Europe's Startup and Scaleup Strategy: Communication from the EU Commission (Luxinnovation)

Summary

• The EU hosts over 35,000 early-stage startups and 3,400 growth-stage tech firms, adding over three million new jobs in the past decade.p.2
• From 2008 to 2021, 30% of European-born unicorns relocated abroad, and only 8% of global scale-ups are based in the EU.p.2
• The Commission targets reducing administrative burdens by 25% for all companies and 35% for SMEs.p.3
• The planned 28th Regime aims to allow company creation in 48 hours.p.3
• Universities have produced over 157,000 spin-offs, but only a third of patents are commercially exploited.p.5
• The Scaleup Europe Fund is planned for 2026 to finance deep tech scaleups through direct equity.p.4

Key insights

1. Major instruments like the EIC and InvestEU have mobilised billions in capital and created over €500 billion in enterprise value.p.2
2. The EU's single market of 450 million consumers is a foundation for startups to scale.p.2
3. Fragmentation across Member States in taxation, labour, company law and securities regulation discourages founders and investors.p.3
4. The EU financial system remains bank-heavy and fragmented, with limited cross-border VC.p.4
5. An Innovation Investment Pact in 2026 would mobilise institutional investors to support EU VC funds with the EIB Group.p.4
6. The Commission proposes harmonised EU definitions of startups, scaleups and innovative companies in Q1 2026.p.8
7. A single digital entry point will unify access to EU funding, services and infrastructure.p.7