Tech Tour Growth50 2025: Falk Mueller-Veerse on Europe's Next Unicorns, Market Shifts and Scaling Challenges

With European leaders navigating economic shifts and geopolitical uncertainty, the upcoming Tech Tour Growth50 Europe Summit 2025 is set to bring together the continent’s most promising scale-ups and leading investors in Paris on March 4 at a particularly challenging time. Ahead of this flagship event, we sat down with Falk Mueller-Veerse, President at Bryan, Garnier & Co, to discuss the trends shaping Europe’s innovation landscape, the evolving investor sentiment, and what it takes to build the next wave of unicorns. With €172M in average investment already backing this year’s Growth50 companies, the summit will be a key moment for high-growth tech firms to connect, secure funding, and accelerate their global ambitions.

TT: Tech Tour Growth50 shines a spotlight on Europe's most promising tech companies. From your perspective, what sets this year’s cohort apart in terms of innovation, growth potential, or investment attractiveness?

FMV:  This is an amazing list of companies that are all set to become Europe’s next unicorns. The 50 companies truly reflect the diversity of Europe, in both sector and geography. The level of innovation created by the selected companies is clearly demonstrated by the breadth of sectors represented: from AI to Space, Fusion Technology, Quantum to new materials and ground-breaking pharma companies and beyond. The fact that each of the Top50 winners has already received an average investment of €172m is a sign that great companies are able to attract also sizeable investment amounts in a more challenging market environment.

TT: You’ve highlighted that, in spite of US companies’ dominance, international investors are taking a closer look at Europe’s market and technology leaders. How do you see investor sentiment evolving in the coming years?

FMV: Europe is attracting an increasing number of investors from outside the continent driven by the deep technological assets or by innovation in the business model. The depth of scientific research in Europe is a key enabler to produce also unique companies to become global market leaders. Many investors would agree that European companies are still characterized by attractive valuations and better capital efficiency, when compared to their US peers.

TT: You’ve previously observed that almost half of this year’s Top 50 companies have been recognized before, signaling a “winner takes it all” dynamic. What does this mean for emerging startups trying to break into these high-growth sectors, and what advice would you give them?

FMV:  Over 70 investors from across Europe were involved in selecting the Top50 Growth companies. Many of them have been following the European eco-system over many years and know how particular companies are developing. Thus, they are in a very good position to pick these winners who are dominating a certain space more and more. New players need to convince to a disruptive approach or focusing on a new segment that has not been yet targeted by other, more mature scale-ups.

TT: Bryan, Garnier & Co has been instrumental in supporting tech-driven businesses with fundraising and M&A strategies. What are the biggest challenges European scale-ups face in securing growth capital, and how can investment banks like yours help them navigate these challenges?

FMV:   Raising growth funding rounds has become very challenging, as compared to the early years of the decade, when money was easily available, frequently also at inflated valuations. Since 2022, the environment has shifted and the ability to fundraise has become a key competitive advantage. Hiring an experienced investment bank to support also top-performing companies has become widely adopted as the effort to close a round has exponentially increased and management resources are too valuable to just have them focused on more intense fundraising efforts. We believe that a good investment bank should be able to reduce management time to be spent on the capital raising process from approximately 70% to maybe 30%.

TT: Historically, US companies have dominated global tech investments. In your view, what does Europe need to do—at the policy, funding, or ecosystem level—to close the gap and create more unicorns on a global scale?

FMV:   The overall funding environment remains much more favourable in the US than in Europe. This gap is not going away, but we see an increasing number of investors looking at the market more from a global perspective. European companies frequently demand a lower valuation and investment amount while still serving the same international market. Potentially, the company transitions even to become more US-centric ahead of an exit. Thus, returns can also be very attractive for investors in European growth companies.

TT: What are you most excited about in relation to the upcoming summit in Paris? As this gathering continues to grow in prestige, how do you see Tech Tour Growth50 evolving in the next five years?

FMV:   I am really looking forward to seeing many of Europe’s best entrepreneurs and their investors again for a day of inspirational discussions. Over the past 20 years, I have attended dozens of Tech Tour events across Europe, but the Tech Tour Growth50 event is always the highlight of the year. Tech Tour has shown time and time again that they can identify the top companies to follow and with the help of some of best investors from the European continent, I am very confident that the event will continue to set the standard.

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As Europe’s top tech innovators and investors gather in Paris for the Tech Tour Growth50 Europe Summit 2025, the stage is set for high-impact connections and game-changing insights. Whether you’re a founder, investor, or ecosystem leader, this is your chance to engage with the next wave of unicorns and be part of Europe’s growth story. Join us on March 4th to connect, collaborate, and help shape the future of tech innovation.