New Invest Europe and EIF report maps European VC ecosystem and tracks gender diversity in greater detail than ever

• 613 active VC hubs in Europe, two-thirds of investment volume involving two or more hubs

• Bratislava, Vilnius leading hubs for gender diversity at start-ups, Lisbon leads diversity at VCs

Brussels, Belgium, 24 October 2023 1100 AM CET - Invest Europe, the association representing Europe’s private equity, venture capital and infrastructure sectors, as well as their investors, today published The VC factor: Gender lens edition, the latest report in a continued collaboration with the European Investment Fund, mapping the VC landscape in Europe and tracking the participation of women at VC funds and start-ups.

The VC factor combines Invest Europe’s extensive industry data and analysis with that of Europe’s largest venture capital investor to provide deep insights into the European VC ecosystem. Reflecting the exceptional growth experienced by European venture capital over the past decade, the research delves deeper than ever into what makes the industry tick.

• The VC factor identifies a staggering 613 innovation hubs active between 2007 and 2021. It highlights the concentration of European venture capital, with the top ten hubs representing 51% of investment (led by London, Paris, Berlin, Munich and Stockholm) and 69% of capital available for deployment. The research also reveals the interplay between European VC hubs, with two thirds of total investment volumes involving firms and start-ups based in two different hubs.

• Women occupied about 23% of European VC roles and 12.5% of senior level investment positions in 2021. Some 10.5% of start-up founders and CEOs were women in 2021. Among the top 36 European hubs, Bratislava is the most gender-diverse with women in 17% of start-up roles, followed by Vilnius with 16.3%. Lisbon has the highest proportion of women in VC roles of any leading hub at 19.4%, helping Iberia to be one of the most diverse regions for VC participation.

While gender diversity at VC firms and start-ups improved over the decade from 2011 to 2021, the data indicates that the pace of progress has been slow and that there is still much more to do to achieve gender balance. The encouraging progress at start-ups in Eastern Europe and VC firms in Iberia highlights the potential to share policies and success stories that can increase women’s influence on the ecosystem.

According of the European Investment Fund:

“Venture capital is the lifeblood of innovation, pumping resources into the heart of promising start-ups and fuelling the growth of game-changing ideas. We are proud to have collaborated again with Invest Europe on the publication of this third edition of The VC factor, which analyses this cohesive and dynamic European industry in new depth and detail.”

Eric de Montgolfier, CEO of Invest Europe, added:

“Data and insight bring better understanding of where VC stands today and can help the industry to identify opportunities to strengthen women’s voices. The result can be a more balanced venture capital ecosystem that can support an even stronger European economy and society, improving lives and livelihoods, creating high-skilled jobs for all, and feeding economic growth and competitiveness.”

Invest Europe’s extensive research aims to inform and educate companies, investors, policymakers and the public at large about the role and benefits of venture capital. European VC has grown rapidly with some €97 billion invested in venture-stage companies across Europe over the past decade. Invest Europe data highlights the accelerating performance of European VC funds, which achieved returns of 23.07% over a ten-year horizon to the end of 2022. The association’s ground-breaking Private Equity at Work report also illustrates the job creation powers of venture capital across the continent, with the industry adding 25% more jobs in 2021 - far ahead of the average for all European businesses.

Click here to download a copy of The VC factor: Gender lens edition.

About Invest Europe

Invest Europe is the association representing Europe’s private equity, venture capital and infrastructure sectors, as well as their investors. We have over 650 members, split roughly equally between private equity, venture capital and limited partners –with some 110 associate members representing advisers to our ecosystem. Those members are based in 57 countries, including 42 in Europe, and manage 60% of the European private equity and venture capital industry’s €1,004 billion of capital under management. Businesses with private capital investment employ 10.5 million people across Europe, 4.5% of the region’s workforce.