The European Commission has published the first edition of the European Startup and Scaleup Scoreboard (ESSS), a new strategic tool designed to monitor the performance of national innovation ecosystems and assess the impact of policies supporting high-growth companies in Europe.
The analysis is based on 36 indicators covering the 2020-2025 period, utilizing data from authoritative sources such as Eurostat, the Joint Research Centre (JRC), Dealroom, and the European Startup Nations Alliance. Based on the overall results, Member States are classified into four performance categories (Front-runners, High-performing, Catching-up, and Rising), providing an up-to-date overview of the status of entrepreneurial innovation across Europe.
Data from the Scoreboard shows a steady growth within the European ecosystem: taking 2020 as the baseline year, 20 out of 27 Member States recorded a clear improvement in their general performance.
To evaluate and compare the progress of individual countries, the ESSS analyzes national performance across six macro-areas fundamental to business creation and development:
- Innovation-friendly regulation;
- Access to finance;
- Scaling up and market access;
- Talent availability and attraction;
- Infrastructure, networks, and support services;
- Economic and innovation impact.
Despite the positive trend, the Scoreboard highlights significant room for improvement and structural bottlenecks that several European countries will need to address. These include limited access to capital in more advanced stages of growth (late-stage), regulatory and administrative hurdles that slow down the expansion of innovative companies within the single market, and the ongoing brain drain toward more attractive and competitive ecosystems outside the EU.
The results gathered in this first edition of the ESSS do not merely represent a snapshot of the current state of affairs; they will provide the scientific and analytical foundation to guide future EU initiatives and reforms, starting with the highly anticipated European Innovation Act.
Furthermore, the Scoreboard aligns with the broader strategic framework of the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy – Choose Europe to Start and Scale, launched in 2025 to make Europe an increasingly attractive place for the birth and growth of innovative technology companies.
To learn more and consult the detailed report, read the full news on the APRE website.