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Fact check! Is VC fundraising really in dire straits?

European VC fundraising has fallen of a cliff, according to Pitchbook. But Dealroom data says otherwise.

Last week some Pitchbook numbers were doing the rounds showing a collapse in new funds raised by VCs in 2025 - funds raised by European VCs were down 60% compared to 2024 according to Pitchbook.

Dealroom data shows a different story. 

According to Dealroom data, there have been 247 new funds raised by European VCs in 2025, a few more than the 123 reported by Pitchbook. 

European VCs have raised $20.5B in new funds so far in 2025. While this is down 24% on the $27.1B raised by VCs in full year 2024, it's hardly the 60% collapse advertised.

For the record we don't include intended fund raise targets, figures are only included after first close. We just have much better market coverage.

There are some interesting trends in the data though.

• UK fundraising is down significantly. UK VCs have raised $3.7B so far in 2025, down 56% on 2024. 
• As a result the UK represents just 18% of new funds raised in Europe in 2025, where typically the UK's share sits at 30-40%. It's lower even than Brexit vote year 2016.

• French VCs raised $5.1B in 2025, more than UK peers, and an all-time high.

Here are some of the new funds raised in Europe so far in 2025:

🧬 Sofinnova Capital - €1.2B - Series A+ life science. 

🍒 Cherry Ventures - €500M - Fund V for leading Seed fund.

🛟 Lifeline Ventures - $470M - Finland's largest ever fund. Pre-Seed & Seed.

🤖 Jolt Capital - €600M - European deep tech.

🌅 Evantic Capital - $400M - Matt Miller's new fund, backed Lovable & N8n. 

🅰️ Project A - €325M - Fund V for operational VC, with >100 platform experts.

👴 Aspire11 - €500M - Global investor, backed by European pensions.

♻️ Norrsken Foundation - €300M - Impact VC from Klarna co-founder.

Techbio x AI drug discovery

The era of "what if" in AI drug discovery is over. 2025 is the year TechBio platforms are finally delivering pipelines and entering the clinic for real.

Our new report with Speedinvest shows a maturing ecosystem where capital is consolidating around scaled platforms rather than early-stage experimentation:

• Funding is Back: 2025 is projected to be the 3rd best year on record with $2.3B raised, driven by massive rounds like Isomorphic Labs’ $600M.
• Clinical Reality: There are now 31 AI-discovered assets in clinical phases in 2025. It’s no longer just research; it’s development.
• The Efficiency Gap: There is a massive mismatch in funding vs. cost. Target discovery attracts $1.8B in funding (only 3% of costs), while Clinical Phases I-III bear 62% of the costs but get relatively little VC attention.
• Chemical Synthesis is Booming: We can design drugs, but can we make them? Funding for chemical synthesis startups has surged to $247M in 2025 as the industry tries to solve the "making molecules" bottleneck.

Big Pharma is playing catch-up, and the next decade belongs to the digitized lab.

Also

🇵🇱 Polish tech - the powerhouse of CEE. Latest report with PFR.

🔌 Productivity hack: if you haven't already, install the Dealroom Chrome Extension, and get instant company info while on any startup website. 

🇯🇵 Startup DB (Japanese startup database) x Dealroom collab. 

🇳🇱 The "Dutch Draghi" report is out, from ex-ASML CEO Peter Wennink 

🇮🇹  Unveiling the open-access platform mapping the OGR Torino tech ecosystem. A 360 degree blueprint of Torino innovation powered by Dealroom - for builders.

🔬 The State of UK Deep Tech, report with the Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Hub.  

🗞️ Data Corner: UK and Swiss universities dominate European spin-out rankings - Science|Business, with Dealroom data.

🗞️ AI's latest French connection has a familiar face - Bloomberg, with Dealroom data.

🗞️ AI defense booms in UK and Germany as new wave of billion-dollar startups emerge - CNBC, with Dealroom data.