Investment in European technology startups rebounded sharply in September, reaching €15.8 billion across 300 funding deals, although the United Kingdom accounted for almost half of the total, according to figures published by tech.eu.
The September fundraising total was nearly five times the €3.2 billion raised through 165 deals in August. It represented about a quarter of the nearly €60 billion invested in European technology companies during the first nine months of 2026.
The figures suggest renewed investor interest in European technology businesses, particularly those working in artificial intelligence and cloud computing. However, funding remains concentrated in a small number of countries and companies, while Europe continues to attract less investment than the United States.
Among September’s 300 deals, 25 companies raised more than €100 million each. Three funding rounds exceeded €1 billion, including investments in French AI company Mistral and AI infrastructure firm Nscale. Another 34 transactions did not disclose their values.
Mistral secured the month’s largest investment, raising €3 billion in a Series D funding round that valued the company at more than €21 billion after the investment.
Cloud computing attracted the largest share of sector funding, receiving €5.541 billion across 44 deals. Artificial intelligence ranked second, with €4.194 billion invested during the month.
Other sectors attracting significant funding included financial technology, which raised €847.7 million, and health technology, with €826.3 million. Space companies received €725.8 million, while robotics attracted €508.3 million.
Software businesses raised €421.1 million, followed by security companies with €319.8 million, telecommunications with €315 million and deep technology firms with €274.5 million.
The United Kingdom remained Europe’s leading fundraising market, securing €7.3 billion through more than 65 transactions. France ranked second with €3.478 billion, followed by Germany at €1.155 billion and the Netherlands at €1.119 billion.
Spain raised €615.8 million, Portugal secured €524.1 million and Sweden attracted €399.9 million. Italy, Bulgaria and Finland recorded investments of €373.1 million, €177.7 million and €175.8 million, respectively.
More than 11,700 investors participated in September’s funding activity. French public investment bank Bpifrance was involved in eight deals, the highest number among the investors listed by tech.eu. Germany’s High-Tech Gründerfonds participated in seven, while Italy’s Vento and the UK’s Innovate UK each took part in six transactions. Balderton Capital and the European Investment Bank were involved in five deals apiece.
The funding recovery comes as the European Union seeks to strengthen its technology industry and reduce dependence on major US technology companies.
In July, the European Commission launched a €10 billion public-private initiative to support the development of seven AI gigafactories across Europe. The initiative also aims to attract €20 billion in private investment to develop large-scale AI computing capacity.
The European Investment Bank’s TechEU programme seeks to mobilise €250 billion by 2027 through €70 billion in debt and equity financing. The EU has also allocated €8.1 billion to its Digital Europe Programme to support areas including supercomputing, cybersecurity, digital skills and semiconductors.
Despite the September rebound, the distribution of funding highlights the challenge facing Europe as it seeks to develop technology companies capable of competing globally.
