OK, so either a lot of European startups weren’t deemed good enough to enter TechCrunch 50, or there were not enough judges who are inclined to EU startups, or Europe is just not producing enough quality startups. Whatever the reason, the number of Europeans at TechCrunch 50 is – for a region that encompasses about 300 million people – relatively thin on the ground and I am trying to determine quite why this is. (Then again, maybe the the cost of coming put some people off?)
It’s certainly not because they are from outside America. I have seen at least three startups from Japan, and probably the biggest non-US region here appearing in the TC50 list are startups from Israel (which include Devunity, Tweegee, Alfabetic, Mytopia, Alfabetic ).
There was only one UK startup that made it to the actual 50 list, and that was Connective Logic. They are developing software to fully exploit multi-core CPUs. Their Blueprint software development platform enables software developers to create complex multi-core software applications without requiring expertise in the field of multi-threaded software. What’s the upshot? The kind of software that can live track number plates of cars across London in real-time and put it on a Google map.
Other than them, there was only one other continental European startup (stop me if I’m wrong!) that pitched in the full TC50 competition, and that was “Burt” from Sweden. Burt builds technology that inspires people to have better and more creative ideas, initially focusing on enabling ad agencies to create more intelligent and entertaining digital campaigns.
Out of the visitors to TC50 I spotted Postcode Anywhere / The Web Service and of course MaxRoam was here too. And some other European companies in the Demo Pit were 3scale from Spain, Cards-off from France, Sobees from Switzerland, Cignis from Norway, Senderok from the Ukraine, and Plista from Germany. [Update: Twonq is now based in San Francisco, although development remains back in Holland].
So, what do you think? Did your European startup apply for TechCrunch 50 and get rejected? Why did you think that was? Should European companies be treated as more of an entity (“TechCrunch 50 Europe?”) or do you think they just need improve in quality to compete in this kind of US-based event?