On 11 December 2025, EU-Startups participated within the AI Coverage Day: Scaling AI in Europe hosted by the European Fee – a full-day high-level occasion organised with the assist of the StepUp StartUps initiatives, Innovation Radar Bridge, and convened on the AI Home, in Amsterdam.
The occasion introduced collectively policymakers, startup founders, company leaders, traders and researchers for constructive discussions on how Europe can speed up adoption of AI whereas preserving its values of duty and trustworthiness.
All through the day, discussions converged on a shared evaluation: Europe’s place in AI is stronger than it’s typically perceived. Members pointed to the continent’s solid research base, well-established industrial ecosystems and an expanding network of AI hubs as key belongings for long-term competitiveness.
Discussions additionally mirrored a broad consensus that regulation, together with the EU AI Act, isn’t considered as a barrier to innovation. As an alternative, many members emphasised its function in fostering belief, offering authorized certainty and enabling accountable AI deployment. Clear and coherent regulatory frameworks had been broadly seen as an element that may assist competitiveness, alongside ongoing efforts to ensure proportionate and efficient implementation that facilitates innovation and market uptake.
The discussions highlighted Europe’s structural strengths in AI, together with its sturdy analysis base, established industrial ecosystems, specialised expertise pipelines and entry to sector-specific knowledge.
Backed up by current knowledge, it seems that particularly relating to AI expertise, Europe is already in a number one place. The mixture of those belongings has the potential of enabling Europe to advance domain-focused and agentic AI options, notably in complicated and controlled sectors.
On the similar time, members acknowledged persistent challenges in scaling AI firms, particularly relating to late-stage funding.
Whereas early-stage funding is comparatively well-developed, securing financing rounds above €100 million stays troublesome. Discussions subsequently centered on bettering entry to development capital, together with by way of greater mobilisation of institutional investors and stronger alignment of public and private financing instruments.
The StepUp StartUps consortium, along with the Innovation Radar Bridge, performed a central function in shaping the occasion’s content material and analytical focus.
This EU-funded initiative brings collectively companions together with Barrabes.biz, DEEP Ecosystems, Leibniz Institute for Analysis on Society and Area (IRS), Startup Europe Areas Community (SERN), and EU-Startups, with the assist of the European Startup Nations Alliance (ESNA).
By way of a collection of data-driven stories on key AI ecosystem dynamics – starting from expertise improvement to scale-up funding gaps – the consortium offered evidence-based insights that knowledgeable and structured the discussions all through the day.
The AI Coverage Day additionally shared insights from the the newly launched Innovation Radar Bridge report, which was highlighting the AI startup and investment activity across 10 key industrial verticals.
The programme featured contributions from a variety of stakeholders, together with Marietje Schaake, Worldwide Coverage Director at Stanford College; Eoghan O’Neill, Senior Coverage Officer on the European Fee; Marc Zegveld, Managing Director, TNO in addition to representatives from the analysis, funding and authorized communities actively engaged in shaping Europe’s AI panorama.
General, discussions on coverage, expertise and funding had been marked by a constructive and forward-looking tone, reflecting a shared dedication to advancing AI adoption in ways that strengthen Europe’s competitiveness whereas upholding its values and delivering societal advantages.
The AI Coverage Day reaffirmed the significance of continued dialogue between policymakers and ecosystem actors as Europe works to translate its AI strengths into scaled sustainable impression.
