From left to right: Luca De Angelis, Filippo Santelli, Luca Bocchio
Image courtesy of Wave by Vento
Europe’s top startups can raise capital. What they struggle to find are corporate and government customers, say investors.”
In the first nine months of the year, startups in Europe raised €68.4 billion (about $76.5 billion), according to PitchBook’s Q3 2026 European Venture Report, almost on par with last year’s annual total. The surge in investment has been driven by AI, which is on track to reach near €60 billion by year’s end—double 2022’s record.
The year has seen several outsized rounds, including French AI lab Mistral‘s €3 billion Series D and UK-based AI infrastructure startup Nscale‘s $2 billion Series C. For top-tier startups, access to capital may no longer be a concern, but they face another hurdle that threatens growth.
“We’re living in a moment where capital is abundant,” said Luca Bocchio, a partner at Balderton Capital, speaking at the Wave tech conference hosted by VC firm Vento in Turin last week. “The days when a good team goes after a large market with a brilliant idea and faces difficult times with money are over. What is hard in Europe is that we lack significant buyers of technology.”
Collaboration between startups and corporates is a “critical driver of innovation and economic growth,” according to a 2025 working paper from the European Commission. However, only 20% of European corporates actively engage with startups, compared to 50% in the US.
The paper identified procurement processes as a major hindrance, noting that they are often not startup-friendly. Startups face difficulty accessing private-sector contracts due to bureaucratic, complex procedures, such as extended validation periods. Corporates, for their part, are often risk-averse when it comes to tech from startups, preferring more established providers.
The issues European startups face regarding private-sector contracts are mirrored in the public sector. Europe spends just 9% of public procurement on innovation, whereas in the US, it is 20%.
Access to customers is one of the most common reasons why European startups set their sights on the US. Research from Index Ventures last year found that 76% cited being close to customers as their top reason for expanding into the US and that even a handful of major US enterprise deals can transform a startup’s growth prospects.
Speaking at a separate panel, Tom Wehmeier, partner and head of intelligence at Atomico, said unlocking procurement for startups could raise the ceiling on startups’ revenue curves and increase their value.
