2022 was groundbreaking for Europe as it marked the record for its second biggest year for newly minted unicorns. However the prevailing downturn may be a stumbling block to such progress in the future.
According data from PitchBook, 2022 saw 46 European and Israeli companies successfully pass the €1 billion threshold. Some of the unicorns that emerged within this period include edtech specialist Multiverse and payment network provider Satispay.
Prevailing conditions such as the inflation and rising interest rates that dominated 2022 which has not subsided in 2023 has watered speculations that these challenges from 2022 will subsist for the foreseeable future. Based on the more realistic interpretations of valuations recently it can be concluded that unlike what has been obtainable in recent years, 2023 will see fewer companies cross the €1 billion threshold.
Although these predictions are somewhat uninspiring for VC’s, they will continue to take risks on startups that are likely to break grounds in the future.
These are some of the VC backed startups in Europe and Israel which have valuations above €500 million and touted to have the potentials to cross the €1 billion-plus threshold.
BeReal
Latest post-money valuation: €610.6M (2022)
There is no doubt that the bulk of the global population has an understanding of social media. Current projections from Business Research Company postulate that by 2026, social media users will peak at $777.64 billion. BeReal has the potential to be one of the top beneficiaries of this massive opportunity.
Forbes described BeReal as the social media app of the year in December 2022 and BeReal’s major attraction is its recognizable authenticity. BeReal allows its users to post pictures and without filters once in a day. Since it was launched in 2020 it has garnered an impressive 73.5 million users monthly including 20 million daily users. Although this is far less impressive than what obtains with popular platforms like instagram, the future is bright for BeReal. Since its last fundiung round, the company’s valuation grew to more than €600 million. BeReal’s investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Accel and DST Global.
Carbon Clean
Latest post-money valuation: €537.2M (2022)
Investors globally have tilted towards climate tech startups recently and this was at an all time peak in 2022. About €5.3 billion was registered in this sector in 2022 compared to the €5.2 billion recorded in 2021.
VCs are optimistic about this sectors prospect in 2023 as the sector gathers steam. The carbon capture prospect which has produced UK targeted Carbon Clean emission efforts remains one of the targeted areas where injection of funds should be expected.
Carbon Clean was founded in 2009as a unique technology created to capture, store and use carbon dioxide in various industries which include steel and refineries.
May 2022 saw the company raise $150 Series C funding spearheaded by Chevron with participation from Samsung Ventures and Wave Equity Partners.
Malt
Latest post-money valuation: €507.8M (2022)
This HR tech has attracted a lot of VC investments over the years. One of the highlights of Post Covid was the manner in which HR tech blossomed with the emergence of unicorns like Factorial and Personio.
Malt is a freelance consulting platform catering to more than 360,000 freelancers with over 40,000 clients. Malt secured €80 million in a funding round spearheaded by Goldman Sachs Growth Equity and Eurazeo.
Following the downturn, lots of companies are trying to save cost by minimizing their head count. The accompanying implication is that companies may prefer to outsource projects that cannot be handled in-house. Additionally the layoffs and discoveries that have been made by job seekers post-covid is encouraging more people to seek freelancing opportunities till they can secure new jobs. Malt may be one of the biggest beneficiaries of this opportunity.
Moonfare
Latest post-money valuation: €953M (2021)
The progress recorded from private equity allocations shows there has been an increasingly impressive run over the years. Berlin based Moonfare has also shown it has what it takes to democratize entry. Moonfare gives investors and advisers an opportunity to get PE funds with as low as $125 access fee.
In 2022, Moonfare raised twice its AUM reaching with over 40,000 users. It had previously secured $125 million in its Series C funding which was spearheaded by Insight Partners.
Experts have studied the volatility of the public market and bets are on PE to receive high investments from investors seeking to diversify their portfolios. If this prediction is fulfilled; Moonfare is likely to partake in the investment direction.
Quantexa
Latest post-money valuation: €678.7M (2021)
Some of the losses companies have recorded in recent years have shown that fraud prevention must be prioritized for every organization. It cannot be emphasized that scams and cyber attacks are at an all time high presently.
Quantexa based off London provides software which presents external and internal view of data and tackles the issue of financial crime, customer intelligence, credit risk and the knotty issue of fraud. In July 2021, Quantexa secured $153 million in its funding round led by Warburg Pincus. Some of Quantexa’s biggest clients are banks, insurers and government authorities.
As originally reported in (https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/europe-vc-future-unicorn-2023)
