According to the 2019, 2020 and 2021 lists, more than 40% of the nominated companies have already become Unicorns to date!

This list was compiled by Viva Technology, the biggest startup and tech event in Europe, in partnership with global technology investment bank GP Bullhound, with the support of Capgemini Ventures, European Innovation Council, White & Case and with contribution from five of the world's most reputable investment funds:  Accel, Balderton, Eurazeo, Northzone and Partech. 

Julie Ranty, Managing Director of Viva Technology, said: "Once again, this year’s Top 100 scale-ups list demonstrates the extraordinary potential of European technology. Selecting only 100 potential future unicorns is becoming more and more challenging each year given the exponential trajectory of European startups between 2021 and 2022. Our mission at Vivatech is to support the emergence of European digital champions. We are delighted that more and more startups putting sustainability at the heart of their challenges and their model are part of the top 100.”

Manish Madhvani, Managing Partner at GP Bullhound, commented: “The European tech ecosystem is a force to be reckoned with, and the pandemic has only further solidified its status as a maturing sector competing on the global stage. 

We want to spotlight the firms that are fuelling this unprecedented innovation. In 2021 alone, the value of Europe’s tech unicorns has almost doubled, driven by the active public market landscape and an increasing number of mega funding rounds. We can be really proud of the ecosystem we have built, and the strength and calibre of this year’s Top 100 list demonstrates that this is only the beginning of another impressive year for European tech.”

Key facts:

• 14 countries listed
• Top 3 regions:  UK (24 scale-ups),France (17 scale-ups), Germany (17 scale-ups) in line with the size of ecosystems in these countries
• Note the solidity of the Nordic/Baltic ecosystem with 14 scale-ups
• More than 40% of the companies have a “for Good” business model, representing the strong trend towards sustainability 

Top 3 sectors represented:  

1. The Enterprise SaaS sector tops the list
2. The Digital Media sector is in second place, taking over Fintech since last year
3. The Marketplace / Digital Commerce sector comes third

Total funds raised: €10,778,950,321

Average funds raised:  €112,280,733
The key criteria for this list are:  

• Growth, velocity and growth potential
• Funds raised
• Growth in employees number
• Geographical distribution
• The ability to have a positive impact on society

Next Unicorn Awards 2022

The most promising scale-ups will be awarded on stage at VivaTech, as part of the "Next Unicorn Awards 2022". The Next Unicorn Awards judging panel, consisting of senior representatives from unicorns, VCs, key ecosystem players and VivaTech founding partners will select the winners in the following categories: Fintech, Marketplaces, Enterprise Saas, Digital Media, AI, Deeptech & Big Data and Coup de Coeur Prize,  which will be announced in June. Previous winners include Vinted, OpenClassrooms, Sorare and Tessian among others.

As part of the event, GP Bullhound will publish exclusively, in partnership with Viva Technology, the 2022 edition of its annual report "Titans of Tech" analysing for the eighth consecutive  year  the  growth  of the major European  technology companies and  highlighting  several  key  players  in  its  ecosystem  with  the  potential to achieve  the  status of "Titan" -  a valuation of more than 50 billion dollars.