Tech layoffs fuel a whopping 391% increase in aspiring tech founders: New Antler report

Despite the tech downturn, Europe’s founder ecosystem continues to thrive with an unprecedented surge of new entrepreneurs entering the market.

These findings were revealed in “Europe’s New Tech Founders 2023,” a comprehensive report published by Antler, the world’s leading day zero investor and Europe’s most active early-stage venture capitalist.

The report was launched at Antler’s first European Founder Conference at Mansion House in London.

According to Antler, the report analyses the academic history, professional expertise, and demographics of 845 unicorn founders, 2,500 founders participating in Antler residencies, and over 70,000 aspiring founders in Europe who have applied to Antler (22,000 of which reside in the Netherlands), making it the largest study of European technology founders in history. 

Here’re a few key takeaways:

New founders driven by tech layoffs 

The influx of new founder talent is driven by tech layoffs and redundancies. For the first time, Antler’s research shows a direct correlation between layoffs and new tech founders. 

In the 12 months after a tech company announced layoffs, Antler has identified a 391 per cent increase in applications from employees looking to become aspiring tech founders. 

9 out of the top 10 tech companies generating aspiring founders in Europe have made layoffs in the last three years, reveals the report. 

In 2022, the number of employees leaving tech companies that made layoffs to become tech founders increased by 111 per cent. 

Since 2021, the number of aspiring founders from Big Tech (+21 per cent) and large startups (+27 per cent) has grown significantly.  

Booking.com, Spotify, and Klarna are the largest startups generating the most founders in Europe. Microsoft, Google, and IBM are the Big Tech firms producing the most entrepreneurs. 

In the Netherlands, aspiring tech founders looking to create tech startups in the Netherlands over the last three years are 216 per cent more likely to be women than Dutch unicorn founders, discloses the report. 

Unicorn founders

The report points out the lack of diversity among Europe’s unicorn founders.

A typical unicorn founder is a man (96 per cent male) building a tech company in their home country, highlights the report.  

A third of Europe’s unicorn founders went to the same 20 universities, meaning a unicorn founder is more likely to be an Oxbridge (Oxford and Cambridge) graduate (35) than a woman (32). 

Dutch unicorn founders are most likely to have studied at the University of Amsterdam, Technical University of Delft or the University of Groningen. 

Triodor Software, Optiver and GSK are the companies that Dutch unicorn founders most commonly worked at before becoming tech founders. 

6 per cent of Dutch unicorn founders are women, while 30 per cent came from overseas to set up the companies that achieved billion-dollar valuations in the Netherlands.

Europe’s new tech founders are more diverse

Research shows that this new generation of founders is more diverse. 

New tech founders are 5x more likely to be women and represent 3x more nationalities than Europe’s unicorn founders. 

The report also sheds light on a few diversity and inclusion statistics:

• There is a 300 per cent increase in the number of nationalities represented by Europe’s new tech founders compared to Europe’s unicorn founders
• There is a 525 per cent increase in gender diversity of Europe’s new tech founders compared to Europe’s unicorn founders
• 51 per cent of Europe’s new tech founders are willing to move country to create their startup

In the Netherlands specifically, aspiring tech founders looking to create tech startups in the Netherlands over the last three years are 216 per cent more likely to be women than Dutch unicorn founders, says the report. 

Founder engine rooms

Regardless of geography, a third of unicorn founders went to the same 20 universities. 

Consulting firms and corporates dominate the list of employers generating unicorn founders, indicates the report.

Looking at the backgrounds of tech founders who have secured investment from Antler in the Netherlands, Maastricht University, the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and the University of Groningen produce graduates with the highest chance of receiving investment. 

And based on the 22,000 aspiring founders who have applied to Antler in the Netherlands, former employers of McKinsey, EY, ING and Booking.com are most likely to secure investment for their tech startups, discloses the report.

Employers generating unicorn founders in the Netherlands: 

1. Triodor Software
2. Optiver
3. GSK 
4. Bibit Global Payments Services 
5. Mollie 

Employers generating new tech founders in the Netherlands 

1. McKinsey 
2. EY 
3. ING 
4. Booking.com 
5. ABN AMRO Bank 

Academic institutions generating unicorn founders in the Netherlands 

1. University of Amsterdam 
2. Technical University of Delft 
3. University of Groningen 
4. University of Twente 
5. University of Technology Eindhoven 

Academic institutions generating new tech founders in the Netherlands 

1. Maastricht University 
2. Vrije University of Amsterdam 
3. University of Groningen 
4. Technical University of Delft 
5. INSEAD 

Christoph Klink, Partner at Antler, says, “‘This data brings to life what we experience every day working with founders from day zero of their journey. In the last 12 months alone, we’ve invested in female rocket scientists sending satellites into space, mothers building a family at the same time as a proptech business, engineers who’ve found a way to extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and fintech experts keeping small businesses afloat during the economic downturn.” 

“Their backgrounds are different, but what unites them is the conviction that technology can make the world a better place. When I consider the founders I spend time with every day, I don’t think there’s ever been a more exciting time in the European tech ecosystem,” adds Klink.