€9 trillion left on the table, if Europe's 1,050 research institutions matched global benchmarks at turning research into startups.
Redstone VC analyzed 1,050 academic institutions (€300B+ combined budgets) for the University Startup Index 2026:
— those budgets generate ~50,000 ventures/year; only 23,383 survive to viability
— efficiency runs 1 to 80 startups per €100M, inside the same peer clusters
— 50 public research orgs with €60B in budgets produce under 200 spinouts a year
The €9T headline grabs attention, but the number to sit with is the 20x efficiency gap inside one peer cluster. The worst performer isn't underfunded, it has the same budget as a neighbor outperforming it 20x.
https://redstone.vc/research/redstone-university-startup-index-2026
Redstone VC analyzed 1,050 academic institutions (€300B+ combined budgets) for the University Startup Index 2026:
— those budgets generate ~50,000 ventures/year; only 23,383 survive to viability
— efficiency runs 1 to 80 startups per €100M, inside the same peer clusters
— 50 public research orgs with €60B in budgets produce under 200 spinouts a year
The €9T headline grabs attention, but the number to sit with is the 20x efficiency gap inside one peer cluster. The worst performer isn't underfunded, it has the same budget as a neighbor outperforming it 20x.
https://redstone.vc/research/redstone-university-startup-index-2026