The scene beneath the Acropolis could have been mistaken for a play: the ancient Odeon of Herodes Atticus lit up in gold, rows of techies spilled over the cobbled seats and security guards lined the aisles. On stage sat Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and Google DeepMind CEO and 2024 Nobel Laureate, Demis Hassabis, framed by the towering Roman stone of the amphitheatre.
The event, hosted by Endeavor Greece, a nonprofit founded in 1997 to support ambitious entrepreneurs, was meant to showcase the country’s growing tech scene — a proud “look at us now” moment.
Not long ago, scenes like this wouldn’t have existed. Startup ecosystems outside Silicon Valley were once dismissed as side projects or vanity projects. Some people still see them that way — playgrounds for overconfident founders chasing impossible dreams in gilets.
But today, Endeavor operates in 14 emerging markets — and it’s not alone. Around the world, organisations and governments are betting on startups as a way to strengthen entire economies. Because there’s a point to entrepreneurship and it’s bigger than bros.
More than millionaires
They can often be dismissed as hype machines or echo chambers for tech elites, but ecosystems like the one in Athens are reshaping economies across Europe. When they work, they don’t just create tech millionaires — they create jobs, boost GDP and diversify industries.
A poster child for economic and political dysfunction less than a decade ago, Athens’ startup ecosystem is now worth $3.4bn, growing 19% annually. The UK’s innovation economy is now worth over $1tn, employing around 1.8m people — nearly double the number in 2020. Nine European ecosystems now rank among the world’s top 40, according to Startup Genome, and the European Commission’s European Innovation Scoreboard 2024 reports that since 2017, the EU’s innovation performance has increased by 10%.
These are not vanity projects, they’re growth engines. Outwardly, startup ecosystems can look like a pressure cooker of idealism, hype and flowing venture capital, served in a reusable mason jar and marketed as “disruptive innovation.” But inside are real people with real jobs buying real houses and paying real taxes. Occasionally, they even pioneer things the world genuinely needs — like mRNA technology or CRISPR.
The flywheel
Cambridge offers up an example. Michael Anstey, partner at Cambridge Innovation Capital, the preferred investor of the University of Cambridge, has seen the city evolve from academic hub to economic powerhouse. Valued at around $222bn, it represents 18% of the UK’s tech ecosystem and employs more than 73k people.
“Cambridge is one of the first places in the UK to have a really strong angel network,” he says. “And as time has gone on, and as you've had these early wins, which have led to really fantastic outcomes and wealth being created, and this recycling wealth back into new ideas, you then build a fully functioning ecosystem.”
That “recycling” — of talent, capital and ideas — turns a handful of startups into a self-sustaining economy. Founders reinvest in new ventures. Early employees spin out their own companies. Investors use returns from one success to fund the next. It’s a flywheel that keeps accelerating.
Every strong ecosystem follows that same logic, from Cambridge to California. Silicon Valley remains the archetype, of course: decades of talent recycling, university–industry collaboration and VC density have produced layer upon layer of startups that feed one another. It’s worth $1.8tn and home to many of the world’s largest tech operations, including four trillion-dollar companies.
Not every region can — or should — copy the Valley. But every region needs its own version: a locally rooted system of capital, know-how and ambition.
Starting up to scaling up
European governments are catching on, for the most part: startups are good for the economy, and helping them out makes them better.
But where there’s still a gap is in fostering the conditions needed for scaling up — European companies get stuck in the purgatory between being a fun, sexy startup and a big, profitable corporate. They need smarter funding, skilled leadership, better policy and ecosystems that reward staying power over hype.
Shane Corstorphine, a former executive at Skyscanner, one of Scotland’s three unicorns, just penned a report on how to turn Scotland from a startup nation into a scaleup economy.
“The world is moving unbelievably fast right now and AI is at the forefront of that, let's be honest. If Scotland is not just going to survive but thrive, it needs to be innovating at pace,” he says.
He looks to Estonia as a model: “If you look where you get momentum in countries like Estonia — which has a staggering number of unicorns for the number of people it’s got — if you can get more businesses of scale coming through, then you’re recycling more. You know how to get back in to help other businesses do the same.”
The point, ultimately, is that startup ecosystems shouldn’t just be about flashy exits or headlines, they should be about building a foundation for sustainable economic growth. They should create pathways for talent, capital and ideas to circulate, adapt and multiply.
High-growth startups are important, of course — as are unicorns, which create momentum and visibility. But the point isn’t making the few rich. It’s about making the whole ecosystem rich.
