Data as Infrastructure: Building Smarter Startup Ecosystems in Europe

On 28 January, at Next Innovation Policy Forum during GoWest in Gothenburg, attention turned to something often overlooked in innovation policy debates: data itself as critical infrastructure for startup ecosystems.

Rather than discussing funding instruments or regulation alone, this panel explored a more foundational question: do we actually understand our startup and scaleup ecosystems well enough to govern them? And if not — what are the risks of flying blind in an increasingly competitive global landscape?

Moderated by Stina Lantz, the discussion brought together Kati Pärn (Startup Estonia), Marije Dijksma (Techleap) and Joonas Leppänen (Nordic Innovation), representing national, European and Nordic perspectives on ecosystem data, decision-making and collaboration.

Estonia: small enough to see clearly

From the outset, Kati Pärn, Nordic Partnership Lead at Startup Estonia, offered a reality check. Estonia’s advantage, she explained, is not just digitalisation — but scale.

“Being small gives us an upper hand. We’ve collected startup data consistently for ten years — and we actually use it to make decisions.”

As part of Estonia’s national innovation agency, Startup Estonia has been able to track startups, funding and ecosystem actors over time, turning data into a feedback loop for policy. Yet Pärn was clear that this clarity does not extend to Europe as a whole.

“On a European level, the ecosystem is highly fragmented. Comparing data across countries is still extremely difficult.”

Her warning was not about lack of ambition — but lack of interoperability, shared definitions and speed.

The Netherlands: data as policy pressure

From a Dutch perspective, Marije Dijksma, Head of Government & Public Affairs at Techleap, described how ecosystem data can be used as a policy lever — not just a reporting tool.

“Data is how we show policymakers where we stand — and where we are falling behind.”

Through reports such as the State of Dutch Tech, Techleap uses data to inform government, investors and the public about startup performance, investment gaps and scaleup bottlenecks. But Dijksma stressed that data alone is not enough.

“You need to continuously educate decision-makers — and involve founders — otherwise policy will always lag behind reality.”

She also highlighted a deeper contradiction: while Europe champions free movement of goods and capital, data still stops at borders, limiting insight and coordination.

The Nordic challenge: from national to regional

Taking a Nordic-wide view, Joonas Leppänen, Nordic Ecosystem Mobilization at Nordic Innovation, argued that the region already has much of the data it needs — but not in a form that enables collective action.

“The data exists, but it’s fragmented — and fragmentation makes it hard to act.”

For Leppänen, the real challenge is not only technical, but cultural: moving from national optimisation to regional collaboration. Together, the Nordic countries form the world’s tenth-largest economy — yet still govern innovation largely within national silos.

“The real question is how we move from national ecosystems to a Nordic one — and eventually to a European one.”

Rather than creating new top-down institutions, he advocated for a more organic approach: governing ecosystems through shared data, where users and practitioners shape priorities in real time.

The blind spot: early-stage innovation

A recurring concern was the visibility gap at the earliest stages of company creation. Commercial data platforms tend to capture startups only once they reach a certain level of maturity — leaving early signals invisible.

Pärn highlighted this as a strategic risk:

“If we don’t see the early movements, we react too late.”

Public institutions, she noted, are often structurally slower than the ecosystems they aim to support — making speed, automation and AI-driven data collection increasingly critical.

Data as Europe’s competitive advantage

Despite the challenges, the panel ended on a note of cautious optimism. Europe may move slower than other regions — but it offers something increasingly rare: predictability, transparency and trust.

“Europe may be slow, but it’s predictable — and that’s a strength we shouldn’t underestimate.”

If used well, shared ecosystem data could enable smarter capital allocation, better policy timing and stronger resilience — not just nationally, but across regions.

From insight to action

Looking five years ahead, the panelists agreed on one thing: better data will not automatically create better ecosystems — but without it, good decisions are almost impossible.

Smaller, data-driven initiatives — such as Sweden Startup Next — were highlighted as practical starting points. If successful, they could become models for Nordic and European collaboration.

The message was clear: data is not a reporting exercise — it is a strategic asset. And in a global race for innovation leadership, understanding your ecosystem may be as important as funding it.