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Europe has now produced 41 tech companies that have achieved $B+ valuations through private market investment rounds, via an acquisition or through a valuation in the public markets post-IPO
Number of European $B+ companies founded since 2003
Today in Europe we’ve created so many fantastic companies over the last seven to ten years, so now there is so much talent. More smart people from universities are choosing to go into tech. You have everything in Europe to create billion dollar companies, ten billion dollar companies or maybe even hundred billion dollar companies.
The UK has produced the most $B+ companies, but they have now emerged from 11 different countries across Europe since 2003
European billion-dollar companies by valuation
| Company | Sector | Company status | Year founded | Year first reached $B+ | Country | Latest valuation ($B) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spotify | Content | Private | 2006 | 2011 | Sweden | 13 |
| Zalando | Retail | Public | 2008 | 2012 | Germany | 11.7 |
| Supercell | Gaming | Acquired | 2010 | 2013 | Finland | 10.2 |
| Skype | Social | Acquired | 2003 | 2005 | Sweden | 8.5 |
| DeliveryHero | Food and Drink | Public | 2010 | 2014 | Germany | 7.6 |
| King.com | Games | Acquired | 2003 | 2014 | Sweden | 5.9 |
| Markit Group | Financial Services | Acquired | 2003 | 2010 | UK | 5.5 |
| Rocket Internet | Retail | Public | 2007 | 2012 | Germany | 3.9 |
| Zendesk | Enterprise Apps | Public | 2007 | 2014 | Denmark | 3.5 |
| The Hut Group | Retail | Private | 2004 | 2017 | UK | 3.3 |
| Boohoo.com | Retail | Public | 2006 | 2016 | UK | 3 |
| Trivago | Travel & Transportation | Public | 2005 | 2017 | Netherlands | 2.6 |
| Unity | Enterprise Software | Private | 2004 | 2016 | Denmark | 2.6 |
| Evolution Gaming | Games | Public | 2006 | 2016 | Sweden | 2.6 |
| Auto1 Group | Retail | Private | 2012 | 2015 | Germany | 2.5 |
| Mojang | Games | Acquired | 2009 | 2014 | Sweden | 2.5 |
| Klarna | Financial Services | Private | 2005 | 2013 | Sweden | 2.5 |
| Vkontakte | Social | Acquired | 2006 | 2012 | Russia | 2.5 |
| Avito | Classified Directories | Acquired | 2007 | 2014 | Russia | 2.4 |
| Criteo | Adtech | Public | 2005 | 2013 | France | 2.4 |
| Fleetmatics | Enterprise Apps | Acquired | 2004 | 2012 | Ireland | 2.4 |
| Adyen | Financial Services | Private | 2006 | 2014 | Netherlands | 2.3 |
| Deliveroo | Food and Drink | Private | 2013 | 2016 | UK | 2 |
| Farfetch | Retail | Private | 2007 | 2015 | UK | 2 |
| ZPG | Real Estate | Public | 2007 | 2014 | UK | 2 |
| HelloFresh | Food and Drink | Public | 2011 | 2015 | Germany | 1.9 |
| Mimecast | Enterprise Apps | Public | 2003 | 2016 | UK | 1.8 |
| Social | Public | 2003 | 2015 | Germany | 1.7 | |
| TransferWise | Financial Services | Private | 2010 | 2015 | UK | 1.6 |
| BlaBlaCar | Travel & Transportation | Private | 2006 | 2014 | France | 1.6 |
| Blippar | Consumer Software Apps | Private | 2011 | 2015 | UK | 1.5 |
| FanDuel | Games | Private | 2009 | 2015 | UK | 1.5 |
| Purplebricks | Real Estate | Public | 2012 | 2017 | UK | 1.4 |
| Talend | Enterprise Apps | Public | 2005 | 2017 | France | 1.3 |
| Outfit7 | Games | Acquired | 2009 | 2017 | Slovenia | 1.1 |
| Global Fashion Group | Retail | Private | 2011 | 2015 | Germany | 1.1 |
| Improbable | Enterprise Apps | Private | 2012 | 2017 | UK | 1 |
| Rovio | Games | Public | 2003 | 2017 | Finland | 1 |
| MindMaze | Healthcare | Private | 2012 | 2016 | Switzerland | 1 |
| Funding Circle | Financial Services | Private | 2010 | 2015 | UK | 1 |
| Qiwi | Enterprise Apps | Public | 2007 | 2013 | Russia | 1 |
I believe Europe will continue to lead in industries where creativity, tradition and craftsmanship are key, such as fashion. It is no coincidence that the largest players in online luxury fashion are European. In fact, even in the more mass market companies like Zalando. ASOS, inditex, Adidas, are clearly leading the way both off- and online with a high degree of technological innovation.
