EVSI
European Venture Sentiment Index
In a europe-wide, quarterly survey, we assess the current sentiment of venture capital investors and business angels, as well as their current outlook for the coming quarter.
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European Venture Sentiment Index Reports
In Q2 2026, European VC sentiment stabilised somewhat but remained fragile, as investors continued operating with limited visibility into the quarters ahead. Macro headwinds, an energy shock, tighter monetary policy, and a still- difficult exit environment kept caution elevated even as headline capital deployment climbed to a new high, a gap that points to concentration in a handful of large rounds rather than a broad recovery in confidence.
The more meaningful development this quarter is a change in what investors are actually underwriting. Efficiency and product differentiation, once the bar for a strong pitch, are now simply table stakes. Attention has shifted to defensibility: whether a company controls something structurally hard to replicate, or whether it could be absorbed overnight as a feature of a larger platform.
That question is steering capital toward DeepTech, hardware, and other businesses with real physical or technical moats, and away from thinner, interface-layer plays built on top of frontier models. Exit conditions and liquidity remain tight and will stay a near- term focus, but the sharper test for investors going forward is durability: which companies can still matter once the AI stack settles into its final shape.