From the Archipelago of the Azores to the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, approximately 740 million people - more than double the population of the United States and Canada combined - live and work on a surface area just north of 10 million square kilometres, which makes Europe the world's second-smallest continent.
The continent of Europe is densely populated for the most part, and highly diverse, made up of 50-ish different countries where 24 (official) languages are spoken in total. Differences in politics, religion and culture are plentiful - there's a reason the Latin phrase in varietate concordia ('united in diversity') was chosen as the European Union's motto.
All of that makes Europe notoriously difficult to cover from a journalistic standpoint, regardless of the topic, any way you slice it. As a result, there are very few publications that have attempted to cover the European technology industry as a whole - to wit, it's a daunting challenge and the obvious needs of the various ecosystems across the continent are currently met only by local (English-language or not) blogs and news sites, and larger publications that tend to scratch only the surface, focusing mainly on the happenings in major hubs such as London, Berlin, Paris, Helsinki, Stockholm and Tel Aviv.
Filling the gap
We feel strongly that the broader European tech scene deserves something more. We believe that there is a clear unmet need for a publication to go both deep and wide and deliver data-driven analysis, news with nuance and context, opinionated but thoughtful commentary, combined with solid research.
We also believe there are certain regions in Europe, primarily (but not only) emerging markets in central and Eastern Europe, that are currently being underreported on. Too many great stories are being left untold, and we think the broader, global tech community would benefit if that weren't the case.
Simply put, we're not satisfied with the coverage of the European tech industry as it stands today, and to scratch our own itch we aim to produce the type of content we would like to read ourselves.
We = team of writers and entrepreneurs with both a knack and an appetite for quality reporting.
We're devoted to highlighting the innovation that is happening all across Europe, and reporting on the trials and tribulations of its technology industry from a big-picture perspective.
We're delighted that you've come over to learn more about what we're trying to achieve, and we hope you'll become a regular reader. Ultimately, our goal is to make you smarter with everything we publish.
What to expect (when you're expecting great content)
In the interest of expectation management: if you're looking for yet another endless barrage of 'breaking news' articles, EXCLUSIVES that are anything but, copy-and-paste journalism, countless random app or feature reviews, constant back-of-the-envelope analysis, annoying slideshows, listicles and generally groundless reporting, we're afraid that we are not going to be able to satisfy your needs.
If, instead, you are looking for in-depth coverage of the European tech industry, with news that matters, context that enriches and insights that educate, we aim to become the quintessential starting point for unique, original, long-form content exclusively on that topic.
We're kicking off today with a headcount of European accelerators, an inside look of 3D printing pioneer Materialise, and a call for more European entrepreneur visas.
Much more coming soon, evidently.
Lifting off, but not without (your) support
As we pointed out above, Europe is extremely fragmented in more ways than one, and we realize that we're going to need to partner with others to truly be able to cover it properly.
We take the mission we've embarked on seriously, and we're committed to running a totally ethical and transparent organization. We're open to working with anyone who shares our beliefs.
We're currently in the midst of closing a small seed round of funding from a number of people in Europe and the United States who believe in our mission and the need for this type of publication - more on the financing later - in order to give us the time and resources needed to find our editorial voice, create more and better content, and build a strong network continent-wide.
We're thrilled to put tech.eu on the tracks today, and we hope you will join us for the ride. Things will be a little rough around the edges here and there, but expect us to improve the website continually.
If you would like to contact us with feedback on the website or our plans, or you have great story ideas, partnership proposals, complaints or death threats to share, you can use this form.
Alternatively, feel free to email me: [email protected].
As I've told many people in person over the past few weeks leading up to today's launch, please don't say 'congratulations with the new venture'. Rather, say 'good luck'.
It's going to be a lot of hard work. And we can't wait to get on it.
Featured image credit: LeventeGyori / Shutterstock
