- We asked several major venture capital investors to tell us which European startups had impressed them the most so far in 2019.
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European tech has had a bumper year — seeing a record $5.3 billion investment from US VCs into the region.
It's set to continue for the rest of 2019 as funds look to find startup gems at lower valuations than their counterparts in the US. Business Insider asked VCs in Europe and the US which startups impressed them the most in 2019.
Many have had big growth fundraisings in 2019 as they continue to expand. In no particular order, here are the 15 startups:
Tessian
Startup: Tessian
Cited by these VCs: Suzanne Ashman Blair (LocalGlobe)
Total raised: $58.7 million
What it does: Tessian is a security platform for email which protects users from phishing, data loss, and any other issues that could arise from misdirected or unintentional emails.
Why it's hot in 2019: The company raised a $42 million Series B funding round led by Sequoia Capital earlier this year and has previously received funding from heavyweights such as Accel and Balderton Capital. Tessian's innovative approach to dealing with complex problems and leveraging machine-learning technology has impressed VCs.
Wefarm
Startup: Wefarm
Cited by these VCs: Suzanne Ashman Blair, LocalGlobe
Total raised: $7.9 million
What it does: Wefarm is a direct messaging platform for farmers helping to connect the millions of farmers worldwide who lack direct access to the Internet.
Why it's hot in 2019: The agtech company has a peer-to-peer network that enables small-scale farmers to access and share vital agricultural information via SMS. Wefarm raised its Series A at the end of August.
Accurx
Startup: Accurx
Cited by these VCs: Julia Hawkins (Local Globe)
Total raised: $9.1 million
What it does: Co-founded by Jacob Haddad and Laurence Bargery, who met and subsequently founded the company at Entrepreneur First in 2016, Accurx is an SMS messaging platform that allows primary caregivers to communicate directly with patients.
Why it's hot in 2019: "Launched the first and only a self-service software for NHS healthcare staff, allowing a user in a GP practice to visit Accurx.com and be messaging their patients within five minutes, now in over 50% of GP practices, without any field sales or marketing spend," Hawkins told Business Insider.
World Remit
Startup: World Remit
Cited by these VCs: Luciana Lixandru (Accel)
Total raised: $407.7 million
What it does: WorldRemit is an online service that lets people send money to friends and family living abroad, using a computer, smartphone or tablet.
Why it's hot in 2019: "World Remit is pioneering the future of the remittance market and making international mobile payments more accessible and affordable for millions of individuals and businesses," Lixandru told Business Insider.
Elvie
Startup: Elvie
Cited by these VCs: Juliette Souliman (Octopus Ventures)
Total raised: $53.8 million
What it does: Elvie is a British femtech company which creates wearable tech products including pelvic-floor exercisers and breast pumps.
Why it's hot in 2019: The company's Series B was the largest in the history of femtech and Elvie is making big strides in major markets. It's down to the tenacity of founder and CEO Tania Boler, according to Souliman.
GoCardless
Startup: GoCardless
Cited by these VCs: Accel, Balderton Capital
Total raised: $122.3 million
What it does: GoCardless simplifies recurring payments for businesses and came through Y Combinator. The company has raised up to Series E so far having come through Y Combinator and was founded by current CEO Hiroki Takeuchi, Monzo founder and CEO Tom Blomfield and Matt Robinson.
Why it's hot in 2019: The company's $75 million Series E in February came from seven investors as GoCardless looks to continue to digitise the payments landscape.
Monzo
Startup: Monzo
Cited by these VCs: Luciana Lixandru (Accel)
Total raised: $324.7 million
What it does: Challenger bank unicorn Monzo is a digital only offering which just announced it reached 3 million customers. The neo bank offers savings and payments tools for its users and was valued at over $2 billion during its latest fundraise.
Why it's hot in 2019: "Monzo is redefining retail banking and attracting a loyal community in an organic fashion thanks to its ease of use and intuitive interface," Lixandru told Business Insider. The company also launched its US expansion plans in 2019.
You can read more about Monzo here.
Meero
Startup: Meero
Cited by these VCs: Eric Martineau-Fortin (White Star Capital)
Total raised: $293.4 million
What it does: Meero uses artificial intelligence to make photography post production far quicker than manual editing leading to quicker delivery times and more consistent results.
Why it's hot in 2019: The company raised a huge $230 million Series C in June to continue its expansion. "This round was one of the largest ever in France and Meero is going to to boom internationally," according to Martineau-Fortin.
Packhelp
Startup: Packhelp
Cited by these VCs: Eric Martineau-Fortin (White Star Capital)
Total raised: $12.7 million
What it does: Packhelp is an online platform for creating and ordering custom-branded packaging in a web browser.
Why it's hot in 2019: The Polish company raised a Series A led by White Star Capital earlier this year as it continues to scale.
Clark
Startup: Clark
Cited by these VCs: Eric Martineau-Fortin (White Star Capital)
Total raised: $43.8 million
What it does: Clark is a Germany-based insurtech company which provides a range of transparent insurance products.
Why it's hot in 2019: "Clark has gone from strength to strength and its growth rate is exceptional," according to Marneau-Fortin.
Brolly
Startup: Brolly
Cited by these VCs: Dom Wilson (Pi Labs)
Total raised: $1 million
What it does: Brolly is an AI-driven insurance offering based in London.
Why it's hot in 2019: Brolly is set to raise funding again this year as it continues to grow its product. The company will release its full app in 2019 with a focus on contents insurance.
Tier
Startup: Tier
Cited by these VCs: White Star Capital, Northzone
Total raised: $30 million
What it does: Tier is an electric scooter company that competes with the likes of Bird and Lime.
Why it's hot in 2019: The Berlin-based startup got investment from a variety of VCs and even Formula 1 driver Nico Rosberg for its Series A last year and has continued to make major strides this year.
Pitch
Startup: Pitch
Cited by these VCs: Sarah Cannon (Index Ventures)
Total raised: $22.7 million
What it does: Berlin-based tech startup Pitch was founded by former bosses of Wunderlist (acquired by Microsoft in 2015). The firm makes presentation software.
Why it's hot in 2019: The German startup brought in a $19 million Series A from Index Ventures, Slack, and Blueyard with the VCs confident the Wunderlist founders can repeat their prior success.
"After years of using the same old tools for presentations, Pitch is building presentation and collaboration software for generation Slack," Sarah Cannon, Partner at Index told Business Insider.
Revolut
Startup: Revolut
Cited by these VCs: Martin Mignot (Index Ventures)
Total raised: $336.4 million
What it does: Revolut is another of the UK's leading neo banks replete with currency services at realtime exchange rates and access to cryptocurrency markets.
Why it's hot in 2019: Revolut has been expanding — with a recent beta launch in Australia ahead of continued rollout across the US this year.
"Revolut is one of the most product-focused, innovative, and customer-obsessed companies I've worked with," said Martin Mignot, partner at Index Ventures told Business Insider.
Nexthink
Startup: Nexthink
Cited by these VCs: Ari Helgason (Index Ventures)
Total raised: $156.2 million
What it does: Nexthink is software company that helps employee productivity and IT departments have greater digital visibility.
Why it's hot in 2019: "Little known in the startup world, Swiss-born Nexthink, has 500 employees across 11 offices, and expanding rapidly," according to Helgason, a principal at Index. "Nexthink's platform is being adopted by large organizations around the world to improve the IT experience for employees, helping IT prevent and solve issues quickly. "
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