European private equity and venture capital funds raised 67.6 billion euros in the first half of 2026, up 6 percent from a revised 63.8 billion euros a year earlier, according to preliminary figures from Invest Europe, the industry association. Buyout funds did almost all of the work: they raised 53.6 billion euros, up 29 percent, and accounted for about 79 percent of the total. Venture capital funds raised 7.9 billion euros, down 3 percent, and growth-stage fundraising fell 58 percent to 4.2 billion euros, its lowest half-year total since 2016.
Deployment moved the other way. Total investment into European companies fell 35 percent to 43.1 billion euros, pulled down by buyouts, where investment dropped 42 percent to 24.5 billion euros. The exception was venture investment, which rose 11 percent to a half-year record of 11.5 billion euros, driven by the United Kingdom and Ireland and by larger rounds into fewer companies. Defence investment more than doubled to 2.7 billion euros, and deeptech companies received 8.5 billion euros, up 35 percent.
Exits were the weakest part of the picture. Divestments measured at original investment cost fell 40 percent, from 22 billion euros to 13.2 billion euros, the lowest half-year level since 2020. Sales to other private equity firms remained the most common route but their share fell to 35 percent, after two years above 40 percent, while stock market listings rose to 13 percent of exits, their first double-digit share since the second half of 2021. Continuation fund fundraising cooled sharply, down 78 percent to 2.4 billion euros from a record 11.3 billion euros a year earlier.
Invest Europe chief executive Eric de Montgolfier said Europe’s stability and predictability were attracting capital toward its private markets amid geopolitical uncertainty, a reading supported by the association’s survey with Arthur D. Little. The figures are preliminary and the association expects them to rise as more transactions are reported. The structural point stands either way: European managers ended the half holding far more committed capital relative to the pace at which they are buying and selling, which lengthens holding periods and raises the return hurdle on every new deal.