EQT Ventures Takes VC Fund of the Year After 140-Plus Deals

By Nathan Brooks

EQT Ventures has been named VC Fund of the Year by Dealroom, capping a run of more than 140 deals. That is the single hardest number in this story, and it's the one practitioners should sit with: 140-plus transactions puts the fund in rare company on the European venture scene.

The award, reported by Dealroom, turns on one clear metric. Volume. The citation doesn't hinge on a single outsized exit or a headline-grabbing fundraise. It rests on sustained deployment across a portfolio that has now crossed the 140-deal threshold.

What does the recognition actually signal?

For founders, an award like this is a proxy for access. A firm writing checks across 140-plus deals has, by definition, more entry points — more partners, more theses, more follow-on capacity — than a shop doing a handful of bets a year. It doesn't guarantee better terms. It does mean the door is wider.

For limited partners, the signal runs the other direction. Heavy deal flow suggests an engine that's running, not a team that's sitting on dry powder waiting for perfect entries. Deployment discipline is a separate question, and the award doesn't answer it. Volume is the visible number; returns are the one that arrives years later.

For rival funds, the takeaway is competitive. Dealroom's platform tracks European startup data closely, and its annual designation carries weight among the founders and operators who use it. Being labeled Fund of the Year is a marketing asset in a market where brand drives deal flow.

The context around the number

EQT Ventures operates as the venture arm within EQT, the Swedish private equity group. The venture team backs early-stage technology companies across Europe, and the 140-plus deal tally reflects the breadth of that activity rather than any single year's sprint.

Dealroom, the data provider behind the award, bases its coverage on company-level tracking across the European startup ecosystem. Its awards are watched as a temperature check on which firms are actually moving capital, not just raising it.

The recognition lands at a moment when the venture industry as a whole has had to defend its pace. Firms that kept deploying through the downturn have generally earned goodwill from founders who watched others retreat. A deal count north of 140 is the kind of evidence that argument wants.

What does this change for the market?

Honestly, not the standings — but the narrative. Awards consolidate reputation, and reputation compounds. Founders comparing term sheets now have one more reason to take a meeting with EQT Ventures seriously, and one more data point when they weigh whether a high-volume fund fits their cap table.

The next test is the one the award can't measure: how the 140-plus portfolio performs when the exit window reopens. That verdict arrives on its own schedule.