
When we look at the US against the backdrop of Europe, historically we see that America way surpasses Europe. In size, economy, revenue, agriculture, and a whole variety of other industries. How true is that today? How far is Europe lagging behind? In what areas is America making less progress than it should, pro-rata? Here, we address some of these issues briefly.
A recent survey found that technologically speaking, the US (and China) is still way surpassing with Europe with the latter’s tech firms being valued at $240 billion since 2000 and America’s at $1,370 billion during the same time frame. That is a gap of 31 percent.
But can we really blame Europe? The region hardly has even close to the type of hedge funding rounds commonplace to Silicon Valley. Ultimately no matter how great the startup idea for a company is, money talks. And if that is significantly lacking then there is only so far a firm can go. Europeans also seem far more skeptical about handing over a check than their US counterparts. They are more cautious with their money. The US seemingly has a much easier time when it comes to investing.
It does not have to be like this though. And Europe is responding to change. One example of this is TransferWise. The UK-based money transfer service established in 2011 by Kristo Käärmann and Taavet Hinrikus is taking over The Tea Building in Shoreditch and has become extremely successful at fundraising. Both co-founders are European, hailing from Estonia so one can’t put this fast movement down to US-genes.
While this is not the only example of successful European technology startups there is reason to believe that they do have to up their game – especially their fundraising techniques if they want to remain on the map within the next few decades.