EC Launches Strategy to Make EU a Startup and Scaleup Powerhouse

The European Commission has launched the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy, ‘Choose Europe to Start and Scale'. The strategy aims to make Europe a great place to start and grow global technology-driven companies.

It aligns with the broader ‘Choose Europe' initiative, launched by EC President Ursula von der Leyen. This initiative focused first on the science component, promoting a unified European approach to attract and retain talent, thereby strengthening Europe's competitiveness.

Startups and scaleups are essential to Europe's future, driving innovation and sustainable growth, creating high-quality jobs, attracting investment, and reducing strategic dependencies. Yet, despite strong foundations, too many still struggle to take ideas from lab to market or grow at scale within the EU.

The Strategy addresses these challenges by supporting them throughout their lifecycle, from starting up to scaling up to maturing and succeeding here in the EU. It identifies the key needs of startups and scaleups and is putting forward a set of actions in five main areas: fostering an innovation-friendly environment; driving better financing; supporting market uptake and expansion; attracting and retaining top talent; and facilitating access to infrastructure, networks, and services.

“Businesses that are born in Europe must grow in Europe. With the launch of the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy, we unlock growth drivers for Europe’s most innovative and promising companies. We cut red tape, we facilitate their access to financing, and we improve their ability to do business across our Single Market. In other words, we want to put Europe right in the middle of the global innovation map for companies and investors. Europe can lead on its own terms and be the place where innovation thrives,“ said Stéphane Séjourné, EC EVP for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy.