Europe’s Venture Market Finds Its Strength in Early-Stage and AI Funding in Q3
Most of the money flowed into early-stage and seed deals, with late-stage activity lagging behind.
• Europe’s startups pulled in $13.1B in Q3 2025, marking a 22% year-over-year growth.
• Early-stage and AI funding led the charge, with AI alone taking 40% of total investment.
• Late-stage deals stayed sluggish, showing Europe’s struggle to scale its brightest ideas.
If you were to take a quick glance at the big numbers around European startups this quarter, nothing would jump out at you. In Q3 2025, startups across the continent pulled in $13.1 billion across more than 1,000 deals, according to Crunchbase data, a figure that’s flat compared to the previous quarter but up 22% year over year.
It’s a welcome lift in the region, but a closer look at the numbers shows that despite the increment, growth was not equal across the board.
Most of the money investors poured in this quarter flowed into early-stage and seed deals, with late-stage activity lagging behind. In fact, early-stage investment accounted for about 60% of total funding last quarter, a strong signal that investors are still betting on new ideas and innovation, even if they’re more careful about scaling bets.
Early-stage funding remains the continent’s quiet strength
Investors went all in on early-stage investments this quarter as funding at this level rose 31% year over year to reach $6.1 billion across more than 250 deals, making it the single strongest contributor to Europe’s total venture volume.
Most of the investments were spread across categories, including energy, biotech, fintech, and robotics, all areas where European startups are pushing strong technical innovation.
