A Young entrepreneur cries out: “start in Europe, stay in Europe”

Exclusively written for the Sting by Davide Giordano, President of Junior Enterprise Torino Politecnico (J.E.To.P), member of JADE.

Startups in Europe is always a hot topic, many things have changed and many articles have been written, yet I have the impression that most of us have a confused vision on the argument due to the fragmented policies in our Union.

Digital economy and startups

According to a research from the Boston Consulting Group the Internet Economy in the developed markets is forecast to grow at an annual rate of 8 percent over the next five years. These numbers overtake significantly any other economic sector, but also hide a deeper meaning: digital technologies will find their way in every single industry.

What if this process succeeds in every european country?

New jobs and new wealth will be created.

It is therefore essential to develop a digital agenda for the future: let’s see what Europe and its countries are doing.

UK

United Kingdom has made a great deal with startups, building the so called Si licon Roundabout tech cluster in East London; in 2010 Prime Minister Davide Cameron launched Tech City UK, “publicly, funded non-profit team with a private sector mentality. Our focus is on creating the optimum conditions for digital technology businesses and entrepreneurs to thrive across the UK”.

Tech City has become also a direct channel for entrepreneurs and VC to express their own needs to the government, leading to the introduction of special measures like Entrepreneur Visa, Patent Box and the most favorable taxation system for investors in Europe.

France

France is following the UK example with La France Tech which ultimately will turn into a network of french incubators and accelerators representing their startup abroad under the La France Tech title. The project involves also €200 million for french startups, but government still holds a strong control on companies and investors, which prefer moving in a more friendly environment like UK.

Germany   

Berlin reflects german’s policies on startup, few laws and gradual simplification of bureaucracy transformed the capital in a worldwide startup hub.

Even though the country’s effort could be stronger, the city has collected a huge number of successful companies, due to factors like presence of talents and a responsive market. Curiously Germany doesn’t need a “tech city” project like Paris, it naturally attracts startups and entrepreneurs, now it needs to attract more foreign investors.

European Union and future

Still European Union can play a great role in this project, following what some of the brightest entrepreneurs in Europe highlighted in the startup manifesto.

Students should be more encouraged to practice entrepreneurship during university, projects like Erasmus for Entrepreneurs should be specifically part of study programs involving management and ICT.

Definitely the future looks good, but it might become even better for every young entrepreneur if the follo wing challenges are addressed:

• Digital single market and regulations;
• European Entrepreneur’s visa;
• Long term debate between institutions and entrepreneurs.

All countries in the union should cooperate more on these common issues and build a path for startups to “Start in Europe and Stay in Europe”.

About the author

I think as an Engineer, I operate as an Entrepreneur. In January 2015 I’ve become President at J.E.To.P. – Junior Enterprise Torino Politecnico. I’ve managed a Junior Enterprise, an association composed by students, but structured exactly like an enterprise, with 61 students working on different projects, Event creation & organization, Mobile & Website development, Visual Design, Social Media Planning & Strategy. Together we created WTT: Wearable Tech Torino, the first exhibition in Italy on the wearable technologies. Today I’m Senior Advisor for J.E.To.P. and Master student in Computer Science at Politecnico di Torino.