# EU study flags scale-up challenge in strategic digital technologies > A European Commission study says the EU had 20,720 advanced digital technology start-ups in 2025, while commercialising research and scaling it internationally remain difficult. - Canonical URL: https://newsverum.com/en/news/eu-study-strategic-digital-tech-funding-september-2026 - Publisher: Newsverum - Section: Technology - Published: 2026-10-06T08:59:00+00:00 - Updated: 2026-10-07T05:57:30+03:00 - Event / data period: 2026-09-29 - Other editions: [Türkçe](https://newsverum.com/tr/news/eu-study-strategic-digital-tech-funding-september-2026.md), [العربية](https://newsverum.com/ar/news/eu-study-strategic-digital-tech-funding-september-2026.md), [Français](https://newsverum.com/fr/news/eu-study-strategic-digital-tech-funding-september-2026.md), [Español](https://newsverum.com/es/news/eu-study-strategic-digital-tech-funding-september-2026.md), [Deutsch](https://newsverum.com/de/news/eu-study-strategic-digital-tech-funding-september-2026.md), [Português](https://newsverum.com/pt/news/eu-study-strategic-digital-tech-funding-september-2026.md) The study was published to help shape priorities for critical digital technologies in the EU’s 2028–2034 research and innovation programme. The Commission reports more than 60,000 EU technology companies developing critical digital technologies and 20,720 advanced digital technology start-ups in 2025. It says Europe retains scientific strengths but is losing ground in research excellence and patenting across many digital fields, and struggles to turn results into commercial products at scale. About €13 billion was committed to digital technologies through Horizon Europe work programmes in 2021–2025; the report recommends continued support for industry links, infrastructure access and scale-up. ## Data ### Advanced digital technology start-ups in the EU 2025 count of advanced digital technology start-ups in the EU reported by the Commission study. Methodology: Figure for 2025 reported in the study; the company category follows the study’s advanced digital technology definition. | label | value | unit | period | basis | |---|---|---|---|---| | Advanced digital technology start-ups | 20720 | start-ups | 2025 | observed | Sources: · Download data: [JSON](https://newsverum.com/api/v1/articles/eu-study-strategic-digital-tech-funding-september-2026/data/digital-startups?lang=en&format=json) · [CSV](https://newsverum.com/api/v1/articles/eu-study-strategic-digital-tech-funding-september-2026/data/digital-startups?lang=en&format=csv) ## Sources - [European Commission]() (Source checked: 2026-10-06; Published: 2026-09-29) ## Correction history - 2026-10-07T00:50:03+03:00: German and Portuguese editions and translations of the data and correction explanations have been added to this article. - 2026-10-07T05:57:30+03:00: Data classification added: each figure now carries a measure identifier with its unit, geography, frequency and type. No figure, unit or date changed. --- Cite the canonical URL above. [Editorial standards and corrections](https://newsverum.com/en/editorial)