The billion-dollar mark is the holy grail for many tech companies looking to scale fast and build big.
But it’s not often achieved.
There have been just 30 tech companies founded since 2000 in Europe and Israel that have reached a $1bn+ valuation, new research from GP Bullhound has shown.
That is 0.27% of all the tech firms founded in the region in the last 14 years.
That percentage might not sound like much but, actually, us and our European chums are doing okay in worldwide terms.
The US, which many believe has a far superior track record of producing $1bn+ tech companies, hasn’t actually produced many more. It saw only 39 companies founded between 2003 and 2013 hit $1bn.
And let’s not forget that the European figures only refer to companies founded since 2000, making their growth rate hugely impressive for companies that are still less than 15 years old.
As it happens, if you’re a UK tech business, you’re more likely than any other area in Europe (and Israel) to hit $1bn, since we produced 11 of the 30 companies to hit $1bn+ since 2000 – according to the research, reported in the Guardian.
These businesses include Just-Eat and ASOS.
Read our interview with former Just-Eat CEO Klaus Nyengaard.
And as it happens, we’ve just scored another one to add to those ranks: Dan Wagner’s London-based Powa hit a $2.7bn valuation last week after acquiring a rival payment technology.
Read our interview with Powa founder Dan Wagner.
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