{"id":437078,"date":"2025-09-19T22:09:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T22:09:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/437078\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T22:09:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T22:09:13","slug":"there-is-no-liquidity-in-europe-period","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/437078\/","title":{"rendered":"There is no liquidity in Europe, period."},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIs there hope for Europe?\u201d might sound like the beginning of a grim political debate, but at Startups Stage of Infobip Shift<\/a> conference in Croatia this week<\/strong>, the question was aimed squarely at startups, investors, and the elusive dream of scaling beyond borders.<\/p>\n

If you think this was unusual topic for developers conference, you need to be updated on Shift\u2019s agenda. Their Startup Tribe over the years delivered more great program, bigger expo and networking for the startup and investor community. This 2025 didn\u2019t dissapoint.<\/p>\n

To discuss the aformentioned question, <\/strong>moderator Ivan Brezak Brkan<\/strong>, founder of Croatia\u2019s Netokracija and now Developer Experience Director at Infobip, invited to the stage four quite different, yet outspoken and insightful voices. Olya Grovel<\/strong> (Vyvra), an operator-turned-founder who has helped startups across continents; Vedran Blagus<\/strong>, Managing Partner at Feelsgood VC; Bozidar Pavlovic<\/strong>, Partner at AYMO Ventures and Toomas Bergmann<\/strong>, Partner at Peaksjah.<\/p>\n

What followed was part therapy session, part reality check: Why anything from U.S. always seems more shiny? Why do Europeans obsess over risks while Americans chase unicorns? Is Europe\u2019s fragmentation an unsolvable curse, or is predictability actually our hidden strength? Between \u201creverse Napoleon\u201d jokes, and sobering reminders about liquidity, the panel wrestled with whether European startups can thrive and if \u201chope for Europe\u201d is even the right question.<\/p>\n

Europe vs. the U.S.<\/p>\n

However we look at it, the comparison is unavoidable. Silicon Valley casts a long shadow, and American startups dominate global headlines. \u201cAs a dual citizen, I can say this: the U.S. is just a lot louder<\/strong>,\u201d Grovel said. \u201cSo Europe seems a lot smaller because of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others agreed: Europe\u2019s startup ecosystem is not inherently weaker, just less amplified. U.S. founders are masters of hype, pitching investors on billion-dollar dreams. Europeans, by contrast, tend to be cautious, pragmatic, and self-critical.<\/p>\n

\u201cU.S. founders ask me: how big can this get? European ask: what could go wrong, how can I derisk it<\/strong>?\u201d Grovel noted, drawing a lot of dry laughs.<\/p>\n

\"\u201cThere4000 attendees, and 600+ companies make Infobip Shift conference one of the biggest developer-focused events in Europe.<\/p>\n

On top of that, the funding gap is real<\/strong>. American startups attract bigger rounds earlier, but Europe\u2019s approach has its upsides. Many European startups are cash-positive earlier and less dependent on continuous VC injections. \u201cThe mortality rate of U.S. startups is much higher<\/strong>,\u201d Grovel added.<\/p>\n

Blagus followed up with a note that Europe is very predictable, contrary to the US. \u201cThat might actually be our biggest strength in the coming years.\u201d In a world where volatility dominates headlines, Europe\u2019s measured, careful approach might yet prove an asset.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But predictability comes at a price: it doesn\u2019t make headlines, and it doesn\u2019t fuel unicorn ambitions at the same pace as the U.S. The trade-off between sustainability and scale was the first of many paradoxes debated that day.<\/p>\n

The capital ceiling and fragmented markets<\/p>\n

For early rounds, Europe looks healthy enough. Raising \u20ac2\u20133 million locally is not the bottleneck. The trouble begins when founders need to scale.<\/p>\n

\u201cEurope is not Europe<\/strong>, Europe is 28 countries<\/strong>, \u201d Bergmann reminded the room. \u201cAnd capital, weirdly enough, even though everybody has been telling you that capital doesn\u2019t have a nationality, it comes into a play. Germans invest in Germans, French in French. Even if there is will to do otherwise, their LPs are local, and they want their money deployed locally, to fuel innovation in their home ecosystem.\u201d That fragmentation makes it harder to pull together the bigger rounds that U.S. startups take for granted.<\/p>\n

This \u201ccapital nationalism\u201d creates a ceiling that ambitious European founders constantly hit. Unlike the U.S., where New York investors happily back Silicon Valley startups (and vice versa), Europe\u2019s money flows are balkanized (pun intended). The silver lining, Blagus notes: U.S. investors have started dipping into Europe more often than a decade ago<\/strong>. The catch? Many U.S. funds still demand a U.S. footprint before writing a check.<\/p>\n

The irony isn\u2019t lost on European founders: to raise capital for conquering Europe, they often first need a Delaware C-corp. And is if that is not enough, trying to sell from Estonia into France, or from Zagreb into Sweden, is often doomed without local allies.<\/p>\n

Where do all the exists go?<\/p>\n

Could systemic fixes close Europe\u2019s gaps? The EU Inc. initiative<\/a>, which aims to harmonize company incorporation and legal frameworks, sparked some hope. It might simplify paperwork, although panelists were skeptical it could fix deeper issues, pointing to indecisive divide Europe has. \u201cIf we decide to fully mitigate fragmentation, every other guy in the audience would scream, oh my God, oh my God, that\u2019s federalization, this cannot happen. So you cannot have the sandwich, keep the sandwich, and also eat it. It\u2019s one, you have to pick one side,\u201d concluded Bergmann.<\/p>\n

\"\u201cThere<\/p>\n

The another elephant in the room was liquidity<\/strong>. \u201cThere is no liquidity in Europe, period,\u201d he declared. The statement hung heavy. Without functioning exit markets, venture capital lacks oxygen. That explains why Europe\u2019s most successful startups still flock to New York\u2019s Nasdaq or the NYSE for IPOs.<\/p>\n

This also affects the ecosystem maturity, Pavlovic noted. Exists enable distribution of the money to employees that helped build the company, and who might invest or fund something of their own<\/strong>. Pavlovic concluded Croats are waiting for Infobip IPO to channel the same reaction in their country.<\/p>\n

Then the thoughful silence ensued as one audience member asked whether Europe\u2019s obsession with extending runway breeds resilience or just \u201czombie startups<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It really depends on the country, and its mindset, panelists agreed, as attitudes toward risk differ across different European cultures. \u201cEuropean money is old money,\u201d Bergmann added as well. \u201cIt\u2019s very risk-averse. The mindset is about perseverance, not scaling fast<\/strong>. That\u2019s changing, but very very slowly.\u201d The cautious, longevity-focused capital that defines Europe produces resilient companies, but can also stall ambition.<\/p>\n

A model of its own<\/p>\n

Fragmentation once again reared its head on the talent question. While American talent is fluid across coasts, in Europe, cultural and linguistic borders make mobility harder<\/strong>. A star product manager in Sweden won\u2019t easily relocate to the Balkans, and vice versa, pointed Grovel. Luckily, remote work played a significant role in changing that. Panelists also highlighted that, while our region has great pool of engineers, it is still hard to find product, growth and sales experts.<\/p>\n

Still, optimism flickered. Success stories like Skype, UiPath, and Klarna have created alumni networks that spread knowledge and ambition across borders. And a growing number of Europeans with U.S. experience are moving back, bringing global know-how with them. The challenge really isn\u2019t talent shortage, it\u2019s unlocking and aligning what\u2019s already here.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The systemic hurdles are clear: fragmented capital, cautious investors, limited liquidity. But so too is the opportunity: if Europe can turn its predictability, engineering talent, and growing international connections into a cohesive ecosystem, the story could change. The \u201chope for Europe\u201d may not be to imitate Silicon Valley, but to carve out a model of its own.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIs there hope for Europe?\u201d might sound like the beginning of a grim political debate, but at Startups…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":437079,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[2000,148115,299,5187,4806],"class_list":{"0":"post-437078","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-eu-inc","10":"tag-europe","11":"tag-european","12":"tag-silicon-valley"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115233250695073351","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=437078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437078\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/437079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=437078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=437078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=437078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}