<p>19 March 2018
Unicorns and big exits:
Outlook on Europe's
most valuable companies
The intelligent global database to identify growth
opportunities and track innovative companies
Cover: Maui, Hawaii, January 16 2016. Professional surfer Joao Marco Maffini rides a giant wave at the legendary big wave surf break known as "Jaws" on one the largest swells of the year.
Does Europe produce enough big VC-backed exits?
Does Europe
produce big tech
companies?
Big tech goes beyond unicorn definition only: Europe counts at least 154 tech companies valued over $1 billion (roughly 0.8 billion)
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31 tech companies are known European unicorns, here defined as private VC-backed companies over $1 billion
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12 tech companies are private equity backed and may exit soon
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35 tech companies are under corporate ownership, following an acquisition
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76 tech companies are publicly traded, some of them never having gone through any institutional venture capital funding stages
UK, Germany, Sweden, Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland are generating the biggest returns in Europe, both historically and looking ahead.
Among those countries UK, Germany and Sweden are in the lead
Which VCs are
consistently backing
big tech?
Historically, Index Ventures most consistently delivers big exits, followed by Accel, HV Partners, and Insight Venture
Looking ahead, Accel Partners has the most unicorns in its portfolio (7 companies), followed by Index Ventures (6 companies). Late stage
firms like Baillie Gifford, Softbank and DST also have several unicorns in their portfolio
Other notable "heavy hitters" include Lakestar, Vitruvian, Scottish Equity Partners, Atomico, Bessemer, Insight VP, Institutional VP, Balderton,
83North, Northzone and Piton Capital
Outlook: does
Europe produce
enough VC-backed
exits?
Big exits really do matter: the ten biggest exits typically represent 70-80% of the returns, in most years
In 2017, fewer big exits in 2017 resulted in a 60% drop in total realised exit value
However, the visible pipeline of big exit