How Europe can compete with the US’s tech entrepreneurial spirit

If Europe wants to create more new businesses it has to become more American, as China has done – at least in this regard

If you look at the 400-plus ‘unicorns’, new companies with a market value of more that $1bn (£780m), the list is dominated by the US and China (AFP/Getty)

Why hasn’t Europe created some social media giants – and what does that say about the future of our continent’s economy?

It is a question we don’t ask ourselves often enough, for we accept – and I think this applies to continental Europeans as well as Britons – that it should be normal for us to go on Facebook, Google things we want to check, watch YouTube clips on our iPhones, and soon be catching up on Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s next adventures on Amazon Prime. Six out of the top 10 social networks are American – and the other four are Chinese.

Now it is true that the titans are under pressure. There is a move in the US to break them up, and in Europe to make them pay more tax. But it is hard to see their role being displaced, for there are no significant European challengers. This failure continues. Look at how TikTok has shot up the global league table. That shows that new entrants can break into the market and is ranked number nine by Statista with 500 million users. But, of course, it is Chinese. It may have started to lose a bit of ground now, but it does raise the question: if the Chinese can create new social networks that attract our young, why on earth can’t we do so?