EUROMAXXING: BALDERTON CAPITAL LEADS CHARGE WITH "BUILT IN EUROPE" CAMPAIGN

by Dee Miller

Balderton Capital is leading the charge for the European tech resurgence of the mid 2020s.

Balderton Capital, the venture firm that has been backing European founders for over two decades, has launched a campaign called Built in Europe. More than 100 founders and CEOs from across the continent's tech ecosystem have signed up to it, including the people behind Revolut, Mistral AI, Wayve, ElevenLabs, and Synthesia. The premise is simple: Europe has been underselling itself for too long, and that ends now.

The campaign is not just a press release. It spans billboards, digital advertising, and physical presence across London, Paris, Stockholm, Berlin, and Munich, with city banners going up at some of the most visible locations in each city's tech community, including the Old Street roundabout in London and the outside of Station F in Paris. The timing is deliberate, launching alongside London Tech Week, SXSW London, Founders Forum, and running through VivaTech in Paris. Every major gathering of the people this campaign is trying to reach, and Built in Europe will be in their eyeline.

At the centre of it is BuiltInEurope.com, a jobs platform built in-house by Balderton that aggregates open roles from Europe's 1,000 leading tech startups in one place, with resources for people considering starting their own company, including a directory of the top incubators across the region. The practical intention is clear: make it easier for talented people to find their way into the European startup ecosystem rather than defaulting to the assumption that the only serious opportunities are elsewhere.

The founders backing the campaign are not abstract names on a press release. They include AI companies like Lovable, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Mistral AI, and Synthesia; deep tech and infrastructure builders like Quantum Systems, The Exploration Company, and Proxima Fusion; and consumer businesses like Revolut, Beauty Pie, Voi, and Alan. Across categories, across countries, across stages of growth, the message is consistent: this is a good place to build something.

The numbers behind that claim are harder to dismiss than they used to be. The European tech sector is now worth $6.7 trillion according to Dealroom, and tech now accounts for 15 percent of Europe's GDP, up from just 4 percent in 2015. That is not the profile of an ecosystem that is falling behind. It is the profile of one that has been quietly doing the work while the narrative about it stayed stuck in an older, less accurate story.

Victor Riparbelli, co-founder of Synthesia, put the shift plainly. When he founded the company nine years ago, few European AI startups could compete on the global stage. Today, the situation is very different, with companies winning in their categories not just in Europe but worldwide. That is not optimism for its own sake. That is a description of something that has already happened.

What Built in Europe is really asking is straightforward. If you are thinking about where to build your company, or where to take your career, do not rule out the continent you are already standing on. The talent is here. The capital is here. The proof is here. The billboard is just making sure you see it.

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