European Startups Have Raised Over $60 Billion, Beating 2020 Record

European startups have raised more capital in the first six months of 2021 than they did in all of last year, CNBC reported Friday (June 18).

The network pointed to data from Dealroom showing startups in Europe raising 43.8 billion euros — or $60.9 billion — in the first six months of this year, surpassing the record 38.5 billion in investments recorded in 2020.

“That’s despite the fact that the number of venture deals signed so far is around half the amount agreed in 2020,” CNBC reported. “About 2,700 funding rounds have been raised so far in 2021, versus 5,200 last year, according to Dealroom.”

Among the biggest earners in these funding rounds are the Swedish buy now, pay later (BNPL) company Klarna ($1.6 billion over two rounds), the German stock trading app Trade Republic ($900 million in May) and Checkout.com, a British payments provider that started the year with a  $450 million funding round.

CNBC says this level of funding suggests Europe’s tech companies are taking in much greater sums of money in each investment, “defying the economic uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic, which provided a big boost to online services.”

These numbers reflect what’s happening in North America. As PYMNTS reported in April, the first quarter of this year marked record-setting startup funding, with investors shelling out $72.7 billion for growth-stage funding, almost double the total from the previous year.

The quarter saw nearly 200 rounds of $100 million or more, something that at one time was rare, but so common in early 2021 that it wasn’t unusual to see several $100 million-plus rounds announced in one day.

Meanwhile, April was a record-setting month for global venture funding, as venture capital and growth investors put up $48 billion. That figure made April the second-highest month on record for private company investments, topped only by … the previous month, which saw $54 billion in new investments.