Europe Posted Its Strongest Venture Funding Quarter In 4 Years As UK Gains, M&A Holds Up
In Q2, Europe posted its strongest quarter in four years for venture funding, Crunchbase data shows. All told, Europe-based startups raised $24 billion in the just-ended quarter, up around a third quarter over quarter and two-thirds higher than the $14.4 billion raised in Q2 2025. Gené Teare In Q2, Europe posted its strongest quarter in four years for venture funding, Crunchbase data shows.
Key Takeaways
- Within the region, U.K. startups gained significant share in Q2, raising more than $10 billion.
That marked the third-largest funding quarter for the U.K. on record, and came in at less than $500 million below its peak quarter in 2021.
- Those billion-dollar-plus rounds were raised by an AI-centric group: Alphabet -owned AI drug developer Isomorphic Labs , which was spun out of DeepMind ; green steel production manufacturer Stegra ; Neura Robotics , which is developing robots for home and industrial applications; and Ineffable Intelligence , an AI lab founded by former DeepMind researchers.
However, most of the growth in funding year over year and quarter over quarter was driven by rounds of $100 million and over.
- Still, the region's startup investment for the first half of the year remained well below the 2021 H1 peak, when VC funding in Europe totaled $60 billion.
It's also drastically lower than the $392 billion raised in North America's record-setting H1, with that region's funding up 158% year over year.
- UK momentum builds The United Kingdom widened its venture-funding lead last quarter, as startups based in the country raised $10.4 billion - not far from the peak in 2021 at $10.8 billion.
The region's No. 2 startup market, Germany, trailed with $3.2 billion raised by its startups in Q2, and France followed in third place with $2.4 billion.
- Large Series C and D rounds were raised by Germany-based robotics developer Neura Robotics; Netherlands-based Nearfield Instruments , which makes inspection tools for semiconductor manufacturing; U.K.-based quantum computing startup Oxford Quantum Circuits ; and Germany-based satellite launcher Isar Aerospace .
Stats & Key Facts
- #All told, Europe-based startups raised $24 billion in the just-ended quarter, up around a third quarter over quarter and two-thirds higher than the $14.4 billion raised in Q2 2025.
- #All told, Europe-based startups raised $24 billion in the just-ended quarter, up around a third quarter over quarter and two-thirds higher than the $14.4 billion raised in Q2 2025.
- #All told, Europe-based startups raised $24 billion in the just-ended quarter, up around a third quarter over quarter and two-thirds higher than the $14.4 billion raised in Q2 2025.
- #Within the region, U.K. startups gained significant share in Q2, raising more than $10 billion.
All told, Europe-based startups raised $24 billion in the just-ended quarter, up around a third quarter over quarter and two-thirds higher than the $14.4 billion raised in Q2 2025. Within the region, U.K. startups gained significant share in Q2, raising more than $10 billion. That marked the third-largest funding quarter for the U.K. on record, and came in at less than $500 million below its peak quarter in 2021.
European startup M&A activity also picked up in Q1 and continued that momentum in Q2, even as public-market exits stayed subdued. Table of contents Large rounds drive gains H1 2026 up 50% UK momentum builds By stage Looking ahead Methodology Glossary of funding terms Large rounds drive gains Four companies raised venture fundings of a billion dollars or more last quarter, accounting for 25% of all startup investment in the region in Q2, Crunchbase data shows. Those billion-dollar-plus rounds were raised by an AI-centric group: Alphabet -owned AI drug developer Isomorphic Labs , which was spun out of DeepMind ; green steel production manufacturer Stegra ; Neura Robotics , which is developing robots for home and industrial applications; and Ineffable Intelligence , an AI lab founded by former DeepMind researchers.
However, most of the growth in funding year over year and quarter over quarter was driven by rounds of $100 million and over. The majority of funding - 65% - went to a group of 42 companies that raised rounds of $100 million-plus. Sectors that stood out for these companies include biotech, quantum, financial services, AI labs, aerospace, semiconductor, robotics and energy.
For more details please read the original article at Crunchbase M&A.
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