While the United States is still home to four-times the number of tech companies worth more than USD1 billion (so-called unicorns), Europe is catching up at speed and breeding unicorns faster than the US ever did.
The growth rate in 2021 outpaced the rate of its peers overseas by a staggering 100 per cent, according to a study published by tech M&A advisor i5invest and venture builder i5growth, which also reveals the importance of US capital invested into European unicorns, with US investors making up 48 per cent of unicorn cap tables in Europe.
With 85 new unicorns created in 2021, Europe currently counts 132 tech companies that have a valuation of at least USD1 billion. Comparing numbers to the historical development of unicorns in the US, Europe’s total account is almost at the level of US unicorns in 2020 (152).
