Titans of Tech 2022

the view from gp bullhound

Although Europe’s Unicorn party is slowing, the situation is not as doom and gloom as headlines would suggest. Activity persists and founders that react quickly and decisively will be able to seize unique opportunities.

Once again, we celebrate the European technology ecosystem’s milestone achievements. Reaching a cumulative value creation of over $1tn, and giving birth to as many new Unicorns in one year as the last three. However, as the focus shifts from growth to profitability, we will guide founders and entrepreneurs on how to remain resilient in bear markets and emerge stronger from economic downturns.

Key takeaways

$1tn: THE EUROPEAN ECOSYSTEM reached a new milestone, UP BY c.$260BN YOY

125 new Unicorns: MORE IN ONE YEAR THAN THE LAST THREE combined, BUT CREATION SLOWING

UK, Israel & Sweden: The top three Unicorn growers account for SOME $530bn, half the value of all Unicorns in Europe

healthy Growth funding: DOWN BY c.50% IN Q2 2022, as OF time of writing, BUT RETURNING TO PRE-PANDEMIC AVERAGE

stable sources of funding: GROWTH INVESTORS are THE LION'S SHARE OF THE EUROPEAN FUNDING LANDSCAPE; ONLY 18% FROM ALTERNATIVE / PUBLIC EQUITY INVESTORS AT RISK near-term

IPO shutdown TO BE offset by solid M&A: IPOs HAVE dwindled to just one in 2022 YTD from 18 in 2021; BIG TECH acquisition history suggests healthy M&A AHEAD

Enterprise software & fintech: Combined, 94 new billion-dollar companies in these dominant subsectors, c.75% of Europe’s new Unicorns. Within this, subsectors cybersecurity and insurtech are in the spotlight

Loss of European Titan: With the public market correction, no European companies exceeded the $50bn mark, but multiple Fintechs charging forward

Manish Madhvani

Managing Partner

alon kuperman

Partner

adam page

Vice President

jennifer eller

Vice President,
Insights

Carlos de La esperanza

Principal

Associate

Judy shing

Analyst

Julien Lézé

Maria Lazareva

Iryna Kesarchuk

Intern

Authors

The view

from gp bullhound

MANISH MADHVANI, GP Bullhound managing partner

Source: Capital IQ, Mergermarket, Pitchbook, Crunchbase, press releases, and GP Bullhound analysis. Note: Cut-off date for inclusion in report 31 March 2022; valuations correct as at 16 May 2022

Analyst,
Insights

RECORD ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE PAST YEAR

CAPITAL INFLOWS AND MEGA-ROUNDS to slow - IT'S TIME TO reassess

Since our first report in 2014, the number of Unicorns has increased by c.10x and the ecosystem’s aggregate value by c.12x

The ecosystem is worth $1.1tn, with 283 companies valued at over $1bn

The Nasdaq has corrected by 30%, with numerous share prices down by 70-80%, and private market valuations are likely to converge with public markets

As alternative / public equity funds retreat and growth funds lengthen fund deployment cycles, fundraising is likely to remain muted near-term

125 new billion-dollar companies, more in one year than in the last three combined, with the cumulative value up by 3x YoY

The staggering pace of Unicorn creation in 2021 was driven by record-low interest rates and significant dry powder post-pandemic

With activity slowing, those that act quickly and decisively can seize unique opportunities – see our guide on how to stay resilient

IPOs have declined from 18 in 2021 to only one in 2022 YTD; we expect this to be offset by solid M&A, especially considering historical Big Tech acquisition pace

Europe soars to new heights

caution warranted as markets adjust

chapter 1

Source: Capital IQ, Mergermarket, Pitchbook, Crunchbase, press releases, and GP Bullhound analysis. Note: Cut-off date for inclusion in report 31 March 2022; valuations correct as at 16 May 2022

Note: For full methodology, please see the end of this report

The lingo and journey to $50bn

A REFRESH ON THE TERMINOLOGY FOR OUR REPORT

GP Bullhound classifies the companies featured in the Titans of Tech report into four key categories: Titans, Decacorns, Unicorns, and Contenders, based on their market valuation

All companies featured in this report were founded in 2000 or later

CLASSIFICATION OF COMPANIES BY VALUATION

europe soars to new heights

From tailwinds to HEADWINDS, what lies ahead

Europe breaks through $1tn mark

Since our first Titans of Tech report in 2014, the number of European billion-dollar companies has increased by c.10x and the ecosystem’s aggregate valuation by c.12x to c.$1.1tn

The number of Unicorns is up by c.2x since May 2021, with an acceleration in mega-rounds and IPOs, but the overall growth of the ecosystem has slowed as public markets rotate from growth to value stocks

With uncertainty about inflation, interest rates, and war, investor focus is shifting to companies with near-term certainty – those making money today

We have been here before; history shows that this is an opportunity to reposition for the future landscape and continue building category leaders

EUROPEAN TECH ECOSYSTEM GROWTH SINCE 2014

Source: Capital IQ, Mergermarket, Pitchbook, Crunchbase, press releases, and GP Bullhound analysis. Note: Cut-off date for inclusion in report 31 March 2022; valuations correct as of 16 May 2022

Expect continued headwinds as inflation spikes to 40-year high; growth companies are likely to be hit hardest as investors now look for those that generate cash today

shift FROM GROWTH TO PROFITABILITY

Keep calm and reassess

chapter 1

AGGREGATE NUMBER & VALUATION OF BILLION-DOLLAR COMPANIES

AGGREGATE VALUATION OF BILLION-DOLLAR COMPANIES BY STATUS

Source: Capital IQ, Mergermarket, Pitchbook, Crunchbase, press releases, and GP Bullhound analysis. Note: Cut-off date for inclusion in report 31 March 2022; valuations correct as at 16 May 2022

A record 125 new Unicorns have been minted in the past year, driven by significant capital inflows and mega-round activity; however, fundraising activity is slowing as market volatility causes investors to pause while the European tech ecosystem enters a new phase in its journey

With long-term interest rate expectations rising and public market valuations correcting, the overall growth of the European tech ecosystem is also slowing – growth investors are taking their cues from public markets, and private market valuations are coming under pressure

BUT CAUTION WARRaNTED

Record activity in 2022

europe soars to new heights

Time for consolidation

…THE M&A MARKET COULD REMAIN ACTIVE AND LEAD TO CONSOLIDATION

ALTHOUGH IPO ACTIVITY HAS COME TO A HALT WITH ONLY ONE LISTING THIS YEAR versus 18 IN 2021…

In the aftermath of every financial crisis, Big Tech¹ were active in the M&A market to acquire targets

Well-financed companies can take advantage of today's downturn to acquire distressed companies, acquire competitors to consolidate the market, or double-down to emerge from the crisis stronger

YEARLY NUMBER OF ACQUISITIONS BY Big Tech

All-time high $1.8tn in dry powder for private equity in early 2022

Sovereign wealth funds to feel limited effect from energy-linked inflation and must keep deploying

Big Tech and other large corporates have massive cash reserves after years of growth and solidifying balance sheets

Public markets trading at very low multiples make major public-to-private transactions still attractive despite increasing interest rates

Private market valuations falling in line with public mean tactical opportunities, market consolidation, and bolt-on acquisitions for portfolio companies

active M&A market while public markets correct

chapter 1

Source: Capital IQ, Preqin, press releases, GP Bullhound analysis. Note: 1) Big Tech includes Alphabet, Amazon.com, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Netflix

125 new Unicorns,
more than the last three years combined

RECORD ACTIVITY, BUT fundraising pace SLOWING

NUMBER AND CUMULATIVE VALUATION OF NEW BILLION-DOLLAR COMPANIES

NEW ENTRANTS BY SECTOR

key FACTS

Source: Capital IQ, Mergermarket, Pitchbook, Crunchbase, press releases, and GP Bullhound analysis. Note: Cut-off date for inclusion in report 31 March 2022; valuations correct as at 16 May 2022

Acceleration YoY cumulative value

Increasing average valuation of new Unicorns

europe soars to new heights

Capital reduction,
but still at pre-pandemic levels

Markets adjusting to expectations

At the time of writing, fundraising activity has slowed significantly from 2021, which may continue as private markets likely adjust in line with public markets

The fundraising highs of 2021 were driven by record-low interest rates and significant dry powder post-pandemic, resulting in accelerated fund deployment cycles alongside growing interest in private markets from alternative / public equity funds

As alternative / public equity funds retreat and growth funds lengthen fund deployment cycles, we expect fundraising activity to remain muted near-term. However, data highlights that there is still capital available for category leaders and that we are returning to historical levels of funding

NUMBER OF $50M+ FUNDING ROUNDS

Source: Capital IQ, Mergermarket, Pitchbook, Crunchbase, press releases, and GP Bullhound analysis. Note: 1) Q2 not complete and captures until 9 June 2022

chapter 1

We have been here before

How to navigate market turbulence and remain resilient

GP Bullhound’s guide to surviving bear markets shows founders how to come out of economic downturns stronger. The fundraising bar will be raised, but investors will still back leaders with strong KPIs

While shockwaves are being felt by businesses all over, remember that previous downturns have served as launchpads for some of the world’s most iconic tech companies

POSITION COMPANY EARLY AND BE READY TO ACT FAST

High gross margins

Client
retention rates

Demonstrable unit economics

(LTV / CaC and payback period)

Zero-based budgeting

(cut what’s not working)

Profitable growth

FUNDRAISING STILL POSSIBLE,
BUT INVESTORS ZOOMING IN ON KPIS

Sustainable

growth rates

founded during economic downturns,
HOW ICONIC COMPANIES BATTLED THE BEAR

act fast

FOCUS ON STRATEGY

EXPLORE ALL FUNDING

POTENTIAL UPSIDE

from hyper-growth mindset to profitable growth

select stories

Be agile

Farfetch created a new retail model for luxury fashion – one that is technology-enabled but doesn’t rely on owning stock – building network effects on both supply and demand.

Two weeks after Farfetch launched, Lehman Brothers collapsed, triggering the Great Recession. Selling online in 2008 wasn’t common but as fashion boutiques felt a drop in local business, they looked for new ways to sell, and Farfetch offered them the opportunity to navigate the turbulence of that time.

Make your data work for you

In the early 2000s, MailChimp was profitable, had a strong customer base, and had access to valuable user pricing data, working with large corporate clients with yearly retainers.

When the Great Recession hit, with the data to understand how its users reacted to their pricing, Mailchimp launched a ‘freemium’ business to SMEs, to bring email marketing to the masses. One year later, its user base had grown by 500%. The private company was acquired by Intuit for $12bn in 2021.

Create supply before demand

Raising capital after the dot-com crash was difficult. Outsystems was trying to reach a market that didn’t have demand for its product yet – it arrived 12 years before. Needing to convince the client of the value the product would bring and change investor opinion, after more than 40 pitches Paulo Rosado, OutSystems CEO, managed to secure its first €1m.

Due to market conditions at the time, OutSystems wasn’t able to raise €3m 18 months after the first fundraise, as originally planned.

“We spent three years spinning out that €1m. Nobody knew but we were practically out of cash in the bank,” said Rosado in a Forbes interview.

This meant reinventing the product and financial model. With a client making internal applications using OutSystems, Rosado pivoted towards selling it as a solution for making applications. This brought more clients and the company reached breakeven.

Grab an opportunity

Airbnb is one of the few companies built during a recession, becoming a billion-dollar company because of the paradigm shift brought along by the economic crisis of 2007-09 itself. With millions of people left money-strapped, hosting travellers in their homes in exchange for rent became lucrative for many landlords. Travellers also needed affordable options to hotels.

Connecting hosts with guests became the origin of a billion-dollar industry known as ‘short-term rental’ in a growing sharing economy.

Airbnb was set apart from its competitors by its ability to build trust through its review function, which allowed it to curate better experiences for people on both sides of the booking. Also, one of Airbnb’s investors, Paul Graham, told its three founders to travel to New York and meet every single host in the city over a four-week period to gather feedback and improve their experience online.

2

3

Offer solutions

Quickly spot changing market needs

Create new business streams

Make the most out of your cash

RETHINK your business model

Build trust

Know your customers best

seize opportunities

raise capital

Modify business plan

rotate

, top up now, if possible, and be realistic on valuation

and make cuts to ensure runway

Product

Marketing

pipeline

Focus engineering efforts on critical roadmap items

Focus on real leads with near-term probability of closing

Focus on near-term ROI, cut ineffective spend

Equity

explore options

target

Be realistic on valuation, dilution may be key to survival

24 months of runway

Explore all potential sources of funding beyond equity

hire

customer acquisition

M&A

new star talent as market cools

on the horizon as market consolidates

as others cut spend

1

europe soars the new heights

chapter 1

Strong tailwinds in Software and Fintech

EUROPEAN BILLION-DOLLAR COMPANIES, BY SECTOR

Riding on robust growth since 2020, Enterprise Software and Fintech now account for over two-thirds of all European billion-dollar companies

Investor appetite for B2B software is increasing on digital transformation worldwide, and Europe is now a global Fintech hub, propelled by financial services expertise, availability of capital, and changing regulations like Open Banking

The continued growth in Marketplaces, Entertainment & E-commerce has also been driven by the acceleration of digital adoption throughout the Covid-19 pandemic

NUMBER OF EUROPEAN BILLION-DOLLAR COMPANIES BY SECTOR

Source: Capital IQ, Mergermarket, Pitchbook, Crunchbase, press releases, and GP Bullhound analysis. Note: Cut-off date for inclusion in report 31 March 2022; excluding public companies with valuations below $1bn as of 16 May 2022

europe soars to new heights

evolut started out with a simple question: “Is there a way to offer travelers low-cost access to foreign exchange?” I had worked for both Lehman Brothers and Credit Suisse and noticed that business travel and FX fees were costing thousands of dollars a year. So together with my co-founder and our CTO, Vlad Yatsenko, we launched Revolut in the United Kingdom, hoping to build a product that would truly disrupt the channels controlled by the legacy banks. Revolut has continued to grow, and seven years later we are now striving to become the world’s first truly global financial services super-app.

"It’s been said many times before, but it’s so important to stay focused on what you and your company are trying to achieve. There will always be naysayers and as you grow so does the scrutiny, both in the bull and the bear markets. But if you believe in your product and trust your processes, the downturns soon pass and you’ll be a stronger leader for it."

Navigating a downturn

CO-FOUNDER AND CEO

Expert view

NIK STORONSKY,
REVOLUT

R

When Revolut launched in 2015, we offered money transfers and exchanges. As the company grew, so did our vision, and we became focused on building a sustainable digital alternative to traditional big banks. We started adding other products and today, retail and business customers around the world use dozens of innovative Revolut products to make more than 150 million transactions a month.

We want to enable our customers to manage all their financial needs in a single app that is far cheaper and easier to use than its competitors. To achieve that, we aim to create a global digital bank and all-inclusive application that goes way beyond traditional financial services.

In our early days, we faced the same challenges that most startups come across. Scaling a business is hard and there are never-ending problems to solve. I made nearly every mistake a CEO could make and am still making mistakes. But that is how you learn, and if you try not to make too many new mistakes while correcting the old ones, you overcome these challenges quickly.

We want to keep growing, both in terms of numbers of customers and markets. We now serve 18 million customers across the UK, Europe, US, Australia, Japan, and Singapore and we will soon launch the Revolut app in India, Mexico, and Brazil. We want people all over the world to be able to open an account in a few minutes, at any time, and access the services they need to manage their money.

“In five to 10 years Revolut will be the one-stop shop for all the financial products that people really need so that anything concerning money will be just a tap away.”

“Our focus is not on if, when, or where we will IPO. Right now, our focus is on achieving profitability, building new products, and providing better and cheaper services to serve our growing customer base.”

Looking forward, our focus is not on if, when or where we will IPO. Right now, we are focused on achieving profitability, building new products, and providing better and cheaper services to serve our growing customer base.

We are building a financial super app that offers highly personalised products covering people’s diverse financial needs. In five to 10 years Revolut will be the one-stop shop for all the financial products that people really need so that anything concerning money will be just a tap away. This takes time and patience, but we are confident that Revolut will continue to be renowned for its diverse product offering in the years to come.

One of the things that excites us in the fintech space is blockchain technology. Every time there has been an innovation in financial markets, there has been a spike in activity, and blockchain is no different. Blockchain is another huge innovation that allows ordinary people to do what they want with their money. They can transfer, borrow, plan, and issue tokens – there are so many possibilities.

Champions' league

BILLION-DOLLAR STABLES

The UK has regained the lead from Sweden by value, adding 22 new Unicorns and solidifying its place as Europe’s Fintech factory; Israel now leads the league with 60 billion-dollar companies

Sweden and the Netherlands have cumulative values more concentrated in fewer companies than other geographies and are hampered by the fall in public market valuations, but available funding in the regions should continue to help create tomorrow's tech leaders

The French ecosystem has seen an acceleration with 16 new Unicorns in the past year, including many companies that have now become European household names

Source: Capital IQ, Mergermarket, Pitchbook, Crunchbase, press releases, and GP Bullhound analysis. Note: Cut-off date for inclusion in report 31 March 2022; valuations correct as of 16 May 2022

europe soars to new heights

Israel takes gold, adding 27 new billion-dollar companies with a cumulative value of c.$60bn – its expertise in Enterprise Software saw 23 new Unicorns with a lean towards Cybersecurity, where it reigns with six

The UK wins silver, with 22 new Unicorns for a cumulative value of c.$41bn, strengthening its position as Europe’s Fintech factory (14 new Unicorns)

France secures third place, with the highest growth in Europe, creating 16 new Unicorns spread across each vertical we cover in this report

Europe’s tech factories

NEW UNICORNS in the last 12 months

NEW BILLION-DOLLAR COMPANIES BY top three GEOGRAPHies

Source: Capital IQ, Mergermarket, Pitchbook, Crunchbase, press releases, and GP Bullhound analysis. Note: Cut-off date for inclusion in report 31 March 2022; valuations correct as of 16 May 2022

Germany takes fourth in the cumulative value of new Unicorns, with 13 companies reaching the coveted status

The Netherlands and Turkey have created more than $40bn in value combined, driven by Decacorns Miro and Trendyol

Across Europe, countries such as Spain, Ireland and Estonia have solidified their startup ecosystems while other countries such as Italy saw their first Unicorns, and are leading the way for future visionaries

NEW BILLION-DOLLAR COMPANIES BY GEOGRAPHy

$20bn+ value created

$1bn+ value created

$5bn+ value created

EUROPE SOARS TO NEW HEIGHTS

chapter 1

Sector insights

ENTERPRISE SOFTWARE AND FINTECH RULE EUROPEAN UNICORNS

Worldwide digital transformation is driving investor appetite for B2B software

Europe, particularly London, is now a global Fintech hub, propelled by financial services expertise, availability of capital, and changing regulation like Open Banking

These sectors produced 94 new billion-dollar companies or c.75% of Europe’s new Unicorns combined LTM

Enterprise Software again takes pole position for new Unicorns, but Fintech is in pursuit with 118% growth in new billion-dollar companies in the last year

CYBERSECURITY AND INSURTECH THE BREAKOUT STARS

Cybersecurity set for significant investment into next-generation leaders on surging threats

Insurtech, ripe for disruption, accounted for 18% of Fintech’s new billion-dollar entrants

These two verticals created 14 Unicorns worth over $22bn combined

Newly minted billion-dollar disruptors

Cybersecurity: Cheq, Claroty, Devo Technology, Noname Security, Pentera, Salt Security, and Transmit Security

Insurtech: Alan, Accelerant, At-Bay, ManyPets, Marshmallow, Shift Technology, and Tractable

chapter 2

Source: Capital IQ, Mergermarket, Pitchbook, Crunchbase, press releases, and GP Bullhound analysis. Note: Cut-off date for inclusion in report 31 March 2022; valuations correct as at 16 May 2022

Enterprise Software is thriving

MOST ACTIVE SECTOR FOR NEW BILLION-DOLLAR COMPANIES

Source: Capital IQ, Mergermarket, Pitchbook, Crunchbase, press releases, and GP Bullhound analysis. Note: Cut-off date for inclusion in report 31 March 2022; valuations correct as of 16 May 2022

SPLIT OF NEW BILLION-DOLLAR ENTERPRISE SOFTWARE COMPANIES, BY NUMBER

Over the last year, 55 new billion-dollar Enterprise Software companies were born
(now 43% of all Unicorns in Europe)

Cybersecurity, vital for enterprises and governments, is seeing a long-term investor view on surging threats that is likely to intensify as the world grapples with digital transformation security needs

sector insights

Cybersecurity dominates

NEVER-ENDING WAVE OF CYBER THREAts MAKING HEADLINES

Source: Capital IQ, Mergermarket, Pitchbook, Crunchbase, Statista, press releases, CB Insights, Bloomberg, BBC, Fox News, TechCrunch, Guardian, SALT, and GP Bullhound analysis. Note: 1) Identify & Access Security: management of digital identities; 2) Fraud Prevention: protecting paid marketing, on-site conversion from bots and invalid users; 3) IoT Security: protection used to secure internet-connected or network-based devices; 4) Cloud Security: tools, data and infrastructure that protect cloud-based products; and 5) API Security: protects software application code and data against cyber threats.

The general spike in cyber-crime drove major interest in defence methods against attacks across the entire market, especially given the surge of highly publicised attacks e.g. Colonial Pipeline, Kaseya, NSO Group, and JBS

As technology becomes more embedded into companies, more vulnerabilities will surface, leading to more attacks and a higher perceived threat level

We expect more investment in the space - Cybersecurity companies accounted for seven of the 55 Enterprise Software Unicorns in 2022 (worth $10.6bn)

RECORD-BREAKING INCREASE IN NEWLY-DEVELOPED MALWARE APPLICATIONS GLOBALLY (MILLIONS)¹

Chapter 2

“Hackers breached Colonial Pipeline using compromised password”

“Meat giant JBS pays $11m in ransom to resolve cyber-attack”

SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENT INTO NEXT GENERATION CYBERSECURITY LEADERS; SEVEN NEW EUROPEAN BILLION-DOLLAR COMPANIES

HIGHLY PUBLICISED ATTACKS

API ATTACKS UP 7X IN LAST 12 MONTHS

An application programming interface (API) is a type of software interface that offers a service to other pieces of software and is essential for business innovation, but security risks are multiplying at unprecedented scope and scale as the technology to manage APIs has not kept pace with usage

Following a series of high-profile security incidents stemming from API vulnerabilities, this sub-segment of cybersecurity has been pushed into the limelight

Business is booming for category leaders in API security; disruptors in Europe, such as SALT and Noname, have raised large mega-rounds to tackle the challenge

EXPONENTIAL GROWTH IN AVERAGE NUMBER OF APIS PER CUSTOMER

RECENT HIGH-PROFILE API SECURITY INCIDENTS

“Peloton’s leaky API let anyone grab riders’ private account data” – TechCrunch

“Experian hack exposes 15 million people’s personal information” – Guardian

“SolarWinds hack was work of ‘at least 1,000 engineers’, tech executives tell Senate” – Guardian

SALT AND NONAME EUROPEAN CATEGORY LEADERS IN 2022 TO HELP PROTECT APIS FROM ATTACKS & DATA BREACHES

Identity & Access Security ¹

Fraud Prevention²

IoT Security³

Cloud Security⁴

API Security⁵

– Bloomberg

– BBC

“Kaseya ransomware attack impacting companies around the world”

– fox news

valuation: $1.0bn

1 billion records protected, and 1,000 attacks prevented per day

Industry’s only patented solution that leverages ML and AI to automatically and continuously identify and protect APIs

valuation: $1.4bn

sector insights

Europe is a Fintech epicentre

DRIVEN BY INCREASE IN FUNDING AND regulatory change

Thirty-nine new billion-dollar Fintech companies have emerged in the past year, making up 25% of all Unicorns in Europe

The regulatory environment and specifically the introduction of Open Banking across Europe is driving innovation and competition; legacy financial institutions’ market dominance is eroding

2022 is seeing a boom in the number of Insurtech billion-dollar companies, accounting for 18% of new Fintech entrants

SPLIT OF NEW BILLION-DOLLAR FINTECH COMPANIES BY NUMBER

Source: Capital IQ, Mergermarket, Pitchbook, Crunchbase, press releases, and GP Bullhound analysis. Note: Cut-off date for inclusion in report 31 March 2022; valuations correct as of 16 May 2022

chapter 2

Europe doubling down on Insurtech

INNOVATORS EATING INTO MARKET SHARE OF LEGACY INCUMBENTS

Insurtech, a trillion-dollar industry dominated by legacy players and practices, is ripe for disruption – companies in our cohort increased by 2x in the last 12 months, with seven reaching the billion-dollar mark for an aggregate value of over $12bn

Disruptors have been focused on innovating distribution and the customer experience, such as early Unicorns Lemonade and Wefox, but increasingly more highly-specialised verticalised companies are emerging, as well as underlying infrastructure providers focusing on the technology stack, specifically underwriting and claims processing

INSURTECH REVOLUTION IS JUST GETTING STARTED

Emergence of generalist insurers focused on digitising customer journeys

Fragmentation and verticalisation of insurance leveraging specialised data and highly-targeted GTM

EMBEDDED INSURANCE

DATA-DRIVEN & PARAMETRIC INSURANCE

Insurance products directly at point-of-sales, connecting customers with a seamless product and customer journey

Leveraging real-time data to offer transparent instant pricing and swift claim resolution

PANDEMIC A CATALYST FOR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
WITH NEW WAVE OF ENABLEMENT PROVIDERS

Companies going deeper into technology stack as Insurtech revolution enters new phase

Underwriting

Claims Processing

Improving pricing models and underwriting decisions through AI and machine learning

Intelligent fraud detection and claims decisions to reduce losses and accelerate processes

Source: Capital IQ, Mergermarket, Pitchbook, Crunchbase, press releases, and GP Bullhound analysis. Note: Cut-off date for inclusion in report 31 March 2022; valuations correct as of 16 May 2022

sector insights

lan began with my affinity for healthcare and the ambition to build in the space, inspired by my childhood. I come from a family of doctors, both my parents are psychiatrists, and my father was a hospital manager. A key turning point in my journey to focus on healthcare was my grandfather’s cancer diagnosis in 2014. After that, my co-founder Charles Gorintin and I, worked hard to define the best path to becoming the one-stop health partner in Europe.

CO-FOUNDER AND CEO

Expert view

A

Our mission has always been to become a place for all health-related questions and needs. We had to start somewhere, and we decided to build an insurance company first. In May 2016, we managed to get an insurance license from the French Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority – the first company in 30 years.

We started with insurance because it is both a wedge and a moat: companies that aggregate the demand are the best positioned. We are now adding layers of health services like Alan map, clinic, telemedicine, and mental health to become an all-encompassing health partner for the body and mind.

We remain ambitious and focused this year. We want members and customers in all our markets to see Alan as a health partner they trust. By the end of 2025, we want to offer a comprehensive range of services to three million people, hire 1,000 new employees and reach profitability. Thinking about exit options, we want to be an independent company and have a very long-term approach, so we will consider an IPO. We would look at Europe first, as we are proud to be a European company.

Right now, we will keep our international expansion plans, but the US is not on the list at the moment. The future is exciting, and we have only just begun. Our mission is to make personal, proactive, and holistic health a part of people’s daily life, striving to be the world’s most member-centric healthcare company.

"In an industry where incumbents have a Net Promoter Score of just above zero, we have achieved an NPS of 66."

Our journey has had its share of challenges. At the beginning of 2019, our chat answer time was degraded for a couple of weeks, and it was an important hurdle to overcome because we are member-first. We took short- and long-term initiatives to resolve this and ended up with an answer-time of under five minutes at the end of 2019, despite facing more than double the incoming traffic. At the end of 2021, we faced a difficult prioritisation decision between Alan Baby and Alan Mind. While Alan Baby was performing well, with more than 1,200 five-star ratings and 35,000 members, we decided to close it and refocus our efforts on Alan Mind, which is even bigger and more impactful today. We have learned immensely from building Alan Baby and will continue to leverage these learnings in our products.

In 2021, we reached 255,000 insured members across France, Spain, and Belgium – up by 85% from 2020. We have also achieved €161m ARR as of December 2021. In an industry where incumbents have a Net Promoter Score of just above zero, which means “not being hated,” we have achieved an NPS of 66 – a major win for Alan. Our focus remains on building a one-stop partner for health. We are getting increasingly good signals from our members regarding our services: Alan Mind, Alan Clear, and Alan Clinic.

It's very exciting to see new initiatives in healthcare, tackling various niches. Health is top of mind for the population and Alan is very well positioned to win in the healthcare market as our offer is unique. We are the only company combining a health insurance license with integrated health services, which is a very strong competitive advantage.

We believe being member-obsessed and radically transparent with customers is integral to success in this space. We are leveraging innovation in a product driven by strong team culture to propel growth. I also think that most health companies struggle with their business models, so our bundle of insurance and health services makes us different.

"Our focus remains on building the one-stop health partner for the body and the mind."

Navigating a downturn

"The economic environment is tough and is only getting tougher with rising inflation rates, high levels of debt, low market confidence and the war in Ukraine. It seems essential that businesses have cash for at least 36 months to survive this downturn. We can’t control the economic conditions and can’t predict how long they are going to last. What we can control is focussing on efficient growth and the path to profitability to minimise reliance on investors. That is our main objective at Alan. The company’s mission and focus on differentiated innovation are as important as the path to profitability. In tough times, it is imperative that leaders gather with their team and ensure everyone feels the company's mission to their bone. Along with challenges, tough times also present massive opportunities. Winners will emerge stronger from the period."

Jean-Charles Samuelian-Werve,
alan

"We are positive and enthusiastic about innovation and believe in technology that is meaningful and able to solve some of society's more pertinent issues."

VivaTech has successfully become Europe's No 1 event for startups and is now a great vantage point for identifying and following major trends in global and, more specifically, European tech. In six years, we have seen this ecosystem evolve significantly and gradually develop a model of its own which, in our opinion, is one of its greatest strengths for success in the short- and medium-term.

We are witnessing the emergence of a new generation of startups that is less influenced by the American model, and self-inventing within the European framework. This significant market is comprised of many languages, habits, national regulations, strong member state involvement, and public and semi-public financial organisations. We are seeing the emergence of an entrepreneurial culture where founders want to connect business with meaning, and make digital adoption a lever for individual and collective progress, while monetising their ventures.

From VivaTech’s early days, we were committed to protecting this positive approach, which is reinforced by a more conscious Generation Z, and further strengthened by the pandemic. What makes us feel optimistic about the future is seeing these positive trends going mainstream: more companies are establishing themselves as ‘for good’ by design, such as Back Market or Ecovadis. Founders, investors, and policymakers alike want to see more meaningful companies, as do the consumers of their products.

The European ecosystem still has room to improve in terms of the number of companies created or the difficulty in getting past the scale-up stage. It’s necessary to continue to attract capital, but also to support the ramp-up of talent and to decompartmentalise markets that are often penalised with high access costs.

VivaTech is committed to participating in Europe’s ecosystem, to help accelerate its development and build the bridges that will connect it with other international markets, like America, Asia, and Africa. We want to be a growth booster and nurture this inclusive community where Unicorns and scaleups get together, find clients, meet journalists, find inspiration from world-class figures and recruit talent.

"We are working on diversity issues and access to the best talent for the best assignments"

managing directors

Expert view

FRANÇOIS BITOUZET &
JULIE RANTY,
vivatech

V

ivaTech's success is based on an intuition that’s proved relevant since 2016: that the world of digital, technology and startups needs a physical meeting platform to accelerate. Whether it's business, innovation, project development, or digital transformation, we create encounters that could not take place anywhere else.

Our vision was successful because we immediately thought big and brought together under one roof large corporations, startups and industry professionals from all over the world. We created one of the most inclusive communities in the ecosystem, with talent from all walks of life, without the barriers of country, sector, gender, or background.

We are positive and enthusiastic about innovation and believe in technology that is meaningful and able to solve some of society's more pertinent issues.

Overall, we need more diverse role models. We are working on diversity issues and access to the best talent for the best assignments. Inclusion must progress in this network: minorities and people from underprivileged backgrounds must have the conditions to thrive. Education plays a big part, for example it’s important to direct women toward entrepreneurial paths and careers in tech from a young age.

Today, there are not enough female founders or women in C-suite positions. And the existing ones are known to raise less money than their male counterparts. Investment funds could focus more on female-founded businesses. At VivaTech, we are bringing awareness to this issue by launching our Female Founder Challenge to help the relationship between female founders and VCs.

As a platform for meetings and the acceleration of technology, startups, and digital adoption, VivaTech is an asset for European industry leaders, helping to create the environment for future tech Titans on the continent. This year, we invite guests to meet more than 1,800 startups, Unicorns, global VCs, and nearly 300 world-class leaders and speakers from over 30 countries.

"Downturns can have some positive outcomes. They make entrepreneurs focus on their company pillars: on strengthening the business model, focusing on ARR for SaaS companies, profitability, client value proposition, and model sustainability that fit market evolutions. These periods also tend to lead to market consolidation. We will decipher this new context at VivaTech, listening to startups, investors, and key players from different geographies."

Navigating a downturn

Note: François Bitouzet will take over the role of VivaTech's Managing Director, currently held by Julie Ranty until 1 July 2022

TECH COMPANIES ONLY, WITH A BIAS TOWARDS INTERNET / SOFTWARE (CLEANTECH AND BIOTECH EXCLUDED)
HEADQUARTERED IN EUROPE (INCLUDING ISRAEL)
FOUNDED IN 2000 OR LATER
RAISED $20M OR EV OF $400M+ FROM 2015 ONWARDS
EXCEPTIONS MADE FOR FAST-GROWING COMPANIES

CRITERIA

DATA-DRIVEN

SCALE (1/3): CAPITAL RAISED OVER THE LAST FOUR YEARS AND HEADCOUNT AS OF MARCH 2022
VELOCITY (1/3): GROWTH IN CAPITAL RAISED IN 2021 AND 2022 YTD VERSUS 2019 AND 2020; GROWTH IN HEADCOUNT IN MARCH 2019-2022
SENTIMENT (1/3): CROWDSOURCED FROM THE EUROPEAN VC COMMUNITY AND GP BULLHOUND

Our formula for top 50 contenders

Europe’s next generation

OUR BILLION-DOLLAR CONTENDERS

STARTUPS NEARING UNICORN STATUS; 80% OF OUR 2020 TOP 10 REACHED $1BN

We analysed the performance and development of more than 1,000 startups since 2015 for our top 50 list of Contenders with the most potential to reach $1bn in the next two years

We show those demonstrating the greatest ambition and best positioned to take advantage of opportunities, and look at the sectors and countries most likely to deliver the next European leaders

Many of our top Contenders from 2020 are Unicorns today or are on the path to reaching the billion-dollar mark

Among this cohort are notable Enterprise Software companies Personio and Signavio, Fintech companies Qonto and Pleo, and Marketplaces standout Wolt

WHAT TO WATCH AND WHERE TO LOOK

The next billion-dollar companies will likely continue to grow from a diverse spread of sectors and geographies

We expect Enterprise SaaS, Fintech, Marketplaces and Digital Media to lead the charge

The UK, DACH, and France are still likely to remain hotspots where future Unicorns find their feet, based on our top Contenders

We continue to keep an eye on the Nordics and Southern Europe as they amp up their Unicorn production

chapter 3

How did we do?

The 2020 top 10 contenders

Source: Company data, Capital IQ, Mergermarket, press articles, LinkedIn, as of March 2022

80% of the companies we ranked as the most likely to become Unicorns reached over a billion-dollar valuation in the past two years

europe's next generation

Europe’s most promising startups

The 2022 top 50 contenders

We analysed more than 100 European startups for scale, velocity and sentiment, and ranked the top 50 companies with the most potential to become billion-dollar companies in the next two years

Source: Company data, Capital IQ, Mergermarket, press articles, LinkedIn, as of March 2022. Note: certain companies have achieved Unicorn status between the preparation and the release of this report

Chapter 3

The next European billion-dollar company

From our top 50 Contenders, we have chosen the top 10 that we believe have the potential to become billion-dollar companies in the next two years

For each metric, scores for all companies are rebased as a percentage of the leading company at that metric (100%)

THE TOP 10

Source: Company data, Capital IQ, Mergermarket, press articles, LinkedIn, as of March 2022

europe's next generation

Looking at the top 50 Contenders by sector and geography, Enterprise SaaS, Fintech, Marketplaces and Digital Media, and the UK, DACH and France, respectively, are most likely to produce the next billion-dollar companies

The next European billion-dollar company

BY GEOGRAPHY AND SECTOR

Source: Company data, Capital IQ, Mergermarket, press articles, LinkedIn, as of March 2022

TOP 50 CONTENDERS HEAT MAP

Chapter 3

Expert view

2022 contenders

MARNIX BROER,
CO-FOUNDER & CEO

We are an EdTech platform with the mission to empower students to excel in their studies, by sharing knowledge and learning more efficiently. During our studies, gathering the best lecture notes, summaries and practice materials from friends and fellow students was very time-consuming. By providing a platform where students can easily share their resources with each other, we solved this problem and StuDocu was born.

We saw that StuDocu created a level playing field. Now that everyone has access to the same knowledge and has to pass the same exams, having a large social network, with more access to notes, is no longer an advantage.

Today, 25 million students in 60 markets use StuDocu every month to exchange knowledge. The platform provides access to more than 15 million documents, organised by universities and courses, and accessible to everyone around the world. While keeping the focus on its core – note-sharing – StuDocu also envisions helping students with other challenges they are facing.

Joaquim Lecha, CEO

In an increasingly impersonal world, where most customer interactions with brands are online, Typeform is turning digital interactions into human connections. Since day one, Typeform has focused on helping companies build lasting relationships with their customers by designing experiences that are personal and engaging.

Ninety-five per cent of Typeform customers said our tools helped their brand shine and 87% reported higher completion rates.

We’re able to unlock long-term value and growth for our customers through thoughtfully-designed tools – such as people-friendly forms, quizzes, surveys, and asynchronous video solutions – that are easy to deploy. Our no-code solutions seamlessly integrate with existing tools, data, and workflows, which enable personal connections at enterprise scales. We’re proud to play a role in helping businesses grow by treating people like people.

DANIEL NATHAN,
FOUNDER & CEO

We’re on a mission to change the way games are created. Over the past decade, advances in game engines have enabled developers to build games faster and more efficiently, resulting in an explosion of new games. However, 99.9% of developers are unable to make a living, as they focus on the wrong trends, iterate too slowly, and don’t have the advertising budget needed to break through the noise.

We created Homa Games to empower developers through an end-to-end digital ecosystem – to focus on the right idea, optimise features, and distribute their games at scale globally. Through our platform, developers can scout new trends and ideas, execute real-time A/B testing of game features through a no-code SDK, and distribute and monetise games. This unlocks their creativity and drastically increases the percentage of independent developers who make money.

We are proud to partner with and unlock the potential of 400+ studios with a fast and seamless game creation process, which has enabled them to launch mega-hits reaching almost one billion users. Additionally, our games have introduced beloved characters, like Valentine from Sky Roller, to millions of fans, who've become stars outside of their respective games.

JD SHERMAn, CEO

Dashlane's mission is to make security simple for millions of organisations and their people. The company was founded in Paris in 2009, and first introduced its password manager to the consumer market in 2012.

Headquartered in New York City, Dashlane has offices in Paris and Lisbon. Over 15 million consumers and 20,000 businesses use Dashlane products.

With 80% of cyberattacks and breaches occurring because of password-related issues, Dashlane helps companies address these risks with a tool that's secure, powerful, and easy to deploy and use.

Our goal is to take the hassle out of managing access and identity for businesses, surface password-related risks, and provide proactive measures to mitigate those risks.

TUGCE BULUT,

FOUNDER & CEO

While working as a strategic advisor, I was continually exposed to the limitations of the traditional consumer intelligence space, which was struggling to uncover growth opportunities as they continue to use outdated survey methods, that rely on unrealistic claims of professional survey takers. In 2015, we started Streetbees to build a marketplace for the world's largest companies and organisations to truly build an intimate relationship with their consumers.

The Streetbees platform connects with real people in real time through conversational AI, capturing the reality of everyday life. This unstructured data collected in the form of videos, images and text is analysed using knowledge graph technology to decode human behaviour, explaining why we do what we do and detect growth opportunities hidden in plain sight.

In a short time frame, Streetbees has become an indispensable tool for the world's largest companies such as PepsiCo, Unilever, Nestle, Intel, and a number of governmental organisations and hedge funds. We now have over five million users globally and c.200 employees across London, New York and Lisbon.

NICK MEALEY,
CO-FOUNDER AND CEO
RICHARD MEALEY,
CO-FOUNDER AND CTO

We founded Connex One in Manchester in 2013 after we saw an opportunity to revolutionise legacy customer engagement technology. Customer support software was traditionally on-prem, and enterprise companies had developed quite complex IT infrastructures over the years, with several end-point solutions stacked up. This was expensive, chaotic, and inefficient for the agents who had to use multiple software tools.

Connex One is a cloud-based, AI-powered omnichannel customer engagement platform that improves interaction efficiency and customer satisfaction with an all-in-one platform that goes through the entire customer engagement journey. We are changing the way businesses communicate with their customers, with easiness-of-use and user efficiency at the core of what we do.

Now into our eighth year of trading, Connex One's platform is used by many of the largest global brands and employs more than 300 people across six offices in Europe, North America, Africa and APAC. On the back of two consecutive years of triple-digit ARR growth, Connex One is not planning on slowing down. Our leadership team is opening an additional eight offices this year with the global team set to reach 1,000+ by 2024.

Expert view

Growth equity almost 70% of fundraising landscape

Boom in mega-rounds, but fundraising to slow

Investors pumped almost $74bn into 375 deals within the European tech ecosystem in 2021 and Q1 2022

While activity stayed strong into Q1 2022, there were only 38 transactions in April-May, adding $5bn in value, versus 44 deals worth $7bn combined in the prior two months

The UK made up 34% of the total invested in Europe and nearly 36% of the number of deals in 2021 and Q1 2022

$50m+ fundraising rounds almost doubled in France, while the total transaction value grew c.4x

Growth equity remains healthy, only 18% of alternative funding at risk

Down by some 50% in Q1 2022, indicators point to growth funding returning to the pre-pandemic average

Growth investors are the lion's share of European funding; only 18% from alternative / public equity are at risk near-term

Fintech, Marketplaces, and Enterprise Software saw c.85% of total capital invested in European tech in the last 16 months

Fintech may be 2022’s golden goose, but we expect B2B Enterprise Software to attract increased investor attention

chapter 4

Source: Capital IQ, Mergermarket, Pitchbook, Crunchbase, press releases, and GP Bullhound analysis. Note: Cut-off date for inclusion in report 31 March 2022; valuations correct as at 16 May 2022

BOOM IN MEGA-ROUNDS WITH c.4X UPLIFT IN 2021

With the unprecedented hive of activity in 2021, fundraising reached over $60bn

Despite the strong activity in Q1 2022, April and May, as of the time of writing, indicated a slowdown in fundraising activity with only 38 transactions adding $5bn in value versus 44 deals worth $7bn in prior two months

NUMBER AND CUMULATIVE VALUE OF MEGA-DEALS OVER $50M+

Source: Capital IQ, Mergermarket, Pitchbook, Crunchbase, press releases, and GP Bullhound analysis (2022 YTD as of 9 June 2022).

Record $60bn+ European fundraising

fundraising landscape

We recently secured a €100m funding round from Tiger Global, an extension of the €100m Series C round we raised in July 2021. Overall, our revenue has more than doubled every year and, in 2021 alone, over €3bn of spend was managed across our platform. This is a sign of the great market opportunity ahead of us.

We’re extremely proud of our recent growth and we’re grateful to all our investors, including General Atlantic, Eight Roads Ventures, Index Ventures, and eFounders, for making it possible. On the back of our recent fundraising, our key focus is investing in talent. We’re looking for 300 of the best and brightest people to bring exciting new ideas to the business and enhance our culture of trust and flexibility. Overall, we plan to grow our team to 700 this year, and we now have offices in Paris, Berlin, London, San Francisco, and Hamburg.

We’ll be investing further in our core product, a 7-in-1 scalable finance platform, helping businesses with their spend management. We want to keep solving problems and offer actionable insights and data through our platform.

Every startup has difficulties to overcome. Scaling quickly from 50 to 500 employees within three years was challenging. My role changed every six months; I suddenly had to learn how to raise capital, for example. When this rapid decentralisation happens, it can also affect your company culture; our unique ethos of ownership and flexibility is important to me, so I was determined to preserve it. The pandemic also forced us to adapt to unprecedented protocols such as permanently working from home. This was especially difficult as the business was growing faster than ever while we were unable to meet in person.

I’ve always wanted to make a difference to people’s lives, and I’m prepared to take risks to achieve this. Being able to see the impact of my work is what motivates me. Our main mission is, and has always been, to liberate businesses and employees – creating value by reducing the time they spend on tedious admin and allowing them to do their best work.

On the employee side, I’ve always been a big advocate of trust and freedom in a business culture, and this hasn’t changed. I want people to love working for Spendesk and to have the room to thrive. Last year, we were proud to be voted Europe’s best fintech company to work for on Glassdoor, which is a testament to our great culture and employee satisfaction.

pendesk was the result of starting my career as an engineer and founding my first business straight after university – an adtech company specialising in semantic technology to automatise lead generation. I was inspired by my own experiences with payment and bureaucracy issues at work, during my time as COO at Drivy, a car rental marketplace. I wanted to invent a solution to these problems, and it has been great to work with amazing people on this common mission.

A key long-term goal for us is positioning Spendesk as the leading spend management solution for SMBs. We want to evangelise across the market to become the new standard of payment at work. As part of this, we aim to build a finance operating system that will fundamentally transform how companies operate and manage their finances. Ultimately, we want to build a great organisation, with a team of highly-fulfilled employees that can stand the test of time. We want employees to have fond, lasting memories of working with us.

I’m excited about the growth of fintech; as a founder, it is encouraging to see so much investment in innovative startups across Europe. And from a Spendesk perspective, the increasing buzz around and need for spend management systems is very positive. Ours has been an opportunistic market over the past five years, and we’ve been leading the charge in grasping its full potential. I expect to see further growth in spend management software, with B2B solutions evolving to become as seamless as their B2C counterparts.

Expert view

FOUNDER AND CEO

RODOLPHE ARDANT,
Spendesk

S

"The pandemic also forced us to adapt to unprecedented protocols such as permanently working from home. This was especially difficult as the business was growing faster than ever while we were unable to meet in person."

"I’m excited about the growth of fintech; as a founder, it is encouraging to see so much investment in innovative startups across Europe."

“Don’t rush decisions that have long-term consequences for your company before fully understanding the situation. Our actions in times of uncertainty determine what people will remember later. Therefore it’s firstly about prioritising: make sure your own people are safe, healthy and motivated during a crisis. And support your customers as much as possible in a difficult situation. Overall, Spendesk is in a lucky situation with sufficient capital and enough agility in our working methods to really consider what makes the most sense for us in the long-term. So we keep investing in our team, use the time to learn as quickly as possible, and come out of a crisis faster, better and stronger.”

Navigating a downturn

France’s mega-rounds doubled in last 16 months

with GROWING DIVERSIFICATION OF ACTIVITY ACROSS EUROPE

The number of $50m+ fundraisings in France almost doubled and total transaction value grew by c.4x in the last 16 months, driven by an increasingly distributed and globally focused startup ecosystem, deep-pocketed international investors, government R&D investment, and strong post-Covid-19 demand

The UK continues to lead in the number of deals and total funds raised in 2021 and Q1 2022, continuing its winning streak

DEAL VALUE BY COUNTRY IN 2021 and Q1 2022

Source: Capital IQ, Mergermarket, Pitchbook, Crunchbase, press releases, and GP Bullhound analysis, Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport. Note: Investments greater than $50m between 1 January 2021 and 31 March 2022

fundraising landscape

Growth equity booms in Europe

CHANGE IN SOURCES OF FUTURE FUNDING LIKELY

In the last 16 months, c.30% of total funding was derived from non-traditional growth investors; of this, only 18% related to alternative / public equity and is at risk of falling near-term

In recent years, alternative / public equity funds have invested significantly into European tech leaders in private markets, driven by arbitrage opportunities between the public and private markets – as public markets correct, we expect investments from this group to decrease in the coming years

The number of dedicated growth equity funds has increased recently, transforming them into a more distinct asset class – together with corporates and sovereign wealth funds they will remain heavily invested with large cash piles for funding innovation

Source: Capital IQ, Mergermarket, Pitchbook, Crunchbase, press releases, and GP Bullhound analysis Note: Investments greater than $50m between 1 January 2021 and 16 May 2022, where lead investors are publicly disclosed – investment total divided equally between identified lead investors. Select investor logos - list not exhaustive of all investors

chapter 4

Fintech captures highest share of funding

MARKETPLACES AND ENTERPRISE SOFTWARE HOT ON ITS HEELS

CUMULATIVE FUNDRAISING SPLIT BY SUB-SECTOR IN 2021 AND Q1 2022

Source: Capital IQ, Mergermarket, Pitchbook, Crunchbase, press releases, and GP Bullhound analysis Note: Investments greater than $50m between 1 January 2021 and 31 March 2022. Chart based on value raised; select company logos - list not exhaustive of all transactions.

86% of total capital invested in 2021 and Q1 2022 was concentrated in Fintech, Marketplaces, and Enterprise Software

Fintech captures the lion's share of funding; however, given the pressure on consumer wallets due to the increased cost of living, we expect B2B Enterprise Software to show resilience and attract more investor attention

fundraising landscape

The battle to $50bn

The world’s largest technology companies have shed trillions in value

Europe’s only tech Titan has fallen, but the spot is open for other Fintechs moving towards the $50bn mark

A seminal natural selection moment will correct the market as companies adapt and become more efficient

Companies will look at long-term strategies and executions to survive, beyond the IPO route

chapter 5

Europe's Titan has fallen

The market’s boundless optimism is changing

Many beneficiaries of the bull market and high multiple valuations in 2020-2021 have experienced sharp corrections; only 11 Titans walk the Earth today, down from 26 last year

Adyen, the only European tech company valued above $50bn last year, has seen its valuation decrease by 13% YoY to just below the fifty-billion mark¹

tech titans more than halved in last 12 months

Source: Capital IQ, Mergermarket, Pitchbook, Crunchbase, press releases, and GP Bullhound analysis Note: Valuations correct as of 16 May 2022. Movement in valuation calculated based on the valuation date of the prior year report being 12 May 2021. 1) Adyen valuation per Capital IQ as of 16 May 2022.

titans of tech

The next European Titan of Tech

Fintech challengers lead the way with long-term vision

Some European category leaders are pushing towards the $50bn mark as Klarna, Checkout.com and Revolut become global Fintech champions

With the current industry changes, companies are in for an awakening – a natural selection moment will test some of them for market fit and probability of becoming profitable

However, this downturn exposes the most adaptable and the most likely not only to survive but to thrive

Driven by ambitious goals, the companies below have embodied long-term thinking to determine their future success that goes beyond a short-term exit opportunity

Source: Capital IQ, Mergermarket, Pitchbook, Crunchbase, press releases, and GP Bullhound analysis, Adyen FY and H2 2021 reports, Klarna FY2021 Results, Checkout.com fundraising announcement, Revolut news, Unity FY21 report and earnings call, Spotify Q1 2022 Shareholder letter Note: Valuations correct as of 16 May 2022

chapter 5

Europe's Unicorns

283 billion-dollar companies

Source: Capital IQ, Mergermarket, Pitchbook, Crunchbase, press releases, and GP Bullhound analysis. Note: Cut-off date for inclusion in report 31 March 2022; valuations correct as of 16 May 2022

Enterprise Software

fintech

Marketplaces

entertainment

e-commerce

others

+

new

europe's unicorns

Enterprise Software

fintech

Marketplaces

entertainment

e-commerce

others

+

new

Enterprise Software

fintech

Marketplaces

e-commerce

entertainment

others

+

new

appendix

europe's unicorns

Enterprise Software

fintech

Marketplaces

entertainment

e-commerce

others

+

new

Enterprise Software

fintech

Marketplaces

e-commerce

entertainment

others

+

new

appendix

Enterprise Software

fintech

Marketplaces

e-commerce

entertainment

others

+

new

europe's unicorns

appendix

europe's unicorns

Enterprise Software

fintech

Marketplaces

e-commerce

entertainment

others

+

new

Enterprise Software

fintech

Marketplaces

e-commerce

entertainment

others

+

new

Enterprise Software

fintech

Marketplaces

e-commerce

entertainment

others

+

new

appendix

Methodology

We have crunched the data on European billion-dollar technology companies founded since 2000, analysing what it takes to create an outstanding success

OUR METHODOLOGY AND SOURCES

Tech companies only, with a bias towards Internet / Software (Cleantech and Biotech excluded)
Companies falling into the following macro-sectors: E-commerce (e.g. sale of goods or services), Audience (e.g. monetisation through ads and lead gen), Software (e.g. license of software), Gaming (including gambling), Fintech, Marketplaces, and Augmented Reality / Virtual Reality (AR/VR)
Headquartered in Europe
Founded in 2000 or later
With an equity valuation of $1bn+ in the public or private markets (including acquired companies)

Note: 1) Including Israel, and companies founded in Europe and later relocated to different geographies

we have included:

Our sources only include public data (e.g. data platforms such as Capital IQ, Pitchbook, press articles, etc.), and the accuracy of our dataset is limited to the disclosed data.

first caveat:

Methodology & about us

About us

GP Bullhound is a leading technology advisory and investment firm, providing transaction advice and capital to the world’s best entrepreneurs and founders. Founded in 1999 in London and Menlo Park, the firm today has 12 offices spanning Europe, the US and Asia. For more information, please visit www.gpbullhound.com

GP Bullhound's Entrepreneur Clock

GP Bullhound partners with entrepreneurs throughout their founding journey, supporting them with advisory, capital, insights and access to our global network.

second caveat:

For this year’s report, companies are tracked for inclusion as billion-dollar companies until 31 March 2022 with valuations updated as of 16 May 2022, unless otherwise stated, which has limitations related to, for example, the state of equity markets, recent company performance, etc.

No information set out or referred to in this communication shall form the basis of any contract. The issue of this insights report (the “report”) shall not be deemed to be any form of binding offer or commitment on the part of GP Bullhound or any of its affiliates or subsidiaries. This report is provided for use by the intended recipient for information purposes only. It is prepared on the basis that the recipients are sophisticated investors (so-called “professional clients” in the meaning of Annex II of Directive 2014/65/EU on markets in financial instruments, or their equivalent elsewhere) with a high degree of financial sophistication and knowledge. This report and any of its information is not intended for use by private or retail investors in the UK or any other jurisdiction where access, use or availability of this information would be unlawful.

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For US Persons: This report is distributed to US persons by GP Bullhound Inc. a broker-dealer registered with the SEC and a member of the FINRA. GP Bullhound Inc. is an affiliate of GP Bullhound Corporate Finance Ltd. All investments bear certain material risks that should be considered in consultation with an investors financial, legal and tax advisors. GP Bullhound Inc. engages in private placement and mergers and acquisitions advisory activities with clients and counterparties in the Technology and CleanTech sectors.

In addition, the persons involved in the production of this report certify that no part of their compensation was, or will be, directly or indirectly related to the specific views expressed in this report. As such, no person at GP Bullhound (including its members, directors, officers and/or employees) has received, or is authorized to accept, any inducement, whether monetary or in whatsoever form, in counterparty of promise to issue favorable coverage for the companies to which this report may relate.

In the last twelve months, GP Bullhound or an affiliate is or has been engaged as an advisor to and received compensation from or has invested in the following companies mentioned in this report: Believe, Discord, DuckDuckGo, EcoVadis, Glovo, Klarna, Patreon, Revolut, Tradeshift, and Whoop.

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