Anyone even remotely interested in the world of startups will attest to the fact that the phrase “startup hub” gets thrown around quite easily when talking about virtually any European city these days. But which of these claims can be supported by actual data? The European Startup Initiative has just opened their doors for their third annual Startup Heatmap Europe Survey designed to settle the matters once and for all.
The Startup Heatmap Europe aims to function as a benchmark report on the attractiveness of startup hubs throughout the continent. Through a series of questions, the 8-minute survey calculates the attractiveness of each proposed city by taking into account factors such as the access to funding for upcoming entrepreneurs, local business regulations, industry connections, talent availability, value for money, as well as the prospective hub’s startup ecosystem and culture. Each participant of the survey is asked to pick, then rate three European startup hubs they’d most likely pick for their next business destination.
While the results are culminated into a so-called heat map graph showing the continent’s hotbeds of entrepreneurship, the EIS will eventually compile all of their results into their annual report which will be available for a free download on their website.
By studying startup mobility in Europe, the EIS hopes to improve the continent’s startup system as a whole. According to the non-profit, Europe’s biggest challenge still lies in fragmentation and not being connected enough, and our mobility in terms of talent, capital, and businesses could use some improvements. As for the survey’s results, its organizers stand by the conviction that perception creates reality. “ If you want to know which startup hub will produce the most unicorns in 10 years from now, you cannot look at the past but must look in the future. By asking founders directly, where they see opportunities on the rise, we are keeping pace with an otherwise incomprehensible development.” – states ESI’s co-founder Thomas Koesters on the non-profit’s blog.
If you’d like to take part in shaping the perception of the European startup ecosystem, make sure to take a quick 8-minute coffee break to answer a few question of this year’s Startup Heatmap Europe Survey. For more information about the project, feel free to check out ESI’s website.
