14. April 2025
European And North American Startups Feel Pinch As Venture Capital Funding Plummets 21
Venture capital funding in Europe and North America down 21% year-over-year
The venture capital funding landscape for European and North American startups has slowed down significantly, with a 21% year-over-year decline. The largest sector for funding was healthcare and biotech, which raised $4 billion — or 32% of Europe’s funding in Q1.
Healthcare leads the way
Europe-based financial services startups raised $2.8 billion in Q1, while AI-related companies landed $2.7 billion. Spain raised $1 billion in Q1 for the first time in more than two years, with the U.K. being consistently the leading market for venture funding. London-based companies received significant investments: Google-backed AI drug discovery company Isomorphic Labs ($600 million) and payments platform Rapyd ($500 million).
Late-stage funding
Large late-stage rounds were invested by two London-based companies: Isomorphic Labs and Rapyd. The next largest fundings were outside of the U.K.: Berlin-based Amboss, which provides medical knowledge for clinical decision making ($259 million), and Barcelona-based TravelPerk, which offers business travel management services ($200 million).
Early-stage funding
European seed funding totaled $1.6 billion in Q1 across 850 seed rounds. This represents a downturn by region, with Asia showing significant slowing down in venture capital funding. Latin America has also seen a decline.
Methodology and definitions
The data contained in this report comes directly from Crunchbase, and is based on reported data as of April 2, 2025. Data lags are most pronounced at the earliest stages of venture activity, with seed funding amounts increasing significantly after the end of a quarter/year.
Glossary of funding terms
Seed and angel consists of seed, pre-seed and angel rounds. Early-stage consists of Series A and Series B rounds, as well as other round types. Late-stage consists of Series C, Series D, Series E and later-lettered venture rounds following the “Series [Letter]” naming convention. Technology growth is a private-equity round raised by a company that has previously raised a “venture” round.
The slowdown in venture capital funding in Europe and North America has significant implications for startups. With decreased funding, companies may struggle to secure necessary capital to scale their operations, innovate, and compete in the market.