The European investing world has been through some rollercoaster years. Through the first quarter of 2021, how are things looking for the famed European venture capital (VC) investing world? Here’s a look.
Angel and Seed Pre-Money Valuations
The first view on European VC world is Pitchbook’s angel and seed pre-money valuations through the first quarter of 2021 (the most recently available quarter). Overall, the average pre-money valuation exploded in the first quarter of 2021, reaching almost €16 million on average. This is well above the 2020 average angel and pre-seed valuation of around €8 million.
The jump in valuations was not just on the average, although some larger company valuations drove the average much higher. Valuations at the 25th, median, and 75th percentile also saw angel and pre-seed valuations rise through the first quarter of 2021, albeit at the 25th percentile, the rise was much less pronounced.
Angel and Seed Deal Sizes
Moving to a view of angel and seed deal sizes, the average, 75th percentile, and median deal sizes rose sharply in the first quarter of 2021. On the bottom end of the deal size spectrum, the deal size was relatively flat for the 25th percentile of deals.
Overall, the average deal size rose to about €2.3 million in the first quarter of 2021, slightly below the 75th percentile deal size of about €2.5 million. The median deal size surpassed €1 million for the first time ever in 2020, and 2021 continued the rising valuation trend.
Early-stage VC Pre-Money Valuations
Shifting to the early-stage VC pre-money valuation view, interestingly, the average pre-money valuation has declined through the first quarter of 2021 compared to 2020 valuations, dropping to around €20 million from around €23 million in 2020. Early-stage valuations for the other three shown classifications rose, with the 75th percentile rising to around €20 million and the median reaching about €5 million.
Late-stage VC Pre-Money Valuations
The last view we’ll look at here is the late-stage VC pre-money valuations. Investors (and the companies they’ve previously invested in) took a ride through the first three months of 2021, with the average late-stage VC pre-money valuation exploding to around €650 million, well above the 2020 value of around €100 million. The valuation gains for the other three reported measures – 75th percentile, median, and 25th percentile – also increased, albeit much less pronounced. The 75th percentile shows the most pronounced increase of the three other measures, with the 75th percentile valuation increase from around €25 million in 2020 to around €125 million in the first quarter of 2021.
Summing Up
Overall, the venture capital investing world in Europe is in good shape through the first few months of 2021. If conditions continue to improve, European venture capital investing may make 2021 a banner year.
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