Global startup network F6S – which aims to connect European startup founders, investors, accelerators and mentors in driving growth across the board – has revealed some interesting data shedding light on various aspects of entrepreneurial activity on the platform - with a focus on Europe and the United States.
Although F6S – which can be likened to San Francisco-based startup funding network AngelList in many ways – started out in Europe, in the last two years it has seen users join from the US, Asia, South America, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East.
To date, it claims 385,000 users and 46,177 startups on the platform globally – about 32% of startups are from Europe, while 25% of them come from the US.
Europe vs US comparisons in the startup realm are a persistent topic.
However, while most discussions take a top-down approach and focus on structural differences between the ecosystems, we delved into F6S's data – which offer a refreshing look into actual entrepreneurial activity in the two regions.
First off, it's interesting to see that F6S has seen a similar pace of growth in the number of European and American startups on the platform – especially since AngelList is used extensively in the US and has a huge financial backing.
An "AngelList for Europe"?
In the last year, there have been several attempts to establish an "AngelList for Europe" – notably Dealroom, which was launched by the team behind NOAH Advisors, as well as Venturate, which focuses on Germany (at least for now).
But AngelList also has its eyes on Europe and recently recruited Philipp Moehring, who previously worked as Principal at Seedcamp in London, to fuel its push into the continent.
Currently, European startups can use AngelList to connect with investors, hire talent and manage their company profile but certain products are restricted due to regulatory reasons. In particular, startups cannot raise money from European investors until the platform finds “a solution that complies with the laws and regulations in each investors’ country”.
F6S also offers a way for startups to find investors and raise funding, but, in a similar vein to AngelList, European startups can only feature their fundraising round on the platform – whereas US startups can participate in 'Direct Invest Rounds' that allow American investors to invest in them from as little as $100.
According to F6S's latest numbers, there are 2,063 European startups with a fundraising profile on the platform, compared to 2,270 US-based startups. Unsurprisingly, the average "amount raising" reported by European startups ($298,705) was less than that of US startups ($443,859). It was particularly interesting to see the difference in popularity of funding instruments for each region:
Where F6S branches off
With the proliferation of startup accelerators, events and related services across the globe, it can be difficult to navigate the deluge of offers out there. For founders, one of the main advantages of F6S is that the platform can be used to keep track of these things all in one place.
Since its founding in 2011, F6S has seen a continual increase in the number of accelerators from both Europe and the US on the platform.
Whereas AngelList concentrates predominantly on connecting investors to startups and startups to talent, F6S seems to spread itself wider in terms of services provided, in particular emphasizing its scheme of startup deals.
How it works: Members can get a free 'F6S Card', which opens up access to a slew of startup deals ranging from software, hosting, discounted servers, banking, etc. Deals are added daily by companies/service providers such as Google, Rackspace and Microsoft, in an effort to support startups (and boost their image along the way).
Globally, F6S has delivered $138 million deals to startups. As for Europe and the US, it looks like this feature is increasingly catching on with users:
F6S was founded by number of people involved in tech startups and accelerators, including Techstars MD Jon Bradford , Startupbootcamp co-founder Alex Farcet, The Family CEO Alice Zagury and Springboard co-founder Sean Kane.
If anything, they're creating a massive databank for people like us to sift through.
Infographics created on Infogram.
Featured image credit: Toria / Shutterstock
