Europe’s startup ecosystem looks to rebound following a significant dip in venture capital raised after record-setting years of 2021 and 2022.
According to Dealroom, a business intelligence firm, USD $63 billion was invested across more than 10,000 funding rounds into European startups last year, down 37% from 2022.
Despite this, investors are predicting a moderate rebound for startups seeking capital in 2024, and many early-stage companies are also looking at alternatives to raising venture capital.
Ever-resistant, European startups have weathered tough times in the past and have come out on top.
With this in mind, let’s look at 15 European startups to watch this year.
Adway
Adway, a Swedish company with operations in Norway, the United Kingdom, and Poland, provides automated human resources (HR) workflows through its talent acquisition software, reducing hiring costs and diversifying talent pools. In 2022, the company raised €10 million in a Series A funding round. The software is particularly effective for digitally-savvy talent active on social media.
Adrian McDonald, the company’s CEO who previously worked at Microsoft, believes good things happen to organizations that find great people. His mission was to build Adway and simplify and optimize talent acquisition by automating social recruitment marketing, combining programmatic social media job advertising, automation, and advanced machine learning. They aim to transform existing tech stacks into efficient, proactive recruiting processes.
Codelions
Codelions is a software services startup dedicated to the “art of product development.” The company services various industries, from sports tech to cosmetics to food delivery apps. Headquartered in Ukraine with operations in Estonia, Codelions works closely with its clients to envision and test the potential future of their enterprises.
Founding Principal Volo Dudas and his team are committed to their client’s projects and strive for excellence in their chosen technologies. They offer various services, including drafting and analyzing new requirements, technical consulting, and software solution implementation. Codelions’ expertise spans full-cycle custom software and application development, technical consulting, quality control, and security testing. Their typical clientele includes small and mid-sized businesses, early-stage companies, and rapidly expanding startups.
Beams
Beams is a Berlin-based artificial intelligence safety company that uses AI to identify and monitor business risks. Their technology helps companies process reports and analyze potential risks, aiding faster and more accurate decision-making.
Led by co-founder and CEO Alan Sternberg, the company aims to improve safety standards across all industries, especially highly regulated sectors such as aviation.
Beams’ strategic partners include ASQS, a leading global provider of aviation safety software. Beams is incorporated in Germany and complies with GDPR, positioning it to serve highly regulated industries and partners.
Innovatrics
Innovatrics, an independent provider based in the European Union, offers multifaceted biometric solutions trusted by governments and enterprises globally. With algorithms that consistently rank among the fastest and the most accurate for fingerprint and face recognition, Innovatrics has been a trusted partner since 2004 for organizations seeking flexible biometric identification solutions.
Led by Slovakia-based CEO Jan Lunter, the company aspires to create a world where physical frisking is unnecessary, paperwork is obsolete, and identity confirmation is organic. A world that embodies instant trust.
For over 16 years, Innovatrics has partnered with organizations to craft trusted, flexible biometric identification solutions, contributing to a world where biometrics and trust are intertwined. Earlier in March, the company announced the launch of the ninth edition of its Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS).
Trapets
Trapets, a Swedish software company founded in 2000, was awarded AIFinTech100 status as one of the most innovative companies developing AI technologies in FinTech. The company focuses on financial crime prevention, offering anti-money laundering (AML), know-your-customer (KYC), and market surveillance solutions.
According to their website, Trapets is trusted by over 500 companies globally and ranks among the top 100 RegTech firms in the world. Driven by a vision of a future free from financial crime, Trapets uses technology as the catalyst.
Gabriella Bussien, recently named CEO, is driving Trapets’ continued growth through innovative solutions to help organizations detect, prevent, and fight financial crime. She will continue to scale the company to new markets across Europe and new industry segments under their culture, founded on engagement, trust, togetherness, and growth, propelling their mission to help businesses combat financial crime.
Barkibu
Barkibu, founded in Spain in 2014 with offices in Madrid and Barcelona, is a deep tech startup offering a range of pet health services, including a subscription for consultations with veterinarians and pet insurance to cover costs. The company has a potent AI-powered framework that can diagnose and eventually improve pet health.
Barkibu was accelerated by the Leap Venture Studio & Academy accelerator program, which is backed by Mars Petcare, the Michelson Found Animals Foundation, and R/GA Ventures. Last year, the company raised €4.5m in funding, led by Kfund, with participation from Mundi Ventures.
Co-CEOs Álvaro Gutierrez and Pablo Pazos — themselves pet owners — are committed to providing universal access to veterinary advice. Barkibu primarily aims to empathize with its customers, offering more than just pet insurance. Their service covers all visits, tests, and treatments a pet needs in case of accident or illness. The fully digital company covers over 30,000 cats and dogs in Spain and Germany.
Sateliot
Sateliot offers global satellite connectivity at a “terrestrial price.” Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Barcelona, Spain, and San Diego, California, the company bills itself as the first satellite operator to offer IoT connectivity over standard 5G NB-IoT.
Sateliot’s constellation serves as cell towers in space, expanding mobile operator coverage and providing global connectivity to unmodified commercial terrestrial devices wherever they are.
Led by co-founder and CEO Jaume Sanpera, in January, the company raised €6 million from Banco Santander to launch its satellite constellation. Other investors in the company include semiconductor giant Qualcomm, Seraphim Capital, Indra, and Cellnex.
Sateliot’s cost-effective technology and the possibility to use commercial low-cost devices to connect to satellites opens infinite possibilities in the untapped market of massive IoT in remote areas, and it is in line with Sateliot’s mission to make IoT connectivity available everywhere and to everybody.
CLICK
Click, founded in 2023 in Spain, is the “personalized career companion” that revolutionizes the tedious task of job searching. Its innovative platform empowers individuals to achieve their career aspirations by offering a comprehensive suite of tools and services. These include crafting personalized resumes and cover letters, AI-powered interview preparation, and strategic networking guidance.
Led by Madrid-based Askar D, Click offers tailored support and empowers users to navigate the future of work confidently.
Participating in the ISDI Start accelerator program as part of the IMPACT Accelerator from Spain’s ISDI digital business school, Click has developed an inventive platform that optimizes and revolutionizes the job and talent-matching process.
Trickest
Founded in 2020, with headquarters in Dover, Delaware (USA), and Belgrade, Serbia, Trickest Inc. is an offensive security startup that has rapidly gained recognition for its innovative approach to cybersecurity.
Trickest enables organizations to perform elite adversarial emulations by providing a SaaS platform that empowers security professionals to automate and streamline offensive security operations.
Their mission is democratize offensive security with tailored best-in-class solutions that address the unique needs of professionals and organizations. In the process, Trickest is transforming ethical hacking from a mysterious craft only for experts into an opportunity for everyone to be a part of building a safer internet.
Nenad Zaric is the former white-hat hacker-turned-CEO of Trickest. Having identified vulnerabilities in tech giants such as Uber and Adobe, Zaric has observed companies lagging behind in the race against the rapid pace of cyber attacks. With Trickest, he redirected his expertise toward empowering companies through real attack simulations.
Overtune
Overtune is an accessible music creation app that has successfully launched its premium model, Overtune PRO and is said to be reporting impressive conversion rates.
The company, based in Iceland and led by founder Sigurdur Arnason, has forged strategic partnerships with the streaming service Audius, allowing users to share their Overtune songs directly on the platform, and with 88RISING, it is leveraging Overtune’s AI Voice features.
A notable — if not unnerving — achievement is their cloning of Barack Obama’s voice, which was used live in a skit on JOJI´s world tour. This bold move follows a $2 million seed funding round for Overtune in July 2022, with notable investors including Guitar Hero creator Charles Huang and former Sony Music executive Nick Gatfield.
Fracttal
Fracttal is a Spain-based technology startup at the forefront of maintenance and asset management. Their cloud-based solution, Fracttal One, leverages cutting-edge technology, including Artificial Intelligence, to empower businesses. Fracttal One is a fully mobile CMMS/GMAO software designed to be holistic, powerful, and user-friendly.
Fracttal’s recent €10 million funding round in Spain is a testament to their innovative approach. With a client list that includes European giants like Chupa Chups, NEFAB, OTIS, and PROCUBITOS EUROPE, Fracttal One boasts over 1,200 positive user review among different countries in latin america and europe.
Fracttal recently launched a new version of Fracttal One featuring a modern and intuitive interface. This update also introduces Tony, a virtual assistant powered by AI. Tony helps users with their daily tasks through advanced capabilities, making maintenance a breeze.
QuickBlox
From London, England, Quickblox is a cloud-based AI communication platform that enables businesses to create their real-time communication apps efficiently.
It recently launched AI SmartChat Assistant, introducing the industry to cutting-edge, no-code-required chatbot integration, making it easier for developers to build and integrate versatile virtual assistants with plug-and-play features such as call summaries, translations, and audio-to-text conversions.
Led by founder Nate MacLeitch, QuickBlox provides a streamlined solution for businesses to deliver a user experience comparable to leading communication apps like WhatsApp and Zoom.
The platform’s cross-platform compatibility, supporting iOS, Android, Flutter, Web/Desktop, and other platforms, enables businesses to unify their user base and connect easily.
CloudBlue
Headquartered in the USA with a global presence spanning Barcelona, Santander, Enschede, Sofia, Toronto, Malaysia, and Sydney, CloudBlue is a leader in cloud monetization.
It provides automated provisioning capabilities for ordered services. Their team, led by President Uddhav Gupta, has a proven track record of innovation, consistently pushing boundaries and shaping the industry with game-changing solutions.
CloudBlue offers a single, unified platform for all cloud needs. Its intuitive design empowers any team to become experts quickly, eliminating the need to navigate complex vendor portals.
Their procurement engine adapts to a business’s existing contracts, allowing seamless purchases from both Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and distributors and they deliver services to over 2 billion end-users, many utilizing Microsoft Azure.
Green Yellow
GreenYellow, founded in 2007, combines the strength of an international entity with the proximity of local experts to deliver customized energy solutions.
With a network and offices in Poland, France, Spain, Bulgaria, Portugal, Southeast Asia, South America, and Africa, the company adapts its services to geographical, regulatory, and sectoral needs.
GreenYellow operates throughout the energy value chain for industrial firms, designing, financing, managing, and operating facilities while guaranteeing savings. Over 16 years, GreenYellow has become a significant player in the energy transition in France and globally. The company is responsible for developing, funding, and operating infrastructure projects, enabling it to produce local and competitive green power, reduce energy consumption, and expedite decarbonization. GreenYellow continuously innovates to meet today’s climate challenges and expand its platform with unique and global offers.
Calmtag
Calmtag was founded in 2021 in Madrid, Spain, and is an impact company that creates identification and geolocation devices and apps for people with dementia and Alzheimer’s. Founded by Madrid-based Carlota Perez, Calmtag aims to be a friendly network that provides security and peace of mind for your loved ones at every stage of life.
Developed by a team with extensive experience in geolocation, the company provides user-friendly location solutions like NFC tags, SOS patches, and textile garments for the elderly. This innovative technology allows seniors to remain safe and independent, integrate seamlessly into any clothing type, offer historical update features, and provide discreet real-time geolocation.
The startup was accelerated by the ISDI Start accelerator program from Spain’s ISDI Digital Business School.
