All eyes are on US tech. Companies like Nvidia, Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon have become some of the world’s most valuable businesses. And it’s easy to see why. The US is home to many of the biggest names in technology. But what about Europe?
Europe is often overlooked by tech investors. But is that justified? After all, Europe has a few well-known tech companies, like ASML, SAP, Arm and Spotify. Still, compared to the US, the number of major tech companies is much smaller.
Which smaller European tech companies could join them as the next generation of tech leaders?
In this Insights article, we’ll start with the state of European tech today before revealing our 5 favorite companies for the future.
Here’s what we’ll cover:
🇪🇺 How European tech stocks compare with the US
🏢 Europe’s 10 biggest tech companies today
🤖 Europe’s role in AI and its future opportunities
🏆 Our 5 favorite European tech stocks for the future
🇪🇺 Europe vs. the US
The US is by far the largest market for publicly listed tech companies. But how big is the gap with Europe? Let’s start with the numbers.
According to Atomico’s State of European Tech 2025 report, European listed tech companies have a combined market value of $1.7 trillion, compared with $37 trillion on US stock exchanges. That’s a difference of almost 22 times.
Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence, via Atomico’s State of European Tech 2025
But the difference isn’t just about market size. American tech stocks have also delivered much higher returns. Over the past decade, the MSCI USA Information Technology Index gained 827.7%, compared with 343.6% for the MSCI Europe Information Technology Index.
That’s an average annual return of 25.2% for US tech stocks, compared with 16.2% for European tech stocks. Both delivered excellent returns, but US tech stocks clearly outperformed.
Source: MSCI — MSCI USA IT Index vs. MSCI Europe IT Technology Index
These indices focus on the Information Technology sector, so not all tech-related companies are covered.
Europe’s tech market is also more divided, with 36 stock exchanges, compared with just 6 in the US. Nasdaq and NYSE alone account for 99% of US-listed tech market value, making it easier for companies to attract investors.
The investment gap is also huge. According to Rothschild & Co, US companies raised $440 billion in growth equity funding during the first nine months of 2026, compared with $66.9 billion in Europe. That’s more than six times as much.
So why does the US attract so much more money? American companies have better access to capital and a large domestic market, making it easier to grow. In Europe, different national rules, languages and tax systems make it harder for tech companies to grow. Access to funding is also more limited.
But there’s good news for Europe too. Europe's venture-backed tech companies reached a combined value of $4.4 trillion in 2026, up from around $550 billion in 2015, based on Dealroom data. This includes public, private and acquired companies. Europe also has more than 4.6 million tech workers and continues to produce new startups.
Europe has the talent and the ideas. The challenge is helping more companies grow into global businesses. And that could create interesting opportunities for long-term investors.
🏢 Europe's Tech Giants
Europe may be much smaller than the US when it comes to tech, but it is still home to some of the world’s leading technology companies. From chips and software to automation and energy technology, European companies play an important role in many industries.
Which European technology companies are the biggest today? Let’s take a look 👇
Source: Koyfin — Market capitalization, October 2026 (USD)
A few things stand out. ASML is by far Europe’s most valuable tech company, worth more than twice as much as SAP. Germany, the Netherlands and the UK are well represented, with companies like Siemens, Prosus and Arm.
Europe is strong in chips, software and industrial technology. Many of these companies also play an important role in AI, from making advanced chips to providing the power and cooling systems needed for AI data centers.
But how important is Europe in the AI boom, and where are the biggest opportunities?
🤖 Europe and the AI Boom
AI is changing the tech industry, and Europe wants to play a bigger role. The US is home to AI giants like OpenAI and Anthropic, but Europe is also building its own AI companies.
France’s Mistral AI develops AI models and chatbots that compete with American companies like OpenAI. Valued at $24 billion, it is one of Europe’s most valuable private AI companies and is backed by ASML.
ElevenLabs ($22 billion), founded by two Polish entrepreneurs, develops AI voices that can turn text into realistic speech. Germany’s Helsing ($18 billion) uses AI in military drones, aircraft and other defense systems.
The UK’s Wayve develops AI that helps cars drive themselves. Nscale ($14.6 billion) builds large AI data centers and provides the computing power companies need to train and run AI models. British-founded Fluidstack ($18 billion), now based in the US, provides access to powerful GPUs for AI companies.
These companies are privately held, so investors cannot buy their shares on public stock exchanges. But they show that Europe is already producing AI companies worth billions of dollars.
Source: Multiples.vc — Private company valuations, October 2026 (USD)
Last week, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang went on an AI tour across Europe, visiting Paris, London, Stockholm and Dublin before ending at GTC Berlin. During the tour, Nvidia announced new investments and partnerships to help grow Europe’s AI industry. Huang spoke about Europe’s strengths in engineering, manufacturing and robotics. He believes Europe could play an important role in Physical AI, as AI becomes part of factories, machines and robots.
Nvidia has committed nearly $10 billion to Europe’s tech industry and works with more than 12,000 partners across the region.
Jensen had a clear message for Europe:
“To be part of this AI economy, you don’t want to just be consuming the AI; you want to be producing the AI.”
Europe already has companies helping make this possible. ASML supplies equipment needed to produce advanced chips, Arm designs chip technology, and companies like Siemens, ABB and Schneider Electric help bring AI into factories and data centers.
Europe has some promising AI and tech companies that could become much bigger in the years ahead.
We’ve looked at how European tech compares with the US, Europe’s biggest tech companies, and its role in the AI boom 🇪🇺
Now it’s time to look ahead. We’ll reveal our 5 favorite European tech stocks that have the potential to become Europe’s next tech leaders 🏆
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🏆 Europe’s Next Tech Leaders
Europe has plenty of promising tech companies, but which ones could become the next tech giants?
We’ve selected 5 publicly traded European tech companies outside the current top 10 that we believe have the potential to join Europe’s biggest tech companies in the years ahead.
We’ll count down from #5 to #1, starting with the smallest by market cap.
Let’s get started 👇