Born to Scale

By definition, a startup is a business designed for rapid growth. A company born to scale, if we may. Europe has plenty, and yet not many fulfil their original mission. What are the real challenges and bottlenecks startups face when growing their business across the European Union?

To answer this important question, the Lisbon Council has long championed the need for dialogue between entrepreneurs and policymakers. But there can be no meaningful conversation without understanding each other. Therefore, to spotlight the reality of scaling a digital business today while considering how the regulation of digital markets is evolving, the Lisbon Council convened the High-Level Roundtable on ‘Born to Scale: How the App Economy Drives Business, Competitiveness and Regional Growth.’ The gathering served as a forum for an open and interactive debate between those building innovative solutions and those tasked with ensuring that innovation translates into global European competitiveness. Frederik Riedel, founder of one sec app; and Kevin Kimmig, chief marketing officer, Structured app, set the scene by sharing their first-hand experiences of building and scaling their apps. Bringing the European policy perspective to the discussion were, among others, Aura Salla, member of the European Parliament (EPP, Finland); and Jean-Sébastien Robert, head of the app ecosystem sector, directorate-general for communications networks, content and technology, European Commission.

Other high-level participants included Mark Boris Andrijanič, member of the governing board, European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT); Sara Calligaris, senior economist, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Chiara Frencia, secretary general, Startup Europe Regions Network (SERN); Alain Heureux, serial entrepreneur and business angel; Anna Krzyżanowska, adviser to the task force on startups and scaleups, European Commission; and Robin Wauters, chief operating officer and board member, European Startup Network (ESN). Michael Mandel, president and chief economist of the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI), opened the session by presenting the latest data on the European app economy.