- Klarna and Improbable are identified as the leading companies producing successful startup founders in Europe, surpassing traditional tech giants like Google.
- According to a report by Antler, Klarna leads with 14 alumni founders reaching Series A funding, while Improbable follows with 8.
- The research analyzed 51,722 startups across Europe, revealing that employees from scaling startups are nearly twice as likely to start their own successful ventures.
- The findings challenge the notion that experience at big tech firms is crucial, suggesting that working at a Series B startup is more valuable for future founders.
- Historically, venture capitalists have favored founders with backgrounds in Google, Meta, and other well-known unicorns, a trend that has persisted for the past ten years.
- The report from Antler indicates that 23% of European startups typically secure Series A funding, but this figure rises to 45.6% for founders with experience at scaling startups.
New research from Antler highlights a shift in the European startup landscape, revealing that Klarna and Improbable are the top producers of successful founders, surpassing traditional tech giants like Google. The study analyzed 51,722 startups across the UK, Germany, France, and Sweden that raised seed funding between 2010 and 2021.1235
The findings indicate that employees at Klarna have founded 14 successful startups that reached Series A, while Improbable follows with eight. This challenges the long-held belief that experience at major tech firms is crucial for entrepreneurial success. In fact, the research shows that 23% of European startups typically secure Series A funding, but this figure jumps to 45.6% for founders with experience at startups that scaled from seed to Series C.6
Christoph Klink, a partner at Antler, emphasizes that investors are overvaluing experience at well-known companies. He states, “They should actually be paying more attention to the time a founder spent at a Series B logistics startup that's far less mainstream.” The report suggests that working at a unicorn just before its IPO is less beneficial than navigating a challenging Series A round.
Klink concludes, “The task for Europe's investors is to update their filters to find these founders and back them early.”
“Antler's analysis of 51,722 European startups found that founders who worked at a startup during its seed-to-Series-C scale-up are 45.6% likely to reach Series A, nearly double the 23% average. 'No other previous employment or experience comes close,' the report states, with partner Christoph Klink urging investors to update their filters.”
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