Record Number of U.S. Firms Invested in Europe Tech This Year

Alex Lim, a partner at Menlo Park, Calif.-based venture firm IVP,  flew to Europe six times in the 12 months before the coronavirus outbreak to visit founders and startups in the region. The pandemic abruptly halted those visits. But Lim’s interest in Europe didn’t flag. In the course of six months, he led his firm’s two investments in London-based Hopin—without anyone from IVP ever meeting the startup’s founder in person.

A new willingness to do remote-only VC deals such as the one IVP forged with Hopin has boosted U.S. investment activity in Europe to a record high. More than 550 U.S. institutions participated in at least one European funding round this year, up 4% from last year and 36% from 2016, according to the annual State of European Tech report by London-based VC firm Atomico seen by The Information. U.S. investments increased to more than one-third of all European tech deals this year. Atomico is expected to release the report on Tuesday.