Hiro Tamura, the CEO of European Fund Atomico, recently released a report analyzing the technology ecosystems of European countries. His analysis looked at various aspects such as the technological infrastructure, investments and policies, entrepreneurial activity, and the level of innovation within the ecosystems.
This research has implications for the entire tech ecosystem of Europe and provides an in-depth look at the state of European tech. In this article, we will first provide an overview of Tamura’s research, and then detail its implications.
Overview of Atomico and Hiro Tamura
Atomico is a London and San Francisco based venture capital fund that invests in world-leading technology companies from the earliest to growth stages of their journeys. Founded in 2006 by the Skype team, Atomico invests in and accelerates highly talented teams, products and services that create new markets or redefine existing ones.
Hiro Tamura is Partner at Atomico, leading investments across Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. In 2019 Hiro led Atomico’s venture into Latin America by launching a dedicated Latin American fund. Hiro’s investments have included global companies like Libino (formerly Thunder5) and Goabase, pioneers in their respective spaces.
Before joining Atomico, Hiro founded Sumai Company Ltd., advising entrepreneurs on fundraising and business strategy across Japan’s tech industry. He was an early investor in Japanese tech catapults like Basecamp (formerly Accelent), Moneytree and Caret Offnetworks, which gained Japan’s focus as aspirational tech unicorns.
Overview of European tech ecosystems
Hiro Tamura of European fund Atomico recently published a report which examined the competitive strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for venture capital within European tech ecosystems. The report also looked at how technology impacts regional development and insight into the types of enterprises being created.
Tamura’s analysis reveals a region that has embraced the digital revolution, with some countries firmly established as leaders. Germany, as an example, has long been leading Europe in innovation within the automotive sector and has now extended its lead to smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0 due to its skilled workforce, investment in research & development (R&D), supportive policy initiatives, and strong ecosystems for IT services and business software. In France, we are seeing this same trend for startup businesses within sectors such as fashion reach the point where it has a robust ecosystem built around it that both startups and large companies are seeking out for collaboration opportunities.
The report confirms that venture capital is accelerating growth by providing venture funding to businesses seeking to scale-up but also points out challenges facing new entrepreneurship across Europe – from increased complexity surrounding regulations & taxation issues to market fragmentation due to lack of culture exchange between leading countries such as Germany and France.
Moreover, there is still considerable room for improvement when it comes to creating a supportive environment across all of Europe’s tech hubs – both in terms of infrastructure such as access to capital, support services like talent acquisition & retention programs, government grants/incentives etc., as well as culture-based issues such as diversity initiatives or partnerships between different tech communities.
Overall, Tamura’s analysis not only offers insights into current trends in Europe’s tech ecosystems but identifies areas with potential for further collaboration which can help promote innovation by creating more efficient systems aiding business growth across industries.
Hiro Tamura of European fund Atomico analyzes tech ecosystems
Hiro Tamura, the Partner of European fund Atomico, has analyzed European tech ecosystems and the results are fascinating and insightful.
In the report, he provides insight into the various components of a thriving tech ecosystem, such as local tech startup density, network effects among industry actors, and the availability of capital. He also outlines the key differences between successful tech ecosystems in Europe and US tech ecosystems.
Let’s dive into the details of his analysis.
Analysis of the investment landscape
Hiro Tamura of European fund Atomico conducted a deep dive into the investment landscape to better understand the European tech ecosystem. Tamura’s analysis revealed that when compared to Silicon Valley, Europe had a more balanced investment landscape. For example, while Silicon Valley was dominated by venture capital and angel investments, Europe relied more heavily on government grants and subsidies.
Additionally, while Silicon Valley was primarily focused on technology startups and early stage companies, Europe had a more diversified landscape, with businesses seeking equity-based support up to later stage growth.
In contrast to Silicon Valley’s laser-focus on technology investments (66%), Europe saw a much broader mix of investment categories featuring consumer products (22%), e-commerce (13%), hardware (14%), marketplaces (12%) and real estate (8%). Comparing this spread with the higher risk focus in the US shows how much Europe has invested in “safer” technologies – those with existing customer bases or revenue streams – while encouraging innovation at its seed stage.
Tamura’s analysis further found that entrepreneurship in the region is far less dependent on traditional financing models than its American counterpart – leaving entrepreneurs feeling unsupported by an adequate funding structure for early stage ventures; instead relying heavily on alternative sources such as accelerators and incubators to get their business off the ground.
In addition, while traditional financial models may have provided advantages to some companies in certain industries, Tamura noted a marked shift towards non-traditional forms of finance such as crowd equity financing and government grants or subsidies, providing many young companies with access to capital from outside of major circles or hubs.
Analysis of the talent pool
Hiro Tamura’s analysis of the European tech ecosystem reveals that while Europe is making significant strides in creating a stable, favorable climate for digital startups, challenges remain; most notably, the development of an adequate talent pool. Tamura notes that Europe lacks well-established institutions offering strong technical education, leading to a shortage of technical talent. Alongside this shortfall, the deep digital divide between regions continues to be challenging – limiting access to digital (and related) technologies across the continent. This lack of access limits the available talent with experience developing digital products and services at scale.
Tamura further examines issues regarding diversity and inclusion within the European tech ecosystem. He notes how gender imbalance persists throughout much of Europe, with women underrepresented in almost all tech roles in companies and venture capital firms. Tamura also points out that European countries often fail to attract foreign tech workers because its comparatively weaker visa schemes put it at a disadvantage when placed alongside its larger competitors like the United States and China.
Finally, Tamura draws attention to data privacy as a key challenge for tech ecosystems within Europe; Despite legislation such as GDPR aiming to address personal data protection issues, there is evidence that homegrown tech companies are lagging behind their global peers when it comes to compliance standards -thus making it difficult for them to compete with established industry players on an international stage.
Analysis of the regulatory environment
The regulatory environment in different European countries can have a major impact on tech ecosystems and the growth of companies within those ecosystems. To better understand the state of regulation, Hiro Tamura, a partner at VC firm Atomico, analyzed data from Eurostat, which revealed important disparities between countries in factors such as their use or discouragement of short-term contracts, tax rates and preferences for foreign investors.
Perhaps most notably, substantial differences in regulations caused strong divisions between member countries of the EU. While some countries appear to encourage investment and entrepreneurial efforts by favoring new business models through flexible labor rules and lower taxes on capital gains, others have imposed more traditional punishments on entrepreneurs who fail to perform well.
In his analysis of the EU tech ecosystem, Tamura argued that governments should prioritize policies that allow innovation; this includes providing credit facilities to budding businesses and streamlining access to capital. Additionally, Tamura suggested promoting verifiable options for consumer protection (such as financial redress schemes) and creating clearer consumer-protection regulations around digital products. Finally, he argued that governments could create a healthier startup environment for venture capitalists and investors.
Conclusions
Hiro Tamura, an investor at Atomico, analyzed the European tech ecosystem in 2020. After the study, Tamura concluded that the European tech sector was growing rapidly and presented a positive outlook.
In this article, we will discuss Tamura’s conclusions from his analysis.
Implications of Tamura’s analysis
Hiro Tamura’s analysis of the European tech ecosystem has given us an insight into the impediments to international collaboration. His research highlights issues such as the lack of a dominant hub and a dispersed language landscape and factors such as the effects of regulation on capital flows. Tamura’s work is valuable for understanding the European tech landscape and providing a basis for further in-depth study.
His findings also affect how global digital and innovation networks are formed, nurtured, and maintained. For example, fostering strong regional hubs or nodes within large clusters may be necessary to ensure collaboration is enabled and sustained over a longer period. This can be achieved through deeper policy changes that harmonize regulatory frameworks across countries, such as H1B visa restrictions and taxation laws. It could also involve vibrant capital markets that enable access to funds needed to fuel innovation across Europe’s tech startups.
Tamura has highlighted an understanding of global digital connectivity between actors within specific ecosystems that would influence policy decisions made by government officials at both local and international levels. As countries become more digitally connected, more actors can join forces to create hubs for inter-regional exchanges of ideas, talent, capital, services and products. By doing this we can tap into innovative powerhouses from around the world, leading to economic growth and positive social change.
Recommendations for the European tech ecosystem
Based on Hiro Tamura’s analysis of the European tech ecosystem, here are some key recommendations:
1. Develop a unified vision at all levels of the tech ecosystems in Europe. This should be based on a concrete exploration of the current opportunities and ecosystem needs and an understanding of where initiatives should be taken to create global competitive advantages that can be realized.
2. Create an appropriate mix of public and private resources to support emerging companies, research institutions, universities and other organizations to maximize their chances for success in the global market.
3. Highlight and work with leading European startups that have been successful abroad as ambassadors or flagships for Europe’s talent and potential worldwide. Publically recognize these companies’ accomplishments to inspire other talented entrepreneurs to make their mark onto the international scene.
4. Develop a robust talent network within Europe by emphasizing the importance of developing technical expertise and business acumen within Silicon Valley-level American-style venture capital firms, incubators and accelerator programs that attract global talent from various industries worldwide.
5. Foster closer collaboration between local markets so start-ups from different countries can easily cross borders when needed while leveraging the advantages granted by each nation’s business regulations or specific environment advantages like climate or natural resources availability -compared to global competitors-. This will positively affect regional economic development because it encourages small businesses growth no matter where they come from within Europe’s boundaries (especially beneficial for less developed countries).