European venture funding reached $17.6 billion in Q1 2026, Crunchbase data shows. That's up nearly 30% year over year and marks the second consecutive quarter of growth. As was the case globally and in North America, the main driver was AI, which for the first time claimed more than 50% of Europe's total funding for the quarter. Still, Europe saw more capital going into fewer companies in Q1, with deal volume plummeting 40% year over year. Much of the decline was at seed stage (down 44%) and early stage (down 30%), while late-stage deal volume was in-line with the previous four quarters. Funding to Europe-based AI startups increased significantly last quarter, reaching $9.2 billion, or more than half of total venture funding to the region. That marks the sector's highest proportion in a quarter on record. The largest four rounds to startups based in Europe in Q1 were for AI-related companies. Data center builder Nscale, autonomous driving developer Wayve, and frontier lab for...
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