- London is home to 14 of Europe's 44 venture-backed companies valued at $5bn or more, more than Berlin, Paris and Stockholm combined (12).
- Most became unicorns in two waves: 11 first hit $1bn in 2021 and 10 in 2025.
- The 2021 wave was mostly fintech and software; the 2025 wave was led by AI and defence companies.
Europe now has 44 venture-backed companies valued at $5bn or more. Fourteen of them are headquartered in London. The map below adds each one to its home city in the year it was first valued at $1bn, from Revolut, Monzo and Bolt in 2018 to the AI and defence companies of 2025 and 2026.
London's lead was built early
London had nine of these companies by 2022, before most of today's AI names existed. Its early run was in financial technology: Revolut, Monzo, Checkout.com, Rapyd, SumUp, Blockchain.com, Zepz and Lendable all crossed $1bn between 2018 and 2021. The newer London arrivals are different: Wayve (self-driving), Nscale (AI data centres), Isomorphic Labs (drug discovery), Fuse Energy and Ineffable Intelligence.
No other city comes close. Berlin, Paris and Stockholm have four each, and Amsterdam and Munich three. London has more than Berlin, Paris and Stockholm combined.
Two waves: 2021 and 2025
Most of the 44 became unicorns in one of two bursts. Eleven first hit $1bn in 2021, when cheap money pushed valuations up across fintech and software: Trade Republic, Personio, Back Market, Alan, Pleo and others. Then came a lull, with just one new arrival (Wayve) in 2024.
The second wave, in 2025, looks very different. Ten companies crossed $1bn, and they were led by AI and defence: Lovable and Legora in Stockholm, n8n in Berlin, Quantum Systems in Munich, TEKEVER in Lisbon and ICEYE near Helsinki. Stockholm went from one company in this group to four in a single year.
Who's not on the map
The list counts companies headquartered in Europe, according to Crunchbase, so a few European-founded companies that are now based in the US, like ElevenLabs and Celonis, are left out. So are buyouts and corporate carve-outs owned by private equity firms, companies that have since listed on a stock exchange, and Northvolt, which went bankrupt in 2025. Valuations are the latest private ones, which for some companies date from 2021 or 2022 and may be out of date.
Make this chart with your own numbers
An animated bubble map works whenever you want to show growth by place over time: new stores by city, customers by country, or a portfolio's companies by headquarters. Put the data in three columns (period, place, number), add an optional fourth column for a note like "+ 2 new stores", paste it into the animated bubble map maker, and download it as an MP4 or GIF for an investor update or board deck. The link under each chart above opens it with this post's data already loaded.
Sources and method
- Crunchbase Unicorn Board (list of companies and current valuations, October 2026)
- List of unicorn startup companies (Wikipedia)
Companies on the Crunchbase Unicorn Board headquartered in Europe and valued at $5bn or more in October 2026, plus Nscale (valued at $14.6bn in March 2026). Excluded: private-equity buyouts and corporate carve-outs (FNZ, The Access Group, THG Ingenuity, Constellation Automotive, Wireless Logic), companies controlled by a listed parent (Trendyol), listed companies (AutoStore), Northvolt (bankrupt), and Binance (no fixed headquarters). The year is the first time a funding round, share sale or company statement put the valuation at $1bn or more. For SumUp, Stegra and Isomorphic Labs the valuation was not disclosed at the time, so the year is the one the company was first reported or confirmed as a unicorn. Mambu is placed in Berlin, where Crunchbase lists it.