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StartupCity Europe Partnership (SCEP) Launched

  • Post category:EU Projects

StartupCity Europe Partnership (SCEP) Initiative, is part of Startup Europe Partnership (SEP) platform. SCEP will be led by Mind the Bridge to foster the development of interconnected startup strategies at the local level.

Mayors of Cluj-Napoca (Romania), Heraklion (Greece) Malaga and Seville (Spain), Varna (Bulgaria) are among the earliest signatories.

Representatives from Coimbra and Braga (Portugal), Seville, Extremadura, Murcia (Spain), Copenhagen (Denmark), and Emilia Romagna region (Italy) attended the event. Young Entrepreneurs of Thessaloniki (Greece), National Union of County Councils of Romania and Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) were also present.

YET is proud to have been one of the early supporters of SCEP. The launching event was hosted at the European Parliament, Brussels, November 21st, 2018. YET President Mr. Tsoulis was invited and represented the ngo.

Here is the official press briefing:

A new report titled “Startup City Hubs in Europe” has been presented: it shows that the innovation economy in Europe is heavily concentrated in 48 main hubs that host the 67% of total European scaleups, while all the other cities and municipalities (the remaining 33%) are scattered across 428 cities and face the risk to be increasingly marginalized. 150 Tier-2 Startup Cities in Europe have been ranked based on the current economic role, the ability to produce innovation, the strength of their innovation ecosystem, and their talent pool.

StartupCity plans for tier-two cities. The report recommends that sustainable strategies for tier-two cities be built upon two pillars: the specialization of cities on specific verticals and international connections or partnerships with other cities.

“Approximately 50 main cities will be likely driving the innovation economy in Europe in the next years, while all the other cities and municipalities face the risk to be increasingly marginalized. This growing gap could potentially trigger disaggregation and separatisms”. With these words, Alberto Onetti, Chairman Mind the Bridge and Coordinator Startup Europe Partnership officially launched StartupCity Europe Partnership (SCEP) Initiative in Brussels this morning, at the European Parliament in the presence of President Antonio Tajani. A support message from Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society Mariya Gabriel was also delivered personally by her cabinet.

The new SCEP initiative, part of Startup Europe Partnership (SEP) platform and led by Mind the Bridge, aims at fostering the development of interconnected startup strategies at the local level, connecting medium-size European entrepreneurial cities and supporting them in becoming startup cities. Mayors of Cluj-Napoca (Romania), Heraklion (Greece), Varna (Bulgaria), Malaga and Seville (Spain) attending the event, are among the earliest signatories.

“An European plan to support cities in developing startup strategies and dynamic innovations is timely and needed” commented President Tajani at the opening of StartupCity Europe Partnership Launch Event.

Representatives from Coimbra and Braga (Portugal), Seville, Extremadura, Murcia (Spain), Copenhagen (Denmark), and Emilia Romagna region (Italy) attended the event. Young Entrepreneurs of Thessaloniki (Greece), National Union of County Councils of Romania and Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) were also present.

“Initiatives such as StartupCity Europe Partnership that we are launching today – added Alberto Onetti – are addressing one of the top political priorities for the future of Europe. We believe in a single Europe, where knowledge and capital can be leveraged through networks, and where all the countries and cities should be actively involved and contribute”.

Besides the Ceremony, a new Report titled “Startup City Hubs in Europe” has been therefore presented, as a first effort to measure the impact of the “innovation economy” at a granular scale, in particular, focusing on the role that cities have in the concentration of innovation hubs.

Data shows that in Europe there are 476 cities that have at least one scaleup. 48 cities (around 10% of the total) host 3,759 scaleups (around 67% of total) and  74% of the capital raised. Such concentration, however, doesn’t reflect the current distribution either of the GDP (34%) nor the population (14%). These 48 cities will be likely driving the innovation economy in Europe in the next years, while all the other cities and municipalities face the risk to lose relevance and be increasingly marginalized.

According to the research, in Europe we have just one startup hub per country: out of the 42 European countries that have produced scaleups, 34 (81% of the total) have more than 50% of the scaleups concentrated in one city. 27 countries (64% of the total) show a concentration higher than 70% in the major hotspot. For 13 countries (31%) all scaleups are located in the same city (100% concentration around the capital). However, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Belgium and Cyprus are the exceptions that prove the rule with 2 hubs per country: Barcelona and Madrid, Lisbon and Porto, Warsaw and Krakow, Brussels and Gent, Zurich and Zug, and Limassol and Nicosia.

StartupCity Europe Partnership (SCEP)

Mind the Bridge

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