About Nesta

Nesta is an innovation foundation. For us, innovation means turning bold ideas into reality and changing lives for the better. We use our expertise, skills and funding in areas where there are big challenges facing society.

From Starting to Scaling

Ambitious, innovative startups that scale are recognised as key sources of employment, productivity growth and innovation for Europe.

By analysing high-growth startups in Europe, we found that:

  • They are a key source of innovation – 65 per cent develop ‘new-to-the-world’ innovations.
  • They hold the promise of high-skilled job creation.
  • Public support, such as grants and investment, is linked to startup growth.

With the outbreak of COVID-19, many startups are facing constraints like never before, so continued policy support is crucial to allow them to scale.

We are asking governments to support startups’ role as an active innovation partner, by:

  • Encouraging corporate-startup collaboration to boost private investments. For example, by creating platforms for startups to collaborate with corporates and other partners.
  • Expanding governments’ toolboxes to engage with startups. For example, through innovative procurement and co-development.
  • Promoting early enterprise education to improve the availability of suitable staff. For example, by building on the Entrepreneurship Competence Framework to design and evaluate enterprise education initiatives.

Authors

Charlotte Reypens

Charlotte Reypens

Charlotte Reypens

Senior Policy Researcher, Innovation Growth Lab

Charlotte carries out research projects to understand how startups and entrepreneurship can be supported across Europe.

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Julie Delanote

Julie Delanote is an Economist in the Economics Department of the European Investment Bank, holding a PhD from KU Leuven.

Désirée Rückert

Désirée Rückert is an Economist in the Economics Department of the European Investment Bank where she is involved in the EIB Investment Survey.