2026年一季度欧洲风险投资报告（英）2026

Contents Introduction3 Institutional Research Group Navina RajanSenior Research Analyst,EMEA Private Capitalnavina.rajan@pitchbook.com Deals4 Nontraditional investors 9 Oscar AllawaySenior Data Analystpbinstitutionalresearch@pitchbook.comPublished on 10 April 2026 Venture debt11 Spotlight: The State of European AI13 Exits17 Fundraising22 Introduction AI penetration of European VC deal value reached anunprecedented 61.3% in Q1 2026, well surpassing the 50%threshold anticipated for the full year, with total deal valueat €21.9 billion. A pronounced value-over-volume dynamichas taken hold, with deals above €25 million now comprising79.2% of deal value, up from 67.1% in 2025. Landmark €1billion-plus rounds from Nscale, NEURA Robotics, Wayve,and Cloover underscored the scale of capital flowing intoEuropean AI. The AI effect is spilling into cleantech andadvanced manufacturing, pacing 82.4% and 271.8% above2025 run rates, whilst fintech lags with deal value on coursefor a 10% decline. DACH led regionally, whilst France, Israel,and Southern Europe paced below last year. Nontraditionalinvestor participation reached an all-time high of 82.3% ofdeal value, with CVC investors involved in 59.2% of Europeandeal value. Concentration risk remains a key concern shouldsentiment around AI valuations shift. remains early stage, with consolidation ahead. Developmentis uneven—smaller markets like Israel and Portugalshow higher AI penetration than core hubs, and sectorconcentration remains skewed towards SaaS. On exits, AIaccounted for nearly half of European exit value in 2025,driven by M&A, with an IPO pipeline of 72 candidates laggingwell behind US peers. Europe’s focus on healthtech, robotics,and industrial AI presents an opportunity for cross-borderinvestors despite the widening transatlantic gap. Our recentnoteThe State of European AIdives deeper into this topic. European VC exit value totalled €16 billion in Q1, implying an8.2% YoY decline, though comparisons are challenging giventhe impact from Klarna’s 2025 listing. IPOs provided theheadline story, led by General Oceans’ €3.5 billion Euronextlisting, whilst acquisitions accounted for over half of dealvalue. AI and fintech exits lagged, with AI’s share of exit valuefalling to 22.6% from 42.1%, whilst life sciences was a brightspot, pacing towards 29.2% growth. In direct secondaries,global deal value remained resilient at $15.9 billion in 2025,with M&A as the dominant predicted exit route for theAI pipeline. European venture debt reached €5.9 billion in Q1, implying18.1% full-year growth, with average deal sizes surgingto €90.5 million from €35.9 million in 2025. Early-stagecompanies gained ground, accounting for one-thirdof deal value. AI dominated by vertical at 56.9% of thetotal, with fintech and cleantech also prominent. Despitemacroeconomic uncertainty and potential rate rises, the costof debt is likely to remain below the cost of equity, preservingventure debt’s appeal as a financing tool. European VC fundraising showed encouraging signs ofrecovery in Q1, with €3.5 billion raised across 37 vehicles,implying 11.1% YoY growth. The largest close was OGCIClimate Investment’s Decarbonization Acceleration Fund at€387.3 million, with three of the top five closes based in Pari s.Strategy specialisation continued, with mandates spanningcleantech, skincare, space tech, and healthtech, whilst themedian European fund size grew from €50 million to €85million. The UK & Ireland reasserted regional dominance at34.8% of fundraising, with DACH notably lagging at just 1.1%. We also spotlight AI in Europe in this report. AI has firmlyestablished itself as a structural force in European venture,with around 11,000 VC-backed companies representingnearly one-quarter of all startups. Deal penetration hasalready exceeded 50% in 2026, though the ecosystem Deals Unprecedented levels of AI penetration boost Europeandeal value The dominant theme of “sector bifurcation” in 2025 hascontinued into to the start of this year. If 2025 was marked bythe increasing prevalence of an AI subset in the market, theconcentration of this has significantly stepped up in 2026. Atthe end of last year, AI deal value penetration of the marketsat at 37.7%.Our viewwas that we expected penetration tosit at least at 50% in 2026. As of Q1 2026, this has alreadybeen significantly surpassed, with 61.3% of total Europeandeal value of the total €21.9 billion sitting in AI deals. There isa heightened value-over-volume dynamic playing out, wheredeal sizes have continued to inflate, driven by AI rounds.Deals in the highest size bracket we track—over €25 million—comprised 79.2% of deal value in Q1; this is up from a 67.1%share in 2025, as late-stage, Series D+ rounds gained shareof investment mostly from Series B rounds, which saw thegreatest decline in share of deal value YoY. Top deals in Q1 2026 included €1 billion-plus rounds fromNscale, NEURA Robotics, Wayve, and Cloover—cheque sizesthat we have seldom