- AVP’s annual Transatlantic Founder Index finds that almost two thirds of European founders won’t reduce reliance on US AI providers due to scale and performance fears
- Survey also finds that, despite Europe’s best efforts to retain its leading startups, 29% of European founders are considering relocating headquarters to the US to improve access to capital
- And European founders’ IPO ambitions have collapsed, as the data shows all exit routes point to US acquisition
London, UK, 27 May 2026 – European tech founders are continuing to build their businesses on US AI infrastructure despite growing political pressure around technology sovereignty, according to a new report by AVP, the independent global investment platform managing more than €2.5bn across Europe and North America.
The 2026 AVP Transatlantic Founder Index surveyed more than 100 founders across Europe and the US and found that 69% of companies run primarily or entirely on US cloud and AI providers, including 62% of European founders.
Despite intensifying debate around European technology and AI independence, fewer than one in four European founders say they care about the dependency on US infrastructure. Instead, founders continue to prioritise access to the strongest models, developer ecosystems and infrastructure capabilities over domestic European alternatives.
“Switching away from a working cloud provider or rebuilding an AI integration on a European alternative that does not yet exist at the same capability level, is an expense most growth-stage companies cannot justify,”said François Robinet, Managing Partner at AVP. “They cannot afford to move away from infrastructure that works when European alternatives are not yet ready. Companies will use the tools that help them survive and scale.”
The capital gap – a stubborn structural problem
It’s not only the technology infrastructure that European startup founders depend on, it’s also the depth of capital available in the US. In fact, the discrepancy between US and EU is so severe that nearly one in three (29%) of European founders is prepared to move the business across the Atlantic for better access, while zero US founders reported considering a relocation.
European founders rate capital access at 5.5 out of 10. US founders rate it at 7.7. The 2.2-point gap is the largest single finding in the Index and the most stable year-on-year, barely shifting from 2025. US founders are nearly 50% more likely to describe capital access as ‘very easy.’
The exit that no longer exists
For the European startups that make strong progress on their growth journey, their exit options feel narrower than ever before and this sentiment is shared on both sides of the Atlantic. In 2025, 11% of European founders named an IPO as their target exit. In 2026, that figure has fallen to fewer than 5%. Among US founders, it has reached zero. 63% of all founders now name M&A as their most realistic exit path. However, even if you’re a European founder, and despite Europe’s best efforts to retain its startups, all roads lead to a US acquisition.
Three reasons for optimism
The talent gap is closing. The 2026 Index is the first to detect a visible reverse flow of senior operators from the US back to Europe, citing visa friction, political uncertainty and questions about raising families in the current US environment. The gap has narrowed to 0.8 points (EU 6.2 vs US 7.0), well below the 2.2-point capital gap, and closing faster.
The discipline built in the downturn is now an asset. The founders who used 2023–2025 to harden unit economics and extend runway are now the ones with room to take calculated risks on new geographies, new products and opportunistic M&A.
“The point is not European protectionism,” said Robinet. “It is European permanence. The founders in this report are not choosing between the US and Europe. They are demanding the right to build globally without having to abandon where they came from to do it. That is a reasonable demand which has not, until now, been adequately met.”
Growth-at-all-costs is over, but customer acquisition is the new pressure point
Elsewhere, in the report, the era when venture-backed companies could delay profitability indefinitely is over, and not just because the cycle turned. It is over because investors have changed what they are willing to fund. Even in AI, where growth is the strongest, the same shift is happening.
Only 6% still of founders surveyed describe growth-at-all-costs as their primary focus, while 66% are focusing on balanced growth and profitability, a near-complete reversal of the 2021 playbook. What’s more, over the past two years, 96% of founders have extended their runway, and the gap between European and US founders on this question is the smallest in the Index.
Kos Stiskin, co-founder and CEO of Finom, said “Profitability becomes a concern when the money runs out. Minus a tiny handful of outliers, the vast majority of companies have to grow profitably.”
The discipline is showing up in founder behaviour too. Customer acquisition is now the top growth challenge for 41% of founders, ahead of both capital access and scaling operations. Having survived the funding squeeze, the competitive battle in 2026 is winning customers, not raising capital.
“The wind is shifting. Investors are looking at gross margins and unit economics in addition to topline growth. You see it in cancelled projects across the industry — the market is asking for high growth and discipline. That’s always been Deepgram’s approach: own the models and infrastructure, control the cost curve, build a strong core business that fuels innovation,” said Scott Stephenson, Co-Founder and CEO at Deepgram.
The AVP Transatlantic Founder Index report can be found here:
https://transatlanticindex2026.avpcap.com/
ENDS
Methodology
100+ founders, across the US and Europe, of venture-backed technology companies completed the survey, across stages ranging from Venture to Growth, and across sectors including B2B SaaS, fintech, AI infrastructure, deeptech, biotech, defence and dual-use, and consumer. The sample focused on venture-backed technology companies, with the majority at growth stage (Series B and beyond). Regional breakdowns are based on headquarters location at time of survey completion.
