Nesta has today launched a practical guide to help European entrepreneurs in all sectors understand the different sources of finance for business growth. 

Paths to Scale combines an exploration of different funding methods with real-life success stories and aims to help aspiring entrepreneurs overcome financial inhibitors for success — anything from a lack of confidence in their ability to their perceptions of future hurdles. 

The report comes at a time when, despite efforts to create a more nurturing environment for startups, Europe lags behind other ecosystems, such as the US, which produces four times more scale-ups than Europe. This, combined with other research which suggests up to 60 % of entrepreneurs struggle to access all the finance they need from their preferred source1, suggests Europe must do more to support its entrepreneurs. 

The guide from Nesta deconstructs eight routes to finance growth, drawing on scale-up examples such as DOVU and Glovo, demonstrating their path to success and aiming to inspire others to find the route that would most aid them. 

The report is published as part of the Startup Europe Partnership and will be followed by a report in May looking deeper into entrepreneurs’ motivations to seek finance for growth. 

You can download the report here!