CEE tech ecosystem report: 8 new unicorns, 19 funds, and combined value of startups totaling €190B

Dealroom.co has published its annual CEE tech ecosystem report. AIN.Capital has chosen the most insightful figures and facts. 

• The combined value of startups in the region has quadrupled in the last five years and amounted at €190 billion in 2022. Croatia, Lithuania, and Ukraine are recognized as the fastest growing counties in CEE. The report shows that Croatia grew by 16.6 time to €10 billion, Lithuania 15.7 times to €4.7 billion, and Ukraine 9.3 times to €23.3 billion.

• At the same time, despite the increasing global economic downturn and geopolitical fallout of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 2021 and 2022 have been the strongest years for unicorn creation in CEE, producing 36 and 44 respectively, more than doubling the number of unicorns since December 2020.
• There are 8 new unicorns in 2022, including Ukrainian AirSlate and Unstoppable Domains, Lithuanian Nord Security, Croatian Rimac Automobili, Estonian Glia and Verify, Bulgarian Payhawk, and Czhech Productboard.

• VC activity in CEE has already surpassed every year prior to 2021 (€6.1 billion). At the current rate, the region is on track to break its yearly venture capital investment record and raise €6.2 billion. Estonia with €1.4 billion VC funding value, Czechia with €1.1 billion, Croatia with €865 million, and Poland with €550 million hold over 70% of total VC funding so far in 2022.
• As the report shows, there were 19 new €50+ million funds announced this year across CEE, including three Ukrainian-targeted funds with a total value of €155 million.

• According to CEE tech ecosystem report made by Dealroom.co, such sectors as Enterprise Software, Gaming, Web3, and Crypto are growing in the region rapidly:
  • CEE Enterprise Software startups have a combined valuation of €80 billion;
  • VC funding has grown 5.6 times for CEE-based Crypto and Web3 startups since 2021 and amounted to €119 million in 2022.
  • Estonia (€1.3 billion), Slovenia (€427 million), and Serbia (€289 million) concentrate over 70% of combined value of Web3 startups in CEE.
• This year, the Dealroom.co report was prepared with a spotlight on Ukraine. It noted that Ukrainian startups are showing great resilience in spite of the war and recession: in 2022 the country’s 1,500 active startups’ enterprise value growing 3.3 times since 2020.
• Moreover, Ukraine is ranked first among the highest in Europe for jobs created per Euro of venture capital invested.