According to Forbes, the 2025 Midas List Europe reveals a major shift, with half the companies driving investor returns now based in Europe and the Middle East, including three of the top five. Stripe, with its dual HQ in Dublin and San Francisco, reported a staggering 409A valuation of $106.7 billion in September 2025, up from $91.5B in February, and processed $1.4 trillion in payments in 2024. Revolut’s valuation jumped 66% to $75 billion after a November secondary sale, fueled by reaching 65 million global customers and new banking licenses in Mexico and Colombia. Meanwhile, Wiz, the Tel Aviv-based cloud security firm, is set for Google’s largest-ever acquisition at $32 billion, and the AI lab Safe Superintelligence hit a $32B valuation pre-product after a $2B funding round. The list underscores that bets on European tech, especially in AI and fintech, are paying off massively for top VCs.
The Fintech Juggernauts Aren’t Slowing Down
Look, the numbers here are almost comical. Stripe is basically a $100+ billion privately held fortress. And Revolut adding 66% to its valuation in a year? That’s not normal growth; that’s a statement. Here’s the thing: both companies are moving far beyond their core products. Stripe’s Agentic Commerce Protocol powering checkout inside ChatGPT is a genius move to embed itself into the next wave of commerce. Revolut’s partnerships with Google Cloud and Booking.com show it’s building a financial ecosystem, not just a bank. For users, this means more integrated, AI-powered financial tools. For the market, it proves European fintech can build sustainable, profitable giants that compete on a global scale. The public markets are probably itching for these IPOs, but there’s clearly no rush.
The AI Playbook: Exits and Pre-Product Bets
The Wiz story is a masterclass in building and exiting. A company founded in 2020 gets bought for $32B by Google in 2025? That’s the kind of home run that fuels an entire region’s venture scene for a decade. It tells every security startup in Tel Aviv, London, and Berlin that a massive, strategic exit is possible. On the complete other end of the spectrum, you have Safe Superintelligence. A $32 billion valuation before launching a product? It sounds insane, but it highlights the sheer amount of capital chasing the “next big thing” in AI, especially when it’s founded by alumni like Ilya Sutskever. The risk is astronomical, but the potential reward—creating “safe” superintelligence—is seen as a moon shot worth funding. This duality defines the current European AI scene: pragmatic, sellable solutions like Wiz alongside massive, philosophical bets.
A Broadening Landscape Beyond the Usual Suspects
But it’s not just about fintech and AI. The list shows depth. Coupang, the “Amazon of Asia,” is driving returns for European investors, proving the region’s VCs have a global eye. UiPath, despite post-IPO volatility, is still growing revenue and launching complex products like Maestro to manage AI agents. And then there’s Figma. Its IPO pop and subsequent slide is a classic tale of public market reality checks. But commanding 40% market share is nothing to sneeze at. Basically, the European tech story is maturing. It’s got its stable of decacorns, its headline-grabbing exits, its risky moonshots, and its post-IPO companies navigating growth. That’s what a healthy, top-tier ecosystem looks like. The days of wondering if Europe can produce big tech are over. Now the question is, how many more of these champions can it scale?
