European scale-up report

Abstract

Unique view of the landscape and management of European scale-ups

The widely held belief that European scale-ups are mainly innovative tech companies is incorrect; they can be found in all sectors and at all levels of innovation. However we can identify major differences between sectors in terms of size and growth, with scale-ups that are active in IT and consumer goods and services leading the way. Scale-ups with external investors on board are more professionally managed and have made greater progress in terms of internationalisation, innovation and talent management. All the same, attracting additional funding proves very difficult and hampers their further growth ambitions.

These are some of the conclusions of a large-scale study conducted by Vlerick Business School on behalf of Scale-Ups.eu. Professor Veroniek Collewaert, Professor Sophie Manigart and post-doctoral researcher Thomas Standaert used information about more than 80,000 scale-ups in 8 European countries as their starting point. They specifically investigated management practices by means of a targeted survey among 124 of these scale-ups.