European fintechs raised €3.6 billion in the first half of 2025, 23% higher than in the same period in 2024, with funding on track to reach €7.6 billion for the year. In 2021, this total reached almost €16 billion. But 2021 was an anomaly, a sugar-high: a liquidity-driven bubble when venture investment hit record highs. We don't expect to see those levels for another five to seven years, nor should we seek to recreate that. What matters now is building stamina, not chasing another rush.
"We're seeing two positive exceptions simultaneously that we don't see every quarter: a few very large rounds and an increase in the number of deals, both early and late stage."
President Donald Trump's science adviser and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy believes the recent, seismic cuts to federal research funding offer "a moment of clarity" for the scientific community to rethink its priorities, including the government's role in supporting research.