The top 10 European cities for startups

What is the best city in Europe for tech entrepreneurs? On an personal level, the answer is likely going to vary a lot. If you come up with your best ideas after a swim in the Mediterranean, London is probably not going to work for you. That said, knowing which cities are providing an environment where tech startups can thrive is important to policy makers who can use the data to inform their decisions. And, that's exactly what the European Digital City Index (EDCi) attempts to offer — an index of European cities based on their friendliness to the tech entrepreneur. Policy makers take note.

Ok, so the answer you actually came for is: London. According to the EDCi, London is the best city in Europe for tech entrepreneurs. In addition to speaking English, the city is home to a huge financial industry and has the continent's most developed venture capital industry. London is also home to, or nearby, some of the world's greatest universities, accelerators and coworking spaces. However, the study notes that London is its own worst enemy, with astoundingly high real estate prices, talent shortages and the looming uncertainty of Brexit. 

Breathing down London's neck is Stockholm, the Nordic tech hub known for companies like Spotify, King and Mojang took the second spot. Stockholm has some of the best internet infrastructure in the world, strong English language skills and a supportive government. Furthermore, the city benefits from talent spillovers from the telecoms giant Ericsson and the Karolinska Institute. 

Startups fleeing London's high prices and political turmoil need not venture far. The study found that Amsterdam was the third best city for tech innovators in Europe. With a friendly local government and a host of tech-forward initiatives like StartupAmsterdam and Startup Delta, there's plenty of support on offer. The city is also much more affordable than London, most people speak English and there's a long history of Dutch entrepreneurship. 

Here are the top 10

1. London

Startups to know: Deliveroo (raised €442.8M), Made.com (raised €68.1M), AppNexus (raised €297.8M), Borro (raised €165.5M).

Hometown unicorns: Shazam (raised €133.8M), Transferwise (raised €108.5M), Wonga (raised €135.8M), FarFetch (raised €284.1M).

2. Stockholm

Startups to know: iZettle (raised €160M), Truecaller (raised €74.7M) and OxThera (raised €49.7M).

Hometown Unicorns: Klarna (raised €271.8M) and Spotify (raised €1.4 Billion).

3. Amsterdam

Startups to know: BitFury (raised €84M), WeTransfer (raised €22M), Travelbird (raised €36.1M), and Catawiki (raised €88.4M).

Hometown unicorns: Ayden

4. Helsinki

Startups to know: Funzi, Flashnode and Rovio.

5. Paris

Startups to know: Agricool, Sarenza (raised €93.8M) and FastBooking (raised €46.4M).

Hometown unicorns: BlaBlaCar (raised €300M) and vente-privee.com.

6. Berlin

Startups to know: Food Panda (raised €296.7M), Contentful (raised €15.6M), Bonial International Group (raised €62.9M), Clue (raised €9.6M), Hoccer (raised €60M), Auctionata (raised €89.2M), Wooga (raised €30M).

Hometown unicorns: Zalando, Rocket Internet and Soundcloud.

7. Copenhagen

Startups to know: Tradeshift (raised €178M), online review community Trustpilot, (raised €109M), and online wine community and app Vivino (raised €33.8M).

8. Dublin

Startups to know: FieldAware (raised €33.4M), Movidius (raised €76.3M), Openet (raised €21M), Intercom (raised €58M),  and 3D4 Medical (raised €14.4M).

9. Barcelona

Startups to know: Glovo (raised €7.3M), Verse (raised €9M), ABA English (raised €14.4M), Typeform (raised €16.1M), Kantox (raised €19.7M), and CornerJob.

10. Vienna

Startups to know: Wikifolio (raised €7.68M) and Kompany (raised €3.28M).