THE NEXT UNICORN AWARDS 2023: EUROPEAN SCALE-UPS CONTINUE TO FLOURISH, DEMONSTRATING RESILIENCE AND DYNAMISM DURING A CHALLENGING PERIOD

• The Next Unicorn Awards, with winners announced during VivaTech, from 14 to 17 June 2023 in Paris, celebrates fast-growing European tech scale-ups that have the potential to become Unicorns in the next few years.
• Previous winners include Vinted, Sorare and Tessian.
• Since 2019, 40% of the scale-ups identified by the top 100 Next Unicorn Awards have become unicorns, including : Aiven, Back Market, Contentsquare or Sumup
• 2023 top 100 highlights : 
  • United Kingdom (20) has the highest number of companies in the Top 100 list, followed by France (19) and Germany (17)
  • The top 3 sectors represented were Saas (38), Fintech (16) and Digital media (16)
  • The average funds raised by the Top 100 was 166 millions of euros
• The start-up Ecovadis, listed in the 2022 top 100 is now a unicorn.

[Paris, 16 March 2023] - Viva Technology in partnership with GP Bullhound today released its 2023 "Top 100 Next Unicorns", its annual list of the 100 most promising scale-ups in Europe, including the UK and Israel. 

The key criteria for this list included growth, funds raised, and geographical distribution. A judging panel consisting of senior representatives from VCs, VivaTech founding partners and unicorns will evaluate the list and select winners in each of the following categories: Fintech, Marketplaces, Enterprise Saas, Digital Media, AI, Deeptech & Big Data and Coup de Coeur Prize. Winners will be announced at VivaTech in June.

The list was compiled by Viva Technology, the biggest startup and tech event in Europe, in partnership with global technology advisory and investment firm GP Bullhound, with the support of White & Case and with contribution from five of the world's most reputable investment funds: Accel, Balderton, Eurazeo, NorthZone and Partech.

As part of the event in June, GP Bullhound will publish exclusively, in partnership with Viva Technology, the 2023 edition of its annual report "Titans of Tech" analysing for the ninth consecutive year the growth of the major European technology companies and highlighting several key players in its ecosystem with the potential to achieve the status of "Titan" -  a valuation of more than USD 50 billion.

François Bitouzet, Managing Director of Viva Technology, said: "Yet again this year, our selection of the Top 100 scale-ups shows the strength of European technology; strength that is quite impressive given the challenges facing our tech ecosystem today. These digital pioneers represent huge potential, asserting Europe as an innovation leader. We must continue to support scaling startups to reach the highest levels of success and to make a positive impact on our world.

Manish Madhvani, Managing Partner at GP Bullhound, commented: “Despite the economic and geopolitical challenges of 2022, this year’s Top 100 list shows that the fundamentals of the European tech ecosystem remain strong. As conditions stabilise, European tech companies are well placed to seize the opportunity, continuing to scale, and maturing into the “Titans” of European tech.”

More details regarding 2023 TOP 100 here