a16z Ramps Up European Search for Unicorns
Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is reportedly increasing its travel and on-the-ground presence in Europe. The move reflects a broader shift among global VCs to actively scout for high-growth startups and potential unicorns across the continent. This heightened focus indicates growing international investor confidence in European tech ecosystems.
- a16z has already made investments in Turkish startups, participating in a $125 million Series C round for AI-based media platform Fal in July 2025 and an investment in Istanbul-based Loops AI via its Speedrun accelerator in December 2025. - Despite closing its London office to refocus on the US crypto industry, a16z is growing its European presence by adding at least nine new venture scouts in 2025 to its existing network of over 20 scouts in the region. These scouts, located in major hubs like the UK, France, and Germany, typically invest $10-25k in early-stage deals to identify promising engineers and talent. - The increased focus on Europe aligns with a broader trend of VCs prioritizing long-term resilience over rapid growth, with over 70% of funds now favoring sustainable business models. European valuations are also rising, with pre-seed valuations up 51.5% and early-stage valuations up 11.3% compared to 2023 figures. - In Q2 2025, the Turkish startup ecosystem saw a total deal volume of $857.9 million across 46 deals, a significant increase from the $70.2 million in Q1 2025. This was largely driven by Uber's acquisition of Trendyol Go. - Foreign direct investment into Turkey grew by 12.2% in 2025, reaching $13.1 billion, with the information and communications technology sector attracting $1.308 billion. The Turkish economy is projected to grow by 4% in 2025. - The Turkish deeptech sector saw a 438.93% rise in funding in the first ten months of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, raising $29.6M. To further foster this growth, Istanbul Technical University's ITU ARI Teknokent has partnered with InnovationQuarter in the Netherlands to help Turkish deeptech scale-ups access European markets. - In 2024, AI, deeptech, and health were record sectors for VC investment in Turkey, with AI startups being involved in 25% of all investment deals. Fintech, however, captured the largest share of capital alongside gaming, accounting for 68% of total funding. - A challenge for the Turkish ecosystem is the conversion of startups from seed to later stages. The seed-to-early-stage conversion rate is approximately 13%, significantly lower than the nearly 50% rates in the UK, France, and Germany.
