2026 EU|BIC Impact Report – Data – EBN | EU|BIC Innovation Community

Building for Scale

The regional infrastructure for European startup and scale-up internationalisation

2026 EU|BIC Impact Report

Built to last – foreword 2026 EU|BIC Impact Report

There are 110 certified EU|BICs across 24 countries

All EU|BIC Community members rally around our four mission commitments:

regional development
quality business support
access to finance
internationalisation

The data here reflects the impact this community of 110 certified EU|BICs had in a single year, 2025. It is organised by mission commitments, structuring how impactfully the community fulfilled its mission.

Regional sustainable economic development

Most companies that enter an EU|BIC are built to last:

66,758 companies were supported
EU|BICs have a 79% occupancy rate
85% are operating after three years (against EU averages of ~58%)
78.2% are operating after five years (against EU averages of 45%).

Selection is structured: 95% of EU|BICs evaluate access to early-stage finance readiness, 93% test proof of business viability, and 89% validate proof of concept before providing support. Companies earn their place in the programme.

The support is comprehensive: 94% of EU|BICs provide coaching and mentoring, 91% connect startups to finance and funding opportunities, and 86% help with access to markets. The average EU|BIC runs 10 structured programmes a year.

Inclusion is deliberate: 61% of EU|BICs run programmes specifically targeting women entrepreneurs, 47% support unemployed founders, 28% work with senior entrepreneurs, and 17% provide support for migrants and refugees. On average, 32% of founders supported by an EU|BIC are women.

EU|BICs are embedded in their regions: 50% operate at a regional level, 30% at a provincial level. The support is offered locally where companies are being built.

Type of clients supported, by stage of development

Quality business innovation support

An EU|BIC’s value reaches far beyond what it offers a company in isolation. It is the network, the reputation and the doors it opens:

9,417 events organised
336,429 people attended EU|BIC events last year
61% of EU|BICs connect startups directly with corporates.

Growth services beyond mentoring: 91% of EU|BICs offer access to funding for growth-stage companies, 80% provide market access support, 73% run internationalisation services, and 62% facilitate open innovation. EU|BICs are connecting companies with research institutions, universities and technology partners.

Corporate collaboration: 62% of EU|BICs have active programmes for cooperation with corporates, creating structured pathways between innovative startups and established companies. For a startup, this kind of introduction, backed by institutional credibility, is often the connection that changes everything.

Designed specifically for their region: 69% of EU|BICs describe themselves as service providers to entrepreneurs and SMEs; 13% act as neutral ecosystem orchestrators — positioned to connect companies with institutions that neither side could easily reach alone. The most common primary support model is incubation and acceleration (47%), followed by integrated multi-stage support (26%) — most EU|BICs accompany companies across several growth stages.

That is the ecosystem.

EU|BIC growth/scaling support services

Access to finance

More than €1 billion raised in a single year. 32% of EU|BICs go beyond connecting companies to investors and invest in their clients themselves.

The average EU|BIC supported around 100 clients in accessing finance last year, ranging from grant applications and investor readiness workshops to direct introductions with financial institutions. 91% of EU|BICs offer access to funding support for growing companies.

Nearly three-quarters of the capital raised by EU|BICs clients came from private sources: venture capital, business angels, banks, and other private investors.

Internationalisation

1,439 companies moved across a border last year with structured EU|BIC support.

The United States was the top destination for European companies going global. Slovenia, Brazil, and China were the leading countries of origin for companies arriving in (other) European countries. The EU|BIC network is a genuinely global infrastructure.

Services offered: 81% of EU|BICs provide access to international events, 57% run structured soft-landing programmes, 53% develop tailored internationalisation plans, 47% provide funding support for international expansion, and 42% offer active market access and lead generation.