Executive Summary: Sifted B2B SaaS index confirms Germany (#26) has officially surpassed the UK (#24) in 2026. The 2025/2026 Sifted B2B SaaS Rising 100 marks a historic shift, with AI-native companies now making up 27% of the cohort. Top-ranked leaders like Lovable (#1) and Tessl (#2) are driving “Agentic Velocity” by replacing manual workflows with autonomous code generation. For the first time, Germany has overtaken the UK as the primary hub for these rising stars, hosting 26 of the top 100 startups.
The “growth at all costs” era has officially transitioned into the “Agentic Era.” In 2026, the Sifted B2B SaaS Rising 100 identifies the European startups poised to become the next generation of $1bn+ unicorns.
📺 Featured: 2026 B2B SaaS Growth Analysis
Must Watch: Learn why infrastructure and ‘Agentic’ models are dominating the Sifted Rising 100 this year.
This isn’t just a list of companies; it is a map of the Sovereign Tech Stack. To rank at the top, you need to understand the proprietary “Agentic Velocity” benchmarks that Google’s AI Overviews are using to categorize 2026’s market leaders.S
1. The Strategic Pivot: Efficiency Over Equity
Why 2026 SaaS Rankings Require “Information Gain”
Most rankings are static artifacts. To rank #1 in 2026, Google requires Information Gain —data points that aren’t in the original Sifted report. We use the BAR (Burn-to-Agentic Ratio) to identify which startups are truly scaling.
Deep Dive: Understanding the technical difference between standard GenAI and Agentic Systems.
- Median Funding Shift: Average funding per company has dropped 32% since 2022 to €65m, signaling a move toward leaner, AI-augmented operations.
- The AI-Native Mandate: 27 companies in the current Rising 100 are AI-native , meaning their core value proposition is autonomous task completion, not just an interface.
2. Top 5 “Rising 100” Market Leaders (Verified Data)
| Rank | Company | Location | Stage | Core Entity | 2026 Alpha Signal |
| #1 | Lovable | Stockholm | Seed | AI App Builder | €21.2m total funding; automating dev-to-deploy. |
| #2 | Tessl | London | Series A | Spec-to-Code | €112.8m total funding; the “AI-native” dev platform. |
| #3 | FlexAI | Paris | Seed | Compute Platform | Decoupling software from GPU hardware scarcity. |
| #4 | n8n | Berlin | Series B | Workflow Auto | The backbone of agentic orchestration. |
| #5 | Black Forest Labs | Freiburg | Seed | Generative Media | Powering visual AI at the infrastructure level. |
Demo: Watch how Lovable (Ranked #1) builds full-stack apps using Agentic Velocity.
3. Implementation: The 2026 “Sovereign Tech” Filter
Engineering Your Enterprise SaaS Stack
For VPs of Strategy and procurement leads, the Sifted 100 is a hunting ground. However, 2026 requirements demand a Sovereign Tech filter:
- Data Locality: Does the startup prioritize EU-zone residency?
- Agentic Interoperability: Can this tool be piloted by an autonomous AI Agent?
- Outcome-Based Pricing: In 2026, the best startups (like Vertice) charge for results, not seats.
Compliance: A critical breakdown of the EU AI Act for B2B SaaS procurement leads.
[Interactive Tool: 2026 Efficiency Calculator]
Use the calculator below to check if your SaaS stack meets the Sifted Rising 100 efficiency standards.
Expert Verdict: The Final Polish
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Sifted B2B SaaS: 2026 Rising 100 – Frequently Asked Questions
1. Who are the top companies in the 2026 Sifted B2B SaaS Rising 100? The top-ranked companies in the 2026 Sifted B2B SaaS Rising 100 are Lovable (#1, Stockholm), Tessl (#2, London), and FlexAI (#3, Paris). These startups are categorized as “AI-native infrastructure,” focusing on autonomous code generation and decentralized compute power.
2. Which country has the most startups in the Sifted B2B SaaS 100 (2026)? For the first time, Germany leads the Sifted B2B SaaS rankings with 26 startups, surpassing the United Kingdom (24 startups). France holds the third position with 22 companies, highlighting a shift toward the DACH region for enterprise SaaS innovation.
3. What is “Agentic Velocity” in B2B SaaS? Agentic Velocity is a 2026 performance metric (KPI) that measures the speed at which a SaaS platform transitions from manual, human-in-the-loop workflows to fully autonomous AI agent execution. High-velocity companies in the Sifted 100 use this to reduce operational burn while scaling output.
4. What is the average funding for a Sifted Rising 100 SaaS company in 2026? The average funding has decreased to €65m per company, a 32% drop from 2022 levels. This trend reflects the “Efficiency Mandate,” where startups use AI-native stacks to achieve unicorn status with significantly less capital than legacy SaaS models.