Amsterdam has become a bustling place for entrepreneurs to try out their innovative ideas. After taking the 12th spot as one of the fastest growing European cities in the global tech ecosystem, Amsterdam has now bagged the third spot in Europe’s tech ecosystem as well.
Ayden and Takeaway ballooned Amsterdam’s tech ecosystem valuation
As per a new Dealroom report, the combined value of Amsterdam’s tech ecosystem has expanded to €73B, compared to €10B in 2015. This ballooning of valuation is being attributed to the unicorns Adyen and Takeaway.com. With this development, Amsterdam ranks Europe’s #3 tech ecosystem rankings based on the total value of tech companies founded since 2000. With a total valuation of €43.5B, Adyen is Europe’s most valuable tech company founded after 2000.
Hailing from Stockholm, Spotify takes the second spot with a valuation of €38.7B. It is followed by Berlin-based companies, Delivery Hero and Zalando, with valuations standing at €19.5B and €15.3B, respectively. Ranked as the fifth most valuable tech company in Europe is Takeaway, with a total valuation of €13.8B.
Amsterdam punches above its weight
Dealroom and Startup Amsterdam perform regular check-ins on the Amsterdam startup funding landscape. As per the two organisations, Amsterdam punches well above its weight in terms of startup performance as it ranks just behind just London and Berlin for tech ecosystem value in Europe. As mentioned earlier, the city is also home to two of Europe’s top 5 most valuable tech companies, Ayden and Takeaway. However, Amsterdam’s ecosystem is more concentrated than it is in cities like Berlin or Paris.
The report also highlights the fact that Amsterdam has a higher density of startups, but low investment and lack of future unicorns still pose a notable challenge. The city reportedly hosts over 2.7K startups at different stages and features a high startup per capita density.
Securing foreign investments & future unicorns
As for investments that are happening, Amsterdam has notable support from local investors. However, the city still struggles to attract investment, notably in later rounds. This could potentially hamper the city’s prospects of fostering future unicorns. Although Amsterdam has notable support from local investors, more work needs to be done in order to garner increased interest from international investors, similar to other major tech hubs like London, Tel-Aviv, and Stockholm. This would offer Amsterdam a huge opportunity to unlock future growth potential.
The resilient venture capital ecosystem of Amsterdam
Even though 2020 was impacted heavily by the pandemic, Amsterdam Venture Capital investment is holding up well. In Amsterdam, 2019 was a record year for investment, which was largely driven by Picnic’s €250M mega round, late in the year. In 2020, Health and EdTech sectors have witnessed a sharp rise in investments, which could be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Amsterdam-based payment services provider Mollie also recently raised a notable €90M in its series B funding round. Similarly, Otrium, Roamler, Vanmoof and other startups raised substantial investments this year.
Main image credits: Shutterstock
This article is produced in collaboration with StartupAmsterdam. Read more about our partnering opportunities.
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