Will Eastern startups move to Warsaw?
If you were to start a business from scratch, in which city would you want to do it? In Berlin, London, Amsterdam, Barcelona… Here are the most popular startup cities in Europe according to Startup Heatmap Europe report. Where does Warsaw rank in this study?? At 15. place. But this is not the end of the list. And our capital still has a chance to be the first choice for some entrepreneurs.
Warsaw more popular than it seems
Nearly 30 percent. surveyed by the Italian European Startup Initiative would see Berlin or London as a place to start their business from scratch. These two locations were also the first to be indicated by entrepreneurs from Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw would be only the sixth choice for them. It was also overtaken by Amsterdam, Dublin and Barcelona. Our capital is being chased here by Prague, which is gaining in popularity.
Other regions are also interested in Warsaw. 8 percent. representatives of Nordic countries and 8 percent. Representatives of Great Britain and Ireland would consider starting their business here. A similar statement was made by 7 percent of. of respondents from Western Europe.
It turns out that Warsaw, as well as Tallinn and Lisbon, are more popular among the respondents than mentions in leading industry media would suggest. Warsaw and Tallinn were also pointed out when it came to the low burn rate.
Poland is seeing an 11 percent surge in young entrepreneurs from abroad. As the authors of the report note, they may be attracted to Poland by its relatively good economic freedom index. In the whole region of Central and Eastern Europe the outflow of entrepreneurs to other parts of the continent has been noted at the level of 3 percent. Italy is the country from which most startups flee in Europe. Every third young entrepreneur from Italy decides to develop his business abroad. The largest increase from abroad, in turn, was observed in the Netherlands – 31 percent.
Will Warsaw be a leader in the region?
After launching the Start In Poland program, the government recently announced the Poland Prize subproject, which is to be targeted primarily at startups from Eastern Europe. Entrepreneurs from Ukraine or Belarus will be able to count on support mainly in obtaining a permit to set up a business in Poland, as well as on a simplified procedure for launching such a company in the Vistula river. Next year, the Poland Prize is to be launched in pilot form. But the Ministry of Development hopes that it will operate successfully for years to come.
Poland's rating in terms of ease of doing business has recently improved in the "Doing Business" ranking. Out of 189 countries we now rank 25. Warsaw is ranked second, ahead of Prague and Vienna.in. France or Switzerland. According to Compass Startup Ecosystem Ranking analysis, we are also among the top 20 startup ecosystems in the world.
Warsaw, which focuses 30% of. of the entire startup scene in the country, also has something to boast about. It is here that the world's third Google Campus was established. Most of the gas pedals awarded in the government competition Scale Up and the popular pre-accelerator ReaktorX operate here. This is where major funds such as Protos VC or IQ Partners operate. Also, the city together with the Start Hub Poland gas pedal are investing in entrepreneurs (including those from across the eastern border) by organizing the Start Hub Warsaw competition.
Is this enough to become a leader in the region? In Central Europe, Prague and Vienna certainly compete with Warsaw. While the Czech capital is just on our heels, Vienna is a real competitor when it comes to the interest in important regions. According to Startup Heatmap Europe, entrepreneurs from Central and Eastern Europe would be just as likely to choose the Austrian capital as Warsaw for the development of their business. However, Ukrainians or Belarusians may also choose the Baltic city of Tallinn with its ubiquitous Wi-Fi and the inspiring Tehnopol Park.
The battle for supremacy in the region continues and we can only keep our fingers crossed for Warsaw and other Polish cities that are opening up to startups from abroad.