Market Pulse July 2026 Edition (Finch Capital)

Summary

• Fourthline and Veridas signed a merger agreement on 16 July 2026 to create a European identity platform expecting to process c.115m verifications in 2026 across 50+ countries.p.2
• European Pulse-sector venture and growth funding dropped 81% month-over-month to €494m across 82 rounds in July 2026.p.2
• Bridgepoint's €200m growth investment in Skello made up 41% of the total July Pulse-sector funding.p.2
• The Finch Pulse Composite gained 6.0% in the month of July, but remains down -17.5% over the trailing twelve months.p.2
• Cap Markets & DA led all sectors in the Rule of 40 median score for Q3-26 with a score of 52.p.5
• Quantios was acquired by Vista Equity Partners in a Merger/Acquisition deal valued at an enterprise value of €469m.p.8

Key insights

1. July 2026 marked the lowest funding value (€494m) and deal volume (82 rounds) of the trailing twelve months for European tech Pulse sectors.p.2
2. Excluding the €200m Skello round, the remaining 81 venture and growth rounds in July 2026 combined for only €294m.p.2
3. Despite a monthly drop in funding, public comps re-rated upward with median EV/Revenue rising across all six tracked baskets in Q3-26.p.2
4. Real Assets Tech registered the lowest LTM total return among the six sectors at -26%.p.3
5. Rule of 40 scores correlated positively with higher EV/NTM Revenue valuations in Q3-26, led by Cap Markets & DA.p.5
6. CFO & Workforce SW captured the largest share of funding volume in July 2026 with 25 deals.p.6
7. Skello's €200m round led by Bridgepoint Group was the largest single VC or growth deal in Europe in July 2026.p.7
8. Buyout/LBO transactions accounted for the majority of the top 15 European tech exits listed in July 2026.p.8