Silicon Valley VC Accel has raised a $650 million early-stage fund to support ambitious founders building global category-defining companies out of Europe and Israel.
When Accel opened its London office in 2000, Europe’s technology ecosystem was nascent and many questioned its ability to generate billion-dollar outcomes. It became one of the first Silicon Valley venture firms to set up a European team.
Since then, Europe saw its first unicorn in 2005 (Skype), decacorn in 2016 (Supercell) and cloud decacorn in 2020 (UiPath), and the ecosystem has continued to gather pace. Today, the region is a powerhouse of talent, innovation and ambition.
Dealroom data shows the European and Israeli VC market is now almost half the size of that of the US, with approximately $66 billion invested in 2023.
Across Europe and Israel, Accel has now backed 200+ companies across more than 60 cities and 20 countries, including places such as Lithuania, Portugal, Romania and Serbia that are outside of the region’s familiar tech hubs.
Of any venture capital firm, Accel has invested in the most European and Israeli-founded unicorns at the Series A stage.
“Finding, building relationships and partnering with exceptional founders regardless of where they are located has always been in our DNA,” said Harry Nelis, partner at Accel.
“Our belief almost 25 years ago that Europe and Israel’s entrepreneurs had the vision and ambition to create global, category-defining companies has ensured we’ve been fortunate enough to partner with many of the region’s iconic companies over several technology cycles.
“These companies have laid the foundations of the thriving landscape we see today, fuelling and inspiring the next wave of founders who can now see what’s possible.
“Our capillary networks cultivated over more than two decades ensure our team has a deep knowledge of the region. With Europe and Israel producing exceptional talent in areas such as AI, cybersecurity, fintech and the modern data stack, we’re looking forward to supporting the next generation of founders.”