Summary of an article in The Economist, 7th March 2026

The diagnosis is familiar: great European talent and world-class research; but a fragmented market, scarce growth capital, and a habit of selling promising startups to American acquirers before they could scale.

That picture is shifting.

VC investment in European startups hit $85bn last year — up from $22bn a decade ago. The brain drain has reversed. American tech layoffs and an increasingly hostile environment for foreign workers are pushing talent toward European hubs. Meanwhile, fewer European companies are being sold to US acquirers: American firms’ share of European tech acquisitions by value fell from 35% in 2011–13 to 17% in 2023–25.

Three sectors are leading the charge:

🌱 Climate tech — European green startups now attract 55% of what American ones do in VC funding, up from 24% a decade ago. Trump’s gutting of US environmental policy is accelerating the divergence.

🛡️ Defence tech — With European governments under pressure to rearm, a new generation of firms like Helsing (AI-enabled drones) and Quantum Systems is filling a gap that established contractors left wide open. Munich is becoming a genuine hub.

⚛️ Deep tech — Fusion, quantum computing, photonics. Deep tech now accounts for 36% of European VC investment, up from 19% in 2021. In hydrogen and quantum, European startups are raising on par with — or ahead of — American rivals.

None of this means Europe is about to out-innovate Silicon Valley. It launched just two of the world’s 94 new large language models last year. The EU’s chip manufacturing ambitions remain largely aspirational.

But the structural conditions are changing: more options granted to employees, more reinvestment by successful founders, more political urgency from Brussels, and — crucially — a US posture that is making America a less reliable partner and a less attractive destination.

The trillion-dollar European tech giant remains a hypothetical. But for the first time, it’s not an absurd one.

Join the SWISSUES debate, “This House believes that European companies should be free from US tech”, on 26th March at 17:00 CET

Register for the debate

An online, Oxford Union-style debate: think Publikumsdebatte or Joute Oratoire. It gives participants licence to say what they like, freedom to be controversial, and liberty to explore ideas, without personal commitment.

European business is divided, along with politics and society. For eighty years, Europe has assumed a close relationship with the USA. Some think current problems will pass and return to a status quo ante. Others, more Gaullist, believe the current situation reveals America in its true light. Whatever the truth, and regardless of political opinion, the issues are critical for European companies. Not only is their infrastructure dependent on services that could be cut off, but Big US Tech is in the core business models of an increasing number of corporations. Digitization may make life simpler but it leaks know-how and changes business fundamentals. These issues cannot be written off as political, social or philosophical. They affect businesses today - now. This is an invitation to present and contest the arguments in an open debate.

Debating is an ancient sport - a way to explore contentious issues without partisanship or animosity. We need more of it. So SWISSUES is experimenting with a new format. Forvm will adopt an online version of the Oxford Union debating format. They will be recorded and podcast. The aim is to enjoy an exchange of viewpoints and to persuade with empathy whilst learning about the subject. The event is open to all: register to be a proposer or opposer; to speak from the ‘floor’; or to watch the fun.

Register at: https://luma.com/nsmy85xg

Wednesday 21st January at 17:00 CET

Are we still free-thinkers or have we lost our agency?

Episode 19 of the SWISSUES Podcast considered how:

• Social media reaches directly into the primitive parts of our brains;

• We suffer from the cognitive load from being ‘always on’;

• Tribalism is weaponised; and

• Mandatory ‘fast-thinking’ crowds out deliberation.

Join this SWISSUES Forvm (formerly OpenMeet) to have your say and hear what others think.

Forvms are open, online meetings with no formal presentations and no record. Anyone can join and anyone can speak.

Registration is not required but it is nice to know how many will be in the room. You can show your intention to attend in this poll

Which leads us to the announcement that SWISSUES is now on Substack, in company with the world’s leading statesmen, journalists and philosophers. Subscribe to join the conversation.

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