Venture Capital in Europe Reaches US$23bn in H1 for AI

Crunchbase, a popular predictive platform that successfully predicted that Mastercard would acquire BVNK, has released research with AI events conference host HumanX which focuses on the share of venture capital distributed among Europe. 

The report, titled ‘2026 European AI Economy Report: Funding, Innovation and Growth’, reveals that AI start-ups in Europe have successfully raised US$23bn for the first half of 2026.

The funding is a 130% year-over-year increase thanks to a renewed increase in AI. Out of all funding in the region, AI start-ups captured over half (55%) of all venture capital available. 

The previous year, US$10bn in funding was raised, however the increase marks a milestone in the funding history of the region that signifies the positioning for a primary hub of AI innovation in Europe.

Broken down by value and gender

The total funding was split unevenly, with 73% of all European AI funding being allocated to 38 companies that raised US$100m or more in funding rounds. In recent years, the funding was closer to half. 

According to Crunchbase’s analysis of more than 1,000 AI-focused start-ups across the continent that have raised at least US$10m since 2022, 59% are projected to seek additional funding rounds within the coming year. 

The data further reveals that 18% are viable candidates for acquisition, while 5% are moving toward an initial public offering.

The report also states that in H1 of 2026, only six European start-ups became unicorns, after raising a billion dollars or more. 

Among these are companies such as Alphabet-owned drug company Isomorphic Labs, autonomous driving developer Wayve and physical AI research company Advanced Machine Intelligence Labs, co-founded by Yann LeCun. 

The report also points out some gender differences in funding – since 2023, European AI start-ups that consisted of at least one female founder accounted for 18% of all completed deals. However, this only translates to around 10% of secured capital. 

The report notes that this gap is “driven by the heavy concentration of mega-rounds going to LP male-led teams.”

Geography matters for the right AI environment

The UK remains a stronghold for AI growth as it attracts US$12bn of total regional investment in H1. 

With US$3.5bn (15%) and US$2.9bn (12%) in investment respectively, Germany and France trail behind. 

Stefan Weitz, Co-Founder and CEO of HumanX, explains: “If the AI story was supposed to be a two-horse race, Europe didn't get the memo.

“US$23bn is flowing straight into the industries Europe already leads: robotics, healthcare, advanced manufacturing, defense. This is a continent betting on its own strengths.”

Concurrently, the Netherlands is positioning itself as a serious competitor, powered by substantial early-stage financing. 

Key examples include a US$320m Series A round for Netherlands-founded General Intuition and a US$450m Series B round for CuspAI, a company based across both the UK and the Netherlands.