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 final three stops on our tour in Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Brussels.
Our seventh stop was in the Nordics, where our member, Jonas Almeling, an ecosystem entrepreneur, helped us kick things off in Copenhagen with a dinner for funders, other tech associations, community builders, and founders, including members Vaic.at and Layers Studio. We discussed the Danish ecosystem, how we can better connect with the local tech community, and how the EU’s 28th regime could support startups and scaleups across Europe.
The next day we hosted two events at Matrikel1, in partnership with CVX Ventures. The first was a roundtable discussion with our member companies, startups based in Copenhagen, representatives from the wider tech ecosystem, larger tech and innovation firms, and other policy associations. In addition to funding and startup resources in Copenhagen, we discussed complying with complex and sometimes conflicting regulations like the AI Act, GDPR, and DMA, and how these rules affect the rollout of new growth tools.
Our second event of the day was a panel discussion and networking event. Jesper Højberg Christensen, a well-known advisor, investor, and serial entrepreneur in Copenhagen, opened the event. He provided a recap of Folkemødet, a democracy festival that connects the public with policymakers, NGOs, and private industry for open dialogues about things like governance and social issues. Then, Jesper, Zenia Francker of CVX Ventures, and our own Chelsea Thomas discussed how Denmark’s presidency of the Council of the European Union could shape the 28th regime and how the discussions at Folkemødet will play a role in the agenda set by the Danish presidency that began earlier in July.
Stop 8: Amsterdam, Netherlands 
Our second-to-last stop brought us back to Amsterdam. This year, in addition to our participation at TNW (more info on that below) we again partnered with our member and ecosystem entrepreneur Jonas Almeling to organize our first-ever Scale Lab, followed by an open community event at TNW city.
Our Scale Lab gave nine startups a day to learn from experts, including members Viac.at, Layers Studio, and iOS development expert Donny Wals, about building trust as a company, using regulatory compliance as a business advantage, storytelling, and refining their pitch. With advice from incredible mentors including Uros Lekik of TechNine VC and TechNine Pro, Daphne Laan of Plenetir, Viki Pavlič of Pitchblooks.com, Mike Lovegrove of Lovegrove, and Joffrey Hoijer from Weather Makers, along with Chelsea, Alex, Brad, and Maria Goikoetxea from the App Association team, the startups refined their two-minute pitches for their time on stage at the open-community event.
Our second event in Amsterdam was our open community event and pitch competition. We kicked things off with opening remarks from Chelsea, followed by an EU policy-overview from Maria. Alex and Brad shared an overview of themes gathered during the Developed: EU tour including access to funding, regulatory simplification, community, and access to global markets. Next, we hosted a panel featuring some of our mentors including Chelsea, Daphne, and Uros, as well as Lucien Burm from the Dutch Startup Association. They shared the opportunities in the new 28th regime and highlighted how startups can use policy engagement to grow and stand out through compliance.
After the panel, our nine startups got on stage and made their pitches to the audience. After a quick audience poll, the winner, ViWear, was crowned. Their prize? A two-hour takeover of the App Association booth the next day at TNW to talk about their AI-powered virtual closet and try-on tool that aims to make fashion more accessible for everyone! After some networking, snacks, and refreshments, we joined the TNW opening party and prepped for our next day at the conference.
Curious about TNW? This conference is an annual event in the heart of Amsterdam that brings founders, startups, scaleups, investors, and corporate innovators from across Europe together to learn about and discuss the future of tech.
In addition to the App Association hosting a booth at TNW, Chelsea moderated a panel with Mitchel Volkering from member company Viac.at, James Hanson from member company Layers Studio, and ecosystem entrepreneur, Jonas Almeling. They discussed why startups and scaleups should care about regulation, why they took time to participate in our conferences, and what they wish policymakers understood about the startup ecosystem. Startups gleaned valuable insights, and many joined us afterwards at the App Association booth to learn more!
Check out more photos from Copenhagen and Amsterdam (including our TNW booth) here.
We ended our tour in Brussels, the perfect place to bring together the lessons we learned from startups, members, and policymakers. We discussed how regulation shapes the European app economy and tech competitiveness.
The event kicked off with a keynote from MEP Niels Flemming Hanson who highlighted a need for streamlined regulation and a ‘think small first’ approach to continued regulatory proposals.
Next, Innovators Network IP Fellow Jim Beveridge moderated a panel featuring Elena Kostadinova and Kristian Grigorov, representing the European Commission and European Parliament, Simone Skovshoved representing Danish Entrepreneurs, and Ayesha Bhatti representing the Center for Data Innovation. They discussed the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy, the need for harmonisation and legal clarity, the operational burden of fragmented GDPR enforcement, and innovation rights as a lens for policymaking.
Then, our members took the stage to share real-world challenges and policy ideas. Jason Culloty of Skillsvista, Jonas Almeling, and Federico Roviglioni from Bufaga discussed everything from funding challenges to regulatory compliance burdens. They explained why they got involved in policy advocacy and shared their real-world challenges and policy recommendations, especially as the Commission looks to implement the 28th regime.
Finally, our founder, Mike Sax, sat down with Seán O’Reagain from the European Commission to discuss how the EU can implement flexible, future-ready regulation that will support investment and long-term innovation.
You can get a deeper dive into what was discussed during Developed: Brussels here.
End of Tour Reflections
We ended our Developed: EU tour with nine cities, five weeks, and 16 events under our belts. What an incredible adventure. We learned a lot, but a few key things stood out. Startups and scaleups need:
- Regulatory simplification,
- Access to global markets,
- Support in crossing geographic and cultural barriers,
- Access to funding, and
- Support in building and growing communities.
We can help. What we learned during Developed: EU will help shape our advocacy and support for startups and scaleups throughout Europe.
Thanks to everyone who partnered with us, spoke at our events, attended our events, shared our events, shared their experiences, and more. It was a pleasure and a privilege getting to meet and talk with all of you – we can’t wait to continue our work!