‘Europtimism’ clashes with 1 in 3 founders wanting out. We need the EU to finally become a true single market

As winter draws in, Europeans could be forgiven for feeling the summer glow fade as headlines warn of yet higher energy bills and renewed inflation.

Yet Europe’s founders and investors see good reason to be optimistic – as long as EU leaders take further action, fast.

New data from Norrsken’s European Impact Index 2026 (EII) finds that founders and funders are doubling down on building the clean electro-economy Europe needs to break its dependence on fossil fuels, and their confidence in Europe’s ability to deliver is growing.

The EII is an annual survey of 750 entrepreneurs and investors behind the companies working to solve Europe’s hardest problems.

Of the investors surveyed, one in two said Europe has become a more attractive place to invest over the past 12 months, against one in four who said it has become less attractive.

Founders are also gearing up for growth, with 85% expecting revenues to rise over the next 12 months and three in four planning to increase headcount.

That is a marked shift in mood at a time when the wider economic picture would suggest the opposite.

However, the same data came with a clear warning attached for Brussels.

It revealed that a significant share of European founders are keeping one foot out of the door, and showed investors remain only cautiously optimistic about the political backdrop in which they operate.

A stark one in three founders said they had considered relocating their company outside Europe in the past twelve months, including 15% who considered it seriously.

Many said they were driven by high energy costs and other factors making it difficult to compete globally.

Others cited recruitment challenges – almost four in ten said attracting top talent is harder in Europe than in the US.

Meanwhile, around 36% of investors surveyed in the EII rated the EU’s approach to innovation and entrepreneurship poorly or very poorly.

Just 6% said the EU prioritises it very well.