We’ve entered a golden era of innovation, with a new generation of Nordic and Baltic (New Nordics) technical founders emerging in record numbers—more experienced and ambitious than ever before. Starting from Stockholm, we’re experiencing an unseen momentum in the ecosystem.

The result? There has never been a better time for the New Nordics and Europe to create its next tech giant after Spotify.

Research shows that technical founders build tech giants. Building a tech unicorn is hard, let alone a trillion-dollar tech giant. They succeed because they solve really complex problems with technology. Founders with deep technical expertise are much more likely to be able to do that. 

A critical reason that Europe has never produced a trillion-dollar tech giant is that Europe has never produced enough technical founders who start companies in Europe. However, this is changing. Fast.

A new generation of technical founders is emerging in record numbers and with more experience and bolder ambitions than ever before. In Europe, for the first time, more than half of the founders of startups that became unicorns in 2023 and 2024 have technical backgrounds.

Europe boasts world-class engineering universities and exceptional technical institutions. For instance, DeepMind’s origins can be traced back to Cambridge and UCL.

European researchers have also played key roles in groundbreaking innovations such as CRISPR, mRNA vaccines, and the invention of the World Wide Web itself. And many, if not most, talents in the field of LLMs originate from Europe. It’s time for the new generation of European entrepreneurs to show what an AI powerhouse we can be.

AI has undoubtedly created the most significant platform shift for software since the advent of the cloud, making the whole sector ripe for unbundling and new global category leaders.

Technical founders are now building companies in the New Nordics and Europe at a scale we’ve never seen before, and their impact is already being felt. The New Nordics and Europe are home to some of the best technical universities in the world, the pool of quality engineers has never been higher, and the pace of innovation continues to escalate.

This is more than a moment. It’s a movement. A chance to redefine the New Nordic’s and Europe’s role in the global tech stage.

Now more than ever, it’s crucial that we harness the collective wisdom and expertise of the regional founder and AI leadership community.

It’s time to make Europe great again.