Fundraising activity among European VC houses fell by 58% in the third quarter of 2015, according to a report from Dow Jones Venture Source.

The Dow Jones Venture Capital Report reveals that there were 13 funds raised in Q3. Despite the fall in capital raised compared to Q2, the value is still 5% higher than the equivalent period in 2014.

The largest fund raised in the quarter was Lakestar II LP, which raised €350m – 41% of the total raise for the period.

Behind Lakestar II LP the next most lucrative funds were Norton Capital Fund III LP (€108.56m), Runa Capital II (€67.85), b-to-v Partners Fund III (€63m) and Nauta Tech Invest IV (€61.76m).

>See also: Appetite for M&A at six-year high

Despite the drop in total fund value, total investment in European companies through VC funds did creep up in Q3. More than €3bn was raised by companies through 355 deals – a negligible increase on Q2 but up 31% from the same period last year.

Consumer services (€935m) was the sector that performed best in the three month period, followed by healthcare (€929m).

French transportation services company Comuto SA enjoyed the biggest VC-backed funding round of Q3. It raised €180m in a round that saw Insight Venture Partners and Lead Edge Capital involved.

Mereo BioPharma Group (UK, €108.8m), Oxford Nanopore Technologies (UK, €98.9m), EREN SA (Lux, €97.5) and CsQur SA (Swi, €88.38m) make up the top five deals.

The UK took the most equity funding in the period. It saw €947m come to these shores in 87 deals. This accounted for 31% of all equity financing despite a 9% dip in deal flow from Q2.

Further reading: Fintech key to closing $2tr SME funding gap