Big ticket early-stage bets fuel Europe's cybersecurity funding
Key takeaways
- Big ticket early-stage bets fuel Europe's cybersecurity funding Leah Hodgson Mon, June 1, 2026 at 6:49 PM GMT+7 2 min read CRIME POLICE CENTER FOR CYBER SECURITY Dirk Waem/Getty Images
- After a near-record year for European cybersecurity VC funding, investment has maintained pace in Q1, with the focus shifting to larger early-stage deals.
- The growing share of capital going to early-stage startups in Europe’s cybersecurity sector aligns with a global shift.
Big ticket early-stage bets fuel Europe's cybersecurity funding Leah Hodgson Mon, June 1, 2026 at 6:49 PM GMT+7 2 min read CRIME POLICE CENTER FOR CYBER SECURITY Dirk Waem/Getty Images
After a near-record year for European cybersecurity VC funding, investment has maintained pace in Q1, with the focus shifting to larger early-stage deals.
In the first three months of the year, Europe attracted $1 billion in cybersecurity VC investment, according to our latest report on the sector, putting the amount broadly on track to match 2025’s full-year total—the second-highest figure in a decade. However, the cadence of dealmaking has trailed since last year, with 61 deals closing—indicating that deals are getting larger despite early-stage startups accounting for a greater share of capital, suggesting that investors are making fewer but larger bets on perceived category winners.