The closing of LIQID’s third venture fund at more than 100 million euros could be interpreted as a new demonstration of the dynamism of European technological investment. The reality is more nuanced. Behind a German manager and mainly European capital, a very clear direction is emerging: OpenAI, Anthropic, Stripe, SpaceX, Databricks and Anduril are among the companies to which investors wish to gain exposure.
While the European Union is increasing initiatives to support its technological sovereignty, a growing part of European private savings continues to seek its creation of value in American ecosystems. The question is no longer just to know where innovations are born, but to understand where the returns are concentrated.
Capital follows value, not borders
Discourses on digital sovereignty occupy a central place in the European public debate, yet capital flows follow a different logic. Investors are primarily looking for companies capable of generating the greatest value creation over a decade.
In this area, the United States maintains a considerable lead. In just a few years, OpenAI has become the most watched private company in the global technology sector. Anthropic stands out as its main competitor in foundation models. SpaceX now dominates the commercial space economy. Databricks has established itself as one of the most important data infrastructures in the digital economy. Stripe remains one of the most influential financial platforms in the world.
Faced with these actors, Europe produces its own champions. Mistral AI, Helsing, Synthesia, DeepL and ElevenLabs demonstrate the continent’s capacity to create leading technology companies. But the gap remains significant when it comes to reaching valuations of several tens, or even hundreds of billions of euros.
For an investor, the question is where is the highest probability of capturing the next wave of global value creation?
Artificial intelligence strengthens the American advantage
The current revolution in artificial intelligence accentuates this dynamic. Previous technological waves had already favored the United States. The Internet, cloud computing, social networks and smartphones have largely been structured around American companies.
AI replicates this pattern on a larger scale, and developing foundation models now requires investments in the billions of dollars. It requires privileged access to the most advanced semiconductors, massive computing capacities and increasingly important energy infrastructures.
This reality favors players capable of quickly mobilizing considerable volumes of capital.
OpenAI is supported by Microsoft. Anthropic is supported by Amazon and Google. xAI mobilizes the financial and industrial resources of Elon Musk’s ecosystem. In just a few years, CoreWeave has become a strategic player in AI infrastructure.
In this environment, European investors naturally seek exposure to companies that occupy dominant positions in the value chain.
The real scarce asset is no longer the startup, but access
LIQID’s announcement also highlights another market transformation: “Thirty years of venture capital data show a simple reality: most value is created by a small group of exceptional managers,” says Christian Schneider-Sickert, founder of LIQID.
Thus, only a handful of management companies systematically find themselves in the capital of the most successful companies of each generation. Sequoia, Benchmark, Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive Capital, Accel and Lightspeed now have a considerable cumulative advantage. Their reputation attracts the best entrepreneurs, which improves their performance and strengthens their ability to access the most sought-after financing rounds.
The main asset sought is therefore no longer just access to a promising startup, but access to funds which themselves have privileged access to the most coveted companies on the market. For a European investor, getting an allocation to certain US funds has become almost as difficult as investing directly in OpenAI or Anthropic.
European entrepreneurs themselves are looking to America
The movement of capital is accompanied by a progressive movement of founders. For several years, investors have observed an increase in the number of European entrepreneurs who create American legal structures, join accelerators like Y Combinator or move part of their operations to San Francisco and New York. The latest batch of Y Combinator includes more and more European founders who create their startups directly in the United States. The phenomenon particularly concerns sectors requiring significant financing, notably artificial intelligence, defense, software infrastructures or deeptech.
The reasons are of course economic, the American markets offer faster access to customers, investors and industrial partners, the financing rounds are often larger and above all the prospects for greater liquidity.
When founders follow these opportunities, capital usually ends up following them.
“In a market where capital is increasingly concentrated on a handful of leading companies, discipline and selection become decisive,” explains Martin Meuter, head of portfolio management.
Europe produces startups, the United States produces global platforms
One of the most significant differences lies in the scale reached by companies; while Europe demonstrates its capacity to create innovative companies, it struggles more to produce global platforms capable of lastingly dominating their market.
The United States benefits from a homogeneous domestic market, exceptional financial depth and an investment ecosystem capable of supporting companies for several decades without an immediate listing on the stock market. It is this combination of factors which favors the emergence of private companies whose valuations sometimes exceed those of historic listed groups.
The European paradox
This situation creates an increasingly visible paradox, with on the one hand, European institutions mobilizing tens of billions of euros to strengthen the technological sovereignty of the continent, and onOn the other hand, European private investors are directing a growing part of their capital towards American leaders in these same sectors.
This reality does not reflect a lack of European ambition, but above all reveals where investors today believe that the greatest returns will be concentrated over the next decade.
A new geography of capital
The LIQID announcement ultimately goes beyond the framework of a simple fundraising, and illustrates the emergence of a global geography of capital in which borders become secondary to the dynamics of value creation. European investors continue to fund local companies, but they also seek to participate in the large global technology platforms that are shaping the artificial intelligence economy.
The battle for technological sovereignty cannot be reduced to the location of companies. It also concerns the ownership of capital, access to returns and the ability to participate financially in the next waves of innovation.
In this area, the United States remains today the main center of attractiveness in the global technological economy, and European investors, far from turning away from it, are increasingly seeking to take part in it.
