\Startup Life Opinion/ Data reveals that meetups make for a thriving tech scene Atomico’s head of insights Tom Wehmeier gives compelling data that community meetups are a key factor in fostering innovation. By Tom Wehmeier 15 April 2019 \Deeptech Europe’s deeptech challenge: turning brilliant brains into breakthrough tech By Marie Mawad in Paris 22 February 2021 \Startup Life Opinion/ Data reveals that meetups make for a thriving tech scene Atomico’s head of insights Tom Wehmeier gives compelling data that community meetups are a key factor in fostering innovation. By Tom Wehmeier 15 April 2019 Community meetups are the secret to a flourishing tech scene. Or at least that’s the suggestion of the chart below, which looks at how cities with more startup events also have more venture capital backed companies. Today we at the Atomico insights team are filling in for Sifted’s data guru Ian Hathaway, and highlighting this chart from the State of European Tech report on the relationship between community and success. It shows a very high correlation (r-squared of 0.914) between the strength of tech community engagement within cities, as defined by the number of tech-related Meetups, and the rate of VC-backed tech company formation. This all makes sense: if there are opportunities for like-minded individuals to share experiences and ideas, innovation will follow. Take Berlin. The city is by far the largest hub in Germany by the level of capital invested, which represents more than 5x the level of the next largest Germany city. But in terms of the underlying tech talent pool, it’s only the third largest city in Germany, lagging behind the cities of Cologne and Frankfurt. Read more: It’s been a record quarter for European VC investment with €7bn poured into startups Read more: Silicon Valley VCs are investing more in European startups What sets Berlin apart? First, Berlin has been able to mobilise the local talent pool to direct its attention to tech entrepreneurship and startups. Secondly, Berlin has built an active and engaged community for those people to share knowledge. If you can get those two really working, everything else will follow organically, including company formation, capital investment, job creation and more. This is because when cities succeed in building active communities around their engineering talent, the data suggests that capital investment follows in larger volumes. The strength of tech community development is a critical leading indicator signposting the future potential of the European tech ecosystem. Tom Wehmeier is the head of insights at the London-based venture capital firm Atomico. He is filling in for Ian Hathaway. Like what we’re doing at Sifted? Join us by becoming a member. Let’s build startup Europe, together. Get involved Terms of Use Related Articles Only 21% of tech unicorns are led by women, report shows By Freya Pratty Click here to read more Black entrepreneurs receive just 0.24% of capital in the UK By Freya Pratty Click here to read more Systemic barriers for minority business owners persist, report shows By Freya Pratty Click here to read more Time to stop using the term BAME By Erika Brodnock and Johannes Lenhard Click here to read more Get the best of Sifted in your inbox By entering your email you agree to Sifted’s Terms of Use Sign up to \Future Proof Sifted’s weekly \Corporate Innovation roundup email By entering your email you agree to Sifted’s Terms of Use Most Read 1 Member \Fintech Meet the TransferWise ‘mafia’: The employees turned entrepreneurs 2 Member \Corporate Innovation Exclusive: Barclays pulls plug on flagship payments app Pingit 3 \Startup Life Staff love working from home. Bosses… not so much 4 Member \Venture Capital Early investors in UiPath on track to make a 220,000% return 5 \Venture Capital Investors love data. So why not dig into sustainability metrics?
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