EU Plan Helps Startups ‘Unlock Growth Drivers’ to Scale Faster & Go Global

The EU has introduced a new strategy aimed at strengthening its startup ecosystem and improving its global competitiveness in innovation. One initiative it has committed to is creating a public-private fund for deep tech scale-up companies.

Union investment in the so-called Scaleup Europe Fund will come from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund, which was established to support startups that have the potential to be scaled into “unicorns” — companies with a valuation exceeding €1 billion. In October, the EU announced a partnership with 71 private investors committed to financing high-growth tech companies. The size of the fund will be at least €10 billion, a European official told Reuters.

The EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy lists 25 other actions to improve conditions for startups and scaleups in the region. The actions fall broadly into five categories:

• Reducing administrative barriers
• Boosting funding
• Making it easier to reach the market
• Attracting and retaining ...