The UK continues to lead the European league table of unicorns 鈥� but one nation is catching.听
GP Bullhound鈥檚 latest annual听Titans of Tech report听revealed that five new UK-based businesses achieved the coveted billion-dollar status:听cybersecurity firm Snyk,听FinTechs听Checkout.com and听Rapyd, HealthTech Babylon and dating group听MagicLab.听
Its听analysis听of the听growth of Europe鈥檚 leading tech businesses听revealed that there are now听30听unicorn companies headquartered on these shores, with a combined valuation of听$87bn.听
Leaping into second spot is Israel, which added 11 unicorns in the last 12 months to take its total to 20.听
However听these 20 companies are together worth only 拢48bn, whereas Germany鈥檚 16 unicorns are valued at $71bn and Sweden鈥檚 10 are worth听$70bn.听
The听Netherlands鈥� four unicorns, including eCommerce trailblazer听Adyen,听are听worth $54bn.听
The number of billion-dollar companies has almost quadrupled since 2014. With 32 new billion-dollar companies with a combined value of $50bn added since last year, reaching a total of 112 companies and $416bn in value in 2020, the cohort is now worth almost five times the valuation in 2014.听
Manish Madhvani, Managing Partner at GP Bullhound, commented: 鈥�2019 and 2020 year-to-date has been a pivotal period for听tech as a whole, especially听for the European ecosystem.听听
鈥�The COVID-19 pandemic has magnified this. Without digital entertainment, online consumption and flexible workplaces, the feeling of isolation and the challenges under enforced lockdowns would have been more acute.听听
鈥�The rates of tech adoption have been accelerated by five years and will leave the landscape ripe for more record innovation. This is a very exciting time for entrepreneurs founding new听businesses, and听scaling existing ones even faster.鈥�听
The list of countries creating their first unicorn is expanding. The Baltics delivered year-on-year, with Lithuania now on the map thanks to听Vinted, and GP Bullhound expects Turkey to join next year with Zynga鈥檚 $1.8bn acquisition of Peak Gaming.听
The sector鈥檚 composition continues to shift, with the sustained growth in the number of billion-dollar听enterprise听software and FinTech companies. Within the former, there is a concentration of new additions in the听storage and听cybersecurity subsectors. For consumer internet,听marketplace models continue to dominate versus听eCommerce.听
European tech is now seen as a key hedge against some of the US ecosystem鈥檚 challenges. Europe has a broad and diverse supply of capital and investors remain confident, deploying large sums of money to the region鈥檚 leaders.听听
In 2019, late-stage funding increased by more than twofold for tech leaders, and the funding environment remains robust with 2020 year-to-date transactions double that of 2018 and in line with 2019.听