Record in sight for funding of European start-ups in 2013. - The funding of European start-ups could break records this year, but it will still not be enough to reduce the widening gap with the United States, according to the daily newspaper Les Échos, on the basis of data collected by Dow Jones Venture Source in the first quarter of 2014. These show that European start-ups raised $1.22 billion in the first three months of the year, a 27% increase on the same period last year and an absolute record. As the first quarter is generally the weakest in terms of investments, the study predicts that Europe could exceed the $5 billion mark across the whole of the year. This will be the sixth year in a row of growth for European venture capital. These figures do not take account of stock exchange flotations, which are also up for the first part of the year.

The number of operations is very much on the increase (261 in the first quarter, compared to 222 last year over the same period) and the average amount raised per transaction is also on the rise, from $4.33 to $4.69 million. However, Europe continues to lag a long way behind the United States in terms of start-up funding, experts say. Over the first quarter of 2014, American technology companies raised a total of $6.4 billion d, or $2 billion more than the total funds raised in Europe in the whole of 2013. And whilst Europe could exceed $5 billion for the whole of the year, forecasts indicate that the US could achieve $30 billion during the same period. (IL)