Risen from the ashes: New Antler report reveals layoffs have turned tech talent into tech founders in Europe

Europe has historically not produced many tech giants due to a lack of technical founders with software development and engineering skills.

However, this is changing!

For the first time, a new generation of technical founders is emerging, set to build Europe’s first-ever tech giant.

This is according to research released today in Europe’s New Tech Founders 2024, a report by Antler, one of the most active early-stage VC firms in Europe. 

Here are the key takeaways

#1 Technical founders from computer science, software development, or data science background

After analysing over 1,000 founders in Europe and the US, as well as reviewing the applications of 60,000 aspiring founders to Antler in Europe, the data reveals that Europe is now producing technical founders – individuals with experience in computer science, software development, or data science – on a large scale for the first time.

#2 The US leads in more technical founders than Europe

In the US, all the founders who have built the 20 most valuable tech companies by market capitalisation are technical. Around 70 per cent of the founders of the 20 most valuable tech unicorns have technical backgrounds.

In contrast, only 45 per cent of the founders of the 20 most valuable tech companies in Europe are technical founders, and only 26 per cent of Europe’s unicorn founders have technical backgrounds.

#3 Technical founders are creating unicorns in Europe

However, the situation is changing. For the first time, technical founders are now in the majority in Europe, with 54 per cent of the founders of tech startups that have become unicorns since the start of 2023 being technical founders.

European unicorn success stories such as Mistral, Synthesia and Pigment have founding teams consisting entirely of technical founders, coming from the likes of Google, Meta, and Criteo to build billion-dollar tech companies, says the report.

“Technical founders are now building companies in Europe at a scale we’ve never seen before. And their impact is already being felt,” says the Antler report.

#4 Aspiring technical founders increased by 300%

According to the report, the new generation of European technical founders is more likely to be French (30 per cent) or German (21 per cent) than British.

After a decade when British founders have dominated European tech, only 10 per cent of new unicorn founders come from the UK, adds the report.

The rise of the European technical founder is also apparent in the applications to join Antler’s founder residencies. The number of aspiring technical founders increased by 300 per cent between 2021 and 2023 — 50 per cent more than the rise in non-technical founders.

There was an 8x increase in applications from founders with AI and data backgrounds and a 4x increase in engineers and product experts.

The number of women technical founders increased by 3.5x, reveals the report.

Moreover, between 2021 and 2023, the number of people leaving their jobs to found startups in technical roles has significantly increased, with data engineers, data analysts, and full stack developers being the fastest growing technical roles.

Data engineers increased by 1,850 per cent, followed by data analysts (1,375 per cent) and full stack developers (1,300 per cent). 

#5 From technical talent to startup founders

According to the Antler’s research data, layoffs have been the key driver of this change during the downturn, turning technical talent into technical founders. 

Since the start of the tech downturn in 2020, 311 tech companies have made 85,000 layoffs in Europe according to layoffs.

Between 2021 and 2023, applications from former employees of these companies increased by 3.5x. And more specifically, the number of technical founders coming from these companies has increased by 825%. 

The tech unicorns that have seen the biggest exodus of their technical talent leaving to become tech founders after announcing redundancies include Deliveroo (900 per cent increase in founder applications to Antler between 2021 and 2023), Zalando (900 per cent), Gorillas (700 per cent), Klarna (600 per cent) and Booking.com (433 per cent). 

“As a result, the downturn has created the most exciting generation of technical founders that Europe has ever seen,” suggests Antler’s report.

Christoph Klink, Partner at Antler, comments, “We have tried to answer one of the oldest questions in European tech. Why has Europe never produced a truly global tech giant? The most common answer is a lack of capital. But the real picture only comes to light when you start looking at the people behind tech giants and unicorns.” 

“We believe a critical reason that Europe has never produced a tech giant is because Europe has never produced enough technical founders. But that is changing. As a result of layoffs and the attraction of emerging technologies like AI, a new generation of technical founders is emerging in record numbers and with more experience than ever before. These are the founders that will build Europe’s first tech giant,” adds Klink.  

Brief about Antler

Antler is a global investor that aims to empower and support “visionary” founders. With a presence in 27 cities across six continents, including London, New York, and Singapore, Antler partners with early-stage entrepreneurs, providing support from team formation to global scaling.

Antler has already brought over 1,000 startups into existence, each offering “paradigm-shifting” solutions across diverse industries. The firm aims to support the birth of over 6,000 startups by 2030, continuing to drive innovation and positive change on a global scale.