The phones of European venture capitalist began to light up as they heard sarcastic comments about a piece that appeared in the Financial Times. Sebastian Mallaby's extract from The Power Law: Venture Capital and the Art of Disruption reflected the condescending attitudes of Silicon Valley-based investors towards Europe.
According to Mallaby, Matt Miller, a partner at a blue-chip VC fund, sent a memo to other partners in his office, making the case that the European technology scene was worth their attention. Given that $30 billion was invested in European tech firms that year, the idea that an American VC needed to use his "intuition" to find opportunities in Europe provoked howls of derision from Dublin to Berlin.
The Americans came to teach us all about technology in the year of our Lord. We were busy trading clams until then.
An annual guide to the European startup community was published by WIRED. Europe was at an earlier stage of development than the US. Capital wasn't as accessible to entrepreneurs as it was in the Valley. The first "State of European Technology" report was published by Atomico four years later. Things have been different since then. The number was $100 billion in 2011. The total value of the European economy is estimated to have grown from $1 trillion to $3 trillion over the course of the next four years.
Over the past few months, we have been looking for companies in 10 European cities that are generating excitement among entrepreneurs and investors. We are looking for founders who have a vision to build companies that address a need or take on a challenge. We do not claim that the list is comprehensive or that the startups are the most funded. We want it to be a snapshot of the companies in each city that are exciting and inspiring. Maybe getting the attention of Silicon Valley.
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