Dealroom CEO: Europe's First Trillion-Dollar Startup May Already Exist
Dealroom founder and CEO Yoram Wijngaarde believes that Europe’s venture-backed companies could surpass its industrial base in total value created within five years. He made this assertion at Wave by Vento in Turin on Thursday.
"I think that the VC-backed ecosystem is going to overtake our industrial base in terms of total value created within the next five years, if we play our cards right... And I think that also the first trillion-dollar VC-backed company is going to be created."
European venture investment stands at $89 billion annually and rising. Notable large rounds include Mistral's €3 billion raise in September. Currently, Europe boasts 56 VC-backed companies valued over $10 billion, totaling $4.4 trillion— nearly a quarter of the value of Europe’s stock market.
Key findings from Dealroom:
- Europe has 54,771 startups that have raised at least $100,000, compared to 79,432 in the US.
- Only 1,233 European companies have raised $100 million or more, versus 5,115 in the US.
- Four European companies (Spotify, Arm, Booking.com and Revolut) are valued over $100 billion; the US has seven companies worth over $1 trillion, but Europe has none.
Challenges and Opportunities:
Wijngaarde highlights a significant gap in investment between Europe and the US: European pension funds and insurers hold €15 trillion but have only invested €15.5 billion in venture capital over the past decade. He suggests that directing just 1% of this capital into venture would boost European startup funding by 50%.
"Putting just 1% of Europe’s pension capital into venture capital would raise the money available to scale-ups by 50%."
This is in contrast to US hyperscalers, which are expected to spend $733 billion on AI this year alone.