Region: UK/Ireland

Salience Labs, a leader in photonic chips targeting connectivity for AI datacenter infrastructure, today announced the successful completion of an oversubscribed $125 million Series B funding round. The round is led by Bullhound Capital with Callum Stewart joining the Salience Labs Board of Directors. Additional investor participation came from AMD Ventures, Intel Capital, SBI Group, Hudson River Trading and British Business Bank, as well as continued support from existing shareholders including Applied Ventures LLC, Oxford Science Enterprises, Cambridge Innovation Capital and Silicon Catalyst Ventures.

With this new funding, Salience Labs will accelerate the deployment of its optical circuit switching (OCS) technology, scale its volume manufacturing operations and expand its U.S. presence in Silicon Valley as the company continues to transform the networking layer of datacenter infrastructure.

This investment into Salience Labs marks Bullhound Capital’s continued thesis of identifying core bottlenecks to the deployment of AI. Specifically, for Salience Labs, our belief is that copper has reached its limit and the network is becoming the limiting factor in pushing forward datacenter performance. Thus, as we optics moves closer to the rack, Salience Lab’s will play a pivotal role in ensuring connectivity and switching capability is maintained.

“OCS will play a critical role in AI datacenter networking,” said Vaysh Kewada, CEO and co-founder of Salience Labs. “As customers roll out optical links in their datacenters, high-performance optical switches are needed to deliver the token economics that workloads demand. Salience Labs has demonstrated a market-leading technology: a fully integrated on-chip solution that scales well to high-volume manufacturing. This funding will accelerate our growth into high-volume production to enable world-leading performance in AI datacenters.”

Salience Labs’ all-optical, fully integrated switch architecture is purpose-built to be deployed at scale to connect thousands of GPUs across multiple racks for optimal scale-up network performance in AI datacenters.

“The investor base and customer relationships Salience Labs has developed really speaks to the capability of the leadership: Vaysh has assembled a strong team fully focused on designing a switch architecture that both aligns with customers’ near-term roadmaps but also scales with them far into the future. Bullhound Capital is proud to back this transformational company that is bringing to reality the next generation of high-performance data centers,” said Bullhound Capital Principal Callum Stewart.

The financing comes on the heels of Salience Labs’ live demo of its 64-port all-optical photonic switch at ECOC 2026, an industry first for silicon photonics OCS. The funding will enable future solutions including 128- and 256- port OCS, unlocking new use cases across data-intensive and performance-critical environments. Salience Labs is well positioned to expand and further develop its circuit switch technology, enabling the extension of scale-up and scale-out networks across the datacenter and realizing the true potential of AI.

About Salience Labs
Salience Labs is a leader in photonic solutions targeting connectivity for AI datacenter infrastructure. Founded in 2021 and backed by over a decade of research from the University of Oxford in the UK and the University of Münster in Germany, Salience’s innovative developments in photonic switching technology enable high-speed, ultra-low latency networking fabrics that remove infrastructure bottlenecks for AI workloads. Learn more at www.saliencelabs.ai

About Bullhound Capital
Bullhound Capital is the investment management arm of GP Bullhound, building with founders creating category-leading technology companies. With over €1 billion under management and 25 years of performance, it has invested in global leaders like Spotify, Klarna, Revolut, Slack, Unity, ConnexAI and EcoVadis. Operating from 13 offices worldwide, its platform delivers hands-on, founder-focused support across strategy, growth, and execution. From quantum to entertainment, Bullhound Capital backs global leaders applying Artificial Intelligence to solve real-world problems.

Enquiries
For press inquiries, contact: callum.stewart@bullhound.com.

Founded in the UK, OQC develops and operates superconducting quantum computers designed for deployment in data-centre environments serving enterprise and government customers. The company has established a global quantum computing platform across Europe, North America and Asia, with systems deployed in the UK, US, Japan and Spain.

Enterprise and government customers across financial services, defence and security are driving demand for OQC’s systems as they seek secure, scalable quantum infrastructure to tackle problems beyond the practical reach of classical computing. The funding will be used to expand OQC’s operational presence in priority markets and accelerate its roadmap toward commercially useful, fault-tolerant quantum computing.

“This is a coming-of-age moment for British quantum computing. It shows that British companies can play a leading role in a technology that will shape all our futures. Globally, it represents a clear shift in the market – from long-term promise to near-term delivery in quantum computing. For OQC, this gives us the capital to scale internationally, advance our technology roadmap, and meet increasing demand from customers seeking secure, scalable access to quantum computing infrastructure,” said Gerald Mullally, CEO of OQC.

“After looking at a deluge of humanoid robotics companies, my fellow Partner, Alon Kuperman, and I were delighted to meet Ralf and Marc, who have built an AI operating system that seamlessly retrofits into the world’s vast fleet of industrial robots already in action,” said Per Roman, Founding Partner of Bullhound Capital.

Bullhound Capital led the round, which included investment from the British Business Bank, Fynveur (advised by Invus), COFIDES, RCM Private Markets Fund managed by Rokos Capital Management (US) LP, Alpha Edison, Fulcrum Asset Management, Pentland Ventures, Magdalen College Oxford, Adaptive Capital Partners, Firgun Ventures, 18 West and Oxford Capital. Existing investors including Oxford Science Enterprises, SBI, Chevron Technology Ventures, The University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners Co. and OTIF Ventures also participated, reflecting continued support for OQC’s technology roadmap and international expansion. J.P. Morgan acted as exclusive placement agent on the transaction.

About OQC
OQC is a UK-headquartered company building quantum computers and a secure, scalable Quantum-AI data-centre platform for enterprise and government customers. The platform integrates quantum computing with trusted infrastructure and AI supercomputing to accelerate customer breakthroughs across science and industry.

Enquiries
For press inquiries, contact: callum.stewart@bullhound.com.

In collaboration with Paddle, we surveyed over 100 European SaaS companies, ranging from early-stage ventures to late-stage growth. The report evaluates key performance metrics including growth, revenue retention, and operational efficiency, which are critical to navigating the current market environment.

The report also explores public market valuations, M&A trends and fundraising activity in the European SaaS sector. It includes a detailed review of deal activity, highlighting quarterly trends and providing country-specific analysis.

Alexis Scorer, Partner at GP Bullhound, commented: “This year’s survey demonstrates encouraging progress across the European SaaS sector, with companies displaying continued improvements in gross margins, operational efficiency, and overall profitability. Nearly half of companies surveyed are now EBITDA positive, highlighting the continued emphasis on capital efficient growth. Despite subdued fundraising volumes, an increase in larger private placements and increasing M&A activity underscores the sector’s adaptability and resilience. With Public market SaaS valuations now above the three-year average and a renewed focus on profitable growth, the industry is well-positioned to benefit from an improving Macroeconomic environment in 2025.”

GP Bullhound European SaaS survey key takeaways

Growth rates remain stable for late-stage SaaS. Despite a slight overall decrease in growth in 2023 across the cohort surveyed, growth rates for the €50m+ ARR companies are broadly in line with the previous year.
Continued improvement in operational efficiency. ARR per FTE is approaching €150k for growth-stage companies and remains significantly above 2021 levels for €50m+ ARR companies, despite a slight reduction from last year.
Stable year-on-year Net Revenue Retention of 110%. Median Net Revenue Retention was 110% – 112% in 2023 for companies surveyed, nearly identical to rates these companies exhibited in 2022.
Broad improvements in Gross Margin year-on-year. All ARR cohort groups saw improvements in gross margin ranging from 1% – 7%, reversing the trend highlighted in last year’s survey.
Nearly half of all SaaS companies surveyed are now profitable. Continued improvements in profitability, with 44% of all companies now EBITDA positive, compared with ~33% in last year’s report.

Public Market European SaaS

SaaS valuations have increased above the 3-year mean. Average European SaaS valuations are trading at 6.7x, above the 3-year average of 5.4x.
Growing emphasis on profitable growth. Correlation between public market valuations for the European SaaS index and Rule of 40 performance has increased significantly, with a renewed emphasis on growth versus last year.
US vs EU SaaS valuation gap diverging again. Following a recent period of convergence between public US and European SaaS valuations, listed US SaaS companies are now valued at a 20%-40% premium over their European counterparts.

European SaaS Deal Activity

Resilient M&A volume in 2024 YTD. Strong M&A activity in the YTD period signals early stages of recovery following several quarters of consecutive growth.
Growing proportion of larger late-stage fundraisings. Whilst fundraising activity remains muted, deal value has begun to recover with a notable increase in the proportion of $250m+ transactions in 2024 YTD.

Enquiries
For any enquiries, please contact:
Alexis Scorer, Partner, at alexis.scorer@gpbullhound.com
For press inquiries, contact: press@gpbullhound.com.

About GP Bullhound
GP Bullhound is a leading technology advisory and investment firm, providing transaction advice and capital to the world’s best entrepreneurs and founders. Founded in 1999 in London and Menlo Park, the firm today has 13 offices spanning Europe, US and Asia. For more information, please visit www.gpbullhound.com.

2024 Allstar Awards Winners Announced!

We are thrilled to announce the winners of the 2024 Allstar Awards, where we celebrated the exceptional talent and innovation shaping the European tech landscape. The event brought together over 350 leaders from the global technology sector – including founders, investors, and leading voices – to honour another year of remarkable achievements.

Spanning 11 categories, from Entrepreneur of the Year to Growth & Buyout Fund of the Year:, the awards showcased the breadth of talent and forward-thinking vision within European technology today. The evening also featured a keynote address delivered by tennis champion, entrepreneur, and best-selling author Venus Williams.

A huge thank you to everyone who joined us and made this night so special. Your energy and support brought the event to life and made it an unforgettable celebration of innovation.

Congratulations to all the outstanding companies and individuals recognised for their achievements. Your contributions are driving the future of tech in Europe, and we are proud to celebrate your success!

View 2024 shortlist here

Winners of the 2024 Allstars Awards

Allstars Shortlist 2024
We are proud to reveal the 2024 shortlist of the 22nd Allstars Awards.

EXIT OF THE YEAR

ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR

GROWTH & BUYOUT FUND OF THE YEAR

INVESTOR OF THE YEAR

YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR

VC OF THE YEAR

TECH4GOOD

ALLSTAR COMPANY CHALLENGE

SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEAR

DIGITAL INNOVATION IN ART

2024 Categories

Premium Sponsors

Awards Sponsors

2024 Charity

Allstars is proud to support Working Options in Education. Working Options in Education helps young people fulfil their potential by developing employability and life skills. Our Career Pathways Programme, delivered free with state schools and colleges, supports young people facing additional challenges caused by the pandemic, prioritising those from disadvantaged regions.

The programme includes self-directed online learning; employability and skills masterclasses; talks from industry volunteers; mentoring; business challenges; and access to work opportunities in partner companies.

Since 2010, we have worked to transform the life chances of young people (14-19), by helping them take early control of their education or career journey, when the choices they make will shape their future.

ALLSTARS CHARITY FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT

GP Bullhound had the great pleasure of hosting the 2024 Allstars Charity Football Tournament in support of Working Options in Education at the iconic Crystal Palace Stadium, Selhurst Park, on Thursday, 6 June. The event was a tremendous success, featuring exciting matches and appearances by exceptional guests. It was a memorable day filled with camaraderie and support for a worthy cause.

Previous attendees include: Albion VC, Balderton, BlackRock, Blackstone, Eurazeo, FieldHouse, Inflexion, LendInvest, HSBC Innovation Banking, Marriott Harrison, Mayfair Equity Partners, Northzone, Oakley Capital, Orrick, PER, PSG, Taylor Wessing and Vitruvian Partners.

To request more information and sign up your team for 2025, please contact Sophie.Tomlinson@gpbullhound.com

2023 Gallery

2024 Highlights

We guide SaaS founders, CEOs and investors on how to navigate market challenges while highlighting the performance indicators of companies most likely to emerge stronger.

We surveyed over 100 SaaS companies across Europe in partnership with HSBC Innovation Banking, from startups to late-stage scaleups. We analyse the trends and compare key metrics including growth, headcount productivity and revenue retention, which are critical to navigating the current environment.

The report also explores public market valuations, M&A and fundraising in European SaaS, including the quarterly evolution of deal activity along with a country-specific breakdown of what’s trending.

Alexis Scorer, Partner at GP Bullhound, commented: “The focus on capital efficient growth highlighted in last year’s report has been evidenced by this year’s survey, indicating broad improvements in operational efficiency across the European SaaS sector. Despite the continued decline in SaaS fundraising volumes, M&A activity has proved resilient and remains well above pre-pandemic levels for European SaaS.”

European SaaS survey – key takeaways

Median ARR growth for SaaS companies with over €25m ARR declined from 44% in 2021 to 27% in 2022
Significant increase in ARR per FTE to €124k; average grows by 30% vs last year’s report
Slight improvement in Net Revenue Retention from 104% to 105% YoY
Median gross margins fell from 80% in last year’s report to 75% this year
Over a third of companies surveyed now profitable and c.40% of cohorts with ARR growth below 60% are profitable

European SaaS deal activity – key takeaways

Despite the decline in fundraising volume since the Q2 2022 peak, total funds raised are above pre-Covid levels $4bn–$5bn per quarter
SaaS M&A activity remains resilient with 178 transactions per quarter 2023 YTD, 30% above 3-year average

European SaaS public market – key takeaways

Valuation gap between public US and European SaaS companies stabilised in 2023
Revenue multiples for listed European SaaS companies recovering from c.4.3x at the start of the year to 4.8x in October
Multiples for listed SaaS companies reboundin

Enquiries
For any enquiries, please contact:
Alexis Scorer, Partner, at alexis.scorer@gpbullhound.com

About GP Bullhound
GP Bullhound is a leading technology advisory and investment firm, providing transaction advice and capital to the world’s entrepreneurs and founders. Founded in 1999 in London and Menlo Park, the firm today has 14 offices spanning Europe, the US and Asia.

Jenny Hardy, Portfolio Manager at GP Bullhound, commented: “Tech earnings have been fairly resilient this quarter. There are clearly still some ongoing inventory issues but if you take a step back, and look beyond the volatility, beyond some of the macro uncertainty, really, fundamentally, tech is still solving for many of the world’s challenges. And that is really still driving demand for technology products and services.”

She continues: “A lot of this is about the fundamental strength of Big Tech, and I think that AI is the next example of tech’s capability to drive productivity, and we are starting to see some of this AI demand reflected in the fundamental earnings of Big Tech. Big Tech has had a cost cutting agenda. Mark Zuckerberg came out during the start of this year and talked about the “year of efficiency”, and that has been adopted by tech more broadly. They’ve all shown an excellent ability to cut costs, and tech is well placed to cut costs – it typically has high gross margins and strong market positions. That has also been a significant driver of earnings, and will continue to be a significant driver of earnings this year.”

“When we think about investing, we really think about business models and competitive barriers to entry. Now, I think that’s still quite uncertain in lots of AI. But what we do know, and we heard from all of Big Tech reporting last week, is that companies are investing. They are investing huge amounts of capex in AI infrastructure. For us, we play that through the semiconductors. If you look at servers that effectively enable AI applications, either training servers, inference servers, they all require a huge amount of semiconductor content, more GPUs (we own Nvidia), more and faster CPUs (and we own AMD). Both of those companies make their chips at TSMC (which we also own). Those are three companies that will really see fundamental demand, as a result of AI, this year.”

GP Bullhound Tech Thoughts
As part of our Anglo-Swedish public funds team, Jenny holds a prominent role in our weekly Tech Thoughts Podcast and Tech Thoughts Newsletter, which provides an overview of the latest economic developments in international markets. The podcast offers a detailed analysis of the most notable events impacting public markets and is a reliable source of the news and trends affecting the global technology landscape. The newsletter provides in-depth commentary and insights on the latest market updates within various areas including software, semiconductors, gaming, e-commerce, social platforms, and entertainment.

At GP Bullhound, we provide investors with access to category leading technology companies, globally. Our assets under management have a total value of more than $1bn, and our limited partners include institutions, family offices and entrepreneurs. Learn more about our funds here.

Enquiries
For enquiries, please contact:
Jenny Hardy, Portfolio Manager, at jenny.hardy@gpbullhound.com

About GP Bullhound
GP Bullhound is a leading technology advisory and investment firm, providing transaction advice and capital to the world’s best entrepreneurs and founders. Founded in 1999 in London and Menlo Park, the firm today has 13 offices spanning Europe, the US and Asia. For more information, please visit www.gpbullhound.com.

The contents of this document (the “Presentation”) shall not be deemed to be any form of offer or binding commitment on the part of the GP Bullhound Entity and is: (i) provided for use by the intended recipient(s) (“Recipient”) for information purposes only; and (ii) prepared on the basis that the Recipient is a Sophisticated Investor. This Presentation and its information and contents (“Information”) are not intended for, and must not be used or relied upon by, private or retail investors in the UK, EU, United States of America or any other jurisdiction where access, use, reliance upon, or availability of this Presentation or the Information would be unlawful. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is or will be made in respect of the Information and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by the GP Bullhound Entity, its Affiliates, Associates, or agents. In particular, but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, no representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy, completeness or reasonableness of any projections, targets, estimates or forecasts contained in this Presentation or in such other written or oral information that may be provided by the GP Bullhound Entity from time to time. Further details about GP Bullhound’s regulatory status can be obtained here: www.gpbullhound.com/regulatory/.

Celebrating Technology throughout the North of the UK

Northern Tech Awards 2023 winners announced.

GP Bullhound has announced the winners of the 2023 Northern Tech Awards, held last night at the iconic Assembly Rooms in the heart of Edinburgh. Congratulations to all the winners of the 2023 Northern Tech Awards!

Hosted by prize-winning global broadcaster Vanessa Collingridge, with a special appearance by Keynote Speaker Calum Smeaton, Founder of Edinburgh-based TVSquared, the tenth edition of the Northern Tech Awards ceremony gathered 250 CEOs, entrepreneurs, and business leaders in the digital economy to celebrate and showcase the leading tech businesses in the North of England and Scotland.

View full announcement

Celebrating Technology throughout the North of the UK

Since 2014, the annual Northern Tech Awards shine a light upon the leading technology businesses headquartered in the North of England and Scotland. Organised by GP Bullhound, the Awards provide a unique way of celebrating the innovative technologies and businesses.

The event is attended by CEOs, entrepreneurs and business leaders in the Digital Economy and provides a fantastic networking opportunity for like-minded entrepreneurs to make contact and exchange ideas. The Northern Tech Awards is run as a not-for-profit event financed by GP Bullhound and a small group of sponsors who want to support entrepreneurship across the North.

This year’s award ceremony was held on 20 April 2023 in Edinburgh, UK.

Northern Tech Awards 2023 Host

We are delighted to announce Vanessa Collingridge as this year’s Northern Tech Awards host.

Dr Vanessa Collingridge is a prize-winning broadcaster, writer and impact coach, specialising in science, environment and technology. With over 30 years’ experience for the BBC, ITV, Discovery and a host global broadcasters, she now helps business leaders craft and share their ‘stories’ with customers and investors.

Northern Tech Awards 2023 Keynote

We are excited to be joined by Calum Smeaton as our Keynote speaker for this year’s Northern Tech Awards.

For the past two decades, Calum has dedicated his professional life to starting and growing innovative software and e-commerce startups. After being entrenched in the world of data analytics for years and seeing first-hand how data can transform an industry, Calum founded TVSquared in 2012 to bring state-of-the-art analytical capabilities to TV advertising.

Before TVSquared, Calum was the CEO of Sumerian, a provider of big data analytics for retail and investment banks. He was also the co-founder and CTO of Orbital Software, which was listed on the London Stock Exchange and merged with Sopheon PLC in 2001.

Outside of work, Calum is an avid outdoorsman, who can frequently be found all over the world kite-surfing, snowboarding and sailing.

Accessibility

We strive to make our events open and accessible to all our guests. Please let us know if you require any assistance or there are any adjustments we can make, to make this event more accessible to you. During the event, please approach a GP Bullhound staff member, if you need assistance or have questions about accessibility of certain activities.

Northern Tech Awards

Since 2014, the annual Northern Tech Awards shine a light upon the leading technology businesses headquartered in the North of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Organised by GP Bullhound, the Awards provide a unique way of celebrating the innovative technologies and businesses developed in the region and recognise those who have contributed to their success.

The Northern Tech Awards Top 100 League Table is an acknowledgement of the 100 fastest-growing technology companies. The ranking is based on revenue growth over the last three years.

From the ‘Fastest Growing Technology Companies’ list, ten companies are selected by the Northern Tech judging panel made up of investors and industry experts, to present and compete for the special Judges’ Awards.

The Northern Tech Awards is free to enter. To qualify for entry to the Top 100, firms must have at least three years of revenue growth with a minimum revenue level of £500k in 2020.

The Northern Stars Awards, recognise innovation and achievements of tech businesses with revenues below this threshold.

The CEOs of the Top 100 companies and Top 10 Northern Stars are then invited to celebrate and receive their award at the Northern Tech Awards ceremony.

The event

The 2023 Northern Tech Awards are supported and sponsored by Apprentify, Cazenove Capital, ECI Partners, Squire Patton Boggs, Aquiline, Bruntwood SciTech, Inflexion, Godel Technologies, London Stock Exchange, YFM Equity Partners.

The event is invitation-only, attended by CEOs, entrepreneurs and business leaders in the Digital Economy and provides a fantastic networking opportunity for like-minded entrepreneurs to make contact and exchange ideas. The event is free, run as a not-for-profit financed by GP Bullhound and a small group of sponsors who are passionate about supporting entrepreneurship across the North.

The Awards Ceremony

The winners get an opportunity to network with their peers as well as present to and meet with the Judges, some of whom have built and successfully sold their own technology firms.

Each year the Award Ceremony is held in a different city. Recent awards have been held in Manchester (2014, 2019 and 2022), Leeds (2015 and 2021), Liverpool (2016), Newcastle (2017) and Edinburgh (2018). The 2023 Northern Tech Awards will be held in Edinburgh, as it continues to showcase tech innovation in northern cities.

Northern Tech Awards Judges 2023

Northern Stars Judges 2023

Premium Sponsors

Awards Sponsors

Northern Stars Winners

GP Bullhound is delighted to reveal the 2023 Northern Tech Awards Shortlist in alphabetical order, recognising the fastest growing technology companies & Northern Stars in the North of the UK.

Congratulations to all shortlisted companies from the 2023 Northern Tech Awards!

Young Enterprise and Young Enterprise Scotland

Each year, Young Enterprise and Young Enterprise Scotland helps thousands of young people irrespective of their background to develop the skills, knowledge, and confidence they need to succeed. Through our nationwide enterprise and financial capability programmes, we empower young people to discover and celebrate their skills and potential.
Why we are needed
The UK faces a serious skills gap. A high percentage of young people are not in education or employment, and many leave school without the skills they need to succeed in the real world. We work directly with young people, teachers, parents, businesses and influencers to help build a successful and sustainable future for all young people and society at large.
Through our hands-on employability, enterprise and financial education programmes, resources and teacher training, we aim to reduce youth unemployment, help young people realise their potential beyond education and empower a generation to learn, to work and to live.
How you can help
We believe passionately in the power of ‘learning by doing’ and the difference that it has made and continues to make to the lives, futures and ambitions of young people.
Engagement of volunteers from industry and business is a vital ingredient in helping young people develop the confidence and knowledge to start work, and to gain an understanding of the skills and attitudes valued by employers and start-up businesses alike.
Becoming a volunteer will challenge and reward you. The excitement and satisfaction of mentoring, of transforming attitudes and helping young people open their eyes to the world of enterprise keeps many of our volunteers coming back year after year.
“Often, the greatest reward for a volunteer Business Adviser comes when you look back over the year and realise how far the team of students have come from the uncertainty of their early meetings. You can see the contribution you have made to help build real business acumen – in a way that textbooks alone cannot.” Business Adviser and Local Volunteer Board Chair
To support Young Enterprise and Young Enterprise Scotland, please email sarah.fox@y-e.org.uk