Tools #research
19 June 2020
Unsplash © Justin Veenema

The future of entrepreneurship, a Slush whitepaper

Slush and the European startup ecosystem have joined forces to redefine entrepreneurship. Based on Slush whitepaper’s findings, future European success stories will be driven by diverse teams, purpose-driven businesses, and revolutionary innovation through collaboration. Here's a recap of the whitepaper.

Europe’s leading startup community Slush has launched its new whitepaper “Entrepreneurship Redefined” on the future of entrepreneurship. Together with support from the wider startup ecosystem Slush hopes to spark discussion around what the future of entrepreneurship should and could look like. The initiative is supported and signed by Europe’s leading scaleups as well as the top European investors.

The whitepaper is divided into three different themes, which represent the key ways for the European startup ecosystem to reach its potential:

  • Diversity
  • Purpose
  • Revolutionary innovation

“There’s a lot to be proud of in the European startup ecosystem. In the past decade, Europe truly came of age, with companies like Spotify, Adyen, and Supercell leading the way. To date, we have seen over 170 European tech companies scale to a valuation of over $1B and got to witness soaring levels of investment year after year. In addition, top investors from Asia and the US increasingly participate in European rounds and seem to be here to stay. These are clear signs of a vibrant ecosystem,” – Miika Huttunen, CEO of Slush

Raising discussions around the future of entrepreneurship is not a new endeavour for Slush. Its annual is well known for bringing together founders, investors, and other changemakers to discuss world-changing ideas and the concrete ways to build them.

“However, there is no cause for complacency. Sizable inefficiencies and inequities still keep Europe from reaching its full potential. As the world is going through turmoil, the time is ripe for some introspection. Now more than ever, the world needs founders; people who embrace uncertainty, see patterns in chaos, and fearlessly build technologies that take humankind forward. To maximize the depth and scale of these technologies, we need to address the shortfalls of the last decade. In short, we need to redefine entrepreneurship,” – Miika Huttunen, CEO of Slush

Diversity, purpose, and revolutionary innovation will lead European startups to success

The report gathers interviews with some of the most impressive people in European tech and combining the qualitative findings with an extensive dataset gathered from reports like the State of European Tech and Dealroom.

Altogether 58 founders, startups operators, venture capitalists, and business angels from Europe, Asia, and the US shared their opinions on the future of entrepreneurship with Slush. Speaking anonymously, these people gave Slush a unique view into their honest criticisms, hopes, and aspirations. Together, these topics define Slush’s and the ecosystem’s view of how startups in the 2020s should look different from those of the previous decade.

“We hope that this whitepaper works as a conversation starter in all of the European startup ecosystem. Europe has tremendous unexplored potential, which we at Slush are committed to unlock,” – Miika Huttunen, CEO of Slush