuing challenges ahead.
Here are the top 10 companies that propelled investors onto the 2022 Midas List Europe:
The Top 10 Companies Driving The 2022 Midas List Europe
TrueBridge Capital Partners
1) Stripe
Stripe has continued its run as one of the most highly valued private companies globally, appearing as a top 10 driver for the fifth year in a row. The company also took the top spot for the first time – a feat even more impressive considering it is the only private company to ever hold that position.
Regardless of Stripe’s co-founders John and Patrick Collison having long refused to comment on or commit to an IPO, the payment processor remains a key holding for European investors and continues to deliver sizable returns.
The company shows no sign of slowing down, with a constant stream of product updates, partnership announcements and market expansion initiatives occurring throughout this year. In recent months, Stripe has announced that leading European companies, ranging from Paris-based retailer La Redoute to Dublin-based life insurance company Irish Life, will leverage the company’s platform to manage customer payments. Demonstrating its global reach, Stripe has also launched in Thailand, deepened its investment in Japan and expanded its offerings in Mexico.
Where It Counted the Most on the Midas List Europe 2022*:
Tom Stafford | DST Global | #5
2) DoorDash
Amid an explosion of European competitors in all things delivery and logistics, DoorDash has remained at the forefront of this increasingly global industry and continued its penetration into the European market that began with its acquisition of Finnish startup Wolt in June 2022.
Despite recent layoffs, a crowded industry and the fact that delivery has somewhat retrenched after the pandemic as the market slowdown has set in, DoorDash continues to focus on growth, partnering with leading grocers and retailers around the globe, expanding a push into delivering non-food goods and leading to 80% year-over-year US growth in non-restaurant gross order value in the most recent quarter. Time will tell if DoorDash can replicate its success in the US market abroad.
Where It Counted the Most on the Midas List Europe 2022*:
Rahul Mehta | DST Global | #20
3) Roblox
Roblox remains one of the most recognizable names in the red-hot gaming sector and has continued to log impressive user engagement metrics.
The California-based company’s 2022 success proves that its platform has real staying power and is more than a pandemic-fueled trend. On its latest earnings call, the company noted that 17- to 24-year-olds represent its fastest-growing customer demographic. Following the lead of Meta and others, Roblox has committed to expanding its virtual and augmented reality platform, outlining a new suite of features and experiences at its September investor day.
Where It Counted the Most on the Midas List Europe 2022*:
Neil Rimer | Index Ventures Europe | #15
4) UiPath
UiPath, a process automation company that employs artificial intelligence methods to create robots that allow companies to automate certain administrative tasks, rocketed to a $29 billion valuation as a result of its April 2021 IPO, delivering handsome returns for early backers including Accel, Index Ventures and Seedcamp.
Although the lofty valuation has come down over the past two years, the company remains one of the leaders in the cutting-edge AI industry, having automated millions of tasks for some of the biggest names in tech. Throughout 2022, the Romanian company has announced new partnerships with Lenovo, Neostella, Microsoft
MSFT
Where It Counted the Most on the Midas List Europe 2022*:
Philippe Botteri | Accel | #8
Carlos Eduardo Espinal | Seedcamp | #19
Luciana Lixandru | Sequoia | #10
5) Checkout.com
Checkout.com, a large provider of online payments services, makes its first appearance on the Midas List Europe top drivers. The London-based company was founded as Opus Payments in 2009, and most recently raised capital at a $40 billion valuation in January 2022, more than doubling its previous valuation from just a year earlier and making it one of the biggest privately held fintech companies globally.
The company offers a full stack of products and services that enable businesses of all sizes to accept and process payments online, including credit and debit cards, e-wallets and bank transfers. At the time of its Series D, the company disclosed that it has been operating profitably for years, ultimately attracting an impressive roster of investors, including Altimeter, Dragoneer, Tiger Global, Ribbit Capital, Coatue Management and others. Tom Stafford of DST Global and Ophelia Brown of Blossom Capital, who landed in spots #5 and #23 on this year’s Midas List Europe, respectively, also invested. In a recent interview with Sifted, founder and CEO Guillaume Pousaz noted he is unfazed by turbulence in the public markets and is in no rush to take his company public.
Where It Counted the Most on the Midas List Europe 2022*:
Ophelia Brown | Blossom Capital | #23
Tom Stafford | DST Global | #5
6) Gojek
Gojek merged with another of Indonesia’s most valuable startups, Tokopedia, in 2021 to form GoTo, and is the only company on this year’s list of drivers to have entered the public markets in 2022.
The combined company’s March 2022 debut on the Jakarta stock exchange, which raised $1.1 billion, was one the few initial public offerings worldwide this year and a major milestone for the fast-growing Southeast Asian economy.
Founded in 2009, Gojek initially focused on ride-hailing. Armed with early funding from DST Global and others, it expanded into food delivery, payments and a range of other services, eventually merging with Tokopedia to form a Southeast Asian juggernaut with services including mobility and logistics, lifestyle and entertainment, and financial services and ecommerce. As part of the merger, Gojek cofounder and CEO Andre Soelistyo took the helm of the combined company, building it into a platform with over $10 billion in gross transaction volume as of the third quarter of 2022. As the company heads into 2023, investors will be looking for it to deliver on its promise to break even within the next year.
Where It Counted the Most on the Midas List Europe 2022*:
Rahul Mehta| DST Global | #20
7) Spotify
In 2022, Spotify continued its impressive run as a top-10 driver for Midas List Europe, appearing for the fifth consecutive year after holding on to the number one spot from 2018 to 2020.
The Stockholm-based music streaming platform is perhaps the most ubiquitous European company in a generation, with over 450 million monthly active users and 190 million premium subscribers as of October 2022. These results are even more impressive in light of the broader downturn in the streaming market. Spotify beat its own guidance for user growth and subscribers, posting its largest-ever Q3 growth in the most recent quarter.
Spotify continues to lean into the growing popularity of podcasts and audiobooks, announcing at this year’s investor day that the company will aim to become “the world’s creator platform,” where millions of artists, writers, labels, publishers, studios and other creators will be able to manage, monetize and promote their work to more than one billion users. To that end, the company announced or closed on a spate of acquisitions throughout this year: podcast analytics platforms Podsights and Chartablem, audiobook company Findaway and music trivia and discovery tool Heardle. Spotify also reiterated its commitment to platform safety by acquiring Dublin-based Kinzen in October, a global hub for online trust and safety.
Where It Counted The Most On The 2022 Midas Europe List*:
Fredrik Cassel, Creandum | #6
Klaus Hommels, Lakestar | #7
Pär-Jörgen Pärson, Northzone Ventures AS | #9
Sonali De Rycker, Accel | #14
8) Monday.com
Productivity software maker Monday.com is a newcomer to this year’s list of drivers after quickly becoming one of Israel’s most valuable companies.
Founded as dapulse in 2014 by Mann and Eran Zinman, Monday.com helps teams track projects, assign tasks to individuals and groups and manage workflows. The company went public on the Nasdaq in June 2021 at a valuation of approximately $7 billion, shortly before the downturn among tech stocks. Although the SaaS ecosystem has been impacted since, Monday.com has remained focused on growth and expansion, convinced of the long-term opportunity in Europe and its home region.
The company has continued to deliver strong results throughout 2022, with consistently high top line growth and narrowing losses. In the past year, Monday.com opened regional headquarters in New York City and London and expanded its team in Tokyo. Just this month, the company’s internal studies reported that the majority of decision makers plan to increase software budgets next year in the US, UK and Australia. Monday.com seems well positioned to capture a significant chunk of that spending and continue delivering for its investors.
Where It Counted the Most on the Midas List Europe 2022*:
Avi Eyal| Entrée Capital | #3
9) Figma
Figma, a leading web-first collaborative design platform, made waves when software giant Adobe
ADBE
Founded in 2012 by Brown University classmates Dylan Field and Evan Wallace, Figma remained a relatively unknown company for years – as recently as its February 2019 Series C, it was valued at less than $500 million. That all changed with the explosion of remote, collaborative design work that proliferated throughout the pandemic. With its suite of easy-to-use design tools, Figma quickly became an important tool allowing designers and developers to work together seamlessly.
According to Field, Figma will remain independent as part of Adobe. The parent company will look to Figma to help accelerate its shift to a subscription-focused model. Having paid over 50x Figma’s anticipated ARR for 2022, it is evident that Adobe views Figma as a core part of its go-forward strategy.
Where It Counted the Most on the Midas List Europe 2022*:
Danny Rimer | Index Ventures Europe | #1
10) Adyen
Like its counterpart Stripe, the Dutch online payments company Adyen has become a familiar name on the Midas List Europe top 10 drivers. The pandemic trend toward ecommerce buoyed Adyen, which provides the behind-the-scenes payments infrastructure that powers leading tech giants including Uber
UBER
NFLX
Adyen went public in 2019 on the Euronext stock exchange. Although its stock has fallen more than 42% year-to-date, it has fared much better than most fintech stocks, and the company continues to expand its core product, announcing additional embedded financial offerings aimed at small- and medium-sized businesses this year. The company is also expanding its roster of high-profile partners to include companies like Instacart, Uniqlo and Amazon Japan. On the consumer side, Adyen rolled out Android point-of-sale terminals and tap-to-pay for iPhone customers, widening its footprint in mobile payments as consumers are drawn back to brick-and-mortar stores as the pandemic recedes.
Where It Counted the Most on the Midas List Europe 2022*:
Jan Hammer| Index Ventures Europe | #2
* Does not include all investors in the company.
