The State of European Angels
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The annual deep dive into the angel investment climate of Europe.

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About the report

This report, initiated by Ash Pournouri and Andreas Grape (Nordic Angels), along with BCG, embodies a comprehensive exploration and detailed data aggregation across the European startup and private market ecosystem. The objective is to map, promote, and unify the stakeholders within this ecosystem to enhance its overall bandwidth and leverage. Within the scope of this report, an 'angel' is defined as any business angel contributing to the startup and private market as an investor, board member, advisor, or through any other means that involve investing time, money, or effort to foster the growth of the startup scene. The following is an excerpt of key findings from the research and is provided to offer a glimpse into the comprehensive insights contained within the full report.


Report highlights

Startup Impact: Changing Society and Boosting Economies

Startups drive societal change and economic prosperity

20%

Smaller entities, including startups, represent 20% portion of patent applications - European patent office

50%

Half of all new jobs in OECD countries are created by companies founded in last 5 years

7.6

The value of the global startup ecosystem value surpasses the national GDP of major economies like France and Germany

Startups drive societal change and economic prosperity

Angel investors support startups across their entire lifecycle journey

The top four European markets represent 72% of total funding

67% of funding is accounted for by four countries

European investors need to take more calculated risks and work collaboratively across the ecosystem

“The reason why the US [VC investing] climate is the way it is, is because of risk appetite. People are willing to make bets on other people. In Europe, people are much more conservative.— Petter Made, EWOR

Take calculated risks

Take calculated risks

Back exceptional founders with bold ideas that redefine industries, rather than over-focusing on proven business models
Improve collaboration

Improve collaboration

Build structured Angel-to-VC and cross-border partnerships where angels can act as accelerators for VC pipelines
Foster success conditions

Foster success conditions

Strengthen Europe's talent, late-stage capital, and regulatory alignment so founders can succeed and scale out of Europe
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