VC investment in Europe rose in Q4’24, although the total investment in the region for 2024 fell short of 2023 results, highlighting the significant challenges experienced in the VC space over the last twelve months. The number of VC deals remained very low in Q4’24 as investors placed more capital in a much smaller number of proven, high-quality companies. The UK attracted the largest share of VC investment in the region during Q4’24 helped by a $1.3 billion raise by AI-enabler data platform company GreenScale. The UK also attracted the most investment during 2024 as a whole, followed by France and then Germany.



Countries across Europe attracting $100 million megadeals

Companies from a number of countries across Europe attracted $100 million+ megadeals during Q4’24; outside of the more traditional VC markets, Turkey-based Insider raised $500 million, Lithuania-based Vinted raised $374 million, Finland-based Ōura raised $200 million, and Switzerland-based Alentis Therapeutics raised $181 million.

AI attracting interest in Europe, but regulations causing some uncertainty

A number of the largest raises in Europe this quarter occurred in the AI space, including GreenScale’s $1.3 billion raise, the $500 million raise by Insider, and a $370 million raise by UK-based Lighthouse.

With a number of laws and guidance under consideration — on top of the introduction of the EU’s AI Act, which was enacted as of August 2024 — players in the AI space in Europe have faced some uncertainty with respect to the rules they might need to abide by in the future; this uncertainty has likely slowed down some of the VC investment into the AI space in Europe, particularly in comparison to jurisdictions like the US.

Nordics region sees solid pick up in VC investment in Q4’24

It was a quiet year for VC investment in the Nordics region. The region received only $5.5 billion of capital this year—a third of the amount raised during its 2021 peak. Large rounds were in very short supply with only a few exceptions. During the quarter, healthtech saw solid interest in the region, led by a $200 million raise by smart-ring company Ōura, while defense tech saw a good number of early-stage companies raising funding for both commercial and military applications. The energy and ESG space also remained hot despite Northvolt’s Q4’24 challenges; it is expected to remain a key sector of interest heading into Q1’25.

The Nordics continued to show its strength as a startup ecosystem; during Q4’24, Helsinki hosted the 16th edition of Slush, a very large event bringing record number of investors to meet entrepreneurs.

Trends to watch for in Q1’25

While there continues to be a significant degree of geopolitical uncertainty in Europe, market conditions have been improving. Cuts to interest rates have helped fuel more positive market activity, a fact seen as quite promising for VC deal-making heading into Q1’25. AI will likely be one of the hottest areas of VC investment in Europe, even with concerns about evolving regulations, in addition to defense tech, energy and energy storage, and health and biotech. Cybersecurity will likely also see growing investment, particularly as AI-enabled cyberattacks become more prevalent.

If there are no major geopolitical incidents, 2025 could see more IPOs in Europe.

Venture financing in the Nordics

While we haven’t seen a lot of large raises in the Nordics region in 2024, a number of different sectors have attracted interest from VC investors. Defense Tech is a great example; it’s still a fairly nascent space for innovation here, but it’s been attracting a lot of early-stage investments. AI is also getting a lot more attention. According to my experience AI and defense tech were the hottest topics of conversation by far at Slush — the big startup event held in Helsinki — this quarter.

Jussi Paski
Head of Startup & Venture Services
KPMG in Finland

  • Investment strengthens slightly in Europe reaching $15.7 billion

  • D+ valuations regain ground YoY

  • Corporate VC participation remains steady

  • Fundraising rallies to near 2023 levels

  • Top 10 deals spread among 7 countries