The European Commission has unveiled an ambitious EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy to make Europe the best place in the world to launch, grow and scale innovative, tech-driven companies.
For founders, CEOs and innovation leaders, this is a timely and transformative signal: Europe wants your business to succeed and stay.
At the heart of the strategy is a recognition that startups are engines of growth, productivity and strategic autonomy. Yet many founders face two major hurdles: translating innovation into market-ready products, and accessing the capital and support needed to scale. Europe aims to address both.
With €70+ billion already mobilised in startup funding since 2007, the new strategy goes further – proposing regulatory reforms, investment tools and talent policies to foster a stronger innovation ecosystem.
Key Objectives
The strategy aims to:
- Make Europe the top global destination to launch and grow technology-driven startups, including deep tech.
- Enable startups and scaleups to flourish within the Single Market, retain innovation and talent in the EU, and reduce reliance on non-EU capital and exits.
Strategic Challenges Identified
Two “valleys of death”
- Translating research into marketable products.
- Scaling startups into global players.
Barriers include capital fragmentation, regulatory inconsistencies, slow innovation uptake, low risk appetite, and difficult public procurement access.
1. Innovation-Friendly Regulation
- Introduce an optional 28th EU company regime to simplify cross-border business operations.
- Launch the European Innovation Act (Q1 2026), featuring regulatory sandboxes and innovation stress tests.
- Reduce administrative burdens by 25% overall, and 35% for SMEs.
- Update Standardisation Regulation and develop faster processes for regulatory approvals.
2. Better Finance
- Establish the Scaleup Europe Fund (2026) and expand EIC funding for high-risk, deep tech innovation.
- Launch a European Innovation Investment Pact with institutional investors.
- Address gaps in IP-backed finance, angel investing, and women’s access to capital.
- Enhance exit options by aligning capital markets with the Savings and Investment Union strategy.
3. Fast Market Uptake
- Launch Lab to Unicorn initiative to help universities commercialise research.
- Streamline innovation-friendly procurement, both public and private, across strategic sectors.
- Promote the use of the Unitary Patent System for faster, cheaper tech protection.
4. Support for Talent
- Initiate a Blue Carpet programme (2025–2026) to attract global skilled workers, including startup founders.
- Address cross-border remote work taxation and simplify Employee Stock Option (ESO) treatment.
- Boost entrepreneurial education and encourage academic-commercial career tracks.
5. Access to Infrastructure & Services
- Create a Charter of Access to research and tech infrastructure (2025).
- Launch a single digital entry point for EU innovators and investors to access support and funding.
- Provide clarity on State Aid rules for accessing public infrastructure.
6. Measuring Progress
- Define “startup,” “scaleup,” and “innovative company” (Q1 2026).
- Introduce a European Startup and Scaleup Scoreboard and annual survey (from 2026) to benchmark progress via three KPIs:
- Growth in the number of startups.
- Growth in the number of centaurs (valued at €100M+).
- Growth in the number of unicorns (€1B+ valuation).
Conclusion
The point that caught my eye was the ‘two valleys of death’ – building on the popularised concept from ‘Crossing the Chasm’. The acknowledgement of a second valley ‘Translating research into marketable products’ would suggest that there will be more funding for early-stage spin out IP from the research base, supported by additional funding promised through EIC accelerator (or similar) for crossing the chasm.
There is consistency too with Invest EU, EIC, EIF, ETC all named as tools with strong track records that will remain central, but receive more funding and scope. The Startup Europe Initiative, EEN, EIT networks are slated to be reinforced, not replaced, for continuity and effectiveness.
AND State Aid will change BUT “refined” to support riskier ventures without major overhaul. The link to the full report is here.
For advice on how to fund your innovation project from research to launch, please get in touch with us at Venturenomix.
Sophie Glaser-Deruelle
With over 16 years of dedicated expertise in EU Project Cycle Management and innovation strategy, I specialise in navigating the R&D grant funding landscape of the UK and EU.
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