European venture capital enjoyed a robust 2020, certainly when it comes to deployment, according to Unquote Data. Looking at the entire segment, dealflow was up 10% year-on-year compared with 2019 numbers, with aggregate value ever so slightly down – but, at €32.9bn overall, still way ahead of the historical average over the previous decade. This is confirmed when looking at the "pure VC" space of seed- and early-stage rounds, where the year-on-year growth rate for dealflow was closer to the 19% mark.

More importantly, the market's momentum was not broken by the onset of coronavirus at the end of Q1 – the second quarter actually reflected an uptick in investment activity, and aggregate value in particular continued climbing in each subsequent quarter as the market became more confident in going ahead with large-scale rounds as the year went on. Data so far indicates that volume in the seed & early-stage segment finished the year on a depressed note – but it remains to be seen if this trend is verified once more deals invariably come to light through secondary research in the coming weeks.

Greg Gille Editor Unquote

Greg Gille joined Unquote in 2010 as a reporter, initially focusing on the French private equity market. He was promoted to senior reporter and then news editor, before becoming deputy editor in 2013 and online editor a year later. He is currently editor, overseeing editorial content in print and online.

Greg graduated from Sciences Po Paris with a Master's degree in media management in 2009. He started his career in Paris before moving to London in 2010.