The EU’s Startup and Scaleup Strategy will create opportunities for UK businesses

Nils Schmidt-Soltau, Head of German Desk said:

The EU’s Startup and Scaleup Strategy plans to address the issues that inhibit the growth of EU startup businesses. This benefits the UK, as larger and stronger EU businesses mean more opportunities for mergers, collaboration and investment. Businesses in the EU can benefit from the UK’s venture capital market, which remains the largest in Europe and is third globally behind the United States and China.

The current geopolitical uncertainty creates an opportunity for Europe to position itself as an attractive alternative to the United States and the Far East for businesses that seek a stable political and regulatory environment with a pragmatic approach to immigration providing businesses with the best talent from around the world. And UK businesses have even more reason to come to Europe now that the EU UK post Brexit Strategy looks to open up Airport ‘e-gates’ to British travellers, reducing customs queues and allowing for more efficient business trips.

The Startup and Scaleup Strategy is structured around five key needs throughout a company’s lifecycle which are (i) innovation-friendly regulation, (ii) better finance, (iii) fast market uptake and expansion, (iv) support for the best talent and (v) access to infrastructure, networks and services.

He concluded:

The UK government should consider publishing its own ‘UK startup and scaleup strategy’ to complement existing strategy announcements like the UK Innovation Strategy launched in July 2021 or the Science and Technology Framework last updated in April 2025.

 

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