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April 29, 2006
Euro Tech Investment Up - Record Year Expected, CalibreOne
For the first time in many months the a:c euro can report good news about the amount of money flowing into European tech ventures. The numbers are up, with almost a billion US dollars worth of deals disclosed.
According to Trans-Atlantic executive search firm, CalibreOne, first quarter investment figures for European venture-backed tech firms achieved the highest quarter since the firm started tracking deals back in 1Q04. We've posted the analysis and a breakdown by country, sourcing CalibreOne Index below.
A couple of things that we note: as usual the UK is at the top in terms of capital raised, but new is that France is catching up. France is out-punching all other countries in Europe, as well as Israel. We believe that one reason for the improving French performance is the strong flow of repeat entrepreneurs and VC's willingness to back them, as well as the willingness to invest in telecoms infrastructure again. Ireland raised more capital than the Nordic region this quarter, also mainly due to telecoms deals.
Fortunately, the predictions of a very significant turnaround in investment levels this quarter proved true. Q1 2006 saw record levels of tech investment in Europe with a total of $910M deployed across the region – compared with a previous high of $748M in Q3 2005. All countries in the region performed well, with the UK, France and Benelux countries all showing the highest levels of tech investment since the Calibre One Index started in Q1 2004. It is clear that the UK and Israel see the majority of tech investment in the region. However, other countries are also growing strongly. The general trend in France is very positive, although investment levels have historically been erratic. It is also interesting to note that the German-speaking countries showed a small resurgence in activity. The widely held view is that there is huge value waiting to be unlocked in Germany. Is this process starting now? 2006 has started very well for the firm and, with investment levels holding up as they are, I fully expect this to be a record year.
Country / total raised $
Largest Deal
UK/ 308,521,790
Mar-15 Icera 40,000,000 Amadeus Capital Partners (Lead), Accel Partners, Atlas Capital,
Benchmark Capital (fabless semiconductor)
France / 128,467,920
Feb-06 Erenis 27,065,700 AGF Private Equity (Lead), Credit Agricole, Net Partners (fiber optic network services)
Israel / 123,390,000
Jan-23 Wisair 20,000,000 Apax Partners (Lead), Bynet Ventures, Intel Capital,
Vertex Venture Capital Israel
Feb-03 Siano Mobile Silicon 20,000,000 Jerusalem Venture Partners (Lead), Star Ventures Management,
Walden Israel Funds
Germany, Austria Switzerland - DACH / 96,908,070
Jan-03 Webpay 23,705,600 3i Group (Lead)
Feb-14 Dialog Imaging Systems 26,476,390 3i Group (Lead), Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures,
GIMV, Individuals, L-EA
Ireland / 78,202,000
Jan-15 Irish Broadband 30,000,000 NTR
Nordic / 67,381,100
Feb-13 MySQL 18,500,000 Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) (Lead), Intel Capital,
Presidio STX, Red Hat, SAP Ventures
Benelux / 58,656,000
Jan-16 Metris International 42,456,000 GIMV (Lead), KBC, Quest for Growth
Southern Europe/ 33,600,000
Feb-06 FON 21,700,000 Index Ventures (Lead), Google, Skype
Link – CalibreOne Index (PDF file)
Posted on April 29, 2006 06:52 AM | Posted to News And Updates | Permalink
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