A new initiative to tackle Europe’s chronic “scale-up gap” and give Central and Eastern Europe’s most promising companies a shot at becoming global champions is set to launch in Slovenia on September 1.

The Future 500 Forum is set to launch amid mounting concerns that Europe is lagging far behind the United States and Asia in turning promising start-ups into world-class companies. Only four of the world’s top 50 technology firms are European, the founders pointed out to bne IntelliNews ahead of the official launch during the Bled Strategic Forum. 

The initiative, co-founded by the Atlantic Council, the IEDC – Bled School of Management and Croatian entrepreneur and investor Stjepan Orešković, will bring together EU policymakers, investors, unicorn founders and innovators in Bled to chart a path for scaling up 500 high-potential companies over the coming years. 

“We start where others stop,” Orešković told bne IntelliNews. “The Draghi Competitiveness Report, while an important document, stops short of addressing the true engine of economic transformation: entrepreneurs. It speaks of laws, institutions, and capital – but is silent on the builders of the future. Future 500 puts entrepreneurs at the centre, not as beneficiaries, but as drivers of Europe's competitive renewal.”

Europe’s missing link

Expanding on the plans, Orešković said: “We will create a dedicated, professionally governed institutional framework to ensure the long-term sustainability of the Future 500. We are ready to invest 10,000 hours of work before we see one champion become a global winner – and we are here for the long-term.” 

This will involve what he describes as a "private equity-style network of investors, advisors and blue-chip expertise”, including business leaders who have scaled up globally. 

A scientifically developed methodology, created with partners including Oxford University, Deloitte and EY, will be used to identify 500 companies with the greatest potential to scale. The first comprehensive list is due to be published in September 2026.

The initiative is being launched in collaboration with the Bled Strategic Forum, Podim as startup ecosystem partner, and the Institute for Strategic Solutions.

CESEE in focus

While the initiative will operate across Europe, Orešković said its focus will be on Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe (CESEE), a region that has delivered the fastest economic growth in the EU over the last decade but remains largely absent from Brussels’ strategic planning.

The EU is forecast to grow by just 1.1% in 2025 and 1.5% in 2026, with Germany, France and Italy all expected to expand by under 2%, weighed down by trade tensions, high energy costs and demographic pressures.

By contrast, some Central and Southeast EU states such as Poland and Croatia are expected to expand at a faster pace, above 3-4%.

“We will correct a critical blind spot: Central and Eastern Europe,” he said. “Future 500 starts here – with the innovators, scale-ups, and champions of CEE/SEE – not as a token inclusion, but as the foundation of a European economic resurgence.”

He listed cities including Belgrade, Cluj, Krakow, Ljubljana and Sofia as examples of where entrepreneurial talent is already creating transformative companies. 

“What we see in Central and Southeast Europe is a region full of untapped potential, with entrepreneurs and high-growth ventures building transformative companies with the potential to reshape fields like technology, AI, sustainability, and manufacturing. Yet too many are forced to look abroad for growth capital or recognition,” said Jörn Fleck, senior director at the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center, in a press release emailed to bne IntelliNews. 

The scale-up challenge

Looking at the reasons for Europe’s ‘scale-up gap’, Orešković identifies a lack of innovation-driven leadership he said has led to a “quiet exodus of value” from the EU, while overbearing regulation and structural weaknesses make it difficult for the bloc to retain capital. 

Institutional investors, in particular, are hampered by stringent requirements that discourage them from taking on higher-risk investments in venture capital and the private sector. Orešković also pointed to structural weaknesses in Europe’s capital markets as a major obstacle to scaling. 

“Late-stage capital is fragmented, there is vast variation among member states and sectors and regulatory environments vary by border and there are too few institutional investors willing to bet on growth in Europe,” he said. “[Former European Central Bank governor Mario] Draghi’s report on EU competitiveness suggested many initiatives that should be put into practice, particularly private sector leadership.”

Fleck echoed the concern, commenting: “Europe already has the talent to lead globally; what it lacks is scale.” 

Organisers say the strong interest in the forum – previewed earlier this year in Brussels and Washington – is proof of pent-up demand. Registrations have exceeded expectations, forcing a move to a larger venue in Bled.