‘Europe lacks coordination and speed’

During the annual gathering of Davos Angels, held alongside the World Economic Forum, investors agreed on one thing: Europe does not lack capital. Instead, it lacks coordination, speed and execution. Fragmentation is the primary factor holding the startup ecosystem back in this continent.

During Davos Angels, many active angel investors gather with the purpose of strengthening Europe’s position on the global stage. The event wants to be a unifying force for the European business angel community, and a contributor to the continent’s entrepreneurship and investment.

Recent introduction of pan-European entity: EU Inc.

The event was held last week, alongside the World Economic Forum (WEF). At WEF, EU Inc. was introduced, a proposal for a pan-European standardized legal entity to accelerate European startup scaling. It is not the first time that European organizations make plans to strengthen the European startup ecosystem. Most recently, ESNA and BAE announced a partnership in Brussels, to support the creation of a policy framework for startup investing.

‘Uncoordinated capital main cause for losing innovation’

In discussions at the Davos Angels event, a consensus was reached on why Europe loses some of its innovations too early. “A clear majority converged on uncoordinated capital across the borders as the primary cause, far outweighing regulatory complexity or lack of funding”, a press release says.

‘Europe’s competitiveness will not depend on raising more capital’

“Europe’s competitiveness will depend not on raising more capital, but on coordinating existing capital across borders, acting faster, and scaling its winners at home.” Up to 40 percent of business angels said that there is a growing risk of Europe becoming dependent on non-European technology and platforms if fragmentation persists. According to them, the single biggest lever for angel impacting is coordinating capital across countries (53 percent).