Emerging Europe VC Ecosystem Untapped Potential

Copyright © ScaleX Ventures, 2019.
Emerging Europe
VC & Venture Opportunity Research
April’19

Copyright © ScaleX Ventures, 2019. 2
Our newest research, Emerging
Europe VC Ecosystem, aims to
highlight the untapped potential
in Emerging Europe (Central
Eastern Europe and Turkey).

The research puts a spotlight on opportunity of VC and Venture in Emerging Europe. Key
insights include:
• Europe’s success stories come outside of major hubs. In 2018, three out of top 10
M&A exits in Europe came from Turkey.
• Talent is abundant: 8 out of the top 30 countries with the best developers in the
world are from Turkey & CEE. Turkey is being the fastest growing in Europe.
• Whilst Turkey & CEE has the highest quality of developers, Median Annual Salary
in ICT is one-fourth of US
• Turkey & CEE countries are also highly capital efficient based on their cost bases
and entry valuation
For more information about our researches
and operations, please visit
https://www.scalexventures.com/

“If you look at the big outcomes in Europe, around 70
percent of them today came from outside of the major
hubs, in countries such as Romania, Finland and Portugal.
Data allows us to cover the entire continent, not just the
major and overfished capitals like London, Paris, Berlin
and Stockholm.”
Ophelia Brown, Founder Partner at Blossom Capital
Source: TechCrunch
4
Europe’s success stories come outside of major hubs

Emerging Europe has a proven track record
5
Source: Microsoft, Naspers, Crunchbase, Financial Times, Bloomberg, Company Websites
Acquired by Microsoft for
$8.5 bn
Acquired by Naspers for
$3.3 bn
Naspers bought majority
stakes for $83M
Went on public with a
valuation $4.4 bn
Went in public
at £2.4 bn
Went public at Warsaw
Stock Exchange
Went public at London
Stock Exchange
Bought by Asian
consortium for $1.1 bn

The rich unicorn pipeline continues to draw attention to the region
Money Transfer Service
Late Stage Venture
$480.7M in 7 years
Transportation Network
Corporate Round
$177.2M in 5 years
2015
Robotic Process Automation
Late Stage Venture
$448M in 3 years
Investment
Stage
Total Funding
Company
About
2011 2013
6
Source: Crunchbase, Company Websites

The startups’ success is reflected in the number of companies
with M&A exits. Turkey had 3 of the top 10 European M&A exits
Company Country EV($M)
Zoopla United Kingdom 2,904
iZettle Sweden 2,200
Mendix Netherlands 730
Trendyol Turkey 728
CCP Games Iceland 425
Shazam United Kingdom 400
New Voice
Media
United Kingdom 350
Relayr Germany 300
Opsgenie Turkey 250
Gram Games Turkey 230
7
Source: Atomico State of European Tech 2018, Crunchbase, Company Websites, Webrazzi, Scalex Analysis

The region is an innovation
engine but why Turkey & CEE
caters well innovation?
8

1 = Most innovative; 126 = least innovative
Note: Global Innovation Index composed of 80 indicators such as human
capital and research, knowledge and technology outputs, etc.
1-34 35-54 55-64 65+
Source: Global Innovation Index 2018, Financial Times
“The environment has radically
changed. A few years ago, we would
receive 300 business plans a year, it
was about 1,500 last year. Not only
has their quantity increased, but also
their quality.”
The region is an innovation engine
9
Jan Habermann
Partner, Credo Ventures

Developer pools have been deepening more rapidly in the
Emerging Europe
Source: Atomico State of European Tech 2018
16.5
15.1
10.6 10.6
9.9
7.4
5.6 5.2
2.1 2.1
YoYGrowth(%)
Turkey Spain Russia Romania Poland Ukraine Italy UKFrance Switzerland
Top 10 fastest-growing countries for professional developers in Europe (2018 vs 2017)
Median
10

Whilst Turkey & CEE has the highest quality of developers, the
countries are also a wise investment for VCs because salaries are
lower
100.0
99.9
98.0
93.9
90.7
88.7
87.2
81.9
78.0
77.7
77.5
20. Romania
3. Poland
1. China
29. UK
9. Czech
2. Russia
11. Ukraine
5. Hungary
12. Bulgaria
28. US
30. Turkey
Country with the best developers, Score Index Median Annual Salary in Information Technologies
Thousand dollar
115.0
90.0
60.0
60.0
28.0
United States
Australia/NZ
Emerging
Europe
Western Europe
Canada
4x
*Capital efficiency means a company's profitability and the efficiency with which its capital is usedSource: Hackerrank,O’Reilly Media
11

But does the region attracts
enough capital investment?
12

*Per capita means the average per person and is often used in place of per person in statistical observances
Majority of countries in the region are behind per capita venture
capital investments
Aggregate VC Investments per capita between 2013 and 2018 (US$)
13
Source: Dealroom, Startups.watch, OECD
276
142
120
94
73
62 55 48
39 39
29 27 25 22 22 21
9 8 7 7 5 5 4 4 4 2 2

Now, let’s take a closer look at
venture capital activities in the
region
14

Venture capitalists were searching for new opportunities outside
of major hubs in 2018
Source: Dealroom.co. Excludes buyouts, secondary transactions, debt, ICOs, lending capital, grants.
15
2018 Venture capital investments in Europe (in billion $)
9.1
5.2
4.4
1.4
9.0
UK Germany France Rest of EuropeSweden

Between 2013-2018, there were $3.5B venture capital investments
in the region
Source: Dealroom.co, Startups.watch
Note: Excludes buyouts, secondary transactions, debt, ICOs, lending capital, grants.
16
Venture capital investments in Europe (in billion $)
0.5 0.5
0.5 0.5
0.7
0.9
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Poland leads with total VC funding, followed by Estonia and
Turkey
17
719
492
382
355
242
191
167
107
100
93
86
54
53
32
25
2
Greece
Poland
Lithuania
Estonia
Turkey
Romania
Slovakia
Czech
Republic
Hungary
Latvia
Bulgaria
Ukraine
Croatia
Slovenia
Belarus
Albania
544
257
633
227
195
188
163
160
159
145
113
89
59
38
12
15
Venture capital investment amount 2013-2018 (in million $) Venture capital funding rounds 2013-2018 (number)
Note: Excludes buyouts, secondary transactions, debt, ICOs, lending capital, grants. Only includes companies that have current HQ in Central & Eastern Europe

Istanbul leads the region with the total number of VC funding,
followed by Warsaw and Talinn
18
Venture capital investment rounds by city and country 2013-2018
Note: Excludes buyouts, secondary transactions, debt, ICOs, lending capital, grants. Only includes companies that have current HQ in Central & Eastern Europe
521
278
186
149
137
128
118
115
63
58
51
49
42
25
9
5
Budapest
Tallinn
Vilnius
Tirana
Istanbul
Prague
Warsaw
Sofia
Riga
Kiev
Bratislava
Bucharest
Athens
Ljubljana
Zagreb
Minsk
Turkey, 633
Poland, 544
Estonia, 257
Bulgaria, 227
Lithuania, 195
Hungary, 188
Latvia, 163
Czech Republic, 160
Slovakia, 159
Romania, 145
Ukraine, 113
Greece, 89
Slovenia, 59
Croatia, 38
Belarus, 12
Albania, 5

Record amounts of investments happened in 2018
19
RoundsinCEE
Startupsmovedoutof
CEE
$175M
Estonia
$130M
Lithuania
$59M
Lithuania
$37.9M
Hungary
$17.7M
Greece
$11.8M
Slovania
$11M
Estonia
$11M
Turkey
$4.5M
Poland
Source: Crunchbase, Dealroom.co, Startups.watch
Note: Excludes buyouts, secondary transactions, debt, ICOs, lending capital, grants.
$418M
US/Romania
$60M
UK/Estonia
$60M
US/Estonia
$50M
US/Greece
$25M
UK/Greece
$20M
UK/Poland
$21.8M
US/Turkey
$20.9M
UK/Turkey
$13.2M
US/Poland
$12M
US/Belarus
$5M
Turkey

Does investments to the region
pays off?
20
Let’s have a closer look at
Turkey which made the
greatest number of M&A exits
in 2018.

Number and size of the exits: Three out of top 10 M&A exits in
Europe came from Turkey in 2018
Turkey made three
out of top 10
European M&A exits
in 2018
Partial exit for
$728 million
Company is acquired with
$250 million enterprise
value
The company is acquired for
$295 million
Source: Atomico State of European Tech 2018, Crunchbase, Company Websites, Webrazzi
21

Turkey deliver great outcomes in the wider European market
Source: 2018 Pitchbook – NVCA Venture Monitor , IVC Exit Report 2017, Dealroom EU VentureCapital 2017, Startups.watch
22
30
250
1.4
Turkey Europe US
3.71
2.02
3.02
Turkey Europe US
2.3 2.4
6.2
USTurkey Europe
VC Investment per Capita Higher Capital Efficiency Lower Valuations

“If there’s one thing I keep hearing over and
over when it comes to the European startup
scene, it’s that investors who are not
seriously looking at the Turkish market may
be missing out on some of the continent’s
biggest digital companies in the next 10
years. ”
Robin Wauters, Tech.eu
It definitely pays off

What does this all mean?

CEE
&
Turkey
2
1
3
4
5
The region is also capital
efficient because of low
cost base in region
Turkey’s VC backed
companies had largest
M&A exits in 2018
Europe’s success
stories comes outside
of major hubs
The region does not
attract enough capital
investments
CEE & Turkey have the
highest quality of
developers

ScaleX Ventures is a early-stage venture firm focused on
building a strong community of technology entrepreneurs
and companies.
ScaleX Ventures doesn't just invest financially but also
brings operational help to ScaleX companies by helping
technical founders reach global markets.

Authors
Dilek Dayınlarlı Sezen Balibeyoglu Şafak Tüfekçi
27
Partner, ScaleX Ventures Guest Author Analyst, ScaleX Ventures

Emerging Europe VC Ecosystem Untapped Potential

Recomendados

Recomendados

Más contenido relacionado

La actualidad más candente

La actualidad más candente (20)

Similar a Emerging Europe VC Ecosystem Untapped Potential

Similar a Emerging Europe VC Ecosystem Untapped Potential (20)

Último

Último (20)

Emerging Europe VC Ecosystem Untapped Potential