Slush Recap: European Tech is on Fire

…in a good way.

The WE.VESTR team spent last week in Helsinki ☃️ while attending Slush. The ongoing theme of the conference was the historic growth that the European tech ecosystem experienced. During a presentation from Atomico, speakers discussed the highlights of just how much the European tech industry has boomed in 2021.

Ecosystem Value

The European tech sector has seen more than $100 billion in investments in 2021, bringing the total ecosystem value to $3 trillion. Not only is the ecosystem seeing its largest investments ever, but it has also grown in value faster than ever, increasing in ecosystemic value by $1 trillion in just the last 8 months.

Hyper-Growth Companies

Europe saw 100 new tech unicorns ($1 billion valuations), 40 total decacorns ($10 billion+ valuation), and more mega-rounds ($100 million in fundraising) than ever before. Of these mega-rounds, 28% of the investment was from US investors.

Additionally, these mega-rounds included 3.1x the number of investors the sector has ever seen. Perhaps most interesting was the data that showed European VCs outperforming U.S. VCs in terms of net returns.

And, as more shareholders are entering the European tech system, founders need to be ready to manage them. Shareholders and potential investors need easy and immediate access to these materials when they are considering investing, and founders need to be prepared with their equity rules in place. WE.VESTR aligns all the material needed for raising capital in a single platform and makes the equity rules of the venture simple and transparent via the Startup Co-op.

The Ecosystem Flywheel

The booming tech industry in Europe has also brought a rejuvenated focus on employees. According to a recent survey of 30,000 European tech employees, 38% have experienced at multiple tech companies. Additionally, the employment growth rate for the European tech industry has grown by 19% since 2019. By showing employees more opportunities than a monthly salary via an ESOP or additional financial opportunities, the European tech ecosystem is retaining talent and creating a flywheel like what we’ve seen in the U.S. for decades.

Slush was the perfect way to wrap up the 2021 event season. In a conference that was jam-packed with fruitful conversations and new insights, none was greater than the confirmation European tech entrepreneurs have used the last 12 months to reach new levels of innovation and success.

The sky is the limit, and we’re just happy to be aboard ?