Europe VC Rankings
Seed - Series A/B funds only
Tier 1A (great presence + great access): Index, Sequoia, Accel, Balderton
Tier 1B (growing presence + great access): NEA, GV, GC, Bessemer, LSVP
Tier 1C (great presence + good access): Creandum (arguably 1A), Northzone, Headline, HV Capital, Cherry, EQT Ventures, Atomico
Tier 2: Miscellaneous Euro VCs (Earlybird, Speedinvest, Point Nine, MMC, Norrsken), Series A+ sector specialists (Dawn Capital, Kinnevik, Left Lane, Motive), Seed specialists (LocalGlobe, Giant Ventures, Merantix)
Tier 3: Moonfire, Project A, Picus, QuantumLight, Playfair, Notion & 5,284 others
Tier 5: 20VC
Unrated but very good: Hummingbird, Plural, few others
Context: I was in growth/PE then moved into operating + angel investing. Almost went to one of these funds + have invested alongside them.
Curious to hear thoughts from others in the ecosystem.
Based on the most helpful WSO content, here's a breakdown of Venture Capital rankings in Europe for Seed to Series A/B funds:
Tier 1A (Great Presence + Great Access)
Tier 1B (Growing Presence + Great Access)
Tier 1C (Great Presence + Good Access)
Tier 2
Tier 3
Tier 5
Unrated but Very Good
This ranking reflects a mix of presence, access, and specialization within the European VC ecosystem. It’s worth noting that Tier 1A funds like Index, Sequoia, and Accel are consistently recognized for their strong networks and ability to access top deals, while Tier 1C funds like Creandum and Northzone are also highly regarded but may have slightly less global reach.
Sources: How to land a job in Venture Capital in Europe (London)?, PE Ranking - Europe
You would be surprised what this ranking would look like if you had access at returns data for those firms - also, most of the US VCs have had a very tough time in Europe - you should look at when the names you laid out ever last backed a European unicorn at Seed/Series A
I agree that these tiers are not correlated to returns! That being said, if a founder got competing term sheets from a Tier 1 fund (despite them underperforming on their last vintage) and from Random Fund #347 with 2 partners in a WeWork near Golden Square, they'll still go for the Tier 1 fund. Same for talent at junior and senior levels - they'll gravitate towards the bigger brands.
I'm sure there are several tiny pre-seed managers and superangels outperforming all VCs in this list, but I'm taking into account scale of platform, brand, ability to follow on, value-add, track record of partners etc.
I think it is a bit more nuanced than this. Every company that goes on to become big (say $1BN+) becomes obvious as traction kicks in; but really before traction is there it is not obvious at all.
The reason I am saying this is that when something takes off you always need to compete with a16z or Sequoia - nobody else matters really; the market is super efficient.
But really there is a meaningful room of opportunity of finding things before they are obvious eg Seed. That today remains the single largest opportunity in European venture - the market is very fragmented (difficult to cover through a unified network - unlike US where are 2x main hubs) and as a result if you pre empt, have full market visibility and most importantly know what you are looking for, you can get into the very best assets without much competition.
I also take your point on some name brand firms not actually leading early-stage rounds (esp the Tier 1Bs). But again, this list isn't purely for performance (Dealroom, Sifted and many others track that) but rather more for aspiring VCs on this website to evaluate opportunities to work. In that regard, a fund with a big brand but low deployment could present a good seat for a hungry young partner/associate to prove themselves.
Again, I think it is much more nuanced than this. Some of the firms you have listed out have grown massively through COVID (prev vintage), have struggled getting into the best AI deals early (I am not referring to leading Synthesia at $1bn), their performance has suffered massively and now are slowly crumbling (huge talent churn as there is no room for growth + low LP confidence)
Really if you enter European Venture now the only piece of advice I can give is make sure you understand the firm, team culture and performance well.
Most of the firms in Europe have suffered massively in the past few years and that will only continue. What used to be a ranking of Tiers of investors will become less relevant just as some names will go away - the returns have been so poor and funds struggle to raise capital.
just to clarify - returns data for European investments
Why the 20VC hate?
He's built a respectable media company with genuine hustle, but that "access and distribution" model doesn't overcome his arrogance, lack of business depth, and inability to source and lead genuine outliers. But again - insanely impressive hustle to build a brand from scratch and raise massive funds from good LPs.
.
I'd wait to see til they get over the Epstein shit
Some of your tier 1Cs are having trouble fundraising. EU VCs are having a tough year
All to say Creandum is a really good name w very good access especially in Scandinavia - I'd put them 1A
Yeah definitely, 1C has a wide range.
Agree on Creandum - nothing but respect for them. They're also one of very few EU funds investing in building out SF presence.
You forgot Evantic by Matt Miller
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