The value generated by European B2B startups per funding outweighs that of US and B2C startups which have been founded in the period 2010-2020 according to one of the most recent analyses of McKinsey & Company “The new hidden champions”. Using data from published funding rounds and startup valuations from Crunchbase as well as interviews with 20 investors and founders of European B2B startups, the international business consulting company has calculated that the European B2B startups have been able to generate 2.4 times more revenue on each invested dollar than their counterparts and almost 10% more valuation per funding.
Looking with more detail into the efficiency of the invested capital, the report shows that Eastern and Southern European B2B startups, in particular, enjoy the highest rates of efficiency as they surpass US startups with 5 times more revenue per equity funding. Moreover, as the graph prepared by the German business and startup media Grunderszene show, regional SEE B2B startups from Slovenia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Romania are occupying the leading positions in the ranking regards the efficiency of invested capital.
In terms of industries, European B2B ventures who are involved in the Deep Tech and Enterprise Software sectors outperform their US counterparts the most, while the startups from the Social Media and Commerce sectors offer investors the most revenue per total equity funding. The report highlights that the reason for the success of the growth of European B2B startups might be due to the fact that the Series A, B, and C funding rounds are driven by the entire ecosystem – during the last five years, there has been an increase of the investments coming not only from VC firms but also from angel investors, recent founders and corporate venture capitalists.
Which are B2B startups from the SEE with the latest investment rounds?
In the Bulgarian startup ecosystem, the latest investments in B2B startups were made in the insurance tech company Boleron which in February 2021 received €500k from New Vision 3 and Eleven Ventures, increasing its valuation to nearly €3m, according to Dealroom estimates. February 2021 also marked the closing of a €1.3M round of the propetch FantasticStay which brought up its valuation between €5 – 8m and the €400k investment in the Romanian agent-client workflow management platform SuperOkay. More Romanian B2B startups that have secured investment since the beginning of 2021 are the proptech Milluu which very recently raised €884k coming from Seedblink crowdfundíng investors, Early Game Ventures, Roca X, and Simple Capital, as well as the fintech Finqware which in January raised €500k from Eleven Ventures and GapMinder, and the AI chatbot startup Druid which closed a $2m round from GapMinder and Early Game Ventures. Examples from the Greek ecosystem include Bespot’s €1M round and the undisclosed investment of the local VC Uni.Fund in e-satisfaction – a startup that uses customer feedback to propose changes to businesses in the retail industry.
