I don't usually make my personal projects public. By definition, if they are personal, they must be private. And in order to be public, they cannot be mine. They must belong to an employer, or to any of a number of organizations or institutions I have come to represent and act on behalf of over the years.

This project is different, because it's both public and deeply personal, so don't linger too much on the profoundly individualized language being used here.

Europe is home. It's my only home. My country of birth is not home. Other countries I have lived in were not home. Europe, that impossible abstraction of diversity, narrow cobbled streets, a tortuous past stretching back centuries, and boundless pride, is the only possible home for me.

And the European Union, a bastion of everlasting complexity, is the closest thing in existence to the container that holds it all together.

Nearly twenty years ago, playing an invisible part in building the European project was my job. If you scroll down long enough on my LinkedIn profile, the reference is still there.

While tech peers in my age cohort joined startups like Facebook, I witnessed the fallout from the Great Depression behind the sound proof glass of an interpreting booth, in the EC, the EP and the ECJ. It wasn't exactly an age where Member-States' representatives found themselves demanding a closer European integration. And it was most definitely not the easiest career start for someone in her early twenties.

Back then, the idea that one day it would be the software industry, of all industries, claiming for a better, faster and deeper European integration (or, to put it bluntly, European federalism) would have been something from the world of science fiction.

But the EU appears to have finally managed to create a generation of people who claim an identity as Europeans, alongside the usual nationalists. Let's seize the opportunity to further, dare I say, to complete, a Pan-European identity project that is exactly 75 years in the making.

75 years ago, the European Community of Coal and Steel was created from the ruins of WW2 with a single purpose: to make it economically unfeasible to have have war devastate the European continent ever again. It was a pact which bound together six countries and two essential commodities through regulation.

In 2026, tech, including software, has become digital infrastructure. That has already happened. What is missing is the claim that Europe has successfully built an infrastructure which reflects the goals and the values of the European project.

Make no mistake, there is no shortage of tech companies in Europe. But we, as tech people, have been taught to look elsewhere for examples of success, in terms of funding, growth, valuation, company size, company lifespan, and our own career expectations. The lessons we have learned, as competent tech professionals, don't match the reality outside our windows. That is both alienating and a growing problem.

Tech looks different in Europe, and that's nothing to be ashamed of. Let's explore together what it actually means. We can all draw a successful SV tech company with our eyes closed. Let's learn what success looks like here.

What we will do: Hear from those building European companies today and document what the journey looks like.

Why we will do it: Data missing. There’s a US-centricity problem that prevents Europeans working in tech from having a realistic view of what to expect.

What’s next: Feature articles and analysis of companies and products made in Europe.

How to contribute: fill out the form, reach out on LinkedIn. Share tips on great companies and founders that deserve some recognition.