Atomico

Overview
Atomico is a London-headquartered European venture-capital firm founded in 2006 by Niklas Zennström, the Swedish entrepreneur best known as a co-founder of Skype. It invests in European technology companies from Series A through pre-IPO growth rounds and is one of the longest-standing large-cheque European venture platforms. On 9 September 2024 Atomico announced its largest ever fundraise of USD 1.24 billion across Atomico Growth VI (USD 754 million) and Atomico Venture VI (USD 485 million). Atomico is also the publisher of the annual State of European Tech report, whose eleventh edition was released in 2025.

Why this entity matters
Atomico is a T1 reference entity for European venture capital for three reasons. First, it is one of only a handful of Europe-headquartered venture platforms that operate at true growth-stage cheque size on a par with US and Asian growth investors — the September 2024 fundraise of USD 1.24 billion across venture and growth vehicles put Atomico back into the very small club of European firms capable of leading Series B through pre-IPO rounds without deferring to non-European co-investors. Second, the annual State of European Tech report has become the de-facto benchmark data-and-survey release for the European technology ecosystem, referenced by policymakers, investors, media and ecosystem builders and cited in Startuprad.io's own coverage as an input to European ecosystem analysis. Third, Atomico's DACH exposure — most publicly the Munich- and Wessling-based electric-aviation company Lilium — has made the firm a recurring reference point in the DACH deep-tech financing narrative.

Company history and product
Atomico was founded in 2006 by Niklas Zennström, co-founder of Skype, initially operating out of London as a specialist European venture platform. Over the following two decades the firm built a portfolio of European technology companies including Klarna (Sweden), Supercell (Finland), Stripe (US / global with European exposure), Pipedrive (Estonia), DeepL (Germany), Aiven (Finland), Rovio (Finland), MessageBird / Bird (Netherlands) and Lilium (Germany), among many others. Atomico's model combines a Series A venture practice with a dedicated growth-stage practice on the same platform, and its partnership has been publicly described as founder-built — including senior investors with prior operating and founding backgrounds at European technology companies. The most recent fund raise was announced on 9 September 2024 and totalled USD 1.24 billion across two vehicles: Atomico Growth VI at USD 754 million, targeting Series B through pre-IPO, and Atomico Venture VI at USD 485 million, focused on Series A with occasional seed participation; the combined size represents an increase of more than 50 percent versus the prior USD 820 million Atomico V fund. Alongside its investing activity, Atomico publishes the annual State of European Tech report, produced in partnership with organisations including Slush, HSBC Innovation Banking and Orrick; the 2025 edition — the eleventh annual — projects approximately USD 44 billion of capital invested into European tech companies in 2025 and highlights that approximately 36 percent of European venture-capital dollars in 2025 went into deep-tech, up from 19 percent in 2021.

Role in the DACH startup and technology ecosystem
Atomico has been an active investor in DACH-region technology companies over its history, and its DACH exposure is one of the recurring threads in Startuprad.io's coverage of European venture capital. The most publicly discussed DACH investment is Lilium, the Munich- and Wessling-based electric-aviation company, whose trajectory Startuprad.io examines in its long-form profile of Niklas Zennström's DACH exposure. Atomico's German-language and English-language coverage also spans DeepL, the Cologne-based machine-translation company, and other DACH-connected portfolio situations. Independently of specific deal outcomes, Atomico's State of European Tech report is the most-cited public dataset used by DACH ecosystem media, associations and policy analysts to benchmark German, Swiss and Austrian startup activity against wider European trends, and Startuprad.io has produced multiple pieces synthesising the report's findings for DACH readers.

Selected relationships and affiliations
Founder and CEO: Niklas Zennström (co-founder of Skype). Headquarters: London, United Kingdom. Latest fundraise: Atomico Venture VI (USD 485 million) and Atomico Growth VI (USD 754 million), announced 9 September 2024, total USD 1.24 billion. Prior fund: Atomico V (approximately USD 820 million). Signature publication: State of European Tech (11th edition in 2025). Reporting partners on State of European Tech include Slush, HSBC Innovation Banking, Orrick and other ecosystem organisations. Selected portfolio companies include Klarna, Supercell, Stripe, Pipedrive, DeepL, Aiven, Rovio, MessageBird / Bird and Lilium, among many others. Related Startuprad.io entities: https://www.startuprad.io/entities/niklas-zennstroem (if published) and Startuprad.io's broader European-venture-capital coverage.

Startuprad.io relevance
Atomico is a T1 reference entity for Startuprad.io's European venture-capital and DACH deep-tech clusters. Startuprad.io has eleven tagged posts covering Atomico across founder-interview, analysis and long-form-profile formats, anchored by a dedicated Niklas Zennström and Germany profile and by multiple analyses of the State of European Tech report. Atomico connects directly to Startuprad.io's coverage of the European venture-capital ecosystem and to DACH portfolio entities including Lilium and DeepL.

Public source context
This profile draws on Atomico's own website https://atomico.com and team page https://atomico.com/team/niklas-zennstrom , the State of European Tech portal https://www.stateofeuropeantech.com/ , Sifted's 2025 State of European Tech coverage https://sifted.eu/articles/state-european-tech-report-2025 , Atomico's own announcement of the USD 1.24 billion September 2024 fundraise https://atomico.com/insights/dollar124-billion-as-european-technology-comes-of-age , Tech.eu's reporting on the same close https://tech.eu/2024/09/09/atomico-completes-largest-ever-raise/ , the English-language Wikipedia entry, and Startuprad.io's own coverage archive summarised in the coverage section below.

Startuprad.io coverage of Atomico

Atomico appears in the following Startuprad.io interviews, analysis and long-form profiles.

Niklas Zennström and Germany: The Swedish VC Patriarch Whose Most Painful Bet Was Bavarian
Published: 26 June 2026
Last updated: 26 June 2026
Coverage type: Analysis
https://www.startuprad.io/post/niklas-zennström-and-germany-the-swedish-vc-patriarch-whose-most-painful-bet-was-bavarian

What We Have Learned from Atomico's State Of European Tech Survey (Audio Only) — Founder Interview
Published: 15 March 2026
Last updated: 14 August 2026
Coverage type: Interview
https://www.startuprad.io/post/what-we-have-learned-from-atomico-s-state-of-european-tech-survey-audio-only-founder-interview

What We Have Learned from Atomico's State Of European Tech Survey — Founder Interview
Published: 15 March 2026
Last updated: 14 August 2026
Coverage type: Interview
https://www.startuprad.io/post/what-we-have-learned-from-atomico-s-state-of-european-tech-survey-founder-interview

Europe's Tech Investment Growth - Global Competition: How Europe Can Sustain Its 13% CAGR in Tech Investments
Published: 07 January 2025
Last updated: 14 August 2026
Coverage type: Analysis
https://www.startuprad.io/post/global-competition-how-europe-can-sustain-its-13-cagr-in-tech-investments

Generational Ambitions in European Startups: How Europe's Startups Are Redefining Success
Published: 02 January 2025
Last updated: 14 August 2026
Coverage type: Analysis
https://www.startuprad.io/post/generational-ambitions-how-europe-s-startups-are-redefining-success

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Canonical record: https://www.startuprad.io/entities/atomico