The State of European Tech: 2017
The State of European Tech: 2017
Atomico and Slush provide an annual, in-depth analysis of the European tech ecosystem by addressing a number of topics, such as talent, community, capital flows, deep technology, and regulation. Working with several data partners and surveying thousands of people within Europe’s tech ecosystem enable us to develop insights about what is really going on in the ecosystem.
The highlights
Authored by Tom Wehmeier, Partner and Head of Research at Atomico, the report identifies numerous insights and trends. A few highlights:
- Total capital of $19bn invested into European tech breaks records. Invested capital is estimated to be $19bn, and the average deal size has increased compared to the record-breaking last year. Since the beginning of 2015, Europe has seen more than $3bn invested per quarter and the long-term investment trend reflects the expansion of its tech ecosystem.
- European deep tech keeps its momentum and attracts $3.5bn of investments in 2017. Last year, the report pointed out that deep tech is thriving and diversifying across the continent, and today we see that Europe has been able to maintain its momentum. Within deep tech, AI and blockchain are seen as the areas where Europe is best-positioned to gain world-leading status.
- Every European city is becoming a tech city. There are already over 160 hubs in Europe, and the number has been steadily growing during the past few years. Europe is seeing the spread of tech communities: there are hundreds of tech-related events happening daily across Europe’s tech ecosystem.
Clearly, it has been a great year for European tech and the future looks encouraging. The Huge talent pool, ambitious founders, and increasingly sophisticated investors allow Europe to march to its own beat. Questions of whether Europe can produce world-class innovation and $100bn companies are answered: definitely yes.
The challenges
But that yes doesn’t come without a but. There are some barriers on the way still:
- Regulation is considered as the biggest barrier to scaling European tech. The European market might lack common rules or there is uncertainty around future regulation of deep tech. Cooperation between corporations, startups, and regulators is much needed to transform the regulation from a hindrance into a competitive advantage.
- Gender imbalance remains a notable challenge. Since only 9% of CxO positions at venture-backed European startups are held by women, attracting more female into tech is crucial. Although the road ain’t easy, Europe could take the leader’s position in diversifying the global tech scene.
Reading this year’s report will give you a comprehensive, up-to-date picture of the state of European technology – hopefully you’ll enjoy it! The full report can be found on a slick website, provided by Atomico. You can read and download it here: www.stateofeuropeantech.com.
Source / Slush / StartupDelta