Europe experienced an increase in the volume of early stage (Seed and Series A rounds) venture capital (VC) deals in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2019 compared to Q4 2018 and these deals also continued to account for a dominant share of VC investments volume during both quarters, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

The number of early stage funding rounds in Europe increased from 276 deals worth US$1.2bn in Q4 2018 to 313 deals worth US$1.4bn in Q4 2019. These deals accounted for more than 80% of VC investments volume during both quarters.

Europe witnessed a total of 375 deals (with disclosed funding rounds) worth US$3.5bn in Q4 2019, representing a growth of 10% and 28.4% in volume and value terms, respectively.

In Q4 2019, the UK topped the region in early stage investments with 121 deals worth US$519.5m, followed by Germany with 54 deals worth US$365.1m and France with 26 deals worth US$200m.

Some of the notable early stage funding rounds announced during Q4 2019 included US$55.6m and US$22.1m secured by Sono Motors GmbH and ToolTime GmbH in seed funding and US$48.9m and US$33.5m secured by Goggo Network and Choco Communications GmbH in Series A funding.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, says: “The UK, being a technology hub with a pool of international talent and a conducive start-up ecosystem, continues to gain significant investors’ traction within Europe.”

Series B funding rounds outpaced both Seed and Series A funding rounds to secure the highest funding among all the rounds. In Q4 2019, Europe saw an increase in the number of Series B funding rounds from 43 deals worth US$624.4m in Q4 2018 to 47 deals worth US$1.1bn in Q4 2019.

The UK also led in Series B round of financing in Q4 2019 with 14 deals worth US$480.7m, followed by Germany with 11 deals worth US$320.1m and France with eight deals worth US$200.8m.

Some of the notable Series B funding rounds announced during Q4 2019 included US$110m secured by Wefox Group, US$60m secured by TIER Mobility GmbH and US$56m secured by Healx.

Among all the funding rounds, only Series D funding rounds experienced decline in both deal volume and value during Q4 2019. Series C also witnessed decline in deal volume, while experiencing growth in deal value during the quarter.