ai europan report

European AI’s €683M Series A Boom: Data Analysis Report

European AI’s €683M Series A Boom: Data Analysis Report

Executive Summary

The European AI landscape has reached a significant milestone in H1 2025, with 30 startups securing Series A funding rounds of €10M or more, totalling €683 million. This comprehensive data analysis examines the funding patterns, geographic distribution, and sectoral focus of these companies, providing insights into the current state of the European AI ecosystem.

Three key trends emerge from our analysis:

  1. Vertical AI applications dominate the landscape, representing 70% of the funding rounds and showing strong market traction for industry-specific solutions.
  2. London leads as Europe’s AI hub, hosting 11 of the 30 companies and capturing 44% of total funding (€301.8M).
  3. Biotech and infrastructure companies are securing the largest investments, with 6 of the top 10 rounds going to these sectors.

Introduction: The European AI Landscape in H1 2025

The first half of 2025 has witnessed remarkable growth in Europe’s AI sector, with venture capital flowing heavily into companies that have moved beyond initial product-market fit and are now positioned for expansion. According to Pitchbook data, European AI companies raised over €13B in 2024—a 22% increase in capital invested despite a 31% decline in deal volume. This consolidation of funding among fewer, more established players signals a maturing market.

This report focuses specifically on Series A rounds of €10M or more, analyzing geographical distribution, sector focus, and funding patterns.

Key Findings & Analysis

1. Vertical AI Applications Lead the Market

The most striking trend in the H1 2025 data is the prevalence of vertical AI applications. Approximately 70% of funding rounds went to companies developing AI solutions for specific industries or business functions, rather than general-purpose AI platforms.

The vertical AI market was valued at USD 10.2 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.6% from 2025 through 2034. This rapid growth reflects a market shift toward AI solutions that address specific business problems rather than general capabilities.

Key vertical AI sectors receiving funding:

  • Healthcare & Medical: Tandem Health (€50M), Quibim (€50M)
  • Financial Services: AppliedAI (€55M), Unique (€30M), Yaspa (€12M)
  • Legal Tech: Wordsmith AI (€25M)
  • Insurance: AppliedAI (€55M)
  • E-commerce: Relay (€35M)
  • Climate & Energy: ecoplanet (€16M), ocell (€10M), Jua.ai (€10M)

Growth of Vertical vs General AI Market Share (2020-2025)

Year Vertical AI Market Share General AI Market Share
2020 30% 70%
2022 40% 60%
2024 55% 45%
2025 (proj.) 70% 30%

2. London Dominates the European AI Ecosystem

London has emerged as the clear leader in Europe’s AI ecosystem, with 11 of the 30 companies (37%) based in the city, collectively raising €301.8M—44% of the total funding. The UK secured nearly €6 billion in AI funding in 2024, exceeding the combined total of France and Germany.

Top European AI Hubs by Funding:

City Number of Companies Total Funding
London 11 €301.8M
Berlin 4 €60.8M
Stockholm 1 €50M
Valencia 1 €50M
Paris 2 €53M
Other 11 €167.4M

London’s AI Ecosystem Breakdown:

London’s AI companies span multiple categories:

  • AppliedAI (€55M) – Insurance automation
  • NexGen Cloud (€45M) – GPU infrastructure
  • Samaya AI (€43M) – Research tooling
  • Latent Labs (€40M) – Biotech AI
  • Relay (€35M) – E-commerce AI
  • Maze (€25M) – Cloud security
  • TurinTech AI (€15M) – Code optimization
  • Gradient Labs (€11.8M) – Customer success
  • Stotles (€10M) – Public sector sales
  • Yaspa (€12M) – Fintech
  • tldraw (€10M) – Developer tooling

3. Biotech & Infrastructure: Highest Value Investments

While vertical AI dominates in terms of company count, biotech and infrastructure companies secured the largest individual funding rounds, with 6 of the top 10 rounds going to these sectors.

Biotech Investments:

  • Tandem Health (Stockholm, €50M) – AI medical scribes for clinical documentation
  • Quibim (Valencia, €50M) – Advanced medical imaging analysis
  • Bioptimus (Paris, €41M) – Foundation model for biology
  • Latent Labs (London, €40M) – Generative models for biology

Infrastructure Investments:

  • NexGen Cloud (London, €45M) – Sustainable GPU infrastructure
  • cartagon.ai (Berlin, €32M) – High-performance GPUs
  • Salience Labs (Oxford, €30M) – Photonic chip infrastructure

4. Funding Tier Analysis

Breaking down the companies by funding amount reveals distinct groups:

Funding Tier Number of Companies Total Funding (€M)
Tier 1: €40M+ 6 283
Tier 2: €20-39M 7 181
Tier 3: €10-19M 17 219.8

Tier 1 Companies (€40M+):

  • AppliedAI (London, €55M)
  • Tandem Health (Stockholm, €50M)
  • Quibim (Valencia, €50M)
  • NexGen Cloud (London, €45M)
  • Samaya AI (London, €43M)
  • Bioptimus (Paris, €41M)

Tier 2 Companies (€20-39M):

  • Latent Labs (London, €40M)
  • Relay (London, €35M)
  • cartagon.ai (Berlin, €32M)
  • Salience Labs (Oxford, €30M)
  • Unique (Zürich, €30M)
  • Sereact (Stuttgart, €25M)
  • Wordsmith AI (Edinburgh, €25M)
  • Maze (London, €25M)
  • THEKER Robotics (Munich, €21M)

Tier 3 Companies (€10-19M):

17 companies with funding between €10M and €19M, collectively raising €219.8M.

Sector Analysis: Where Investment is Flowing

Healthcare & Biotech (€181M across 4 companies)

The largest sector by funding, with companies applying AI to drug discovery, diagnostics, and treatment planning.

Tandem Health (Stockholm, €50M)

Tandem Health has developed an AI-powered clinical documentation solution that acts as a medical scribe, allowing clinicians to focus on patient care rather than administrative tasks. The platform is already in use by 500+ organizations across 5+ countries. Their €50M Series A will fuel further expansion across Europe.

From their website: “Tandem Health is a European health tech company building AI to reduce admin in healthcare. With operations in 5+ countries and used by 500+ organizations, Tandem enables clinicians to focus on providing care, instead of on administrative tasks.”

Bioptimus (Paris, €41M)

Bioptimus, a pioneering AI foundation model company for biology, secured €41M in Series A funding in early 2025, bringing its total funding to €76M. Founded by ex-Google scientists, the company is developing what they call “GPT for biology”—a foundation model that could revolutionize drug discovery, diagnostics, and biotech research.

Infrastructure & GPU (€122M across 4 companies)

These companies are building the foundation layer that powers all other AI applications, scaling quickly to meet explosive demand.

NexGen Cloud (London, €45M)

NexGen Cloud, founded in 2020, secured €45M in Series A funding to expand its sovereign AI infrastructure across Europe. Its core business revolves around providing GPU-based cloud services powered entirely by renewable energy, with a focus on data sovereignty for European clients.

From their website: “NexGen Cloud, founded in 2020, is a global leader in sustainable AI Cloud solutions, offering Data Sovereignty to its clients. With all its owned hardware powered by 100% renewable energy, NexGen Cloud’s expertise is rooted in the deployment and management of advanced AI infrastructure and cloud services.”

Enterprise Solutions (€188.2M across 8 companies)

The broadest category, spanning insurance, e-commerce, finance, legal, and security. These companies are bringing AI capabilities to specific business functions and processes.

AppliedAI (London, €55M)

AppliedAI received the largest Series A round in our dataset (€55M). They develop AI solutions for the insurance industry, focusing on automating underwriting and claims processing. Their technology has achieved an 87% reduction in processing times for major insurers.

Complete Data Set: 30 European AI Leaders

Company Sector HQ Funding
AppliedAI Insurance London €55M
Tandem Health Health Stockholm €50M
Quibim Biotech Valencia €50M
NexGen Cloud GPU Infra London €45M
Samaya AI Research Tooling London €43M
Bioptimus Biotech Paris €41M
Latent Labs Biotech London €40M
Relay E-commerce London €35M
cartagon.ai High Performance GPUs Berlin €32M
Salience Labs Chips Infra Oxford €30M
Unique Finance Zürich €30M
Sereact Robotics Stuttgart €25M
Wordsmith AI Legal Tech Edinburgh €25M
Maze Cloud Security London €25M
THEKER Robotics Robotics Munich €21M
Apheris Model Performance Berlin €20.8M
Synthflow AI Voice Interfaces Berlin €20M
GetWhy Research Copenhagen €17M
ecoplanet Energy Management Munich €16M
Validation Cloud Web3 Infra Zug €15M
TurinTech AI Code Optimisation London €15M
Gradient Labs Customer Success London €11.8M
Aive Video Automation Levallois €12M
Stotles Public Sector Sales London €10M
Inven B2B M&A SaaS Helsinki €11.2M
Yaspa Fintech London €12M
Jua.ai Weather Forecasting Zürich €10M
ocell Climate Intelligence Munich €10M
Flank Enterprise Governance Berlin €10M
tldraw Developer Tooling London €10M

Market Context and Regional Analysis

Regional AI Funding Distribution (2024)

European AI funding shows significant concentration in a few key markets, with the UK leading by a substantial margin:

Region AI Funding 2024 (€B)
UK 6.0
France 3.5
Germany 2.0
Other EU 1.5

The UK secured nearly €6 billion in AI funding in 2024—more than France and Germany combined. London remains Europe’s leading startup ecosystem with 83 exits over $50M. However, 2023 was a disappointing year for large exits, as in many ecosystems.

Vertical AI Market Growth

The global vertical AI market was valued at USD 10.2 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 21.6% from 2025 through 2034. Key drivers of this growth include:

  1. Automation Demand: Process optimization, increased operational output, and labor-cost reduction
  2. Integration with Emerging Technologies: IoT, 5G, and edge computing enhancing real-time performance
  3. Big Data Proliferation: The exponential rise in data volumes (149 zettabytes in 2024) necessitating specialized AI models
  4. Cloud-Based Deployment Models: Pay-as-you-go solutions lowering barriers to entry

European AI Challenges

Despite strong funding numbers, European AI startups face several challenges:

  1. Growth-Stage Funding Gap: A risk-averse investment culture makes it difficult for scale-ups to secure late-stage funding within Europe
  2. Regulatory Complexity: The EU AI Act and other regulations create compliance challenges but also opportunities for companies specializing in compliant AI
  3. Infrastructure Deficits: Limited domestic semiconductor design/manufacturing capacity and reliance on foreign GPUs and cloud services
  4. Talent Competition: Competing with US tech giants for AI talent, though Europe maintains strong per-capita concentration of AI engineers

Conclusion: European AI at an Inflection Point

The €683 million invested across 30 European AI Series A companies in H1 2025 represents a significant milestone in Europe’s AI journey. The data reveals three critical trends:

  1. The ascendance of vertical AI solutions targeting specific industries and use cases
  2. Geographic concentration in established tech hubs, particularly London
  3. Major investments in biotech and infrastructure as foundational AI technologies

These well-funded companies have demonstrated product-market fit and secured the capital needed to scale. As they expand across European and global markets, they will likely reshape their respective industries through AI-powered innovation.

The European AI ecosystem continues to mature, with increasing specialization and a focus on solving concrete business problems rather than developing general-purpose platforms. This trend toward verticalization and specialization will likely continue through 2025 and beyond.

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European AI Funding report H1 2025

 

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