Brussels is investing billions to make Europe more appealing to startups and scaleups

The European Union is set to invest billions of euros in European tech companies to turn them into billion-dollar companies.

To compete with tech companies from the United States and other parts of the world, the European Commission has launched the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy.

“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 European Commission states in a press release.

The idea is to keep companies and talent in Europe. Many startups leave for the US because the chances of big investments are much greater there. As a result, Europe has relatively few big tech companies.

The EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy addresses these challenges by supporting European businesses financially throughout their lifecycle with a set of five concrete actions. One of these actions is to implement fewer administrative burdens to make it more attractive to do business in Europe.

In addition, by contributing money to European tech companies, the risk for investors to invest capital in European startups and scaleups will be reduced.

“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,” Stéphane Séjourné, Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy, says in response to the European Commission’s plans.

“The Strategy will enable us to turn Europe’s wealth of creativity, research, and ambition into thriving new companies, quality jobs, and real-world impacts. With the five concrete actions, we are removing the barriers that hold our entrepreneurs back. Europe is ready to scale up,” Ekaterina Zaharieva, Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, adds.