The number of venture capital deals completed by European start-ups fell by 11 per cent in 2014 compared to 2013, according to the latest Dow Jones Venture Capital report.
October to December 2014 saw a marked decrease in the number of VC and equity-backed European rounds with €1.8bn raised across the quarter; a 24 per cent drop in the amount raised from October to December 2014.
Despite a drop in VC investments, the report found that in 2014 as a whole the amount invested in European companies was actually a quarter higher than 2013 with European companies attracting €7.9bn across 1460 deals.
The sector which received the most VC investment in the last quarter of 2014 was business and financial services with €557m accumulated across 80 deals, followed by the healthcare sector and consumer services.
The energy and utilities sector had the lowest number of deals; accounting for only 2 per cent of all European VC deals across the quarter.
Impressively, the UK was found to be the “most favoured destination” in Europe for equity finance during the last quarter of 2014; receiving €524m across 69 deals.
UK firms Powa Technologies and Cell Medica Ltd were listed among the top five European VC investments of October to December 2014, having raised €63.88m and €63.87m respectively.
