To follow the evolution and trends of the European Cybersecurity ecosystem, Axeleo Capital publishes its second edition of its “Cybersecurity Index”, covering the 4th quarter of 2022.

We can notice a remarkable rebound in the amount invested in cybersecurity and in Europe over this last quarter. Going from €186M raised in Q3 to more than €520M, the amount invested in this 4th quarter shows an increase of 181% and we explain why.

The quantitative factor

The last quarter of the year has been rich in terms of number of deals: we counted 41 of them, almost half of them in October. This represents a 46% increase in deals compared to the previous quarter.

Rounds with larger amounts

In parallel to this quantitative aspect, the size of the tickets has also increased, with three very large deals over 50 million. Aztec, an encrypted blockchain secured by Ethereum company, stands out with its €93M+ round. Important deals in cybersecurity this month include Citalid's Series A at €12M and Trustpair's Series B at €20M. Axeleo Capital's follow-on strategy seems to be paying off.

Key figures for Q4

1. A winning quarter for France

With 9 deals this quarter, France leads the European countries, ahead of the UK with 6 dealsand Switzerland with 5 deals. This puts France in second place for the year with 23 deals,ahead of Germany with 20 deals and behind the UK with 40 deals.In terms of amount, €100.5M has been invested in French cybersecurity companies, which isnearly 20% of the total amount in Europe

2. 51% of early-stage investments

We also note an important share of pre-seed and seed rounds, at 51%. This is 16% less thanin the previous quarter. However this still shows a strong opportunity of development.

3. Clear market trends

Several major categories stand out this quarter. Threat & Actor Intelligence, remains thedominant share of investments with 15%. However, a new wave seems to be slowlyemerging, that of security related to the Web3 universe. This category covers 10% of dealsthis quarter and shows that the third generation of the Internet is already tolling up to facecybersecurity challenges.

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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 androunds that have been publicly disclosed - many other raises are taking place, but withoutannouncements or communications on amounts (thus difficult to track). The analysis islimited to companies headquartered in Europe, and with a value proposition focused onCybersecurity. As far as recorded fundraising is concerned, this refers to equity venturecapital fundraising only (i.e. excluding debt fundraising, subsidies and aid other than equity).

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About Axeleo Capital:

Axeleo Capital 2 is a €50 million venture capital fund dedicated to B2B Tech start-ups,including cybersecurity, across Europe. Axeleo Capital is a venture capital firm active on theEuropean technology scene and backed by a large pool of entrepreneur-investors. The fundoffers startup founders a unique support framework that combines equity investment,operational and strategic coaching and an active ecosystem of over 100 high-level partnersand mentors. Its Cybersecurity investments include Seedata, Trustpair, Citalid, Mantra,Yogosha (exit) and Alsid (exit).