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Announcing the 2017 Tech Tour Growth 50 – Europe’s 50 future Unicorns
Geneva, February 15th, 2017
Today, Tech Tour announces its 2017 Tech Tour Growth 50 to shine a light on the next generation of
Europe’s fastest growth equity backed tech businesses.
Tech Tour, a platform that facilitates high-tech growth companies to develop strategic relations with
investors, together with Silverpeak Investment Bank and in conjunction with a selection committee
of international investors have researched and evaluated over 275 European private tech companies
at a sub-one billion US dollar valuation.
The selection committee (see notes to editors), chaired by Jean-Michel Deligny, Silverpeak, was
composed of 18 international venture capital firms, advisers and experts who judged the companies
based on their achievement, impact and momentum.
The CEOs of the companies will gather at the annual Tech Tour Growth Forum in partnership with
Pictet & Cie and Bryan, Garnier & Co in Geneva from March 30th – 31st where two companies will be
announced as the 2017 Tech Tour Growth Award and Tech Tour Innovation Award winner.
The Tech Tour Growth 50 2017 (companies shaded in blue enter the TTG50 for the first time in 2017)
William Stevens, Managing Director, Tech Tour, commented “The billion dollar “unicorn” successes
that grab our attention are just the tip of the iceberg. The Tech Tour Growth 50 puts the next layer of
Europe’s high-tech, high-growth businesses in the limelight. These are Europe’s future potential
unicorns – the companies with the most promise to have a global impact. The Tech Tour Growth 50
Companies have created over 9, 000 high-tech jobs, raised over $3.7 billion of investment from 309
investors and have an estimated average valuation of $338 million. This is a clear demonstration of
Europe’s strength and competitiveness in scaling-up tech businesses.”
The composition of the list has changed significantly from the first edition in 2015 where almost 50%
of the companies were defined as ‘B2C eCommerce’. This year that broad category only applies to
just over 30% of the companies, with only 15% in what we can now view as traditional online retail.
Major success stories emerging in B2B software and services, particularly in Fintech, Security and the
Internet of Things. These are the companies that are driving the move from the era of the consumer
internet to the industrial internet. An area where Europe has a clear competitive advantage. These
companies, which include Sigfox, Actility, Drayson Technologies, Algomi, Telensa, Darktrace, Feedzai
and Calastone are enabling profound changes in industries as diverse as Energy, Insurance, Fixed
Income trading, Agriculture and Asset Management.
European tech dynasties are now emerging where the capital and expertise created by realised
unicorn successes such as Skype, Zoopla and Autonomy is supporting many of the future unicorns we
see in this year’s Tech Tour Growth 50. This, together with a host of European serial entreprenuers
turned super angel investors backing TTG50 companies such as Charles Dunstone (Carphone
Warehouse), William Reeve (LoveFilm) and Jacques Antoine Granjon (Vente Prive), gives compelling
evidence of just how deep, broad and globally competitive the European tech scene has become in
recent years.
Commenting on the selection process Jean-Michel Deligny, Managing Partner, Silverpeak
Investment Banking explained “We combine the quantitative rigour of using multiple data sources
for valuation, sales growth and financing with the qualitative insight of a selection committee of
leading investors and advisers in order to come up with the list of great European tech companies
beyond unicorns, in fact we specifically excluded unicorns. Given the quality of the selection
committee and the rigour of the process The Tech Tour Growth 50 is now cemented as the reference
tool for all those interested in up and coming European tech companies. Each year our work is
becoming more difficult as there is a growing number of great European companies. It is of course a
very nice problem to have and explains the growing appeal of the Tech Tour Growth Forum as the
place to meet great late-stage European tech companies. ”
ENDS
For more information please contact James Burnham, Tech Tour and visit
www.techtourgrowth50.com
[email protected] +44 (0)7887765304
Notes to Editors
The Tech Tour Growth 50 Companies
Key Statistics
Growth Rates (figures in brackets are for Tech Tour Growth 50 2016)

38 of the TTG50 companies were founded in the last 10 years (45).

The median year of company foundation is 2008 (2008) with the most recent in 2013

The average time from company foundation to first funding round is 2 years and 8 months (1
year and 10 months)

52% of the 50 companies have at least one US investor (68%)

48% of the companies have at least one individual as investor (42%) – these are typically
serial entrepreneurs and partners in venture capital firms acting as “angel” investors – all
these individual investors are currently still invested
Economic Impact

TTG50 Companies have raised over $3.7 billion (Research by Deutsche Bank shows a
correlation that every €1 of venture capital investment contributes to €3 of GDP growth)

The TTG50 have created over 9 000 jobs

32 companies are Tech Tour "alumni" presenting at past Tech Tour events to investors
The 2016 Selection Committee*
Seth Pierrepont
Okan Kara
Alberto Gomez
Alexander Galitsky
Anne Glover
Antonella Beltrame
Falk Mueller-Veerse
Stephan Morais
Christian Nagel
Sven Lingjaerde
Klaas de Boer
Patrick Sheehan
Petri Laine
Yossi Sela
Accel Partners
ACT Venture Partners
Adara Venture Partners
Almaz Capital Partners
Amadeus Capital Partners
Atlante Ventures
Bryan, Garnier & Co
Caixa Capital
Earlybird Venture Capital
Endeavour Vision
Entrepreneurs Fund
ETF Partners
Finnvera Venture Capital
Gemini Israel Ventures
Dominique Pitteloud
Per Roman
David Bateman
David Blyghton
Tanja Emmerling
Matthieu Baret
Ross Ahlgren
Pascal Noth
Ninja Struye De Swielande
Matthias Allgaier
Dominique Mégret
Morgan Seigler
Fulvia Montresor
Ginko Ventures
GP Bullhound AB
Harbert Man. Corp.
Highland Capital Europe
High-Tech Grunderfonds
Idinvest Partners
Kreos Capital
Palamon Capital Partners
Pictet
Summit Partners Limited
Swisscom Ventures
TA Associates
World Economic Forum
*For continuity 50% of the committee companies were on the 2016 committee
The Selection Process
1. The Tech Tour using its own database, publically available data, proprietary insight from
Silverpeak Investment Banking and the Go4Venture platform generated a long-list of 281
European companies that potentially met three of the four criteria below:

>€10mn in revenue

>€20mn in total funding

>€100mn valuation <€1billion valuation

>min revenue growth pa on average over the last 3 years (Dec 31st 2012 to Dec 31st
2015)

80% for companies with €10-30mn in revenues

50% for companies with €30-100mn in revenues
2. The selection committee then supplemented the list with their own insight.
3. These companies were then contacted by the Tech Tour and asked to qualify they met three
of the four financial criteria. Companies were requested to supply supplementary
information based on:
a. Achievement: Capital efficiency, Growth in last 3 years, Business Plan execution,
Market penetration, Barrier to competition / IP
b. Impact: Addressable market, Scalability / International expansion, Disruptive
business model / value proposition
c. Momentum: Projected growth, Financial backing / future requirements, commercial
partnerships, Management
4. Each selection committee member was then independently asked to generate their own
Tech Tour Growth 50 list (i.e. they had fifty votes each) based on the supplementary criteria
5. Companies that confirmed they met the financial criteria and/or had received 7 or more
votes were then automatically included in the list. This gave 41 companies.
6. The selection committee then convened to discuss the remaining companies allocating the
final 9 places
The top 50 companies compose the Tech Tour Growth 50. As no method is perfect we have not
ranked the Tech Tour Growth 50
About The Tech Tour
Founded in 1998, Tech Tour provides a Community facilitating investment into world class
entrepreneurs with event and online matching platforms between growing and emerging innovative
companies and investors across borders, regions, sectors and stages. Tech Tour is also the trade
name for Europe Unlimited.
www.techtour.com (see also www.e-unlimited.com)
About the International Venture Club
The International Venture Club is a collaborative platform of over 70 leading independent venture capital, corporate
and institutional investors promoting successful international investments. The Club objectives are to share better
practices, build co-investor trust and relations, foster new funding and investment opportunities through joint
actions and grow portfolio companies with corporate partners and co-investors. The International Venture Club is
managed by Tech Tour.
www.iventureclub.com
About Silverpeak Technology Investment Banking
Silverpeak is an independent investment bank providing advice on M&A and financing transactions in the
technology sector
We serve the advisory needs of:



Growth and venture-stage companies
Financial sponsors (typically private equity and venture funds)
Corporates seeking to grow their business via investment or acquisitions, or manage their activity portfolio
through spin-offs or divestitures
We typically work on:



Larger financings involving international investors
M&A transactions for which our clients value our combination of local support and international reach
Our expertise is deepest in segments such as: internet/digital media, enterprise software/SaaS, enabling
technologies, healthtech.
We provide a superior service thanks to our sector knowledge, deal execution capabilities and extensive
relationships.
For more information please visit www.silverpeakib.com