European Founder Report - Antler mapped what happens between Seed and Series A in Europe
Antler went through 81,055 European funding rounds since 2000 and found two ecosystems stacked on top of each other. Unicorns founded after 2020 now reach the mark in two years instead of 7.2, while the funnel underneath them keeps narrowing.
- Seed to Series A conversion dropped from 23.3% in 2008-2019 to 9.3% in 2023
- Pre-seed funding grew 197% since 2016, Series A deal count grew 5%
- Active pre-seed and seed investors are down 42% since 2022, Series A investors down 44.7%
The part worth reading twice is the diagnosis: a top-quartile Seed of $2-5M and one founder who has worked at a scaling startup are the two variables that actually shift Series A odds, and Antler prices the whole gap at $2.74bn, roughly 10% of what Europe's fastest unicorns raised.
https://eurofounderreport2026.lovable.app/
📎 Read also:
→ Crunchbase Q1 2026 - four companies took 65% of $300B
→ Redstone - €9 trillion Europe leaves in its research labs
→ Andreas Klinger - reading investor signals correctly
Antler went through 81,055 European funding rounds since 2000 and found two ecosystems stacked on top of each other. Unicorns founded after 2020 now reach the mark in two years instead of 7.2, while the funnel underneath them keeps narrowing.
- Seed to Series A conversion dropped from 23.3% in 2008-2019 to 9.3% in 2023
- Pre-seed funding grew 197% since 2016, Series A deal count grew 5%
- Active pre-seed and seed investors are down 42% since 2022, Series A investors down 44.7%
The part worth reading twice is the diagnosis: a top-quartile Seed of $2-5M and one founder who has worked at a scaling startup are the two variables that actually shift Series A odds, and Antler prices the whole gap at $2.74bn, roughly 10% of what Europe's fastest unicorns raised.
https://eurofounderreport2026.lovable.app/
📎 Read also:
→ Crunchbase Q1 2026 - four companies took 65% of $300B
→ Redstone - €9 trillion Europe leaves in its research labs
→ Andreas Klinger - reading investor signals correctly