European tech funding stalls in 2024 but IPO window to open: report

Funding for European technology startups in 2024 is set to stall slightly below last year’s level but a window for new listings is opening again, an industry report by venture capital firm Atomico said on Tuesday.

Europe has more than 350 companies valued over $1 billion. However, over the past decade only 15 European countries have seen initial public offerings of over $1 billion, with almost half of them in Britain, data collected by Atomico showed.

This year, venture capital funding to emerging tech companies will amount to $45 billion (42.7 billion euros) in Europe, three times as much as the $15 billion notched up in 2015 but less than half of $101 billion in record year 2021 and slightly below $47 billion raised last year, it said.

“We’re definitely seeing signs of (funding) growth in the second half of the year for 2024, so we expect to see 2025 to be an up year,” Sarah Guemouri, principal at Atomico, told Reuters.

The number of IPOs has fallen in the past four years, and with 11 so far in 2024, it would be the lowest in a decade, the data showed.

“After a quiet period on the IPO front, there is a growing list of European companies that have voiced their intentions to go public,” Atomico said, citing UK-based fintechs Revolut and Zopa as well as Estonian ride-hailing company Bolt.

Earlier this month, Swedish payments company Klarna filed paperwork to go public in the United States. “Our analysis has identified more than 100 potential IPO candidates at or close to the necessary scale and maturity,” Atomico said, adding more than a third of them had already hired a chief financial officer, crucial for a public listing.