Innovation: the OECD puts a figure on the European drop-out rate
This latter category goes beyond that of ‘unicorns’: it includes companies crossing the one-billion threshold at the time of their initial public offering (IPO), and not just those valued at that level prior to an IPO. Together, these two groups account for 3.5 per cent of the European start-ups studied and 8.5 per cent of their US counterparts.… The gap does not become apparent at the seed stage. Future European and US champions raise broadly comparable amounts during their early years. Then US funding accelerates, driven in particular by a few exceptionally large fundraising rounds and a very dynamic stock market, whilst European growth remains more gradual. The EU relies on non-EU investors The origin of investors sheds light on this difference. Around 80 per cent of investors participating in…