These last weeks a bunch of European 'startups' made headlines. Four companies specifically have caught my eye, each of them in a different vertical.
Consumer Brand - Oatly, Sweden
Founded in 1990 in Malmö Sweden, Oatly offers a broad range of nutritious and sustainable oat-based products and has grown into a global brand-name. Every marketeer knows this brand and its famous marketing campaigns. Not the typical startup story, but one many startup founders and investors will learn and take inspiration from.
SME SaaS - Wix, Israel
While already a huge success pre-COVID, our company Wix has exploded since March. 'When the Corona arrived in Italy and Spain, Wix executives noticed something unusual: The number of Google searches for the term "website building" and their company name, "Wix", was rising sharply. It turned out that small business owners who were forced to close their stores began to think about how they could adapt to the situation.' In response, the company has taken several steps early on, including rolling out major new features to help their customers adapt to the new world.
The company is now valued at $14B+ and the third-largest Israeli company...
Enterprise SaaS - UiPath, Romania
UiPath hit $400M ARR in 6 years... with recurring revenue growning from $100M to $400M over the last 24 months alone. The company is now valued at $10B+. Not much to add here, just amazing.
B2C SaaS - Spotify, SwedenSpotify now has a market cap of $47B+. This makes it the most valuable tech company founded this century in Europe and the most valuable B2C SaaS company after Netflix.
Enter the most exciting decade for European entrepreneurs yetThese are significant milestones for an ecosystem, which has experienced exponential growth in the past decade. It is incredible to witness how the quality and quantity of the startups we meet are increasing constantly. If you are building the next big thing, do reach out on this blog. I look forward to chatting...
Tomorrow also marks my first trip since the start of COVID. I will catch a train to Paris in the early morning. Hit me up if you are around. While I enjoyed my many runs in the forest these past months, I am thrilled to be on the road again hunting the best entrepreneurs out there.
La vie est belle,
Yannick
