Summary

• Highland Europe has closed a €1.1bn sixth fund for European technology scaleups.
• The firm has raised €3.75bn across six funds and backed more than 80 companies.
• The round reinforces Europe’s long-running need for later-stage capital rather than introducing a new market trend.

Highland Europe has closed a €1.1bn sixth fund to invest in European technology scaleups, adding fresh capital to a growth-stage market that has long been one of the continent’s weaknesses.

The London and Geneva-based investor has now raised €3.75bn across six funds, backed more than 80 companies, and completed 30 exits since launch. Its portfolio includes 9fin, AMCS, Bending Spoons, Camunda, EGYM, Featurespace, GetYourGuide, Huel, hyperexponential, Nabla, n8n, Nothing, Wolt, and Zwift.

The new fund follows a year in which Highland generated more than €1bn in liquidity. Recent portfolio milestones include the $3bn sale of Nexthink, the agreed acquisition of Huel by Danone, the $7.5bn merger of EGYM and Playlist, and the public listing of Bending Spoons on Nasdaq.

Although the headline is a fund close, the more durable point is the persistence of Europe’s scaleup gap. The continent has built a much larger base of credible B2B software, AI, fintech, cyber, and deep technology companies over the past decade, but growth capital remains uneven when compared with the US. Promising companies can still find themselves choosing between raising abroad, selling early, slowing expansion, or moving more strategic functions closer to larger pools of capital and customers.

Growth-stage capital matters because it pays for the expensive part of company building. Enterprise sales teams, international expansion, product maturity, compliance, security, customer success, acquisitions, and brand trust all require money long after the startup story has stopped being simple.

Highland’s recent investments show where part of the market is moving. It has backed legal AI platform Wordsmith, enterprise AI delivery platform Unframe, and precision agriculture company Ecorobotix, among others. AI is drawing capital across Europe, but the growth-stage filter is different from the seed-stage one. Buyers now expect AI products to integrate into workflows, reduce operational friction, survive procurement, and justify renewals.

The exit environment also shapes the value of funds such as this one. Public markets remain selective, strategic buyers are cautious, and regulators have become more attentive to technology consolidation. Companies with access to later-stage capital can wait for better conditions rather than accepting a sale because the next funding round is unavailable.

Highland’s €1.1bn fund does not close Europe’s funding gap, and it should not be treated as proof that the market has reset. It does, however, add meaningful capital for businesses that have already found a market and need time to become durable category companies. Europe has often been good at producing promising technology. The harder job is keeping enough of it independent, scaled, and commercially serious.