EU Commission attempts finance boost to keep start-ups in Europe
The European Commission launched a strategy designed to foster and grow small tech start-up companies on Wednesday as part of a broader Choose Europe initiative aimed at competing with China and the US.
The document sets out key actions to help companies set up and grow in the EU, including easier access to finance and infrastructure and reducing administrative burdens.
Currently, some 8% of the start-ups throughout the world are based in Europe.
A report by former Italian premier Mario Draghi published last year found that 61% of global funding for AI companies goes to US-based companies, 17% to Chinese and just 6% to those in the EU.
To address this gap, a fund, based on a public-private partnership, will be launched by the beginning of next year to encourage start-ups to scale-up.
'Capital matters, and Europe has it. We need to connect it to the needs of the innovators,' European Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva said, while launching the strategy.
'A clear funding gap persists – to address key challenges and reduce market fragmentation, we will team up with private investors,' she added.
The Commission also aims to simplify rules to set up a start-up in 24 hours and to enable companies operating across the 27 different EU member states to be subject to one business regime.
The proposal also plans to reduce the cost of failure of start-up projects by addressing insolvency issues.
"We have 30,000 early stage start-ups. We don't lack ideas, and we need a plan to maximise the potential,' Zaharieva said.
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