Estonia leads the EU in terms of startup and scaleup performance

Estonia leads the EU in the European Startup and Scaleup Scoreboard, which demonstrates a strong relationship between innovation-friendly regulation, access to talent and venture capital, and the success of startups and scaleups.

The European Commission published on 29/05/2026 its European Startup and Scaleup Scoreboard, a comprehensive assessment of startup and scaleup ecosystems based on 36 indicators across six key dimensions. It classified countries into four categories based on the European average:

• Front-runners: performing above 125% of the EU average;
• High-performing: 100% to 125% of the EU average;
• Catching-up: 70% to 100% of the EU average;
• Rising: Below 70% of the EU average.

In its analysis, the Commission found that while front-runner countries such as Estonia, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands and Denmark perform well above the EU average across 36 indicators, demonstrating how bold policies translate into thriving ecosystems, there remained untapped potential in rising countries such as Greece, Latvia, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Romania, which score 30 percentage…