Stop telling European founders to move to the US | Sifted
European founders are frequently advised to relocate to the US, but this narrative ignores the continent's strong talent pool and successful local companies.Summary
A recurring scenario sees US investors advising European pre-seed founders to relocate to the US to build global companies, a message often reinforced by media and online critics. However, this advice is largely based on a marketing campaign rather than facts, as many household US funds successfully invest in European companies. Data shows that over 85% of European founders wish to stay, driven by deep engineering talent and a high quality of life. Successful examples like Delivery unicorn Wolt and AI startup Mistral prove that global companies can be built from Europe. While Europe does face a growth capital gap that needs policy attention, it is a scaling issue, not a company-building one. Initiatives like the €5bn Scaleup Europe Fund are addressing this. The article argues that Europe should focus on fixing its specific challenges rather than outsourcing its best talent and ideas to other markets.
(Source：Sifted Eu)
