Investors Weigh In On Building The European Ecosystem

Today, TechCrunch editor at large Mike Butcher sat down with a group of some of Europe’s most well known investors and VCs to explore how entrepreneurs and VCs are expanding the European ecosystem.

Brent Hoberman (ProCapital, Founders Forum), explains that similar to other parts of the world, we’re seeing younger entrepreneurs starting companies earlier, but the platforms are still very Silicon Valley centric, with Apple, Google, Facebook, Twitter and others based in the U.S. He adds that as part of his position, he connects European entrepreneurs with corporations in the continent. These multi-nationals used to be more cynical but have recently changed their tune.

Edward Shenderovich (Kite Ventures) believes that Russia doesn’t look up to Europe, they look up the US companies like Google and Facebook.

German investor Chris Maire maintains that Berlin is the best place to start a business for many reasons, including the ability to attract talent from other countries in the region. “Companies that start here have a different DNA. They are creating new ways of buying fashion, creating connected and more,” he says.

He added that the European entrepreneur has to be resilient, and often times has a global outlook out of necessity.

There is a fraction of the capital being deployed here versus Silicon Valley and New York, and you wonder why there haven’t been more billion dollar companies or exits, Maire questions. He did say that he admits that he strongly believes in the Berlin-New York connection because there is a similar DNA between the cities. New York is becoming more important because private equity is getting into technology game, adds Shenderovich.