On 22 November 2018, the European Commission adopted an initiative aimed at improving and regulating the environment for startups and scaleups. In total, 46 different policy actions will be implemented to make European startup policies more effective. The EU Startup Monitor 2018 report aims to establish a benchmark and profile the average European startup.

Startups and scaleups (startups that have already embarked on a significant growth trajectory) are increasingly becoming a driver for the economic growth of countries and their economies, often generating disruptive innovations and creating numerous jobs. This is increasingly the case in Europe as well.

Geographically, the most important hubs for startups in Europe are London, Berlin, Paris, Copenhagen and Lisbon. The average age of a startup founder is 38; they are typically male (82.8%) and hold a university degree (84.8%). The average number of founders is 2.7, with 12.8 employees from various countries, and they plan to hire an additional 7.5 people over the next 12 months. The sample analysed indicates that, overall, startups have created 18,015 jobs in Europe.

Many startups consider themselves "born global", with a natural aptitude for cross-border operations and, in some cases, opening operational offices in countries other than their country of origin. Indeed, 88% of the sample plans to initiate an internationalisation process within the next 12 months, both within Europe and elsewhere, with the USA and Silicon Valley remaining the preferred destination. It is worth noting that interest in internationalisation from Europe towards Asia is growing (25.8% of the sample).

The sectors in which startups are active are still predominantly in the IT/Software development (19.1%) and Software as a Service (18.5%) fields; new sectors recording an increasing number of startups are Green Technologies (4%) and FinTech (5.1%).

77.8% of those providing financial support to European startups use the founders' private capital, followed by informal capital from business angels (77.8%) and venture capital (26.3%).

Regarding collaborations with large corporations, generally referred to as Open Innovation, it emerges that 71.1% of the sample already works with a large enterprise or another SME, primarily to gain access to new customers and wider markets.

Although startups and scaleups are often perceived as a bubble, they will increasingly transform our economies by developing technologies and innovations that are transferred (often thanks to venture capital investment funds) to the end-consumer market. Evidence of this is the high number of initiatives and, above all, the capital made available by the European Commission, the European Investment Fund (currently the largest investor in startups and venture capital in Europe), and the European Investment Bank.

For further information on the EU Startup Monitor 2018 click here