StepUP Startups: Redefining Europe’s Startup Landscape With Data-Driven Innovation

In an era where digital innovation and entrepreneurial dynamism take centre stage, a deep understanding of the startup ecosystem in Europe is imperative. The IRS is a participant in the project "StepUP Startups: Redefining Europe’s startup landscape with data-driven innovation", which is funded by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG Connect). The project is based on a tender on “European Start-ups 2.0 – Taking Europe’s start-up economy to the next level through data-driven insights, research and events”. Together with Innova Next SLU (Barrabés.biz), DEEP Ecosystems, Startup Europe Regions Network (SERN), and EU Startups, we pursue the objective to shed light on the intricacies, challenges, and opportunities permeating startup and scaleup ecosystems in Europe.

The StepUP Startups project combines three essential components. First, Data-Driven Policy Reports that contain rigorous analysis of critical issues and challenges faced by the EU’s startup ecosystem. The reports are designed to inform evidence-based decision-making in policy fields that are relevant to startups and scale-ups. Second, stakeholder engagement is ensured by active outreach to diverse actors, including niche verticals, industry groups, and policymakers, fosters collaboration and bridges gaps. Third, strategic events serve as highlights that both foster the widely dissemination of insights and reports and also collect feedback from important stakeholders. In the context of the StepUP Startups project, the IRS will be especially involved in quantitative research on startup ecosystems and venture capital flows to provide the policy reports with data and analysis.