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Europe's unicorn herd hits an all-time high

Fri, August 21, 2026 at 1:49 PM GMT+3 2 min read

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Europe's unicorn herd is worth over €600 billion, as dealmaking among the region's €1 billion-plus VC-backed companies rebounds.

As of June 30, the aggregate post-valuation of European unicorns reached €609.1 billion, according to PitchBook's Q2 2026 European VC Valuations Report, almost €100 billion more than their value at the end of last year.

The addition of 18 new startups to the herd boosted the total, bringing the number of VC-backed companies worth over €1 billion to 175, the highest count to date. New entrants from 2026 include Paris-based world model developer AMI Labs and UK-based frontier lab Ineffable Intelligence.

Additionally, the value of existing unicorns is also rising. According to the report, the median post-valuation rested at €2.4 billion in Q2, up from €1.6 billion in 2025.

This has been driven by robust deal activity for the region's unicorns. In the first six months of the year, €15.5 billion was invested, putting the year on track to be record-breaking. Unlike overall VC deal count, which is pacing below last year's figure, the number of rounds completed for unicorns has been strong. Some 47 deals closed, and at the current pace, 2026's annual figure is also set to be the highest this decade.

Deal sizes for unicorns are also swelling, with the median reaching €175 million for 2026, compared to €140 million last year.

The largest round this year was UK-based data centre builder Nscale's $2 billion March Series C, which more than quadrupled its valuation to $14.6 billion. Other significant price tag jumps include Finnish space tech startup Iceye, which was valued at over €10 billion following its €1 billion Series F in June, up from €2.4 billion in December.

As AI takes a greater share of unicorn dealmaking, the herd is likely to keep growing for the rest of the year—provided the current pace holds. Few unicorns are exiting right now, so companies are piling up rather than graduating out.

The region also has a significant number of soonicorns ready to join their ranks. The report identified 174 startups, collectively valued at €127.8 billion, with the potential to surpass the €1 billion mark.

This article originally appeared on PitchBook News