European Innovation Economy in Silicon Valley

Europe is a major actor in Silicon Valley. More than any other region in the world, Europe enjoys strong ties to the Bay Area through people, capital, and business.
This report serves as our effort to combine the various research we have done working in and around the European Innovation ecosystem in Silicon Valley in each of its facets, i.e. corporates, startups, investors and institutions.

Our data show that Europe plays a strong role in Silicon Valley.

Many of the Silicon Valley startups (including several Unicorns) are founded by Europeans, while almost 300 European scaleups moved headquarters to the Bay Area.
Almost 60 large European corporates have a stable presence in the Valley and actively contribute to the innovation ecosystem.
There are a handful of European based venture capital funds which are active in the Bay Area as well as a variety of corporate venture capital outfits. Beyond that, Europeans are actively investing into Silicon Valley either directly – as angels – or indirectly – as LPs.
As the European community here has grown stronger, bridge organizations (both public and private) have formed with the specific focus to assist European startups looking to engage with Silicon Valley.

However, there are still steps to be taken in order to further strengthen the connections between these two regions. Among others, Europe needs to present itself more – and be perceived – as a single ecosystem rather than a combination of single national communities.

Our ultimate goal is to help close this gap by creating a central directory for European startups, corporates, investors, and governments interested in finding information on the organizations which might help plan an approach or a presence in Silicon Valley.

MARCO MARINUCCI, CEO, Mind the Bridge
ALBERTO ONETTI, Chairman, Mind the Bridge