Speakers
Session overview
Objectives
Despite its scientific excellence, industrial strengths and abundant savings, Europe still lacks an integrated innovation and financing ecosystem capable of scaling and retaining globally competitive firms, leaving it behind the United States and China in the technologies that will shape future growth and strategic autonomy.
The session will first examine how Europe can progress towards a genuinely integrated innovation and financing ecosystem capable of creating, scaling and retaining globally competitive firms. Participants will discuss how to mobilise more long-term risk capital by better connecting savings, institutional investors, public promotional institutions and capital markets, while improving late-stage financing and exit opportunities.
The session will then explore the broader innovation ecosystem needed to make “Choose Europe” a reality for founders, investors and scale-ups. The discussion will cover research commercialisation, university-industry links, strategic public demand, intellectual property, the 28th regime / EU Inc., stock options, labour mobility and policy stability.
Finally, the session will consider how responsibilities should be shared between Member States and the European Union. It will examine which reforms could realistically be implemented over the next two to three years, while addressing the question of critical mass: whether Europe needs stronger concentration of capital, talent and high-growth firms in a limited number of hubs to compete globally, and how this can be reconciled with cohesion and national interests.
Points of discussion
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Europe has abundant savings but insufficient risk capital. How can it build an integrated European market for risk capital capable of financing innovative companies from early growth to successful exits?
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Beyond deeper capital markets, how can Europe build the integrated innovation ecosystem needed to make "Choose Europe" a reality for founders, investors and scale-ups?