A decade ago a hardware founder in Europe moved to the Bay Area to raise. Today several of the most interesting robotics, sensor and energy companies are staying in Munich, Eindhoven and Tallinn, drawing on university labs and state-backed manufacturing programmes.
The funding gap that closed
Specialist funds now understand 18-month development cycles and tooling costs. Government co-investment schemes absorb part of the early risk. The remaining complaint is scale-up capital for the leap from pilot line to factory.
Key takeaways
- Engineering costs are 40% lower than in the Bay Area
- Specialist hardware funds now exist across the EU
- Scale-up capital is still the gap
This story is part of our ongoing coverage of startups. We will update it as more details emerge.
