RANKED: The 22 most prominent venture capital investors in Europe in 2017
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Unicorn fever.
2017 is a time of serious political upheaval — but in the startup world, life must go on.
Like the US, Europe has been shaken by populism over the past year, with Britain voting to leave the European Union in June 2016. The vote rocked the London tech community, widely regarded as the epicentre of the tech industry on the continent, with concerns ranging from potential hiring difficulties to the availability of venture capital to help startups grow.
But the tech industry hasn’t ground to a halt because of it. Startups need to sustain themselves and continue to grow — backed by a network of venture capital firms providing funding and guidance.
Using data provided by tech and venture analysis firm Dealroom, Business Insider has ranked the 22 most prominent venture capital investors operating in Europe in 2017. So from Benchmark to Balderton Capital, here are the highest-profile VC firms in Europe today on the hunt for the next Spotify or Skype.
A note on methodology: Unlike in previous years, where our European VC firm rankings have focused only on fund size, 2017’s formula takes into account a number of factors, including deal activity, number of investments, number of exits, value of exits, European portfolio size, capital efficiency, and more. For the first time, the ranking also includes firms based outside of Europe that invest in the continent, as well as angel investors. You can read more about Dealroom’s methdology here.
22. Benchmark
San Francisco firm Benchmark has invested in everyone from Snapchat to Quora. Launched in 1995, its European investments include Citymapper and French social network Zenly. (It also opened a European arm in 2000, which was spun out independently as Balderton Capital in 2007.)
21. Creandum
Swedish firm Creandum focuses on Seed and Series A funding, investing in 61 companies to date. Its portfolio includes Spotify, iZettle, and Klarna, and it has offices in Stockholm, Berlin, and San Francisco.
20. Greylock Partners
Greylock Partners is a Silicon Valley VC firm that invests in both consumer and enterprise tech companies, including Facebook, LinkedIn, Dropbox, and Medium. Since its 1965 launch, 170 of its portfolio companies have IPO’d, with investments including Wonga and Facebook.
19. Naspers
Naspers was founded in 1915, and describes itself as a “global internet and entertainment group and one of the largest technology investors in the world.” Its venture portfolio includes Code Academy, SimilarWeb, and Udemy.
18. Silicon Valley Bank
Silicon Valley bank is exactly what it sounds like — a tech-focused bank that also does venture capital investments. It has offices throughout the US and China, as well as the UK, Ireland, and Israel. It counts British phone marketing analytics company Iovox among its portfolio.
17. Partech Ventures
Partech launched in 1984, and has offices in Paris and Berlin on the continent, as well as San Francisco. Previous investments include the German online review site Qype (which was subsequently acquired by competitor Yelp), French video hub Daily Motion, and health insurance provider GetInsured.com.
16. Idinvest Partners
European investment firm Idinvest Partners has offices dotted around the continent, including Paris, Frankfurt, and Madrid — as well as further afield, in Shanghai and Dubai. Its portfolio includes Happn, Onfido, Secret Escapes, and Deezer.
15. Bessemer Venture Partners
American firm Bessemer Venture Partners has offices across the world — Boston, New York, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, India, and Israel. It invests across all stages, from seed to growth, and boasts 117 IPOs among its portfolio companies. It recently invested in Israeli car data company Otonomo.
14. Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs, the legendary American banking giant founded in 1869, operates in a range of fields — and that includes venture capital investment in startups including German scientific professional network ResearchGate.
13. Atomico
Launched by Skype cofounder Niklas Zennström in 2006, Atomico focuses exclusively on tech. It is headquartered in London, with additional offices in Beijing, Tokyo, Sao Paulo, and Instanbul, and invests globally. Investments include Skype, Rovio, and Last.fm, in Europe — as well as Stripe and Jawbone in the US.
12. 83North
Formerly Greylock I, the European/Israeli arm of Greylock Partners, 83North invests in European and Israeli startups. It has offices in London and Tel Aviv, and investments include iZettle and Just Eat.
11. Intel Capital
Intel Capital is the venture arm of tech giant Intel. It invests across sectors, right across the world. European investments include French wireless company Sigfox, and British geocoding startup What3words.
10. Oleg Tscheltzoff
The only solo investor on this list, Oleg Tscheltzoff is an angel investor in over 30 companies, including Fanduel and Farfetch. He was also one of the cofounders of stock photo service Fotolia, which was acquired by Adobe for $800 million (£625 million) in 2014.
9. Balderton Capital
Balderton Capital began life as the European arm of veteran US tech fund Benchmark in 2000, before going independent in 2007. Centred in London, its notable investments include BetFair, Kobalt, Lovefilm, Bebo, Citymapper, and Wonga.
8. Rocket Internet SE
Rocket Internet is a behemothic startup factory based in Germany. Led by the Samwer brothers, the public company both incubates startups and invests in them across Europe and the rest of the world, including Delivery Hero and HelloFresh.
7. Insight Venture Partners
Founded in 1995, Insight Venture Partners — based in New York City — focuses on growth-stage investments, with a European portfolio including BlaBlaCar, Delivery Hero, and HelloFresh.
6. Accel Partners
Accel Partners is a major US-headquartered VC firm with additional offices in London and Bangalore. Its European investments include ride-sharing app BlaBlaCar and food delivery giant Deliveroo.
5. Sequoia Capital
One of the highest-profile Silicon Valley venture capital firms, Sequioa has been around since 1972 and boasts its portfolio has a combined public markety value of more than $1.4 trillion (£1.1 trillion). European investments include Klarna, Mapillary, and Skyscanner.
4. Lakestar
Lakestar has offices in London, Berlin, and Zürich, as well as New York. In 2015, it launched its second fund, Lakestar II, focusing on early stage funds. It has invested in everyone from Spotify and Skype to Facebook and Airbnb.
3. Northzone
This 21-year-old fund has offices in London, Oslo, New York, Stockholm, and Copenhagen. It has invested in more than 100 companies, including Spotify, LastMinute.com, and iZettle.
2. HV Holtzbrinck Ventures
German VC fund Holtzbrinck, founded in 2000, describes itself as “one of the leading independent European early stage funds.” Notable investments include Zalando, Groupon, and Delivery Hero.
1. Index Ventures
Launched in 1996, Index Ventures has offices in Geneva, Switzerland, London, Jersey, and San Francisco. It invests in both technology and healthcare. Its extensive tech portfolio includes Asos, BetFair, Facebook, Etsy, and Just Eat.
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