- SearchVentures
- Posts
- European startups outperform Asia
European startups outperform Asia
Europe outpaces Asia, the startup training AI to learn, and more...
SearchVentures
September 04, 2024
EU Startups beat Asia for the first time
European startups surpassed Asia for the first time in a decade, with a 31% increase in VC investments over the last quarter.
What’s driving this growth in Europe?
This Week’s Trends
Europe overtakes Asia
The startup building AI assistants
New Venture Capital funds and more
Read Time 4 minutes
The Startup Trend
Startup Funding in Europe & Asia
European startups received $17.8 billion in funding in Q2 2024, surpassing Asia for the first time in a decade. Overall, funding in Europe was up 31% from last quarter and 17% year over year with growth in both early and late-stage funding.
> Late-stage funding experienced the highest increase, reaching $7.5 billion across more than 100 rounds.
> Asian startups suffered their worst quarter since Q1 2015 with the downturn in funding, escalated by the tension between the U.S. and China.
💡 AI startups led Q2 with $3.3 billion in funding, followed by fintech and sustainability, largely driven by government support.
Sponsored by Bill.com
Take a demo, get a Blackstone Griddle
Automate expense reports so you can focus on strategy
Uncapped virtual corporate cards
Access scalable credit lines from $500 to $15M
Startup feature
Building AI Assistants For The Workplace
Sana Labs is a Stockholm-based AI startup, gaining significant attention and over $80 million in funding for a new approach to corporate learning.
Led by 26-year-old Joel Hellermark, Sana is on a mission to solve one of the biggest challenges in the workplace: making company knowledge easily accessible and actionable.
The Problem Sana Solves
Sana Labs has created an AI-powered “knowledge assistant” that turns company data, meetings, and information into a searchable library. This tool helps teams efficiently manage and utilize information, making it a powerful resource for e-learning and decision-making within organizations.
“We are creating a tool for teams to get instant access to all the knowledge within their company”
Last year, Sana raised $84.9 million in funding, including a $28 million Series B round, bringing the startup’s valuation to $250 million. The funding is fueling their expansion in Stockholm, London, and New York to capitalize on the growing AI trend across businesses.
The 26 Year Old founder
“We’re just scratching the surface of what AI can do for large, complex companies that are known to be slow”
Joel Hellermark’s journey into tech began early. He taught himself to code at 13 and by 16 had already founded his first startup. Hellermark’s fascination with AI led him to establish Sana Labs at 19, with a vision to solve the inefficiencies he observed in how companies managed their knowledge.
“Just from the early results of AI assistants, we’re seeing 30% to 50% productivity gains for employees across several use cases”
Sana Labs has gained traction with major companies, including Merck, Novartis, and Klarna, who rely on its AI-powered tools to streamline internal processes and enhance employee learning.
With 152 employees and only $9.8 million in revenue last year, the startup has a long way to go before becoming profitable. However, with European investors willing to bet on the future of AI and supportive government regulation the vision for Sana Labs is to become the go-to platform for knowledge management in businesses worldwide.
“We’re hard at work moving from simple task-based AI assistants to ones that can reason, plan, and act—saving countless hours of work”
Headline News
This Week In Startups ✍️
Founders
> Treble, a Reykjavik-based startup, raises €11 million to build the sound design for buildings, cars and tech products.
> Skarper, a London-based startup, raises €5.3 million to develop bicycles that can turn electric with a single click.
> Palm, a Swedish-Dutch startup, raises €5.5 million to modernise cash management for global businesses.
Investors & VCs
> Aviva Investors, the asset management arm of Aviva plc, adds venture capital to its rebranded private markets division.
> Leo Capital, a Singaporean VC firm, launches a €25 million fund for Nordic B2B startups.
> WorxInvest has launched its first fund of funds, WorxInvest Horizon I, and has raised over €100 million at its first closing.
SearchVentures Premium
Access insights on over 41,000 European startups
Here are the latest startups open for investors
How Was Today's Newsletter?If this issue was a startup, how would you rate it? |
You can reach out to us on socials or at www.searchventures.co
Cheers,
Odin Lund & Hari Mohandas
Reply