VENTURE CAPITAL ACTIVITY SKYROCKETS IN THE FIRST HALF OF 2021
Global Venture Capital (VC) in 2021
By: Haley Bryan | July 8, 2021
The total amount raised from venture capital investments grew 149.9% in the first two quarters of 2021 compared to the same period last year. All regions have seen significant surges, but Europe has seen astonishing growth. European-based portfolio companies picked up their Q2 activity by 78.4% compared to Q1 and activity is up 229.6% from the same quarter in the previous year.
Rapid Growth in Europe
In the first six months of 2021, portfolio companies based in Europe raised nearly $50 billion; this surpasses the $38 billion raised in all of 2020. Of the $50 billion raised, 71.4% was split across five countries: UK, Italy, Germany, France, and Sweden. While these major markets are not new players in VC, smaller emerging markets like Romania, Croatia, and Greece have also benefitted from this capital investment growth. Europe is increasingly attracting investor capital as several technology firms continue to emerge in the region.
Technology has continued to be the dominant sector receiving VC funding in 2021. Seven sectors have already outperformed their 2020 VC totals in the first six months of 2021. They are Commercial Services, Consumer Durables, Consumer Non-Durables, Industrial Services, Producer Manufacturing, Retail Trade, Technology Services, Transportation, and Utilities.