European equity funding is slightly down compared to H2 2023, but there are still plenty of reasons to be cheerful. 

According to Sifted’s H1 2024 review report, which began tracking funding rounds in late 2023, Europe is finding its footing following volatility since the heady, funding-happy days of 2021.

Highlighting the resurgence of fintech after an underwhelming 18 months, and the continued strength of climate tech, it also illustrates how The European Investment Bank was the most active investor in debt funding. 

3 skilled jobs hiring right now

This demonstrates its commitment to furthering Europe’s position as a producer of cutting-edge technology, particularly in semiconductors, quantum computing, and climate tech.

Climate tech leads the way

Climate tech received a staggering €21.3B in investment in total, far outpacing other sectors, like consumer, B2B SaaS, fintech deeptech and health tech. 

However, this impressive figure is largely attributed to two monster debt rounds.

Sweden’s Northvolt and H2 Green Steel secured the most capital in H1, raising €5B and €4.75B respectively in January alone. These massive rounds underscore the appetite for investment in sustainable infrastructure and green manufacturing.

Elsewhere, in the top 10 biggest equity funding rounds list, climate-focused companies still made a very strong showing. 

Behind autonomous driving company Wayve’s record-breaking $1.05B round, battery provider Zenobē Energy secured the second-largest deal of H1, adding £410M of new debt to its existing £241m. Notably, Zenobē has bypassed traditional VC funding, instead turning to private equity and infrastructure funders.

Other significant climate tech raises include Electra electric vehicles in France (€304M in Series B), and Germany’s circular economy star, Everphone (€270M in series D).

Sweden’s Syre was yet another noteworthy H1 raiser, the textiles recycling startup announced a $100M series A round in May after launching two years ago as a tandem venture with H&M. It nabbed third place on the list of 10 biggest early-stage equity funding rounds, behind Germany’s Cloover in the green homes sector, and €200M seed funding for French AI startup, H.

Additionally, in fifth place on the same list is Kaluza, the UK energy/smart grids company which secured €92M in an undisclosed deal type.

Venture debt rising

Interestingly, venture debt is climbing among startups and scaleups in climate tech. Many founders are opting for acquiring debt over giving equity, believing giving away equity will be more expensive in the long run. Instead, these founders are opting to repay relatively high interest rates instead, a strong vote of confidence in their own business. 

Some 12% of climate tech’s growth and late-stage stage-funding rounds fall under debt deals, higher than healthtech’s 4%, B2B SaaS’s 5%, consumer’s 9% and deeptech’s 11%, all with presumably, more developed revenue models. 

3 more European roles hiring now

This may be attributed to the fact that while many of Europe’s futuristic climate projects are innovative, they have yet to be proven at scale. 

And despite this healthy injection of funding into climate tech, it’s not all sunshine and roses. Since funding Northolt saw a $2B order from BMW cancelled, and is now assessing the viability of some of its factories. 

However, if innovation continues at this pace and institutional pace remains, the European tech ecosystem is well-positioned to become a world leader in the climate tech space, with or ahead of its U.S. and Chinese counterparts.

Looking for your next professional challenge? Find your next job on the Silicon Canals Job Board today

Author

Amanda Kavanagh, content strategy, production, and writing & editing at Jobbio.