What do European startups want policymakers to focus on?
We went on a five-week, nine-city “Developed: EU” tour to find out.
From May to June 2025, ACT | The App Association hit the road on our Developed: EU tour, a multi-city trek across Europe to meet with members of the tech ecosystem, from startups and scaleups to investors to policymakers, to learn about their priorities and concerns when it comes to the health and growth of the app economy. With a variety of networking events, ecosystem dinners, panels, roundtables, and our first-ever Scale Lab, it was an exciting month filled with great conversations, fascinating insights, new ideas, and incredible community. Read on to learn more about the next three stops on our tour in Madrid, Vienna, and Berlin.
While we were sad to leave Italy, our next stop on the Developed: EU tour kept us in Southern Europe. We were excited to attend South Summit in Madrid and see so many startups and scaleups that have chosen to make Spain their home. Exploring the startup hall at the conference made it clear that Spain’s investments in the digital transformation, infrastructure, and workforce have helped it grow as an innovation hub for AI, clean tech, and cybersecurity.
On the last day of the conference, we worked with member company Chemometric Brain to organise a dinner with local startups. We met companies rethinking the chemical makeup of food, regulatory tracking, CO2 reduction, workforce training, farming, and affordable housing. We discussed access to funding, the AI Act’s impact on long-term growth, and using technology to meet users where they are. The dinner was a fitting way to close our time in Southern Europe!
We were honoured to bring Austrian startups and scaleups together at an event hosted by Chargé d’affaires Kami Whitmer of the United States Embassy in Vienna, alongside Ken Walsh from the U.S. Commercial Service representing SelectUSA. After their opening remarks, our member REMODID GmbH and our founder, Mike Sax, kicked off a roundtable discussion.
The Vienna event focused on helping Austrian companies expand to the United States and exploring the challenges of scaling in the EU. Despite challenges like getting started and where in the United States to set up, the U.S. remains a major draw for companies of all sizes. It was a fascinating discussion!
Our next stop was a rooftop meetup with startups in Berlin, co-hosted with the Beyond co-working space. Founders from across Germany came to connect with each other and learn about the policy landscape in Europe and across borders. Our conversations showed a clear interest in more community-building between startups, scaleups, and innovators.
A key topic was the culture of investment in Europe, especially in Berlin, where funders tend to be risk averse. Startups noted that typically investors focus on problems and barriers rather than trying to solve them. Several of the attendees noted that they look to the United States to seek funding because investors there are more solutions-oriented. All the founders were hopeful that the Startup and Scaleup Strategy could help alleviate their concerns.
Check out more photos from Madrid, Vienna, and Berlin here.