Niklas Zennström: Europe will build a trillion-euro tech company
Key takeaways from Atomico founder Niklas ZennströmDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →'s interview with Nadine Schimroszik of Handelsblatt (published 5 October 2026), and his LinkedIn post on it:
- A trillion-euro company from Europe: Asked whether Europe can build a trillion-euro technology company, Zennström answered "a resounding yes". He does not know which company or country it will come from, but says it will happen.
- Each success raises the bar: "Every success story raises the bar for the next generation." Every breakthrough gives founders the confidence to think bigger and gives more people the experience to start companies of their own.
- The Skype cycle: Zennström co-founded Skype, which he sold to eBay in 2005 for around $3B. He says Skype showed a global technology company could be built from Europe, and its alumni went on to found businesses and pass that experience on. That cycle is now repeating across Europe.
- Innovation, not copies: European founders used to copy US companies and rely on language barriers for protection. "Those times are over," he says; they now build original innovations.
- The missing piece is capital: Europe has exceptional founders and talent, but still lacks growth capital and larger European funds. Zennström wants more European institutional and pension capital put to work, so promising companies can scale and more of the value they create flows back to European savers and retirees.
- Atomico at 20: Zennström founded Atomico in London in 2006. Its portfolio includes billion-dollar companies such as DeepL and The Exploration Company. He says the technologies being built now will shape Europe's resilience, prosperity and competitiveness for decades.
Read more: Handelsblatt · LinkedIn
