An examination of the level of investment and market share of tech sub-sectors over five years reveals a significant shift in attention and some increase in the speed of access to funding. Let’s take a closer look.

The Growth of Life Sciences and Cleantech

Perhaps most obviously, the impact of COVID-19 has seen a rapid growth in the market share for Life Sciences startups, rising 9% globally from 2019 to 2020. Funding in Cleantech has also grown steadily since 2016, as a result of increased awareness of the importance of tackling climate change and growing investor interest in the sector.

Similarly, the Agtech & New Food sector shows some market gain, likely a reflection of interest in accelerating more sustainable methods of feeding the world. Advanced Manufacturing gained market share, which may be due to increased interest in Industry 4.0 in a context of global supply chain disruption.

Faster Access to Funding for Several Sub-Sectors

On a global level, both Life Sciences and Cleantech have also experienced a small increase in speed of access to Series A funding. In Europe, this trend was much faster, with Life Sciences showing a 24% decrease in time taken to access funding from 2019 to 2020 and Cleantech down 16%. Life Sciences is traditionally a slow sub-sector to gain access to funding because of regulations, but since 2019 it has caught up to other sub-sectors in Europe as barriers have been reduced.

Advanced Manufacturing also showed significant increased speed of access to Series A funding in Europe, down 16%. While Gaming has a reduced market share since 2017, startups in the field have experienced much quicker access to Series A funding in recent years, down almost 21% globally and 25% in Europe from 2019 to 2020.

Want to learn more about global trends in tech sub-sectors? Take a look at the The Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2021 Life Sciences Edition.