Laurent’s blog

The European startup scene is building stronger bonds

Andy McLoughlin & Alastair Mitchell, Huddle

So the TechCrunch Europa Awards are a wrap and I’m reliving the rush from all the excitement at yesterday’s event. Although a big proportion of the crowd was from the UK and more specifically from London, Mike Butcher’s effort to create deep, lasting connections all across Europe is paying off (thanks Mike!). Through great entrepreneurs, digital leaders, connecting discussions and creating fruitful partnerships… the European community is growing tighter and stronger.

Although I didn’t have a chance to meet everyone, the event allowed me to spend a great deal of time with fellow entrepreneurs, investors and actors of the community from all over the UK, France, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Romania and, of course, the US.

These events are important, creating the bridges that are needed to bypass the limits of location, and simply demonstrating the possibilities of a pan-European network of successful startups.

And the winners are: Spotify winning 4 times including The Europas Grand Prix, Huddle, SongKick, Soup.io, Mendeley, AlertMe, Poken, SoundCloud, Nimbuzz, SpinVox, TAG – The Accelerator Group, Yossi Verdi, and let’s not forget Tweetdeck that was highly commended twice.

Unfortunately so many more have not been named, some of which are my personal favorites – not only because they’ve became friends, but because their services can and may very well become mainstream, if they are not already. To name a few Amiando, Dopplr, Myfab, 3scale, Mobypicture, Stupeflix, Tweetmeme, Amee and Truphone.

Building a Robust Network

The first step was to build strong regional communities. Today, they exist all across the old continent, we see it in France at the very well attended weekly OpenCoffeeClub or at LeWeb, in Germany with Next or Web20expo Europe, in the Netherlands with TheNextWeb, in the UK with Geek’n Rolla and in Bruxels with Plugg.

The second step was to create a common platform, in English, to expose and give perspective on what is happening all over. TheNextWeb blog started it, the rebranded Techcrunch Europe is doing it too. Effectively creating the relationships and network. And the event like last night is the proof that it works, it’s happening!

Europe is so different from the States, in terms of language, culture and behavior that we need to find alternative ways of tackling the creation of a single, lasting, pan-European startupcommunity. To be successful these relationships need to be anchored into more robust interactions. One of the most interesting discussions I had last night was around the concept of creating a physical network of hubs built across Europe with the participation of existing entrepreneurs (successful or in the making) and major players. Providing physical space for the community in different locations could definitely shape the way we’re looking at collaboration between growing companies, investors, experts and partners. It can’t be a local play since our markets and relationships are cross-border. This could effectively create a healthy and persistent environment that, to date, has been exclusive to the Valley.

Would love to hear everybody’s thoughts on this, and how it could work!