European VC funding holds at $12.6B as CEE startups raise €640M in Q2 2025 – Vestbee report

Venture funding in Europe reached $12.6 billion in Q2 2025, holding steady quarter-over-quarter but falling 24% from last year’s record levels. In Central and Eastern Europe, startups closed 144 rounds worth over €640 million, with Poland, Estonia, and Ukraine leading the regional ecosystem. Vestbee has presented VC funding in CEE report — Q2 2025.

AIN shares key takeaways from the report below:

Stage dynamics

Growth-stage funding softened, accounting for just 10% of global late-stage VC, while early-stage deals remained relatively resilient at 19% of global allocation. 

In the Q2 of 2025, startups across Central and Eastern Europe closed 144 publicly reported funding rounds, collectively raising in excess of €640 million.

The region’s established hubs: Poland, Estonia, and Ukraine, led the activity, yet early-stage startups struggled to access meaningful capital. As the region’s ecosystem of enterprise value expands, sustaining growth will require more inclusive capital access, stronger local funds, and proactive global investors’ engagement.

Investment trends in Q2

• In Q2 2025, Germany overtook the UK in venture funding for the first time since 2012, raising $2.8billion against the UK’s $2.5 billion, while France secured $1.8billion. 

• The quarter was defined by mega-deals such as Turkey’s Dream Games ($1.25 billion) and Germany’s Helsing ($694 million).

• The capital heavily concentrated in deeptech sectors like defence, quantum, energy, and robotics.

In Q2 2025, early-stage VC in Europe showed relative strength with $5B invested across 270+ rounds, while growth-stage funding lagged at $5.7 billion over 75 deals, only 10% of global late-stage capital. 

Overall, Europe’s VC share fell to 13% of global investment in H1 (down from 19% a year earlier), with total funding slipping 11% YoY, signaling tougher competition for capital and investors’ focus on fewer, high-conviction bets.

Startup investment rounds in CEE in Q2 2025

The biggest disclosed investment rounds: 

• Cast AI, a US-based Application Performance Automation (APA) platform with Lithuanian-rooted, has raised €93 million in Series C round;

• Latvian tech company Aerones has raised a €53 million venture round.

• Pactum, Estonia-founded and US-based Agentic AI platform, secured €47 million in Series C funding.

Countries with the highest number of funding rounds: 

• Poland — 48 rounds; 

• Estonia — 20 rounds;

• Ukraine — 17 rounds.

The most active VC funds: Smok VC, FIRSTPICK, Inovo VC, Hard2Beat, LAUNCHub Ventures, Startup Wise Guys.

The most popular industries: AI, deeptech, financial services, SaaS, security, energy.

Read more: Total investment volume grew by 143% across CEE in Q1 2025 – Colliers report