The session’s core message was that Europe no longer primarily has a startup problem; it has a scale-up funding problem. The introduction framed Europe as having long possessed strong IP and universities, but historically struggling to turn research into companies. That picture was presented as having changed: the startup mindset is now established, companies are being founded at peak levels again according to recent startup monitor numbers, and strong research is increasingly reaching practice. The remaining gap, the moderator argued, is original European funding for European scale-up companies, which led into Dominik Stein of EQT presenting the EU Scaleup Fund, described as targeted at €5,000,000,000 and already close to making its first investment track.

Stein opened by arguing that Europe has repeatedly produced major technological innovations, including the PC, lithium-ion batteries, deep learning, and the modern AI foundation associated with Demis Hassabis before Google acquired DeepMind. He pointed to European companies such as Spotify, ASML, Revolut, and Adyen as evidence that Europe should not be afraid to think big, and predicted that in the not-too-distant future Europe will have its first €1,000,000,000,000 business founded in Europe. The problem, in his framing, is not innovation capacity but the structure of later-stage capital. Early-stage European VC has shifted to more than 70% European-managed capital, while only around 30% of scale-up capital going into Europe still comes from European-managed funds.

He described the consequences of that scale-up gap as especially acute in deep tech and life sciences, where companies often need large amounts of capital before full commercial success or before later-stage clinical trial progress. In his view, limited European capital has pushed companies to sell too early or IPO in the U.S., contributing to major value leaving Europe. Stein also emphasized reasons for optimism: strong researchers, local ecosystems such as UnternehmerTUM in Munich, improving EU-level regulatory momentum, growing awareness of European sovereignty, and a shift from national sourcing toward EU-wide sourcing in areas such as defense and space. He cited fusion, defense, AI-enabled drones, and related systems as areas where Europe has already built promising ecosystems.

The final section detailed Scaleup Fund Europe, managed by EQT, which aims to invest in around 40 to 50 companies from Series B through very late stage. Its focus areas are deep tech, AI including infrastructure, and life sciences, with specific themes including robotics, defense, satellites, space, and fusion. Stein said most investments would be relatively early Series B-stage, with the ability to deploy more capital over time. He described two target company types: breakthrough deep-tech companies needing significant capital to reach commercial success, and European or global champions that still need scale and support through exit or IPO. Examples of announced investments included Exploration Company, working on a large-scale reusable rocket launcher, and Euclid, described as a next-generation chip company from Europe. He closed by saying the fund had announced seven deals, completed nine since the summer, and aims to back many more companies not only with capital but with support in building the next trillion-euro company.