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2020 Key Findings
Reports on levels of private equity and venture capital investment into European companies, including splits by stage focus, syndication and sectors. Investments are shown by the location of the investment firm (Industry Statistics) and the location of the portfolio company (Market Statistics).
Total equity amount invested
The total equity amount invested in European companies decreased 12% year on year to €88bn in 2020, of which €26bn were follow-on investments from the fund. This remains 18% above the 2015 2019 average. 8,163 companies received investment, 5% below 2019 but 7% above the average for the previous five years, 85% of which were SMEs.
Venture Capital investment
Venture Capital investment reached €12bn in 2020. This is 7% growth from the year before and represents uninterrupted growth in the stage since 2012. 5,005 companies received a Venture investment in 2020 - 97% of these being SMEs - representing more than 60% of the total number of companies backed during the year. By sector, ICT remains the most important sector, representing half of venture capital investment, followed by biotech & healthcare (23%).
Buyout investment
Buyout investments decreased by 11% year on year to €60bn (still representing 68% of total investment). For the first time, Mega Buyout transactions (> €300m equity) accounted for the most investment, representing 41% of the Buyout investments. Mid-Market Buyout (€15 - €150m) closely followed (36%). By sector, ICT companies received 35% of the total Buyout investments, followed by consumer goods & services (20%), and business products & services (17%).
Growth capital investments
Growth investments saw a 26% year-on-year decrease to €14bn in 2020. The number of companies receiving Growth investment dropped 9% to 1,886. ICT received the highest level of investment (41%).
Investments - Market statistics 2020
2020 investments at a glance
| 2020 - Market statistics | All private equity | Venture Capital(1) | Buyout(1) | Growth(1) |
| Amount | €88bn | €12bn | €60bn | €14bn |
| No. of companies | 8,163 | 5,005 | 1,181 | 1,886 |
| No. of firms | 1,508 | 1,024 | 441 | 569 |
| No. of funds | 2,968 | 1,782 | 769 | 1,182 |
Source: Invest Europe/EDC
Note: (1) relates to the investment stage of the portfolio company
In this section
Meet the team
Research
Julien Krantz
Research
Research Director
Sofian Giuroiu
Research
Research Officer
Daniel Irwin-Brown
Research
Research Manager