European technology becomes politics | TechCrunch

Venture capital firm Atomico’s annual State of European Technology report is out and shows that investment is on the rise. But this year’s edition goes beyond the usual assessment of the tech ecosystem. it has become an advocacy piece that reflects a broader shift: European startups and investors are increasingly turning to lobbying.

“It’s no longer enough to show how far we’ve come. It’s also critical to use these insights to point the way forward,” said report author Tom Wehmeier, who is also a partner at Atomico and the company’s chief information officer. This includes four policy proposals with fairly self-explanatory names: Fix Friction, Fund the Future, Empower Talent, and Champion Risk.

While Atomico uses responses from a wide range of respondents to support these specific recommendations, it arguably has some authority to speak for more than itself. Founded in 2006 by Skype co-founder Niklas Zennström, its portfolio includes high-profile European companies such as Aiven, DeepL, Klarna, Pipedrive, Stripe and Supercell.

Taking a page from Big Tech and legacy industries as well US peersEuropean tech companies of this scale are increasingly learning to lobby for themselves — corporately, with public affairs hires, but also collectively, with open letters that European institutions have paid attention to.

This also explains why many of Atomico’s recommendations align with issues that are already very open, both in the startup community and in the world of Brussels politics — whether it’s the 28th regime proposed by advocacy group EU-INC to create a pan-European corporate structure (currently, companies have to navigate 27 different national regulations, the bank’s former president asks the former president of Europe). Mario Draghi Report for 2024.

This buy-in at the highest levels is also evident in Atomico’s report. For the first time, its 2025 edition includes a quote from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen saying she wants “the future of artificial intelligence to be made in Europe”. This high-level attention also explains why the European technology lobby is becoming more sophisticated.

In the 28th regime, for example, Atomico warns that whether it will be a “regulation” or a “directive” is very important. “This is the difference between having teeth or not, with the latter representing a continuation of the status quo where rules can be interpreted from country to country, rather than the uniformity that tech companies need to thrive,” the company argues. (In EU law, regulations are directly binding on all member states, while directives allow each country to apply different rules.)

This level of detail is not unprecedented. France Digitale, a French association of startups and investors, published a “no paper” for the 28th regime which was not very different from what other lobbies might produce on other issues — just like publications from ESNAthe Europe Startup Nations Alliance. But Atomico’s take, which was also packaged as a video and an onstage speech at the Slush tech conference, is intended to reach both the tech ecosystem and policymakers.

Surprisingly, what may be missing is its feel various forces which could oppose efforts such as EU-INC. More generally, some recommendations may not touch most people. After all, few Europeans wake up in the morning worried about the lack of new domestic trillion-dollar companies.

The counter-argument is that society as a whole is affected by lackluster growth, but arguably, there is still more that Europe’s emerging tech lobby could do to win hearts. According to Alexandru Voica, head of corporate affairs and policy at London-based AI unicorn Synthesia, this is one reason why big startups are becoming more vocal.

“Communications and politics are more important than 10 years ago because in Europe there is deep mistrust of the tech industry,” Voica wrote in TechCrunch. “A decade ago, [communications] it was seen as something you could run out of marketing to help your product development and brand awareness. Today, the work we do is much more focused on mitigating risk and managing reputation etc.”

The lobbying push for European technology also carries risks. If the movement becomes too closely associated with particular political parties, it could provoke a backlash and undermine wider support. But regardless of politics, many will likely agree with Atomico’s central point: “Europe is essentially at a crossroads.”