Please see recent start-up-related change below.
By size
- Unicorns are in decline overall...The number of new unicorns has taken a nosedive. In 2021, 537 unicorns were born, but now, as venture funding to startups ebbs, fewer unicorns are being minted each quarter. CB Insights analysed how the slowdown is impacting venture globally and also by sector and also dug into how valuations and funding have shifted. Meanwhile, only 14 companies joined The Crunchbase Unicorn Board in July 2022, the lowest count since August 2020.
- …but some sectors still growing. The cybersecurity unicorn club grew to 74 members in Q2 2022, up nearly 2x from a year prior. It welcomed eight new members over the course of the quarter, marking seven consecutive quarters of growth.
- …and some “soonicorns” are on the horizon. While gloomy forecasts might be echoing around the start-up scene, a number of unicorn potential tech companies don't seem to mind.
By geography
- Globally, in the second quarter of 2022, global start-up funding fell 23% from the previous quarter to just over US$108.bn. Megaround investments of $100mn or more fell almost a third. This drop reflected the fall in public market share prices. Y Combinator recently warned start-ups to plan for the worst.
- For Africa, see recent analyses of Central, Eastern, Northern, Western and Southern Africa’s regional ecosystems.
- The European Union published the European Innovation Agenda, a new plan that would help start-ups and scale-ups in Europe to obtain private funding, have access to public markets or use stock options for employees.
- Elsewhere in Europe:
- Central and Eastern Europe has been turned upside down since Russia invaded Ukraine earlier this year, but plenty of start-ups, are carrying on regardless. Data showed that VCs have more than doubled the amount of investment into the region this year:
- Sifted analysed what's drawing them to CEE. CEE startups have commonly moved their headquarters west in search of growth. But, with the success of giants like UiPath, founders are finding it easier to raise cash at home.
- 7 Czech startups VCs are watching.
- Meanwhile, with a vast tech talent pool, large domestic market and more investor cash than ever, Poland is a rising star on the European startup scene. Sifted analysed which of the country's startups people think are set for big things.
- Denmark remains a thriving space for innovation - even if investment into the country has dipped since last year. From femtechs tackling infertility to medtechs clearing cancer cells, Sifted found 11 startups that investors have got their eye on.
- According to recent data, the number of open vacancies at European start-ups has dropped by 43% since February, but France has weathered the storm best so far - seeing only a 9% decline in the number of open roles.
- Germany and the wider DACH region's seen a record level of investment (Gorillas became the fastest company in Germany ever to reach unicorn status). Between September 2021 and 2022 alone, 25 DACH companies crossed the $1bn, representing almost 40% of unicorns of all regional unicorns to date. Meanwhile, Germany’s coalition government approved the country’s first comprehensive policy roadmap for startups - with the hope that it'll be a major driver of economic growth in the coming decade. There are also 9 Swiss startups to watch.
- With 97 unicorns produced from a population of only 9m, Israel has more than earned its unofficial title of "The Startup Nation", argued Sifted, who analysed what took the country to its lofty heights and how it's faring in the current climate.
- Italy got its first unicorn this year, and now there’s a growing cohort of companies that may follow suit.
- In the Nordics, where Sweden has seen the largest number of unicorns per capita, see also the 10 hottest Norwegian start-ups.
- Spain's start-up sector has been healthier than ever recently and VC deals in the country surpassed all records in the first half of 2022, although Spain's still heavily reliant on money from afar; 80% of the cash came from international funds.
- UK start-ups are finding it increasingly difficult to raise the money they need from investors to grow their businesses. Private equity firms, VCs and angel investors have become more risk-averse in recent months, with many concerned about a looming recession.
- Meanwhile, backed by data measuring different elements of growth and demand, the LinkedIn Top Startups 2022 list revealed UK companies investors should be paying attention to.
- Central and Eastern Europe has been turned upside down since Russia invaded Ukraine earlier this year, but plenty of start-ups, are carrying on regardless. Data showed that VCs have more than doubled the amount of investment into the region this year:
- In Asia Pacific:
- Bloomberg analysed the startup ecosystem in Thailand and cites CB Insights data.
By theme
- There are plenty of problems that need solutions in the world - and many tech innovations that claim to fix them. James Routledge, founder of Sanctus, explored whether founding a startup is really the best way to make an impact.
By sector
- Dealroom introduced the Top 100s, data-driven lists featuring the top startups to watch in six initial industries – see the Fintech Top 100; Marketplaces Top 100; Impact Top 100; Heathtech Top 100 and Foodtech Top 100.
- There’s a lot of uncertainty at the moment about how resilient the climate tech sector is to the macroeconomic conditions shaking up the wider tech market. However, many climate companies are still growing -see the 10 that are growing fastest of all, based on data from Dealroom.
- Startups are revolutionising the “tech” side of biotech, with companies working on innovations like brand new food ingredients and platforms accelerating drug discovery methods. And though the sector might still be working out some kinks, there are a host of startups catching investors’ attention.
- See also:
By maturity
By gender
- VC funding overall has surged in recent years, but the numbers haven't leapt forward for female founders at the same pace. Last year, companies founded solely by women garnered just 1.2% of the total capital invested in venture-backed start-ups in Europe. But that number doesn't tell the whole story: VC funding for female-founded or co-founded companies in Europe has been trending up in recent years, and 2021 saw the creation of several women-led funds, incubators for female founders and more new companies.
- Despite the fact that women run most small and medium scale businesses in places like Africa, they still face a $42 billion gap in funding versus men there. Female-owned businesses tend to be under-funded, but over-mentored, with the ring-fencing of certain small pools of funding to them, ironically sometimes putting them at a disadvantage.
- See also:
Further reading 2022
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