European VC investment race hots up:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Denmark and Sweden lead Europe's early-stage venture capital market ranking, investing 0.09% and 0.08% of their GDP. They are followed by the UK (with 0.05%), which is in turn the highest investor in expansion and replacement stage VC, with a 0.18% ratio. Sweden and Spain follow, with 0.16% and 0.15%, respectively. The Science, Technology and Innovation panorama report for 2004, published last week by Eurostat (the Statistical Office of the European Communities), analyses seed/start-up VC data for 16 of the EU25 states, and expansion/replacement VC data for a further two states. The average VC investment for each of the stages in the EU15 was 0.02% and 0.09%, respectively. News of the high UK rankings was welcomed by medtech industry association ABHI, but tempered with an attack on the poor domestic market conditions - notably procurement and innovation policies - that hinder start-up growth.