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4.3
Despite burgeoning local ecosystems, founders continue to move between countries to start-up
21% of European founders moved to another country to start-up, with highest founder mobility seen in Central & Eastern Europe
% of founders that moved to another country to startup by region of origin
Despite concerns about Brexit, London is the #1 most preferred location to start up by European founders, followed by Berlin and Barcelona
Top 10 European hubs selected by European founders as their preferred location to start again
| Rank | City | Change in rank versus 2016 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | London | 1 |
| 2 | Berlin | -1 |
| 3 | Barcelona | 1 |
| 4 | Paris | 9 |
| 5 | Amsterdam | -2 |
| 6 | Dublin | 0 |
| 7 | Stockholm | 1 |
| 8 | Lisbon | -3 |
| 9 | Munich | -1 |
| 10 | Milan | 15 |
Access to talent is by far the most important factor influencing founder location choices
Factors that influence location choice of European founders
When I look at the other examples based in Estonia, such as Jobbatical, Funderbeam, TransferWise and Starship Technologies, they are all building relationships and collaborating outside of Estonia. It is also a good moment since we live during an era of digital disruption and we need to adopt a collaborative approach to stay ahead of the game.
The migratory flow of talent is not evenly distributed; Southern, Central and Eastern Europe continue to see a loss of talent to other regions
European founders no longer think locally. They think continentally, and have grown their ambition to become global players. Europe houses top technical and business schools and entrepreneurship is now a top of mind choice.
