For the seventh year in a row, big-name growth investors have identified the top 50 list of the fastest-growing venture-backed technology companies in Europe as part of the Tech Tour Growth – all with the potential to become “Unicorns” in the foreseeable future.

Falk Müller-Veerse headed the selection committee – in this interview he talks about the winners, potential Unicorns and the impact of the Ukraine war on IPOs.

Goingpublic: Mr Falk Müller-Verse, Bryan Garnier is the world’s leading full-service investment bank for European technology and healthcare companies. What exactly is your mission?

Falk Müller-Verse: Our corporate clients are active in high-growth sectors with partly disruptive business models. We want to help them become global champions by accompanying them through all phases of the life cycle and providing them with access to public and private capital.

In your opinion, was 2021 a good year for investment banks?

Müller-Verse: Yes, 2021 was a record year – for us, as it certainly was for many investment banks. Bryan Garnier alone advised on 35 M&A deals with leading private equity investors and global companies last year, as well as 36 growth financings with a total volume of EUR2.75bn.

With the Tech Tour Growth Award, you honour companies that have the potential for a stock market value of over EUR1bn. Can you give us examples of companies that you have successfully accompanied to the stock exchange?

Müller verses: I hardly know where to start. Biontech is without doubt especially well known in this country. We accompanied the Mainz-based biotech company during its IPO in the USA. More recently at the end of May, we took the hydrogen company Lhyfe to Euronext in Paris – in a very difficult market environment.

Who are the 2022 winners of the Tech Tour Growth Award and what potential do you see in these companies?

Müller-Verse: Of the three winners in the categories Digital, Sustainability and Health, I would like to highlight the two companies in the first two areas: In the context of sustainability, the Dresden-based hydrogen technology provider Sunfire made it to first place. Hydrogen is one of the most important technologies for securing our energy supply in the future. The winner in the digital field was German-Finnish company IQM, which develops the hardware for quantum computers with special tasks. IQM carries the hopes of many industrial groups that would like to push the development of these computers for industrial applications.

How do you see the IPO market in 2022/2023 or what impact do you think the Ukraine war and the still present Covid-19 crisis will have?

Müller-Verse: When share prices of big tech companies collapse, this naturally also affects IPO sentiment and ultimately start-up valuations. We have already seen significant corrections here and will probably continue to see them. In the wake of the Ukraine war, many IPO plans have been officially put on hold for the time being, but there is definitely some movement behind the scenes. In the medium term, however, the outlook remains good, also for IPOs – after all, this is the preferred way of financing growth if entrepreneurs want to retain their independence.

Thank you very much for the interview.