This week’s stories come from Europe, two of them on sustainability and one on startups
1-Europe owns global 30 VC cities among 104 ones
PitchBook, a financial data company, announced top global venture capital (VC) cities. The list covers 104 cities, with 30 of them are coming from Europe. London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin are the top VC hubs in Europe, but the region lags far behind the US and Asia. PitchBook’s report is based on some criteria, including deals, exits, fundraisings, and overall activity from Q3 2018 to Q2 2024.
The report ranks ecosystems by size and maturity for development and by short, medium, and long-term momentum for growth as well. London and Berlin are the only European cities to make the top 20 for development, with London leading at seventh globally and Berlin in 17th place. However, both cities, along with other European locations, struggle to match the higher valuations, larger funding rounds, and exit values seen in the US and Asia.
Despite this, Europe performs better in growth rankings. Seven cities, including Lyon, Prague, and Barcelona, make the top 20 for growth, with Switzerland leading globally in terms of fast-growing VC ecosystems. In terms of development and growth combined, only London ranks in the global top 10, according to the report.
2–UK’s Competition Authority launches compliance guide on greenwashing
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), UK’s competition watchdog, released a compliance guide to assist businesses in adhering to the law, while advising 17 major brands to reassess their environmental claims.
Based on the CMA’s Green Claims Code, the guide aims to encourage compliance with consumer laws and foster fair competition among fashion companies, ensuring that consumers can trust the green claims they encounter. CMA urges 17 major fashion brands to reassess their business practices, particularly concerning broad or unclear terms and whether certain products should be included in “eco” ranges.
The brands have also been reminded that the CMA will soon gain increased powers under the 2024 Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act, allowing fines of up to 10% of global turnover for breaching consumer law.
The guide offers practical advice for fashion brands, including:
– Providing clear, complete information about products
– Clearly defining the criteria for including items in green collections and ensuring products meet these standards before labeling them as sustainable
– Being transparent about which parts of a product’s life cycle are considered in green claims
The guide follows the CMA’s investigation into greenwashing within the fashion industry, started in 2022, which revealed a growing number of companies making misleading environmental claims. The investigation led to landmark changes by ASOS, Boohoo, and George at Asda in March 2024, committing to accurate and clear environmental claims in their marketing. (I have a story here about Givin, a Turkish sustainable fashion startup)
3–Norway has more EVs than gas-powered cars
Electric vehicles (EV) surpassed gas-powered vehicles in Norway for the first time, which marks a significant global milestone in the transition away from fossil fuel vehicles. According to the Norwegian Road Federation (OFV), of the 2.8 million private cars registered in the country, 754,303 are fully electric, while 753,905 run on petrol. Although diesel vehicles are still the most common at just under one million, their sales are rapidly going lower.
“This is historic, a milestone no one anticipated a decade ago,” remarked OFV director Øyvind Solberg Thorsen, emphasizing that Norway is swiftly moving towards having an EV-dominated fleet.
Despite being a major oil producer, Norway aims to ensure that all new car sales are zero-emission vehicles, primarily electric, by 2025—ten years ahead of the European Union’s target. In August, EVs accounted for a record 94.3% of new car registrations, driven by strong sales of the Tesla Model Y. Let me add that Norway’s push for EVs has been supported by generous tax incentives, making EVs competitively priced compared to traditional fuel, diesel, and hybrid models. Norway’s success contrasts with challenges across the rest of Europe, where EV sales decreased at the end of 2023 and now represent just 12.5% of new car sales.
