Impediments and Needs of Start-ups and Investors in South-East Europe for Investment Readiness and Growth

The region of South-East Europe (SEE) needs to systematically foster sustainable economic growth. One way to contribute to this goal is to strengthen innovative entrepreneurship across the SEE countries. For that purpose it is essential to increase the investment and growth readiness of start-up companies and innovative SMEs in the region as well as to secure the right support and funding mechanisms for those ventures. The paper presents the results of a survey that has been conducted within an EU co-funded project with the objective to support investment and growth readiness of start-ups in the region of SEE. The purpose of the survey was to gain insights in existing key needs of start-ups/innovative SMEs and investors across the region of South-East Europe for policy support regarding investment and growth of their activities as well as to present these stakeholders' recommendations for how to respond to these needs. The survey was conducted through an online questionnaire among 190 start-ups/innovative SMEs and financial stakeholders (such as banks, venture capitalists, incubators, business angels, etc.) in 11 countries of the SEE region featuring a combination of scaling and open-end questions. The results provide a multifaceted picture of the characteristics of the current situation regarding the entrepreneurial landscape of the region and of the challenges faced by the key stakeholders in a range of thematic topics, such as the legal environment, funding mechanisms, taxation system, education, knowledge transfer, infrastructure, bureaucracy and entrepreneurial culture. Suggestions for policy changes in order to overcome the current barriers include a wide array of measures ranging from the better provision of more market-oriented entrepreneurial education to fostering cross-border syndicated investment.