We analyzed 4,903 investor profiles in the ChooseMyStack Investor Directory — venture capital firms, accelerators and corporate venture investors — to describe how startup capital is distributed across sectors, funding stages, cheque sizes and countries in 2026. This report summarizes what those profiles show. It reflects the investors currently tracked in the directory, which is weighted toward Europe, and should be read as a large structured sample rather than a census of the global venture market.
Three patterns stand out. Investment activity is concentrated at the earliest stages, with 86.6% of tracked investors backing pre-seed or seed rounds. The sample is predominantly European (81.9%), and the United Kingdom holds a narrow lead over the United States as the most common headquarters. Stated sector interests cluster in a relatively small number of areas, led by Health & Biotech, Fintech, Climate & Energy and AI.
Key findings
- 86.6% of tracked investors back pre-seed or seed rounds; 49.8% report investing at Series A/B, and 14.5% at Series C or beyond.
- The sample is 81.9% European and 17.2% US. The United Kingdom is the most common location (18.2% of investors), narrowly ahead of the United States (17.2%).
- Health & Biotech is the most frequently named sector (26.2%), followed by Fintech (17.9%), Climate & Energy (15.2%) and AI (13.7%).
- Venture capital firms account for 76.2% of the sample, accelerators 16.4%, and corporate VCs 7.4%.
- Among self-reported cheque ranges, 56.6% of investors cite a typical cheque of €1.5M or less.
The investors in this sample
The sample is dominated by traditional venture capital firms, which make up just over three-quarters of profiles. Accelerators are the next largest group at 16.4% — a meaningful share, and a reminder that a substantial portion of early-stage activity runs through structured programs rather than conventional funds. Corporate venture arms account for the remaining 7.4%.
Activity concentrates at the earliest stages
When investors are grouped by the funding stages they report backing, the distribution skews heavily toward the start of a company's life. Because a single investor commonly backs more than one stage, these figures overlap and do not sum to 100%.
The number of investors reporting activity at each stage falls sharply as companies mature: 86.6% at pre-seed and seed, 49.8% at Series A/B, and 14.5% at Series C and later. In other words, the pool of investors a company can approach contracts substantially with each subsequent round.
Cheque sizes are consistent with that weighting. The most frequently reported range is €100k–€1.5M (34.2% of investors), followed by under €100k (22.4%); together, 56.6% of investors report a typical cheque of €1.5M or less. Larger ranges are less common — 13.6% cite €1.5M–€3M and 11.3% cite more than €3M. Cheque ranges are self-reported and appear in more than one currency, so these figures should be read as broad bands rather than precise thresholds.
A predominantly European sample
Geographically, the directory is weighted toward Europe, which accounts for 81.9% of profiles, with the United States making up 17.2% and a small remainder elsewhere. Within that, the United Kingdom is the single most common headquarters at 18.2%, marginally ahead of the United States at 17.2%. Germany, France, the Netherlands and Spain follow, tracing the familiar map of established European venture hubs. The United Kingdom alone represents 22.3% of the European investors in the sample.
Because the directory is Europe-weighted, this geography describes the sample rather than the global distribution of venture capital. It is most representative of the European and, to a lesser extent, US markets.
Where investment attention concentrates
Although many funds describe themselves as generalists, their stated investment areas cluster in a relatively small number of sectors. Health & Biotech is named most often, by more than a quarter of investors, with Fintech, Climate & Energy and AI completing the leading group. Climate & Energy is cited by more investors than AI (15.2% versus 13.7%), reflecting how widely climate has been adopted as an investment theme across the European funds that dominate the sample. As with stages, investors frequently list several sectors, so these shares overlap.
Reading the data as a founder
A few practical points follow from the distribution, kept close to what the numbers actually show.
Early-stage companies address the largest pool of potential investors: 86.6% of tracked investors back pre-seed or seed, so a founder raising a first round has the widest set of firms to research. The pool narrows considerably at later stages, with 14.5% reporting Series C or later, which is worth accounting for when planning the relationships a growth round will require.
Sector fit is a reasonable filter to apply early. Because stated interests concentrate in Health & Biotech, Fintech, Climate & Energy and AI, and each investor typically lists only a handful of focus areas, aligning a target list with an investor's named sectors is a sensible way to prioritize outreach — though the data describes stated focus, not response behavior. Cheque size is best considered alongside stage: with 56.6% of investors reporting typical cheques of €1.5M or less, matching a firm's usual range to the amount being raised helps keep a shortlist realistic.
A list built on these criteria can be assembled in the ChooseMyStack Investor Directory, which lets you filter by sector, funding stage and country and open each profile for focus areas, cheque range and links.
Methodology
The analysis covers 4,903 investor profiles in the ChooseMyStack Investor Directory, spanning venture capital firms, accelerators and corporate venture investors. For each profile, the self-reported information was normalized into consistent categories:
- Funding stages were grouped into three bands — Pre-Seed & Seed, Series A/B, and Series C & beyond. Investors can back more than one band, so stage percentages overlap and exceed 100% in aggregate.
- Sectors were mapped from free-text investment areas to a controlled taxonomy of 18 categories. Investors can list several sectors, so sector percentages also overlap.
- Geography is based on each investor's stated headquarters. Countries were grouped into Europe, United States and Other for regional figures.
- Cheque sizes use each investor's self-reported typical investment range. These ranges appear in more than one currency and are best read as broad bands.
The analysis reflects the investor profiles currently tracked in the ChooseMyStack directory and should be read as a structured sample rather than a census of global venture capital. The directory is weighted toward Europe, and all figures are current as of August 2026.