Europe’s top 10 most entrepreneurial regions

Spanning from the Mediterranean to the Arctic, the European Union tries to create equal conditions for all its member states and inhabitants. Venture capitalists have their own agenda as they ignore European Union boundaries and clearly target their own favorite hotspots. In fact, the geographical scope of VC investment in the EU remains heavily skewed to the northern parts – the invisible barrier stretching from Germany, France and the UK into Scandinavia. 

Europe’s top 10 active regions based on the amount and size of actual closed vc deals(data from Tornado Insider):

1. London (9.4% of all deals in Europe since 2000)

2. Paris (5.4%)

3. Stockholm

4. Dublin (Ireland has dropped behind in 2006 with only 9 deals recorded so far)

5. Cambridge

6. Amsterdam

7. Munich

8. Copenhagen

9. Berlin

10. Helsinki.

VC investment typically plays to regional technology strengths. Whereas the usual city names pop up (London, Paris, Dublin, Munich, Amsterdam, Stockholm) as favored areas for Software investment, Biotechnology & Healthcare hotspots are located in Cambridge, Paris, Copenhagen, Martinsried, Berlin and Heidelberg. Cambridge also leads the Computers & Electronics category, with Bristol second, followed by Berlin and Glasgow. Most VC activity in the Communications sectors is in London, Stockholm, Paris, Cambidge, Helsinki and Espoo. The cities listed can boast renowned research centers, interest of industry giants, a history of entrepreneurship and long VC traditions. Having said that, the southern and especially eastern European regions house great technology talent and huge potential. Indeed a host of regional and international funds have increased their presence in Eastern European countries recently, so we expect to see more local entrepreneurship and startup funding in the coming years.

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