European tech start-ups receive record investment

The Swedish investment firm Atomico expects investments of 41 billion US dollars for European start-ups. However, less was invested in German companies.

Despite Corona, 2020 could be a good year for startups in Europe. Atomico's "State of the European Tech" report forecasts $41 billion in investments for European startups by the end of the year. That would be $2.4 billion more than last year.

Yet the year started badly for the industry because of the Corona pandemic. In the second quarter of 2020, investors had put 36 percent less into fledgling companies than in the same period last year. It wasn't until the summer that the trend turned around. In September alone, for example, funders pumped five billion dollars into tech companies - the most for a single month ever measured by Atomico in its very comprehensive and important study.

Investors have poured just $5.4 billion into German startups this year, nearly twenty percent less than last year. Despite the losses, this puts Germany in second place behind the UK ($12.5 billion) and ahead of France ($5.2 billion). With Berlin, Munich, Mainz and Düsseldorf, four cities are among the twenty European cities where the most money was invested in start-ups.

Among the most successful money raisers is Swedish payment service provider Klarna. In a single round of funding, the company raised $650 million in venture capital. In second place is Swedish battery maker Nothvolt with $600 million.