Meet the new European unicorns minted in 2024; all of them are hiring right now

One of the biggest goals for startup founders is to grow their businesses and become unicorns. Unicorns are startups that pass a $1B (€930M) valuation before IPO or acquisition. 

As part of the fastest-growing region for startups, Europe has seen attractive growth-stage funding opportunities in 2024. After a slow year of funding rounds in 2023, several startups reached the unicorn stage this year. 

According to Dealsroom, here are the European scaleups that have joined the unicorn club in 2024. All of them are hiring!

Mews

Founder(s): Richard Valtr and Matthijs Welle

Founded in: 2012

Valuation: $1.2B (€1.1B) 

Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here

Mews is an Amsterdam-based startup that focuses on property management systems. The company aims to transform outdated hotel operations into advanced tech solutions. Over 5,000 hotels worldwide currently use Mews for their operations. 

This March, Mews secured $110M (€101.39M) in funding from Revaia, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Notion Capital, and LGVP. This funding round makes Mews a unicorn with a $1.2B (€1.1B) valuation.

Bending Spoons

Founder(s): Luca Ferrari, Francesco Patarnello, Matteo Danieli, Luca Querella, and Tomasz Greber

Founded in: 2013

Valuation: $2.55B (€2.37B) 

Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here

Bending Spoons offers a suite of mobile apps that include photo-editing, motion graphics and typography apps. Notable apps from Bending Spoons are Evernote, Meetup, Remini, and Splice.

The startup was founded in Denmark and headquartered in Milan, Italy. It has served around 500 million users worldwide. 

Bending Spoons became a unicorn after securing $155M (€144.41M) in an equity funding round this February. The investment was led by Durable Capital Partners, Baillie Gifford, Cox Enterprises, NB Renaissance, NUO Capital and StarTIP. 

Its valuation is scaled to $2.55B (€2.37B) post-funding.

Pennylane

Founder(s): Arthur Waller, Felix Blossier, Quentin de Metz, Alexandre Roquoplo, Edouard Mascré, and Tancrède Besnard 

Founded in: 2020

Valuation: $1.1B (€1.0B) 

Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here

Paris-based startup Pennylane offers a financial management and accounting platform for startups and SMEs. The platform is designed to improve workflows between companies and accountants. It has supported over 2,000 accountancy firms and 120,000 businesses to date.

After securing €40M Series C funding in February, the company earned unicorn status. DST Global led the all-equity funding round with participation from Sequoia Capital.

The company has a $1.1B (€1.0B) valuation.

DataSnipper

Founder(s): Maarten Alblas, Jonas Ruyter, and Kai Bakker

Founded in: 2017

Valuation: $1B (€930M) 

Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here

DataSnipper is a platform that accelerates the speed and quality of audits by ten times for finance professionals. It tackles the labour-intensive auditing process to enhance auditor productivity.

The company earned a unicorn status after raising $100M (€92.53M) funding this February. The investment came from Index Ventures, making the company valued at $1B (€930M). 

Quantinuum

Founder(s): Ilyas Khan

Founded in: 2021

Valuation: $5B (€4.66B) 

Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here

Quantinuum is a UK-founded quantum technology company that provides powerful quantum computers and advanced software solutions. 

It aims to use quantum physics for breakthroughs in healthcare, material science, cybersecurity, energy transformation, and climate change. Its clients include Airbus, BMW Group, Honeywell, HSBC, JPMorgan, and Thales. 

The company has grown into a unicorn many times following a $300M (€276M) funding this January at a pre-money valuation of $5B €4.66B). JPMorgan, Mitsui & Co., Amgen, and Honeywell participated in the funding round.

ElevenLabs

Founder(s): Piotr Dąbkowski and Mati Staniszewski

Founded in: 2022

Valuation: $1.1B (€1.0B) 

Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here

ElevenLabs is a natural text-to-speech and AI voice generator platform founded in Poland. The platform supports 29 languages to create voices. 

The technology is used in various sectors, including entertainment, education, and accessibility improvement.

ElevenLabs announced a $80M (€73.46M) investment from a Series B round this January. The investors were co-led by Andreessen Horowitz, Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross, Sequoia Capital, SV Angel, Smash Capital, BroadLight Capital and Credo Ventures.

This funding raises the company’s valuation to $1.1B (€1.0B), adding it to the list of Polish unicorns.

Pigment

Founder(s): Eléonore Crespo and Romain Niccoli 

Founded in: 2019

Valuation: over $1.0B (€930M) 

Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here

French SaaS startup Pigment offers a real-time platform that visualises critical business data. The business planning platform can help companies to budget, forecast, and build flexible plans.

The startup raised $145M (€134M) in Series D funding this April. The equity round was led by Iconiq Growth and joined by Sandberg Bernthal Venture Partners, IVP, Meritech, and Greenoaks. 

With this round, the French software startup is valued at over $1.0B (€930M), gaining unicorn status.