Tatana Lyskova

The money is back in VC, but the exit rules have changed. The global acquisition drought is over. As tech giants return to the table with record cash and venture funds face immense pressure to return capital, a unique window of opportunity has opened for CEE founders.

Irish startup Tines, UK-based energy supplier Fuse Energy, and Swedish AI “vibe-coding” platform Lovable. These are just a few of the European startups that crossed the billion-dollar valuation threshold this year to achieve unicorn status. Behind their success stands Accel, the most successful investor on the continent, with 26 European unicorns in its portfolio.

When Arthur Patterson and Jim Swartz decided in 1983 to launch Accel, a fund investing in startups at the intersection of software and media, other venture capitalists shook their heads in disbelief. But their focus on a sector that only a handful of investors believed in at the time paid off.