The European Commission has published its EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy: ‘Choose Europe to Start and Scale‘, with the ambition to make the EU the world’s top destination for technology-driven innovative companies.

The Strategy aims to address the fact that, despite their multiple benefits, too many European startups and scaleups struggle to take ideas from lab to market or grow at scale within the EU. The new strategy aims to support these businesses throughout their lifecycle, from starting up to scaling up to maturing and succeeding in the EU.

A crucial component of the strategy will be a significant expansion to the European Innovation Council, the Commission’s primary tool for identifying and supporting breakthrough technologies and significant innovations of all stages that have the potential to scale up internationally and become market leaders. The EIC will be simplified and expanded to provide better funding opportunities for startups and scaleups, bridging the financing gap for deep tech companies and including more ARPA-like processes. This move is expected to unlock new investment opportunities, stimulate innovation, and drive economic growth.

Other key initiatives announced include:

• Innovation-friendly regulation: Simplifying rules, reducing admin burdens, and introducing regulatory sandboxes to support startups and scaleups.
• Better finance: Increasing funding opportunities through a Scaleup Europe Fund and mobilising institutional investors to support deep tech companies.
• Growth and talent: Implementing initiatives like Lab to Unicorn, Blue Carpet, and EU Visa Strategy to attract and retain top talent, and facilitate market uptake and expansion.
• Infrastructure access: Providing easier access to research and technology infrastructures, and introducing a Charter of Access for industrial users to support rapid commercialisation.

The European Commission will monitor the strategy’s progress through key performance indicators, measuring the increase in the number of startups, scaleups, centaurs (valuation over €100 million) and unicorns (valuation over €1 billion) in the EU, and how these compare with the EU’s global competitors. Reporting on its implementation will be done by the end of 2027.

Stéphane Séjourné, Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy said:

‘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, 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.’

The strategy can be accessed in full at the European Commission website.