Top 15 Unicorn Startups in Europe to watch out for in 2021

Pratyusha Srivastava

Jul 21, 2021 — 6 min read

You might be wondering, which countries are known to have the highest number of unicorns around? Well, answering simple, countries in Europe have been known to have these numbers rising more by each year. Startups are majorly recognised by their valuation. And, in Europe, around 10 new unicorns have been recognised in the year 2020.

Likewise, many more startups are on their way to join the billion dollars valuation list. Over the past years, the startups around Europe have grown in a wide number. And among these, many have made their way to the unicorn list of Europe.

According to the database of 2021, many funding deals, M&A and IPOs are recorded to the mint condition of unicorns in Europe by the rising numbers. And many startups that reached the 1 billion valuation were found.

That's why we have made things quite easy for you and brought the list of unicorns in Europe. Stay tuned!

Global Switch
Klarna
Revolut
Hopin
CureVac
Nucom Group
Monzo
Greensill
Bolt
Shift Technology
Epidemic Sound
Atom Bank
Auto1 Group
Darktrace
Dfinity
FAQ

Global Switch

Global Switch is known to be the most valuable unicorn in Europe that regulates the data centres in Asia and Europe. By the year 2018, the company's 25% stake worth $2.8 Billion, was sold to some consortium investors. This brought the company with the help of its expansion plans.

Klarna

The very prominent company offering online payment services, Klarna, has recently made a great number of acquisitions. These have been recorded as the purchase of cart and checkout browser expansion Shop.co and then, its Germany based expenditure company Billpay worth $75 Million. Klarna is a very well established unicorn of Sweden, Europe.

Revolut

The fastest and the broadest growing digital banking company, Revolut is known widely across Europe. Revolut has broadly expanded its business from a mere travel currency card company to a well-established full-time range of digital banking services.

Revolut has quite a tough competition with the N26 and it's moving all the way out to beat its competitors.

Hopin

Hopin is a very well known Virtual events platform in Europe that made its fastest way towards the list of unicorns; within 8 months of its launch. And, by the end of 2020, it became the fastest-growing company in Europe.

CureVac

The well-established biopharmaceutical company works with the usage of mRNA for various medical purposes but, most importantly for the development of vaccines. CureVac is a unicorn established in Germany worth $1.7 billion.

Nucom Group

The Germany-based startup, Nucom Group holds a portfolio of consumer & lifestyle brands. This also includes the Parship, Eharmony, Amoreli and Falconi.

Nucom Group has a valuation of $2.2 billion with the prominent investment by General Atlantic, which holds around 30% of the company's stake.

Monzo

Monzo is a startup established in the United Kingdom as a challenger bank. The valuation of Monzo is estimated at $2.5 billion. Monzo has raised a $144 million series F from its potential investors such as Stripe, Accel, Y Combinator and General Catalyst.

Greensill

Greensill is a supply chain finance company that carries the position of the third party between the solid suppliers and the businesses. They offer early supplier payment and business funding. Greensill has the investments of General Atlantic, SoftBank Group and many others.

Bolt

The leading transportation platform, Bolt is one of the European developing companies. Bolt was initially launched as Taxify which was an environmental influence fund along with a €10 million seed capital. It took the initiative of manufacturing such products that suit the global science and environmental advantages.

With all means, Bolt now operates around 13,000 electrical Scooters and bikes.

Shift Technology

The company with a valuation of $1 billion, Shift Technology is known to be Europe's largest insurance funding round which raised to $220 million Series D within a week. Shift Technology is a France based company that aimed the expansion of its casualty insurance market and its property along with health security.

Shift Technology gained its unicorn status in May 2021 with total funding of €289 million.

Epidemic Sound

Epidemic Sound was launched in 2009 but, recently, in march 2021, it found its way to the unicorn list of Europe. It was raised with equity from fhe EQT Group and Blackstone, worth $450 million. Moreover, it also has its alignment with the Kichi Invest, SEB, Creandum and DS Asset Management.

Epidemic Sound holds a valuation of €1.3 billion.

Atom Bank

AtoM Bank is the first-ever app bank in the United Kingdom. It provides the offering of a wide range of personal and business banking products in a mobile banking application which can be protected by the voice of face lock. Atom Bank gained its unicorn status in 2018 when it raised $514 million and extended its valuation of $1.25 billion.

Auto1 Group

Auto1 Group is a European company that provides a marketplace where you can conveniently sell or buy a car. It's a platform that connects the buyers and sellers to crack a potential deal.

In the January of 2018, Auto1 Group received an investment worth €460 million from Softbank which led its way to the unicorn list.

Darktrace

Darktrace is a billion dollars tech company that works against cybercrime through machine learning and artificial intelligence that helps it to detect the assailant through its Enterprise Immune System. In May 2018, the country gained a valuation of $1.25 billion and made its way to the unicorn list.

Dfinity

Dfinity is a well-established company in Switzerland. It is a software company that designs to host the next level of services and technology through blockchain, decentralised networking.

Dfinity was founded in 2015 and now, it aimed to develop the "Internet Computer", prominently.

Conclusion

There are plenty of unicorns in the region of Europe and many are on their way to gain the status of one. Unicorns contribute an enormous role in the globalization of VC as well as the economy. Among the countries of Europe, Israel has the most number of unicorns, followed by the United Kingdom and Germany in line.

Through this article, you would know some of the fastest-growing and developing unicorns of Europe.

FAQ

How many unicorns are there in Europe?

There are approximately 70 unicorns in Europe as of 2021.

How many unicorns are there in the world?

There are around 700 unicorns in the world as of July, 2021.

Which country has the most number of unicorns?

United States tops the list of most number of unicorns with 288 unicorns.

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