Growth Equity Update October 2026 - Edition 55

European growth equity is entering a higher-growth phase as public and private capital increasingly supports large strategic technology companies.

• The EU launched the €5bn Scale Up Europe Fund in June 2026, managed by EQT, to invest about €100m per company from Series B onward and help finance later-stage European scaleups.
• The fund has already participated in major rounds including Mistral’s $3.5bn raise, ICEYE’s €450m Series F, The Exploration Company’s $450m Series C, Lovable’s $400m Series C and Tandem Health’s $100m Series B.
• US fundraising reached $67.6bn in Q3 2026 and $440bn year to date, 2.7 times the amount raised at the same point in 2025; AI accounted for 71% of fundraising and six companies captured 58%.
• European fundraising reached $28bn in Q3 and $66.9bn after nine months, while the number of European deals above $1bn rose from two at nine months in 2025 to twelve in 2026, compared with five across the whole 2023–2025 period.
• Funding momentum is concentrated in defence, space, robotics and semiconductors, with year-to-date US and European fundraising of $14.8bn and $5.7bn in defence, $6.5bn and $1.2bn in space, and $7.7bn and $2.3bn in robotics.

Takeaway: European growth equity is becoming capable of funding globally significant technology businesses at much larger scale, although the market remains concentrated in AI-linked companies and strategic sectors.