Europe's surprising tech success

Brussels

EUROPE is often viewed as a digital laggard, running far behind the frontier-pushing United States and Asia. But appearances are deceiving. In fact, according to a new report by the London venture capital firm Atomico, European startups are now taking the lead in artificial intelligence, building new tech hubs, and drawing investment from traditional industrial stalwarts. Last year, a record-setting US$13.6 billion was invested in Europe's tech sector, compared with US$2.8 billion in 2011.

Gone are the days when Europe's "tech" sector largely comprised consumer-oriented e-commerce businesses - often blatant knockoffs of successful US companies. Today, Europe is the home of real pioneering innovation, led by what Atomico calls "deep tech" - the kind of artificial intelligence developed by Google's DeepMind. Deep tech accounted for US$1.3 billion of European venture investments in 2015, delivered in 82 rounds, up from US$289 million, delivered in 55 rounds, in 2011.