AVP 2026 index • second edition
The AVP
transatlantic
index 2026
One index, two markets, six themes.
The gap between Europe and the United States has not disappeared — but it is changing shape.
100+
founders surveyed
2 markets
europe & united states
6 themes
across the index
100+ founders • EU + US
key figures
The two markets, side by side.
capital gap
2.2 pts
EU 5.5 vs US 7.7 / 10.
The largest single gap.
talent gap
0.8 pts
Narrower than capital.
Closing fastest.
on US cloud / ai
69%
Founders running on US infrastructure.
balanced growth
66%
Chose profitability over growth-at-all-costs.
AI as opportunity: 9.0 / 10
Both sides agree. The most concentrated signal in the survey — zero transatlantic gap on the upside.
29% of EU founders
Still considering HQ relocation for capital access. Zero on the US side.
m&a as exit
63%
Realistic exit path today.
ai integrated
56%
AI is core or integrated into the product.
“We use Slack, Microsoft, Claude, and ChatGPT. We support the push for sovereignty, but until Europe steps up, we are going to use what we need to be successful.”
David Del Bourgo
Co-Founder and CEO, WhiteLab Genomics
six themes
The forces shaping the transatlantic founder landscape in 2026.
01
The wall between $10M and $100M
Two different walls. Europe’s is regulatory complexity. The US’s is litigation risk and public procurement. Both are real, both are being climbed.
02
The stack beneath the stack
AI as opportunity is settled. The 2026 question is dependency: 69% of founders run on US cloud or AI primitives.
03
Profitability, on purpose
Capital discipline is universal. 66% chose balanced growth. Only 6% still pursuing growth-at-all-costs.
04
The talent coming home
Talent gap is narrower than capital — and closing fastest. A small but real reverse flow of senior operators from US to Europe.
05
The exit that doesn’t exist yet
63% see M&A as the realistic exit. Legacy buyers can’t pay new-multiple prices — the active pattern is scale-up to scale-up M&A.
06
Sovereignty and the commercial bridge
69% on US cloud / AI. Founder-level alarm is muted today, but the architecture question is open for boards planning two years out.
Read the full index.
A detailed look across all six themes, the data behind each finding, and what it means for founders and investors building across the Atlantic in 2026.