In the first quarter of 2025, equity fundraising for startups in Europe reached €12.8 billion, marking a 13% increase from the previous quarter and a 5% rise compared to the same period last year, largely driven by healthtech startups.

Healthtech emerged as a dominant sector, raising €3.7 billion, with significant contributions from companies like Isomorphic Labs and Verdiva Bio.

The largest equity deal during this period was a remarkable $600 million round raised by London-based Isomorphic Labs, which focuses on AI drug discovery to accelerate the drug development process.

AI agent startups also attracted considerable investment, with 61 companies collectively raising €827 million, making it the second most active sector after medtech.

Additionally, European startups in the data center sector raised €608 million, reflecting a growing investment theme aimed at supporting the AI boom.

The average Series A round increased to €16 million, a substantial 42% rise from the previous year, although smaller funding rounds experienced a notable decline.

The median equity deal size rose to €3 million, a 36% increase year-over-year, while average cheque sizes also grew by 21%, from €10.4 million to €12.6 million.

Despite the increase in funding amounts, the total number of deals fell to 1,235, indicating a 15% decline from Q1 2024, which suggests a trend towards larger, fewer funding rounds.

Debt funding saw a slight increase to €4 billion in Q1 2025, though this was significantly lower than the €14.3 billion raised in the same quarter last year, with the largest debt deal being a €1 billion round by car subscription startup Finn.

In terms of regional performance, France experienced a 30% drop in the number of startups raising venture capital, while Spain's tech scene showed growth, nearly matching France in deal count.

Irish startups raised €600 million, almost equaling their total fundraising for all of 2024, highlighted by Tines securing a €120 million Series C round, making it Ireland's ninth unicorn.

The quarter also saw the emergence of four new unicorns, including Tines in cybersecurity, Neko Health in body scanning, Loft Orbital in spacetech, and Sygnum in crypto banking.