Techstars leads a list of the most active accelerators investing in European startups since 2018 and is one of four US-headquartered investors to make the top 10.
The Colorado-headquartered firm has made 661 investments in the region over a four-and-a-half-year period, according to PitchBook data. This is nearly double the amount made by the second-most active accelerator, California-based Plug and Play Tech Center, which made 334 investments.
Techstars was launched in the US in 2006, and today it has programs across seven cities in Europe. In 2021, it doubled down on the region with the addition of its two newest programs—in Stockholm and Paris—and with the closing of a $150 million fund targeting over 100 startups in the region. The same year, it picked French national Maëlle Gavet as its CEO.
While Techstars is the most prolific accelerator in the region, rival investor Y Combinator has backed the most would-be unicorns since 2018. The Mountview, Calif.-headquartered firm is an early backer of UK payments processor GoCardless, marketing platform MessageBird and Estonian ID verification startup Veriff.
The most active European-headquartered accelerator recorded over the period was Zurich-based Venture Kick, which was an early backer of Climeworks, a carbon capture startup that in April raised $650 million in a round led by Partners Group and GIC.