Quantitative Insights

In the fourth quarter of 2023, the European cybersecurity sector secured €224 million in funding, marking a 75% increase from the previous quarter when total funding reached €128 million. Furthermore, this figure reflects a 55% drop compared to the same period in 2022 (Q4 2022), where the total funding amounted to €520 million.

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Key Highlights for Q4

1. United Kingdom's & France’s Ascendancy

France and the United Kingdom have emerged as dominant players in the European cybersecurity landscape, outshining Germany.The UK closed an impressive volume of 14 deals, surpassing France with 6 deals and Germany with 3. While french cybersecurity startups collectively raised €62.5 million, with Harfang Lab securing a significant portion of this funding through a €25 million series A round. Harfang Lab offers lightweight, cloud-agnostic open endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions to enhance the identification and neutralization of cyberattacks against companies.

2. Booming Early-Stage Startups

In Q4 2023, early-stage startups (Pre-seed and Seed) accounted for a substantial 78% of the total deals, which is a slight increase of 2% from the previous quarter but still represents the majority of total deals. Notably, Zygon successfully raised an impressive €2.8 million in its Seed Round. Zygon offers an automated solution to manage companies’ security posture at the scale of SaaS.

3. Most Active Sectors in Q4

The European cybersecurity landscape witnessed remarkable activity in Q4 2024, with significant investments spanning various sectors. Network & Communication led the way, accounting for 19% of investments. This trend was exemplified by Link 11’s successful Series B funding of €26.5 million. Link 11 specializes in IT security solutions for performance, network, and web protection. Simultaneously, Cloud security as well as IoT & Hardware received 14% of investments, with Aikido Security securing €5 million in funding and Minut securing €5.8 million. Aikido Security is a software security platform that scans your code, containers & cloud. Minut is computer software company that specializes in product design, hardware, electronics, software, IoT, and smart home.

Axeleo Capital's "Cybersecurity Index" for Q4 2023 underscores the dynamic nature of the European cybersecurity landscape and offers valuable insights into its progress and key players during this period.

Methodology:

The Cybersecurity Index is based on data from Axeleo Capital's analysis as well as databases, such as Crunchbase in particular. These data sources mainly gather information on deals and rounds that have been publicly disclosed - many other raises are taking place, but without announcements or communications on amounts (thus difficult to track). The analysis is limited to companies headquartered in Europe, and with a value proposition focused on Cybersecurity. As far as recorded fundraising is concerned, this refers to equity venture capital fundraising only (i.e. excluding debt fundraising, subsidies and aid other than equity).

About Axeleo Capital:

Axeleo Capital 2 is a €70 million venture capital fund dedicated to B2B Tech start-ups, including cybersecurity, across Europe. Axeleo Capital is a venture capital firm active on the European technology scene and backed by a large pool of entrepreneur-investors. The fund offers startup founders a unique support framework that combines equity investment, operational and strategic coaching, and an active ecosystem of over 100 high-level partners and mentors. Its Cybersecurity investments include Zygon, Seedata, Trustpair, Citalid, Mantra, Yogosha (exit) and Alsid (exit).

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