Titans of Tech

Ambition defines successful entrepreneurs. Ambition sets apart the handful of pioneers that confront fundamental problems in the world’s largest industries and create innovations that transform business and society. However, the ambition of Europe’s leading digital entrepreneurs has been questioned time and again. This is why we have consistently set ourselves the objective of setting Europe’s next ambition level.
About Techcelerate Ventures

Tech Investment and Growth Advisory for Series A in the UK, operating in £150k to £5m investment market, working with #SaaS #FinTech #HealthTech #MarketPlaces and #PropTech companies.
company billion dollar GP Bullhound business Europe s GP Bullhound LLP research report
About Techcelerate Ventures

Tech Investment and Growth Advisory for Series A in the UK, operating in £150k to £5m investment market, working with #SaaS #FinTech #HealthTech #MarketPlaces and #PropTech companies.
company billion dollar GP Bullhound business Europe s GP Bullhound LLP research report
<p>Important disclosures appear at the back of this report 
GP Bullhound LLP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority 
GP Bullhound Inc is a member of FINRA
Dealmakers in Technology
Europe’s Flagship Companies
TITANS OF TECH
Unicorns, Dragons, Decacorns
2
3
TITANS OF TECH: EUROPE’S FLAGSHIP COMPANIES
04 THE VIEW FROM GP BULLHOUND  
 
 
 
Manish Madhvani, GP Bullhound
06 Chapter 1: The New Titans of the Tech World
 
10 EXPERT VIEW 
 
 
Ilkka Paananen, Supercell
16 Chapter 2: Europe’s Flagship Tech Companies
 
28 EXPERT VIEW 
 
 
Jitse Groen, Takeaway.com
34 Chapter 3: Focusing on the Founders  
 
38 EXPERT VIEW 
 
 
Tomer Bar-Zeev, IronSource
40 Chapter 4: Titans of Tomorrow
44 Methodology
CONTENTS
Manish Madhvani 
Managing Partner
In the past, many people including us focused 
on the billion-dollar valuation to define a certain 
breed of success. It’s time to remind ourselves 
that the valuation itself is not the most important 
thing, and is just a proxy to gauge the underlying 
strength of a business. 
It has often been said that European tech 
entrepreneurs are focused only on exits, they 
are too quick to sell, and they are therefore 
incapable of building serious technology and 
companies of genuine scale. We believe 
otherwise. Our research into Europe’s billion-dollar 
technology companies has shown that there 
is an army of ambitious entrepreneurs building 
businesses of serious scale across the continent.
Europe is now home to 57 businesses worth a 
billion dollars or more and it is even home to three 
businesses valued at over $10 billion – Supercell, 
Zalando and Spotify. Clearly, Europe’s technology 
sector has the talent, confidence, and capital to 
create a stable of healthy billion-dollar businesses; 
but what next?  How can we raise the ambition 
level further?
As the industry surpasses these milestones with 
increasing regularity, it is more important than 
ever before to set the next ambition level. 
Entrepreneurs must aim for new heights to scale. 
This is why we have set out in this report to identify 
and understand European tech’s next milestone: 
the ‘titan’. 
Titans are tech companies that have consistently 
outperformed the market. They are businesses 
that scale through solid revenue growth, rapid 
customer acquisition, and a level of ambition 
that propels them to achieve global dominance, 
reaching valuations of over $50 billion in a short 
period of time. There’s very few of them in the 
world, six in fact founded after 2000 – Facebook, 
Uber, and Tesla in the US and Baidu, Ant Financial 
and Didi Chuxing in China – and we firmly believe 
that a European business will soon follow in their 
footsteps.  
This report examines in detail a number of 
performance indicators and shifts in market 
conditions that suggest that Europe will soon 
achieve the critical mass required to deliver a 
titan to rival the US and Asian leaders. 
We have also focused on our successful 
entrepreneurs to understand what sets them 
apart in the landscape, and how they can inspire 
the future generation of founders. We have 
included the expert insights of three inspirational 
founders: Ilkka Paananen of Supercell, Tomer Bar 
Zeev of ironSource and Jitse Groen of Takeaway.
com. Their creativity and ambition fuels their 
success, and motivate all of us to think bigger.
The starting point is encouraging: Europe’s billion-
dollar businesses are healthier than ever. As the 
industry matures, there is a whole host of proven 
winners that are reaping the benefits of market 
consolidation to accelerate revenue growth and 
transition to profitability. When we looked at a 
sample of billion-dollar companies from across 
Europe, we found that revenues nearly tripled 
between 2013 and 2015, rising from $163 million 
to $454 million.(1) Similarly, we found that across 
a range of European companies valued over 
$1 billion, 72 per cent of these businesses are 
profitable, versus 60 per cent in last year’s set.(2)
Europe has also never been home to such a 
depth of world-leading technology hubs that are 
capable of creating businesses of genuine scale. 
Ambition defines successful entrepreneurs. Ambition sets apart the handful of  
pioneers that confront fundamental problems in the world’s largest industries and 
create innovations that transform business and society. However, the ambition of 
Europe’s leading digital entrepreneurs has been questioned time and again. This is why 
we have consistently set ourselves the objective of setting Europe’s next ambition level. 
THE VIEW
From GP Bullhound
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
4
5
TITANS OF TECH: EUROPE’S FLAGSHIP COMPANIES
With 36 companies valued at $1 billion or more, 
the UK, Germany and Sweden remain Europe’s 
leading hubs for scaling digital businesses. 
However, a total of ten other countries are now 
home to billion-dollar businesses, of which six 
are giving rise to no fewer than two businesses 
valued at over $1 billion. 
Meanwhile, the past year has seen the launch of 
a number of landmark funds seeking to unlock 
the potential of European tech. From Softbank’s 
unprecedented $100 billion Vision Fund to 
Atomico’s substantial $765 million vehicle, 
the pools of capital available to Europe’s 
billion-dollar businesses will also be a critical 
factor in scaling our current leaders to titan 
status. Relative to their scale, Europe’s leading 
businesses have raised substantial funds. Spotify, 
for instance, has raised around $2.3 billion in 
equity and debt to reach its current valuation 
of over $13 billion. However, this fundraising 
would need to be several orders of magnitude 
greater to fuel growth and an increase in 
valuation comparable to American and Asian 
competitors. 
When we launched our report “Can Europe 
Create Billion Dollar Companies?” in 2014, we 
looked at the facts, and found that Europe 
can hit home runs. Going forward, this report 
will shift its focus from the unicorn to become a 
barometer of the health of the European tech 
sector. We will highlight and track the most 
influential tech companies as measured by a 
number of variables.
This report examines the stage that is being set 
for European tech to begin its next chapter. 
What follows is a detailed analysis of the health 
of the industry, across the companies, sectors, 
and countries that are attracting investment 
from around the world. 
I would like to thank the entrepreneurs and 
investors for their time speaking to us and 
Alessandro Casartelli, Marvin Maerz, Alon 
Kuperman and Joffrey Ezerzer who led this 
research for GP Bullhound. 
Predicting the future of an industry is never an 
exact science. This report sets out a vision for 
the future of European tech, one to which all 
founders can aspire. We believe that Europe 
could soon create its first titan; we hope that this 
report inspires the ambition needed to build it.
(1) Dataset includes private companies only; sample set size: 12 EU 
billion $ companies 
(2) Refers to a percentage of a sample of 53 of the 57 companies in 
Europe valued over $1 billion. This sample was based on companies for 
which profitability is known – company profitability based on EBITDA 
THE NEW TITANS
Of The Tech World
6
CHAPTER 1
7
TITANS OF TECH: EUROPE’S FLAGSHIP COMPANIES
Titans are pioneers. The six global tech businesses that we have identified  
as titans have demonstrated an unparalleled level of ambition. Each of them is 
an undoubted leader, some of them have created new markets, others are 
redefining entire industries. All of them have achieved enormous success  
and rapidly scaled to reach valuations over $50 billion.
Europe’s tech entrepreneurs have proved themselves 
able to create exceptional value and quickly build 
billion-dollar companies. Now is the time to reflect on 
the factors that have set these six global titans apart 
from Europe’s leaders, and on the lessons we can 
learn to take our ecosystem to the next level.
Businesses in the US and China can instantly access 
vast consumer audiences and scale rapidly in a single 
market. Europe’s breadth of languages, legal systems, 
and consumer habits make it harder for companies 
to scale as rapidly in this market. To overcome 
these challenges, European firms frequently use 
acquisitions to expand into new markets and access 
the customers needed to scale: Spotify, Delivery Hero 
and Zalando – among Europe’s largest independent 
billion-dollar tech firms – have on average made 12 
acquisitions to date. Meanwhile, Asian titans have 
acquired only three businesses on average and their 
American counterparts just five before reaching the 
$50 billion valuation mark.
Asian and American titans have also tapped into 
far larger pools of capital than European businesses. 
Relative to their scale, there are European businesses 
that have raised substantial amounts of growth 
capital. Spotify, for example, has raised around $2.3 
billion in equity and debt to reach its current valuation 
of over $13 billion. Uber in contrast has raised a total of 
$11.9 billion to reach a valuation of $62.5 billion – over 
five times the amount Spotify has raised. Addressing 
this gulf in funding will be critical to Europe building 
its first titan. As it stands, the combined average of 
funds raised by American and Asian titans stands at 
five times that of Europe’s five largest independent 
companies.(1)  
Europe is moving up the order, thanks to its free 
movement of talent, reasonable salary costs, capital 
efficiency and a rising global ambition. The entrance 
of Softbank into Europe through its $100 billion Vision 
Fund, along with a broader trend towards larger 
investment rounds, have begun to have an impact 
on this funding landscape. The five largest rounds in 
the first half of 2017 have injected a total of $2.1 billion 
into emerging leaders with Improbable, Delivery Hero, 
Unity Technologies, Farfetch and Auto1 each raising 
over $350 million. In contrast, there was no single 
funding round larger than $350 million in 2013. 
Reaching a $50 billion valuation will also require a 
substantial uptick in revenues. We estimate that 
Spotify would need to grow revenues by 3.8 times 
to reach $12.3 billion in revenues and warrant a $50 
billion valuation at the current multiple. Similarly, 
Zalando would have to increase its revenues 4.4 times 
from $4.6 billion to $20.2 billion.(2) 
It will be hard for Europe to overcome the challenges 
that come from its natural barriers to scale. However, 
the balances are beginning to tip in its favour and 
it will soon begin to deliver on its potential to create 
pioneering businesses that justify the titan name.
(1) Dataset excludes Baidu (limited funding data available); dataset refers to the five largest technology companies in Asia and USA valued 
over $50 billion compared to the five largest in Europe. 
(2) Using latest known valuation and revenues as of end of H1 2017.
SHAPING EUROPE’S
Titan Opportunity
$62.0bn5.7x
$60.0bn$4.5bn+40.0x(2)
$59.8bn$7.0bn+5.9x
8
WHO ARE  
The Titans?
Source: Company data, Capital IQ, Mergermarket, press articles, as at June 2017. Limited financing data available for Baidu. (1) Funding includes primary 
equity raises and disclosed debt issuances. Excludes secondary transactions and ESOP-related transactions. (2) Market cap/revenues for listed companies; 
last known equity value to latest disclosed revenues for private companies. (3) Based on revenue estimates/rumour revenues. 
CHAPTER 1
Revenue  
multiple(1)
$437.6bn$12.8bn+13.2x
$62.5bn$11.9bn+9.6x(2)
$50.0bn$15.7bn+16.7x(2)
Valuation(3)
Disclosed funding
FACEBOOK
UBER
BAIDU
ANT FINANCIAL
TESLA
DIDI CHUXING
$6.3bn+
9
TITANS OF TECH: EUROPE’S FLAGSHIP COMPANIES
BUILDING A TITAN 
What Does it Take?
Source: Capital IQ, CrunchBase, press articles, as at June 2017 
(1) Data set includes the top independent European companies. (2) Funding includes primary equity raises and disclosed debt issuances. Excludes 
secondary transactions and ESOP-related transactions. (3) Up to $50bn valuation for Asia and US, to date for EU.
US $50bn club
Asia $50bn club
EU champions(1)
3
5
12
Average funding raised(2)
$6.8bn
$5.4bn
$1.8bn
Average number of acquisitions(3)
EU
US
Asia
To Date
Up to $50bn Valuation
To Date
Up to $50bn Valuation
10
CHAPTER 1
Our vision has always been to create games that 
people would play for years, perhaps even decades. 
When we founded Supercell, mobile gaming was 
known as a business of one hit wonders and games 
with short shelf lives. Games would rocket to the top 
of the download charts, only to fall away as quickly as 
they had risen. Our dream was to create games that 
would be remembered forever.
Our ambition, then, was to create games that were 
not one-time products, but everyday services that 
we would feel “fresh” for our players every single 
day. Game services that our players would carry in 
their pockets and that would become part of their 
everyday lives. Also, we believed that the social 
aspect of gaming would be the key to its longevity. 
Each of our games has been built to be better when 
played with other people. 
In most games companies, the product vision is 
owned by the management. At Supercell, the 
product vision is owned by the individual games 
teams, which we call “cells”. This is where the 
company name comes from – the suggestion that 
individual teams would be referred to as ‘cells’, while 
the whole company would be the ‘super cell’.  To 
enable these cells to make the biggest possible 
impact, we focused on creating a ‘zero bureaucracy 
environment’. 
The combination of this vision, culture and a huge 
amount of luck has led to us having four global hit 
games and financial success. And make no mistake, 
we have been very lucky in making the right games 
at the right time and having so many smart, talented 
people join us.
So, while we may have scaled financially, we have 
remained committed to small teams. In fact, it is 
one of the things that gives me the greatest pride 
about Supercell. We may be a global leader, but we 
still have a headcount of around 200. Scaling the 
company without scaling the headcount has meant 
that we can prioritise people and culture. When 
companies hire too quickly, it is difficult to integrate 
new additions, leading to a culture shift, and a threat 
to your founding vision. Maintaining our people and 
culture has been critical to our success. 
We have also been fortunate to work with partners 
that have shared our long-term vision. First, working 
with Masayoshi Son, the founder of Softbank, was 
a constant source of inspiration. He consistently 
manages to raise the bar, creating a long-term 
vision that spans hundreds of years. Now, working 
with Martin Lau, the President of Tencent and our 
Chairman, has been equally rewarding. His global 
vision is invaluable as we seek to build the world’s first 
truly global games company.
Drawing inspiration from other Supercellians is vital to 
setting new ambition levels and achieving scale. 
When I first set out as an entrepreneur, there were 
very few of these role models in Europe. Nowadays, 
Europe is maturing rapidly as a technology ecosystem 
and there are numerous examples of founders that 
have been through the entire cycle of scaling globally 
successful companies. As this ecosystem continues to 
expand, there is no reason why Europe cannot create 
other global leaders to rival the likes of Facebook or 
Uber, Baidu or Didi Chuxing. 
To ensure that this growth continues, it is important 
that each major hub – whether it’s London, Berlin, or 
Helsinki – continues to encourage entrepreneurship 
and give young entrepreneurs the support they 
need to flourish. Founders also should not focus on 
valuation. We never set out to become Europe’s first 
$10 billion tech company; we were simply focused on 
creating great games that millions of people would 
want to play.
Finally, we all should remember that failures are an 
inevitable and necessary part of the journey of a 
startup. For Europe’s next generation of entrepreneurs, 
I would say that now is the time to aim as high as 
possible. Stick true to your vision, be persistent, and 
with some luck, success will follow.
SETTING THE PACE
For European Tech
Ilkka Paananen 
CEO & Co-founder, Supercell
11
TITANS OF TECH: EUROPE’S FLAGSHIP COMPANIES
12
EUROPE’S LEADERS NEED
Significant Capital Injections
Source: Company data, Capital IQ, Mergermarket, press articles, GP Bullhound analysis as at June 2017 
(1) Funding includes primary equity raises and disclosed debt issuances. Excludes secondary transactions and ESOP related transactions.  
(2) Data set includes the top 5 independent European companies. (3) Data set excludes Baidu (limited early funding data available). 
CHAPTER 1
Asia         US
Funds raised to reach $50 billion(1)(3)
Funds raised by Europe’s leaders(1)(2)
$15.7bn+
$7.0bn+
$4.5bn+
$7.0bn+
$2.1bn+
$2.4bn+
$2.3bn+
$0.8bn+
$0.7bn+
$1.0bn+
Average funds raised
EU 
$1.4bn
+5x
US & Asia 
$7.3bn
4.4x growth
13
TITANS OF TECH: EUROPE’S FLAGSHIP COMPANIES
Source: Company data, Capital IQ, press articles, GP Bullhound analysis as at June 2017. 
(1) Latest available revenues. (2) Rumor Revenue 2016. (3) LTM revenue as at end of H1 2017. (4) Delivery Hero Market Cap/LTM Revenues: 14.6x.  
(5) Spotify Equity/2016 Revenues: 4.1x. (6) Zalando Market Cap/LTM Revenues: 2.5x.
GROWTH NEEDED TO
Reach $50 billion Valuation
Actual  
revenue
Target revenue for  
$50 billion valuation
$380m(1)
$3.2bn(2)
$4.6bn(3)
$3.4bn(4)
$12.3bn(5)
$20.2bn(6)
9.0x growth
3.8x growth
» Analysis below highlights the revenue growth needed to  
reach a $50 billion valuation assuming a constant multiple
14
CHAPTER 1
“SOFTBANK EFFECT”
Mega Rounds Having an Impact
» In H1 2017, five companies have raised over 
$350 million compared to none in 2013
$60m
$96m
$118m
$130m
$250m
$385m
$400m
$423m
$502m
$397m
$0.7bn
Top 5 funding rounds 2013
Top 5 funding rounds of H1 2017
Source: Company data, Capital IQ, Mergermarket, Crunchbase, press articles, GP Bullhound analysis as at June 2017.
$60m
$96m
$118m
$130m
$250m
$385m
$400m
$423m
$502m
$397m
$2.1bn
15
TITANS OF TECH: EUROPE’S FLAGSHIP COMPANIES
EUROPE’S FLAGSHIP
Tech Companies
16
CHAPTER 2
17
TITANS OF TECH: EUROPE’S FLAGSHIP COMPANIES
EUROPE’S LEADING TECH COMPANIES 
By Revenue(1)
$0.0bn
$1.5bn
$3.0bn
$4.5bn
Source: CapitalIQ, Mergermarket, press articles, CrunchBase.
(1) FY2016 Revenue; over a sample of 28 companies.
Notable Facts:
» eCommerce revenues accounted for 
56% of all revenues listed in the top ten
» In 2010, two years after foundation, 
Zalando had revenues of €150 million.  
By 2016, the business had grown its 
revenues by a further 2,400% to €3.6 billion
» Asos’ share price has increased by 
22,666% since listing
Notable Facts:
» German companies account for  
three of the top five
» Two Dutch companies in the top ten 
fastest growing tech companies
 
 
 
 
 
» Auto 1 Group was born out of Christian 
Bertermann’s frustrated attempts  
to sell his grandmother’s car in 2012. 
Today, Auto 1 is active in 20 markets and 
generates revenues of $1.6 billion
» Hello Fresh’s number of meals 
delivered grew by 172% p.a. from 12.3 
million in 2014 to 90.8 million in 2016
18
CHAPTER 2
EUROPE’S LEADING TECH COMPANIES 
By Revenue Growth(1)
Source: CapitalIQ, Mergermarket, press articles, CrunchBase.
(1) 2014-16 Revenue CAGR; over a sample of 27 companies.
0%
100%
200%
300%
19
TITANS OF TECH: EUROPE’S FLAGSHIP COMPANIES
EUROPE’S LEADING TECH COMPANIES 
By Capital Raised(1)
Source: CapitalIQ, Mergermarket, press articles, CrunchBase.
(1) Funds raised up to H1 2017 while company private; over a sample of 45 companies.
$0.0bn
$0.8bn
$1.6bn
$2.4bn
Notable Facts:
» Delivery Hero is highly acquisitive with a 
total of 19 acquisitions as of June 2017
» The business has grown rapidly, with 
revenues rising by 76% p.a. from $57 million 
in 2013 to $314 million in 2016. Delivery Hero 
expects to more than double revenues 
again in 2017
» Spotify has made four acquisitions in  
the last twelve months alone
» The platform recently hit the 50 million 
paying subscriber threshold, dramatically 
rising from 5 million at the end of 2012
» Auto 1’s revenues are 2.7 times its 
capital raised
20
CHAPTER 2
EUROPE’S LEADING TECH COMPANIES 
By Media Presence(1)
Source: Factiva, Dow Jones & Company
(1) Search of Factiva media database by company name featured in headline of international media article from 06/09/16 – 06/09/17.  
Sample set of Europe’s 57 billion-dollar technology businesses.
0
2000
4000
8000
6000
Notable Facts:
» All companies in the top ten by media presence, 
except for Markit, are consumer focused 
companies which leverage their sizeable brand 
profiles to secure media coverage
» Markit’s strong presence in the media is 
partially due to its business model. The company 
provides research which is regularly cited across 
a wide variety of industry announcements and 
publications, which drives its profile regardless of its 
relative lack of consumer-facing brand. In addition, 
Markit was acquired by IHS which has also driven its 
media presence
» Spotify has experienced particular attention 
driven both by rumours of a potential IPO and its 
uniquely high profile as one of Europe’s largest 
independent tech firms
21
TITANS OF TECH: EUROPE’S FLAGSHIP COMPANIES
Source: Company data, Capital IQ, Mergermarket, press articles, GP Bullhound analysis as at April 2017.
* Indicates unconfirmed valuation estimate based on press articles and industry rumours.
(1) Delivery Hero’s successful IPO, post cut-off date, brings the company’s equity valuation to $7bn at the time of the publication of this report, making it the 
fifth largest firm by valuation according to this graph. 
EUROPE’S LEADING TECH COMPANIES 
By Valuation
Zalando
Supercell
Yandex
Spotify
Skype
ASOS
Markit group
King Digital
JustEat
Rightmove
PokerStars
Trivago
Rovio*
YOOX - NAP
Criteo
Delivery Hero(1)
Vkontakte
Rocket Internet
Vente Privee*
Boohoo
Auto 1
Mojang
Avito.ru
Fleetmatics
Adyen
Klarna
Hello Fresh
Zoopla
Skyscanner
BlaBlaCar 
Evolution Gaming
Blippar*
Farfetch 
Unity
Takeaway
Conduit
Wonga*
Mimecast
Xing
Infinidat
Skrill
Qiwi
Sitecore
GFG
Transferwise
Anaplan
Deliveroo
Gett
Purplebricks
Mobli
Mindmaze
ironSource
Shazam
Funding Circle
Fanduel
Improbable
Outfit7
-
$2bn
$4bn
$6bn
$8bn
$10bn
$12bn
$14bn
3
Companies  
valued over  
$10bn
26
Independent  
private firms
$169bn
Cumulative  
valuation
9
Net additions  
vs. 7 in 2016
New billion-dollar company
Company valued over $10 billion
Ranked by company valuation ($bn)
22
CHAPTER 2
$3.0bn
AVERAGE 
VALUATION
8
YEARS ON AVERAGE 
TO REACH BILLION-
DOLLAR VALUATION
3 
COMPANIES 
LEFT THE 
CLUB
12
COMPANIES 
JOINED  
THE CLUB
57
billion-dollar 
companies
43 
CONSUMER 
focused 
COMPANIES
14
ENTERPRISE 
focused 
COMPANIES
EUROPE’S BILLION-DOLLAR 
Landscape 2017
3
COMPANIES 
valued over  
$10 BILLION
Europe’s billion-dollar businesses have become a barometer for the strength and  
growth of the industry. They attract unprecedented levels of investment into the sector,  
they develop unparalleled talent and expertise, and they inspire a vital confidence 
throughout the industry. This cohort has never been stronger.
57 billion-dollar technology companies have now 
been founded in Europe in the last 17 years. In the 
past year, three businesses – Zalando, Supercell and 
Spotify – became the continent’s first to achieve  
$10 billion valuations. What is particularly notable, 
though, is the acceleration of the growth of this 
cohort of businesses.
As the industry has matured, Europe’s leaders have 
begun to flex their muscles and attract larger and 
larger funding rounds. In the first half of 2017, five 
companies raised over $350 million. In contrast, there 
was not a single funding round larger than $350 million 
in 2013. With 12 new additions to the billion-dollar club 
in 2017, there also remains a strong pipeline of scaling 
businesses in Europe.(1)
Look deeper into the numbers and this picture of 
growing momentum is only strengthened. Last year, 
we revealed that Europe’s billion-dollar businesses 
generated higher revenues relative to their valuations 
than their American counterparts. This trend has 
continued in our latest analysis, with the average 
revenue of a billion-dollar business in Europe 
increasing to $454 million from $265 million.(2)
With over 70 per cent of Europe’s billion-dollar firms 
now generating over $150 million in revenue and over 
26 per cent of these businesses producing revenues 
over $1 billion, these are businesses with proven 
track records of monetisation.(3) It is also notable that 
Europe’s billion-dollar businesses have now begun 
to validate their lofty valuations through reaching a 
successful exit. 31 out of 57 billion-dollar businesses 
founded since 2000 have now been sold or reached 
IPO, thereby delivering on the potential their private 
valuations promised.(4)
Not only are these businesses generating significant 
revenues, these businesses tend to be more profitable 
than billion-dollar firms in other parts of the world. 
72 per cent of the billion-dollar cohort are now 
profit-making businesses, an indication of Europe’s 
tendency to favour resilient growth over high cash-
burn rates. Those businesses that are still unprofitable 
are growing faster, averaging a compound annual 
growth rate (CAGR) of 103 per cent compared to  
51 per cent for profitable businesses.(5)
The whole continent has matured: there are now 
thirteen European hubs home to billion-dollar 
businesses, with nine of them having developed at 
least two champions. Germany, in particular, is in  
the ascendancy. 
We believe that the growth of fast-emerging billion-
dollar companies shows that European tech has 
achieved critical mass. Now the ecosystem has the 
potential to allow entrepreneurs with the next level of 
ambition to create Europe’s first titans. 
(1) Note: 2 of these 12 businesses recovered a billion-dollar valuation that they had lost in the past 12 months. (2) Dataset includes private companies only; 
sample set size 12 EU billion $ companies. (3) Refers to a percentage of a sample of 53 of the 57 companies in Europe valued over $1 billion. This sample was 
based on companies for which revenues are known. (4) Counting the Delivery Hero IPO which happened post cut-off date of this report. (5) Refers to a sample 
of 44 of the 57 companies in Europe valued over $1 billion. This sample was based on companies for which profitability is known and CAGR can be estimated.
EUROPE’S BILLION-DOLLAR
Champions
23
TITANS OF TECH: EUROPE’S FLAGSHIP COMPANIES
24
Source: Company data, Capital IQ, Mergermarket, press articles, GP Bullhound analysis as at April 2017.
Note: CAGR is calculated based on data available, the amount of years taken into account varies across data set. 
(1) % of sample, sample includes 52 of the 57 companies; Company profitability based on EBITDA. (2) Refers to revenue CAGR.
PROFITABILITY 
And Growth
28%
OF BILLION $  
COMPANIES ARE  
UNPROFITABLE(1)
51%
AVERAGE  
CAGR(2)
72%
OF BILLION $  
COMPANIES ARE 
PROFITABLE(1)
103%
AVERAGE  
CAGR
» Share of profitable billion-dollar companies increased 
to 72 per cent from 60 per cent in 2016
CHAPTER 2
25
TITANS OF TECH: EUROPE’S FLAGSHIP COMPANIES
Source: Company data, Capital IQ, Mergermarket, press articles, GP Bullhound analysis as at April 2017. 
(1) Dataset includes private companies only; sample set size: 12 European billion-dollar companies.
SECTOR 
Vitals
2014
$265m
2015
$454m
2013
$163m
Average revenue by company(1)
Revenue segmentation of European billion-dollar companies in 2015
<$50m
$50m–$150m
$300m–$1200m
$150m–$300m
>$1200m
7%
29%
26%
24%
14%
» The average revenue of Europe’s billion-dollar companies is growing significantly as they mature
» Average revenue for billion-dollar companies increased by 71 per cent from 2014 to 2015
» 50 per cent have revenue greater than $150m
NEW ADDITIONS
To The Club
Source: Company data, Capital IQ, CrunchBase, Mergermarket, press articles, GP Bullhound analysis as at April 2017. 
(1) These companies achieved a billion-dollar valuation again, having previously seen their valuation drop beneath this threshold in the period 2015-2016.
26
CHAPTER 2
» Brexit had an 
impact on the 
business
» Causing market 
capitalisation to 
fall below $1 billion
» Fundraising down 
round reflected fall 
in valuation
IN: 12
OUT: 3
» Company entered 
administration and 
restructuring
(1)
(1)
Source: Company data, Capital IQ, CrunchBase, Mergermarket, press articles, GP Bullhound analysis as at April 2017. 
CLOSE UP
On The Newbies
27
TITANS OF TECH: EUROPE’S FLAGSHIP COMPANIES
Europe
Asia
US
NETHERLANDS
DENMARK
RUSSIA
ISRAEL
GERMANY
UK
12
30
37
12
New additions
10
Years old on 
average
58%
E-commerce/ 
marketplace
$1.6bn
Average  
valuation
6
Years old for 
Deliveroo,  
Improbable & 
Purplebricks
25%
Software
New joiners by region
Key stats for Europe’s newest billion-dollar businesses
28
CHAPTER 2
As a 21-year-old student with 50 euros in my pocket 
in the midst of a bursting dotcom bubble, my 
experience of founding Takeaway.com was not an 
ordinary one. The odds were stacked against us, but 
we harnessed grit, determination and an ambition to 
build a leader.
Back then, we faced the challenge of trying to build a 
food delivery website when there was still only dial-up 
internet. It was simply never going to be faster to order 
your food online when you had to switch on your 
computer, dial up, and wait for a website to slowly 
load before you could even place an order. We were 
determined, though, to win and this fundamental 
drive to be the market leader has been critical to  
our success. 
The food delivery sector is a ‘winner takes most’ 
market, so we set out from day one to become the 
biggest player in Holland. By 2003, broadband began 
to roll out across the country and people began 
to see how convenient online ordering could be. 
We worked exceptionally hard to capitalise on this 
opportunity – I was working 12 hours a day, every 
day – and we focused intently on our technology 
– from the very beginning, we aimed to automate 
everything. This determination and innovation set  
us apart from our twenty or so competitors in  
the Netherlands.  
By 2011, we were by far the largest food delivery 
company in Holland. We had expanded into Belgium 
and we were already the market leader. We had also 
taken our first steps in Germany, which would prove 
to be a far more competitive market. The problem 
was that every time we expanded into a new market, 
we faced new challenges, new cultures and new 
languages. We operate in ten markets globally. The 
lack of crossover between each country has meant 
that we have pretty much started from scratch in 
every market. 
You can also guarantee that consumers in every 
country will behave in a slightly different way. Take 
our experiences in Holland and France. Holland is 
our ideal market: a country where the majority of 
people order takeaways and consumers were quick 
to begin using e-commerce platforms. France is a far 
more challenging market for the simple fact that not 
many people order takeaway food. Cultural change 
is much more difficult than moving someone’s order 
online. The contrast between the two shows how 
adaptable you must be in order to succeed. 
European tech is certainly beginning to overcome 
these challenges. Investment for one thing is no 
longer constrained to individual countries. A few 
years ago, Dutch founders would have only been 
able to approach a handful of specialist investors in 
Holland who had enough expertise to understand the 
business models and growth potential of this market. 
Nowadays, if you have a good company, Europe has 
a whole host of world-leading investors to approach.  
I have no doubt that Europe now has the potential 
to create globally successful companies of serious 
scale. To take it to the next level, we need to be 
able to focus on business models that are one step 
ahead of the next generation of innovation. In my 
experience, Dutch investors have never been able 
to spot the next Google, Facebook or Amazon for 
the simple fact that these were not business models 
that they understood. Each of these businesses is now 
fundamental to the global technology ecosystem, 
whereas most European success stories simply sit 
above them and ultimately pay for the privilege. 
I have seen that Europe has the determination and 
ambition to create a thriving technology sector, we 
simply now need to educate young founders about 
the genuine vision required to build the next  
global giant.  
BUILDING
Winners
Jitse Groen 
CEO, Takeaway.com
29
TITANS OF TECH: EUROPE’S FLAGSHIP COMPANIES
Cumulative  
Value
$49.9bn
$35.9bn
$27.3bn
$14.2bn
$13.1bn
$8.1bn
$5.7bn
$3.8bn
$2.6bn
# of billion  
$ companies
22
7
7
2
3
3
5
2
2
WHICH COUNTRY IS THE
Tech Champ?
Source: Company data, Capital IQ, Mergermarket, press articles, GP Bullhound analysis as at April 2017 
Data displayed for geographies with 2+ billion-dollar companies
30
CHAPTER 2
Germany the 
fastest riser
Source: Company data, Capital IQ, Mergermarket, press articles, GP Bullhound analysis as at April 2017
31
TITANS OF TECH: EUROPE’S FLAGSHIP COMPANIES
GERMANY
On Fire
Number of billion $ companies  
in Germany
2014
2014
2017
2017
Cumulative valuation
7
1
$6.8bn
4x
growth
$27.3bn
WHO SHOULD YOU
Raise From?
32
CHAPTER 2
Investors by number of European billion dollar companies they invested in
13
8
8
8
5
5
5
5
5
4
4
4
4
4
Investors invested in three billion dollar companies
Europe
USA
Asia
LocalGlobe
Source: Company data, Capital IQ, Mergermarket, press articles, GP Bullhound analysis as at April 2017 
Note: Only takes in to account investors from private rounds; includes both past and current investments
33
TITANS OF TECH: EUROPE’S FLAGSHIP COMPANIES
FOCUSING ON
The Founders
34
CHAPTER 3
35
TITANS OF TECH: EUROPE’S FLAGSHIP COMPANIES
The perception of a tech founder has changed: shy, unassuming geeks have  
evolved into near-celebrity business leaders. A few, such as Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos 
and Elon Musk, have been elevated to entrepreneur-messiah status, and their 
biographies sell by the millions. There is an intense focus on understanding  
what makes them tick, and how they can inspire the next wave of budding 
entrepreneurs. So what about Europe’s most successful founders?
It may not come as a surprise to discover that 
Europe’s billion-dollar founders tend to be young 
men. This highlights one serious challenge facing 
the industry: diversity. Our sample of 160 founders 
included only seven women. While the technology 
industry continues to grapple with its thirst for talent, its 
inability to foster female founders is a glaring oversight. 
However, the youth and dynamism of the industry is 
cause for some optimism.  On average, the founders 
of Europe’s billion-dollar companies are 32 by the time 
they launch the business, while 46 per cent of them 
are younger than 30 at foundation.(1)  In contrast, the 
average age of appointment for a FTSE 100 CEO is 49 
years old.(2) 
The movement of international talent has been a 
vital factor in the success of Europe’s billion-dollar 
businesses. Almost a third of founders set up their 
business outside their country of origin, while 39 per 
cent of founding teams are composed of different 
nationalities.(3) Over a third of European founders are 
based in the UK,(4) demonstrating both the broad 
base of tech talent that now exists across Europe 
and London’s gravitational pull at the centre of the 
ecosystem over the past 15 years.(5)
Youthful resilience, ambition, and international talent 
can fuel a billion-dollar business, but are there other 
factors, such as education and experience that 
can tip the balance in favour of an entrepreneur’s 
success? Notably, Europe’s most successful founders 
tend to have been taught in business or finance, 
rather than technical backgrounds. 42 per cent of 
the 113 billion-dollar founders that we analysed had a 
degree in business, finance or economics, compared 
to just 26 per cent in computer sciences and only  
10 per cent in engineering.(6)
As for experience, in contrast to the widely held view 
that entrepreneurs need multiple failures under their 
belt before succeeding, over 50 per cent of Europe’s 
billion-dollar founders have never set up a business 
before. Youth certainly has its part to play in explaining 
these first-time founders, and in that respect European 
tech is not unusual. The average age of an applicant 
to the highly successful incubator Y-Combinator now 
stands at slightly over 30 years old.(7)
More important than age and experience is the 
intangible sense of entrepreneurial drive and ambition 
that motivates Europe’s leading tech founders. In 
some cases, this has led to founders with skin in the 
game from several success stories. For instance, 
Taavet Hinrikus, co-founder of fintech darling 
Transferwise, was also the first employee at Skype. 
In other cases, you can see founders have an 
insatiable desire to build businesses and redefine 
industries. Take Jitse Groen, founder of restaurant 
delivery revolutionary Takeaway.com, who we hear 
from in this report. Jitse founded the business with €50 
in his pocket, having only recently graduated from 
university. What unites these disparate founders is 
the infectious, limitless drive to create transformative 
businesses. 
It is impossible to boil down the success of a founder 
to quantifiable data. The ingenuity, vision, and 
relentless focus required to build a billion-dollar 
business cannot be measured. This is why we will 
always listen to founders first to hear their insights into 
the particular characteristics that sets apart Europe’s 
thriving tech ecosystem. 
(1) Sample includes 123 of 160 founders for which the age is available. Proportion calculated over sample size. (2) According to research conducted by 
Heidrick & Struggles, cited in City A.M. on 20 April 2017. (3) Sample includes 28 founding teams for which the country of origin of all founders is available. 
(4) Founders that are still active in their business. (5) Looking at undergrad post grad studies (excluding MBA); sample includes 113 of 160 founders for which 
educational background was available. One founder can have more than one degree in the same field. (6) Sample of 145 out of 160 founders for which 
previous business activities is available. (7) According to analysis published by Y Combinator in March 2015. 
FINDING A FORMULA FOR
Europe’s Most Influential Founders
36
EDUCATION
& Experience
CHAPTER 3
Source: Company website, LinkedIn, CompanyCheck, CrunchBase, press articles, GP Bullhound analysis as at April 2017. 
(1) Sample includes 123 of 160 founders. (2) Looking at undergrad post grad studies (excluding MBA); sample includes 113 of 160 founders.  
(3) sample includes 145 of 160 founders.
» Billion-dollar founders have 
an average age of 32 and are 
overwhelmingly male 
» 46 per cent are under the 
age of 30 
» The youngest founder started 
the company at 21 years old
» Only 7 female founders
» Over 50 per cent of founders 
do not have any previous 
founding experience
<=25
25–29
30–34
35–39
40–44 >45
Business, Finance  
& Economics
Computer Science
Other Sciences
Engineering
Other
30%
15%
23%
20%
8%
4%
Age at foundation(1) and gender
Education(2) and experience(3)
4%
female
96%
male
42%
26%
10%
11%
11%
46%
Previous 
founding 
experience
54%
First 
company
37
TITANS OF TECH: EUROPE’S FLAGSHIP COMPANIES
MOVEMENT OF TALENT
Is Critical
Source: Company website, LinkedIn, CompanyCheck, press articles, GP Bullhound analysis as at April 2017. 
(1): sample of 26 founding teams for which the country of origin of all founders is available. (2) Sample includes 105 of 160 founders. (3) Expatriates refer to 
founders with nationalities different from the country of inception of their company. The range is estimated to be 20-30% based available data: sample of 105 of 
160 founders.
» Almost one third of founders are expatriates
» 60 per cent of expatriates started their company in the UK
» 39% of founding teams are composed of different nationalities(1)
Founders’ nationalities(2)
Non EU
21%
12%
12%
12%
11%
9%
7%
6%
5%
5%
71%
29%
Nationals
Expatriates(3)
38
CHAPTER 3
From the outset, we wanted to build a proper money-
making business. We have never been believers in 
growing at any cost; we needed to make money 
from day one. This comes down to ambition: if 
you do not have any revenue, you cannot turn a 
profit and your only hope is that one day you might 
be acquired. If you want to build a seriously big 
company, you must be self-sustained, growing,  
and independent.
The good news is that there is a growing number of 
European entrepreneurs that want to build businesses 
of genuine scale. The problem used to be that 
founders would sell too early in the lifecycle of the 
business. To be blunt, I think that founders used to 
be motivated by simply making money. However, 
we have started to see a new trend. Founders are 
beginning to say that they want to build something 
significant, something bigger, something that can 
compete on the global stage. 
That fundamental entrepreneurial ambition is critical 
to success. I have always known that I wanted to be 
an entrepreneur building businesses. I would never 
give up and turn to a normal, stable career. This 
entrepreneurial drive is such a benefit for a business, 
as it means you can shoulder the stresses and strains 
that come with targeting rapid growth, ambitious 
revenues, and healthy profit. At ironSource, I have 
nine co-founders that I can rely on and the talent 
and expertise of each of them has been vital to the 
growth of the business.
This team of founders is clearly bigger than you might 
expect to see at an ordinary tech business and it 
reflects the unique approach that we have taken to 
acquisitions. Any technology company needs to be 
able to combine organic and non-organic growth to 
achieve serious scale. In my view, you cannot make 
a successful acquisition from examining the financials, 
business models, or technologies of a company  
in isolation. 
Good M&A comes down to DNA. We spend a vast 
amount of time in due diligence ensuring there is 
a strong cultural fit with target companies. We also 
do not use any financial engineering to make our 
acquisitions. All our transactions are paid in full on 
day one, meaning the founders are paid out and 
can choose to leave. However, our focus on finding 
acquisitions that fit with our company DNA means 
that nine out of the ten founders of the companies  
we have acquired remain at ironSource. This 
integration has meant that every single one of our 
acquisitions moved our business forward, made it 
stronger, and added that vital founder firepower.
I hope that we will begin to see more and more tech 
companies across Europe harnessing the value of 
good M&A. It is only through combining this non-
organic growth with the foundations of solid revenues 
and profits on which so many European success 
stories are built that we will begin to scale larger and 
larger businesses. 
Another vital factor in creating these giant companies 
will be their performance in the international arena. 
Fortunately, today’s founders immediately take a 
global view. Entrepreneurs nowadays can operate 
from Tel Aviv, from London, or from Stockholm, just 
as easily as they could from Palo Alto. You only 
have to look to China to understand this shift in 
attitude. People used to say that Chinese tech was 
simply about replication and imitation. You now 
have Tencent, Alibaba, and Baidu – truly incredible 
technology companies that are global leaders.
I am certain that Europe will soon begin to produce its 
own global leaders. I think the bar will continue to rise, 
as founders look beyond billion-dollar valuations and 
onto valuations of tens of billions of dollars to show 
that one can scale a global leader in Israel or Europe, 
not just the US or China. The next decade will see 
huge tech businesses emerging across Europe, the US, 
China, and even India. 
IRONSOURCE
Raising the Bar
Tomer Bar-Zeev 
CEO & Co-founder, IronSource
39
TITANS OF TECH: EUROPE’S FLAGSHIP COMPANIES
TITANS OF TOMORROW
Europe’s Future Leaders
40
CHAPTER 4
41
TITANS OF TECH: EUROPE’S FLAGSHIP COMPANIES
The European technology ecosystem is much more than the 57 companies that  
we profile in our report. This chapter will dig deeper, look beyond the tip of the 
iceberg, and examine the cohort of companies nearing the billion-dollar threshold.  
We want to highlight where the smart investors are making significant bets,  
and which sectors and countries are fertile ground to search for future leaders.  
We analysed large funding rounds of European 
technology companies in the last three years, and 
found 64 rounds above $50m. The majority, almost 
half of the total, was from UK, Ireland, Germany, 
Austria, and Switzerland. Enterprise SaaS, Business 
Intelligence, Marketplaces and Fintech are the most 
promising sectors, with a number of emerging ones 
including Transport Tech and Cyber Security.
We asked GP Bullhound’s leading team of global 
investors and our network of Europe’s most influential 
venture capital investors to try to identify the next 
billion-dollar company. It’s encouraging to see a large 
number of teams in the mix across many geographies 
and verticals, but Darktrace is the clear fan favourite. 
We also asked our network to predict the companies 
which have a shot at becoming titans. One business 
stood head and shoulders above the rest: Spotify. 
SEARCHING FOR
The Titans of Tomorrow
Source: GP Bullhound survey conducted with top tier investors
1
2
3
4
5
Which companies have the potential to reach $50bn valuation?
42
CHAPTER 4
Source: Company data, CrunchBase, Capital IQ, Mergermarket, press articles, GP Bullhound analysis 
(1) Investment rounds since January 2014 and before June 2017.
WHERE IS THE ACTION
Investments in the Future Leaders
Companies who had $50m+ rounds at sub $1bn valuation(1)
» While previous billion-dollar companies have been heavily skewed towards  
consumer-facing businesses, heavy investment in deep tech suggests that Europe  
is starting to develop winners in the enterprise sector.
» We have gone through all the European companies who raised more than $50m in a single 
round at sub $1bn valuation(1) and plotted it against sector and geography to create a  
heat map that sheds light on areas of specialization in various countries.
           US-relocatedTotal
Enterprise  
SaaS & BI
9
Marketplaces
8
Fintech
7
Transport Tech
6
e-commerce
6
Digital Media
5
Cyber Security
5
Big Data
4
Development 
Tools
3
Digital Marketing
2
AI & Machine 
Learning
2
IoT / Robotics
2
Other
5
Total
16
13
8
8
4
4
3
8
64
43
TITANS OF TECH: EUROPE’S FLAGSHIP COMPANIES
“THE BULLHOUNDS”: WHO WILL BE
The Next European Billion-Dollar Company?
Source: GP Bullhound survey conducted with top tier investors 
(1) Valuation of £2.5bn announced after cut-off date for the survey.
» The GP Bullhound team has handpicked the top 50 most promising European  
start ups which have the potential to become $1b+ companies in the next 2 years. 
» We then crowdsourced VC investors in our close network to vote for their  
top 10 companies as illustrated in the chart below.
% Votes
(1)
44
METHODOLOGY
We crunched the data on the European billion-dollar technology companies founded since 2000, with the 
aim of analysing what it takes to create a outstanding success, what are key characteristics of the founders  
and find any parallels and differences with US and Asia and our report from last year(1)(2)
METHODOLOGY
AUTHORS
MANISH MADHVANI
Managing Partner
ALESSANDRO CASARTELLI 
Director
ALON KUPERMAN 
Principal, Asset Management
MARVIN MAERZ
Associate
JOFFREY EZERZER
Analyst
We have included:
Tech companies only, with a bias towards Internet/ 
Software (Cleantech and Biotech excluded).
Companies falling into the following macro-sectors: 
eCommerce (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.(3)
Founded in 2000 or later.
With an equity valuation of $1bn+ in the public or  
private markets.
First caveat: our sources only include public data  
(e.g. press articles, blogs and industry rumours), and the 
accuracy of our dataset is limited to the disclosed data.
Second caveat: the analysis is based on data as at  
April 30th, 2017, unless otherwise stated, which has obvious 
limitations related to, for example, the state of equity 
markets, recent company performance, etc.
OUR METHODOLOGY AND SOURCES
1) When we reference Asian companies, we refer to Asia-Pacific and Middle-East (e.g. incl. UAE and New Zealand)
2) We have used a slightly longer timeframe than the US report in order to capture a large number of billion $ companies founded in 2000-2001 
3) Including Israel; and companies which were founded in Europe and later relocated to different geographies
45
TITANS OF TECH: EUROPE’S FLAGSHIP COMPANIES
JAVED HUQ
Vice President
THE GP BULLHOUND TEAM
HUGH CAMPBELL
Managing Partner
MANISH MADHVANI
Managing Partner
STAFFAN INGEBORN
Non-Executive Director
PER ROMAN
Managing Partner
SIR MARTIN SMITH
Chairman
SIMON NICHOLLS
Partner
SVEN RAEYMAEKERS
Partner
JONATHAN CANTWELL
Director
CLAUDIO ALVAREZ
Director
JULIAN RIEDLBAUER
Partner
Partner
ANDRE SHORTELL
MARK SEBBA
Non-Executive Director
GRAEME BAYLEY
Partner & Group CFO
ALEC DAFFERNER
Partner
ROBERT AHLDIN
Partner
GUILLAUME BONNETON
Partner
NICK HORROCKS
Director
Director
PER LINDTORP
ALESSANDRO CASARTELLI
Director
JOHANNES ÅKERMARK
Vice President
FELIX BRATELL
Analyst
KYLE BOOYSENS
Analyst
ELENA BOCHAROVA
Analyst
LENKA KOLAROVA
Vice President
DAVE NISH
Technology Manager
HARRI NEEDHAM
Group Finance Manager
CHRIS GRAVES
Director
OSKAR HERDLAND
Director, Equity Capital Markets
MATTEW FINEGOLD
Analyst
JOFFREY EZERZER
Analyst
PAUL GAILLARD
Analyst
OLOF RUSTNER
Vice President
JOY SIOUFI
Vice President
CARL WESSBERG
Director
SEBASTIAN MARKOWSKY
Director
ALEXIS SCORER
Director
NIKOLAS WESTPHAL
Director
MAX BERNARD
Vice President
ALON KUPERMAN
Principal
RAVI GHEDIA
Vice President
JOAKIM DAL
Investment Manager
PIERCE LEWIS-OAKES
Analyst
OKAN INALTAY
Analyst
ADAM PAGE
Analyst
ED PRIOR
Analyst
JACOB LOVENSKIOLD
Analyst
MARVIN MAERZ
Associate
SIMON MIREMADI
Associate
KARL BLOMSTERWALL
Analyst
CHRIS PARK
Associate
JAIME SENDAGORTA DIAZ
Associate
HAMPUS HELLERMARK
Analyst
CHRISTOPH GRUNEWALD
Analyst
IMAN CRISBY
Vice President, Marketing
CARL ELFVING
Analyst
BEN PRADE
Senior Advisor
CECILIA ROMAN
Senior Advisor
LINDA NORDMARK
Finance Manager
CHRISTIAN LAGERLING
Co-Founder & Senior Advisor
ANN GREVELIUS
Senior Advisor
LORD CLIVE HOLLICK
Senior Advisor
46
ABOUT US
MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS 
We act as a trusted adviser to many of Europe’s 
leading technology companies in competitive 
international sale and acquisition processes. The 
firm has completed over 130 M&A transactions to 
date with a total value of over $3.5bn. 
CAPITAL TRANSACTIONS 
We have advised companies and their owners 
on more than 120 capital related transactions 
including venture capital, growth capital, 
acquisition funding, secondary block trades and 
Initial Public Offerings. The firm has raised over 
$1.5bn of financing for European technology 
companies to date. 
INVESTMENTS 
Through our investment team, we provide investors 
with access to the most ambitious privately-held 
technology and media companies in Europe. We 
currently manage three closed-end funds and our 
Limited Partners include institutions, family offices  
and entrepreneurs.
EVENTS & RESEARCH 
Our events and speaking activities bring together 
thousands of Europe’s leading digital entrepreneurs 
and technology investors throughout the year. Our 
thought-leading research is read by thousands of 
decision-makers globally and is regularly cited in  
leading newspapers and publications.
ABOUT US
GP Bullhound
GP Bullhound is a leading technology merchant bank, providing transaction 
advice and capital to the best entrepreneurs and founders in Europe and beyond.
Founded in 1999, the firm today has offices in London, San Francisco, 
Stockholm, Berlin, Manchester, Paris and Hong Kong. 
OUR MARQUEE  
CREDENTIALS
AVITO
Private Placement
BARING VOSTOK,  
KINNEVIK
$101 million
DELIVERY HERO
Private Placement
US HEDGE FUND
$85 million
INNOGAMES
Sale of equity stake
MODERN  
TIMES GROUP
€260m valuation
ESSENCE
Sold to
WPP
Undisclosed
13TH LAB
Sold to
FACEBOOK
Undisclosed
SEENE
Sold to
SNAPCHAT
Undisclosed
47
TITANS OF TECH: EUROPE’S FLAGSHIP COMPANIES
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