Capital and Competitiveness: Turning Europe’s Innovation into Global Scale
The conversation at Next Innovation Policy Forum, held during GoWest in Gothenburg, turned decisively toward one of Europe’s most pressing challenges: how to mobilize capital at the scale required to turn innovation into lasting competitiveness.
The Capital and Competitiveness panel brought together policymakers, investors and founders to examine Europe’s financial foundations — from pension capital and venture funding to new instruments such as the Savings and Investment Union and the Scaleup Europe Fund — and what it will take for European and Nordic innovators to grow globally while remaining rooted in Europe.
Moderated by Claes Mikko Nilsen (Nordic Ninja VC), the discussion combined EU-level strategy with hands-on investor and founder perspectives, with the Nordics and Baltics repeatedly highlighted as practical testbeds for Europe-wide reform.
From innovation excellence to capital at scale
The panel opened with a pre-recorded address from Jean-David Malo, Director (acting) at DG Research & Innovation, European Commission, who framed the challenge clearly: Europe produces world-class innovation, but too often fails to scale it into global companies.
“Even the strongest technology cannot succeed without access to finance at every stage of development.”
He highlighted the growing role of the European Innovation Council (EIC) as one of Europe’s largest deep tech investors, while underlining the remaining gap in late-stage growth capital — a gap the Commission now aims to address through the Scaleup Europe Fund and the broader Savings and Investment Union.
The Scaleup Europe Fund: filling Europe’s growth gap
Building on this, Michiel Scheffer, President of the European Innovation Council, outlined the rationale behind the forthcoming Scaleup Europe Fund — a market-based, privately managed and privately co-financed growth fund designed to back Europe’s most promising scaleups with ticket sizes well beyond what existing instruments can offer.
“It’s not about replacing private capital — it’s about creating the scale and trust needed to crowd it in.”
With a targeted initial size of around €5 billion, the fund is designed to invest as a minority shareholder in large growth rounds, helping European companies raise several hundred million euros while staying headquartered in Europe. For Scheffer, this instrument represents a missing layer between early-stage public support and truly global capital markets.
Learning from Estonia: capital follows trust and simplicity
From a founder’s and operator’s perspective, Hedi Mardisoo, CEO and Co-Founder of Cachet, repeatedly returned to Estonia as a living proof point — not only for digital government, but for how trust, speed and simplicity attract both founders and capital.
“The biggest problem in Europe is that we don’t trust each other — and without trust, we don’t collaborate.”
She argued that Europe already has functioning models — such as Estonia’s e-Residency and digital public infrastructure — but fails to scale them politically. Instead of endlessly redesigning frameworks, Europe should test, emulate and expand what already works, allowing founders and investors to “vote with their feet” and pull the system forward.
Capital markets still lag behind ambition
From an investor standpoint, Narina Mnatsakanian, Chief Impact Officer at Regeneration VC, described a persistent paradox: Europe offers strong science, policy support and early-stage funding, yet scaling across borders often remains harder than expanding to the US.
“It can be easier for a European company to scale in California first — and only then come back to Europe.”
She pointed to structural frictions in fund formation, labour law fragmentation and misaligned timelines between public funding instruments and startup needs. While welcoming initiatives like the Scaleup Europe Fund, she stressed that execution, clarity and coordination will determine whether they truly unlock long-term capital for climate tech and deep tech scaleups.
Nordic capital markets as Europe’s testbed
Throughout the discussion, the Nordics and Baltics were repeatedly highlighted as Europe’s most realistic testbed for investment harmonisation. Smaller, digitally advanced economies with strong pension systems and high institutional trust can move faster — and demonstrate what works before scaling solutions EU-wide.
The panel also returned to the idea of EU Inc as an enabling layer: not only a company-law framework, but a model for deeper public–private collaboration where capital, regulation and innovation policy evolve together rather than sequentially.
From policy momentum to market reality
The panel closed on a cautiously optimistic note. Europe today is no longer debating whether capital mobilisation matters — but how fast it can act. From pension reform and pan-European scaleup funds to pragmatic emulation of proven national models, the tools are beginning to align.
As one speaker summarised, Europe may be in a honeymoon phase for capital reform — but the real test lies ahead.
The challenge now is execution: turning policy ambition into functioning markets, and ensuring that Europe’s next generation of global companies can scale in Europe, not despite it.
