European VC exit valuations fall almost twice, to €17.3M in Q2 2023— Pitchbook report

In Q2 2023 European exit valuations continued to fall with median exit valuation going from to €17.3 million. The proportion of down rounds continued to upward to 26.2% in Q2 2023 from 19.8% in Q1 2023. Overall, VC exits are now feeling the consequences of tightening monetary policy and their valuations fall over the past year. AIN.Capital shares key points of the Pitchbook report.

European VC deal overview

• The deal value in H1, increasing 28.8% compared with 2022.
• The median angel valuation ticked up to 10.2% versus 2022, and the median seed stage valuation was flat from the annual 2022 figures.
• Angel and seed rounds showed resilience in H1 2023.

• Median early-stage deal valuations in Q2 2023 decreased. Late-stage median pre-money valuations declined to €10.8 million in H1 2023, tracking 13.0% lower than 2022’s median.
• The median deal value stayed the same at €4 million.
• Six of the top 10 deals in H1 2023 within the late stage have occurred in the DACH region.
• In H1 of 2023 median deal value pace 18.5% and 16.7% below full-year medians from 2022, respectively.

• The median venture-growth deal value is pacing at €17.2 million for H1 2023.

VC deals by region and sector

• In H1 2023, fintech median pre-money valuations have been dropping at the late stage and venture-growth stage, pacing 38.9% and 17.2% lower than the annual 2022 figures.
• The consumer goods & services venture-growth median pre-money valuation was €20.9 million in 2022 and is currently tracking at €30.2 million in H1 2023.
• The late-stage median pre-money valuation for consumer goods & services is pacing 8.2% higher in H1 2023 compared with full-year 2022 numbers.
• Median pre-money valuations have decreased in the UK & Ireland as well as in France & Benelux.

Unicorns activity

• Post-money unicorn valuations broadly stayed at €442.2 billion in H1 2023. There are currently 134 active unicorns in Europe, defined as companies valued at €1 billion.
• In H1 2023, unicorn deal activity came in at €2.1 billion across 20 deals, pacing well below 2022 levels. Both deal value and count continued to decline sequentially in Q2 versus in Q1 2023.