While certain malcontents bemoan successful individuals, the reality is that when markets reward innovative entrepreneurs, they tend to use this success to support others attempting to do the same. This is one of the reasons the US innovation ecosystem has been thriving, creating the most unicorns in any region.
The report defines a unicorn is a company valued at over $1 billion or having a $1+ billion valuation at exit that was founded in Europe and Israel from 1999 onwards.
Accel, a global venture fund, has shared a report that states Europe and Israel’s entrepreneurial ecosystem is being fueled by successful founders. The report states that over 2000 tech startups have been founded by former Israeli/European unicorn employees. Additionally, 22 unicorn founders have already produced an additional 25 “unicorn founder factories.” Of the 360 venture-backed unicorns, 281 have backed 2027 new startups.
Accel states that what happened in Silicon Valley decades ago is happening in Europe and Israel today as the “flywheel” is spinning, providing access to capital and supporting risky ventures.
Accel highlights several successful private ventures, including Klarna, Spotify, and Zalando, which have become catalysts for 181 companies across Europe and Israel.
Skype is said to sit atop the list of unicorn founder factories, engendering “unicorn founder factories,” as Bolt, Pipedrive, and Wise, were all founded by former Skype employees.
The phenomenon continues in the second generation. Wise has supported 30 tech companies backed by former employees, while Bolt has 28, and Pipedrive has 14.
The UK’s unicorns have supported the most tech founders across Europe and Israel, with 45 of the UK’s 62 VC-backed unicorns fuelling 393 European and Israeli–founded tech startups. Israel, Germany, and France come second, third, and fourth in the ranking, according to the data:
- 65 Israeli unicorns have fuelled 380 tech-enabled startups across Europe and Israel
- 42 German unicorns have fuelled 366 tech-enabled startups across Europe and Israel
- 32 French unicorns have fuelled 270 tech-enabled startups across Europe and Israel
- 10 Swedish unicorns have fuelled 211 tech-enabled startups across Europe and Israel
- 11 Spanish unicorns have fuelled 85 tech-enabled startups across Europe and Israel
- Five Estonian unicorns have fuelled 81 tech-enabled startups across Europe and Israel
- Nine Danish unicorns have fuelled 73 tech-enabled startups across Europe and Israel
- Eight unicorns in the Netherlands have fuelled 50 tech-enabled startups across Europe and Israel
- Six Finnish unicorns have fuelled 49 tech-enabled startups across Europe and Israel
- Five Irish unicorns have fuelled 21 tech-enabled startups across Europe and Israel
- Four Belgian unicorns have fuelled 15 tech-enabled startups across Europe and Israel
- Three Austrian unicorns have fuelled 13 tech-enabled startups across Europe and Israel
- Two Polish unicorns have fuelled 13 tech-enabled startups across Europe and Israel
- Three Norwegian unicorns have fuelled 12 tech-enabled startups across Europe and Israel
- Four Portuguese unicorns have fuelled 12 tech-enabled startups across Europe and Israel
- Six Swiss unicorns have fuelled 12 tech-enabled tech-enabled startups across Europe and Israel
- One Romanian unicorn has fuelled 10 tech-enabled startups across Europe
Policymakers everywhere should be enacting legislation and rules designed to support access to capital and risk-taking. This includes lower taxes, including capital gains, and streamlined regulatory environments. An innovation-driven economy creates jobs and generates wealth – and not just for founders. Markets always win.
The following startups have raised $1 billion or more:
- Startups founded by former Delivery Hero employees have raised around $3.74B, including:
- Flink ($1.38B)
- Gorillas ($1.3B raised ahead of acquisition)
- JOKR ($530M)
- Startups founded by former Skype employees have raised around $3.47B, including:
- Bolt ($1.89B)
- Cera ($397M)
- Wise ($396M)
- Startups founded by former Deliveroo employees have raised around $1.91B, including:
- Gorillas ($1.3B raised ahead of acquisition)
- Zego ($210M raised)
- Manual ($73.4M raised)
- Startups founded by former HelloFresh employees have raised around $1.64B, including:
- Gorillas ($1.3B raised ahead of acquisition)
- Moonfare ($215M)
- Ostrom ($23.3M)
- Startups founded by former Zalando employees have raised around $1.14B, including:
- Choco ($339M)
- GROPYUS ($330M)
- Holidu ($158M)
- Startups founded by former Spotify employees have raised around $1.01B, including:
- Neko Health ($326M)
- Podimo ($221M)
- Anyfin ($128M)
- Startups founded by former Criteo employees have raised around $1.01B, including:
- Pigment ($389M)
- Zoe ($100M)
- Lifen ($85.3M)