In the past two years the French capital has been in the throes of AI fever and has launched some of Europe's most talked-about startups, including Mistral, which is currently valued at 6.2 billion ( 4.7 billion). That's partly down to the support the industry has received. President Emmanuel Macron has given French AI startups some emphatic political backing, while telecoms billionaire Xavier Niel has provided much investment and will to finance national ambition. In September 2023, Niel invested 200 million ( 212 million), splitting that money between funding for startups such as Mistral, an AI research lab called Kyutai and a cloud supercomputer powered by Nvidia. "I'm the old guy who likes entrepreneurs and the idea was always the same: how we can help this talent to stay here, creating companies," says Niel. Niel, a prolific French businessman who owns telecommunications company Iliad, believes European AI companies now have a unique opportunity to act. "If you want to create a search engine now from scratch, you cannot win because you weren't there 25 years ago.

Thanks to low corporation tax and government incentives, Dublin has hosted the European Headquarters of many large US technology companies--Google, Meta, LinkedIn and Microsoft all have offices in the city's Silicon Docks. "The big US companies operated independently of the startup world for many years," explains Will Prendergast, partner at Frontline Ventures. "But in the last five years, US technology companies have been building product and engineering functions here, and that talent is starting to spill out, driving startup creation." Government support via Enterprise Ireland's Pre-Seed Start Fund, designed to accelerate early stage startups, and hubs such as Dogpatch Labs are supporting this wave of new talent. "Ireland does have a capital issue," says employee benefits startup Kota co-founder Luke Mackey.

Why is Stockholm, a capital city with a population less than one million, home to global brands such as Skype, Spotify, Klarna and Minecraft? "I think it has to do with the Swedish creed," says Ben Eliass, CEO of bodycare brand Estrid. "It's a nation which put emphasis on high-quality education and invested heavily in telecoms infrastructure in the nineties, so we all grew up with high-speed internet." "It allows people to take high risk and start companies, not needing to be too afraid of the downsides," says Max Junestrand, CEO of legaltech startup Leya. Indeed, Sweden has now produced more unicorns per capita than any other country in Europe, except for Estonia, earning a reputation as the Silicon Valley of Europe"Stockholm has a truly unique ecosystem where you can stand on the shoulders of giants," says Colin Treseler, CEO of Supernormal.

The 2023 Atomico's State of European Tech Report reveals Netherlands to be a standout success, cementing its position as a star player in the startup ecosystem. In terms of capital invested in its private tech companies, for instance, it's risen back into the top five countries with a projected 2.1 billion. And while the UK has seen the share of its European capital invested drop by almost three per cent within the last three years, the Netherlands comes out top, capturing the biggest gains in Europe at almost 2 per cent. The hub of the Netherlands' startup ecosystem is Amsterdam, which hosts around 4,000 startups, including unicorns like Mollie, Mambu and Backbase. Known for its international focus, collaborative ecosystem, and diverse and skilled workforce, it's also dedicated to tackling urgent societal issues.

Two years ago, Jon Fath moved with his family to Portugal from the Netherlands with the sole purpose of launching a fintech startup there. "This country is brimming with talent and ambition," Fath says. "I thank Lisbon for welcoming me, along with so many other expats and entrepreneurs, so warmly." Indeed, it's no surprise that the European Commission named Lisbon as 2023's European Capital of Innovation, while the Financial Times, in partnership with Statista, ranked two Portuguese startup hubs in Europe's top ten startup hubs--including the Unicorn Factory Lisboa, which launched in 2022 and has already supported more than 820 startups and helped raise more than 1 billion ( 1.1 billion) . "Portugal offers unique advantages, such as its climate, safety, and cost of living, which make it an attractive choice over countries in central or northern Europe," says Nuno Pereira, CEO of Paynest.

German innovation is not limited to the country's capital. In fact, some of this year's most prolific startups are based hundreds of miles away. The AI startup Alpha Alpha hails from Heidelberg. Helsing, which sells AI to Europe's militaries, was set up in Munich. Yet both companies operate Berlin offices.

Home to fine cheese, breathtaking scenery and footballing politics (FIFA HQ overlooks Lake Zurich), Switzerland's largest city is also a financial juggernaut. The central square of Paradeplatz is its beating heart, where the Swiss banking system pumps venture capital funding into a thriving tech ecosystem--around CHF 72 million (more than 1 billion) was poured into Zurich startups alone in 2023. Fintech is a natural major player, but if the banking industry is the ecosystem's engine, innovation is its fuel. Many of the city's most exciting startups began life as student projects at its world-leading universities, which provide a steady flow of great thinkers. "Zurich is a city of ideas, people, and capital," says Frank Floessel, head of entrepreneurship at ETH Zurich, a public research university focused on science, technology, and engineering that'spins out' an average of 25 startups every year. "We have plenty of talent and know-how.

In the "Startup-up, Scale-up" review report published last year, chancellor Rachel Reeves promised to make Britain the "high growth, start-up hub of the world". Now, almost six months into the new government, entrepreneurs remain encouraged by the promises made in the Labour manifesto. "The ambition embodied in Great British Energy and the 2030 decarbonization targets is precisely what we need and deserve," says Shilpika Gautam, CEO of greentech startup Opna, about Labour's energy policies. "It's high time the UK caught up with the policy and financing innovations in other countries, such as the Inflation Reduction Act in the US." Amit Gudka, founder of Field, agrees: "We welcome Labour's plans to double onshore wind, triple solar and quadruple offshore wind by 2030. These plans are ambitious, but not unrealistic, provided the Government continues to make clear policy decisions and create a stable policy and regulatory environment."

Having spent many years as second fiddle to Barcelona, Madrid surpassed its Catalan cousin in 2023 with startups securing 605 million ( 672 million) investment above Barcelona's 457 million ( 507 million). "Lots of Latin American talent is arriving thanks to the recent entrepreneur visa and talent programs run by Telefonica to bring promising startup founders from Mexico, Argentina, Columbia and Venezuela," explains Bu Haces, innovation consultant at Madrid's Impact Hub. The city has seen solid growth in transportation, mobility and fintech startups during the last three years with AI and deep tech supercharged by an astonishing 56 universities. "The business schools in particular are providing lots of startup networking opportunities, and are keen on developing an entrepreneurial ecosystem," says Miguel Arias, general partner at VC K Fund. With Meta, IBM, Google and Amazon all expanding in the city, the main worry is lack of housing stock for the flood of students, engineers and entrepreneurs.

"Amsterdam is a global city--with a population of less than 1 million," says Ferdinand Goetzen, CEO of Amsterdam-based digital customer-insight business, Reveall. That, in a nutshell, is how Amsterdam has become a tech powerhouse, boasting unicorns such as Booking.com and Adyen, and an impressive crop of sustainability-focused startups. The city has the benefits of being medium sized--efficient public services, bikeability, and a tight-knit business community--but in the same breath, is instinctively outward-looking, dynamic, and business-friendly. Amsterdam's residents speak flawless English, its Schiphol Airport is the third-busiest in the EU, and, starting in 2020, the city gained a direct Eurostar link to London. As part of a business cluster known as the Randstad--which also includes Utrecht, the Hague, and Rotterdam, and is Europe's third region by productivity--it is unsurprising that Amsterdam's startup scene is thriving; it's tech companies are worth a total value of $230 billion as of July 2022, according to Dealroom. Let's get to know Amsterdam's movers and shakers.