Go West

Raising funds

As one of the first – if not the first – institution to fund the tech SMEs we work with, we're often asked for advice on their fundraising efforts. We make around 200 loans a year, so naturally we’ve built strong connections with VCs and usually have good insights into who might be the right investors for our clients. However, our advice is usually a bit different: Go West.

Source Preqin, Perplexity (which itself used Dealroom, OpenVC, SEC filings and the company’s own websites) If you're struggling to see the European ones, they are Balderton Capital, Atomico, BGF, Sofinnova and Partech.

As the chart above reflects, the pools of capital, depth of expertise, and willingness to take risks in the US startup ecosystem often leaves the European one in the dust.

US vs European Venture Capitalist

Of course, the largest VCs aren’t always the best fit for every opportunity. But overall, our ChatGPT-generated image captures the fundraising picture in the US vs Europe quite well.

Yes, I know, chatGPT put an EU flag in Russia, and an odd looking European one on the US side. This was the best I managed to get it to do after several attempts.

	USA	Europe
Pros	More capital, more funds Higher valuations Faster response time Clearer investment process Facilitate access to US markets	Proximity More capital for climate tech
Cons	Distance May be restricted on European investments Aggressive returns targets	Low risk tolerance Lower expertise, can feel like a cottage industry Lack of scale-up expertise

In the end, while going west might not be the answer for every company, the opportunities and resources across the Atlantic are worth considering, especially for ambitious startups aiming to scale quickly and access larger markets.