A new list of 21 European startups worth watching - alongside the dominant names Lovable (Sweden) and Mistral (France), which are already a global conversation. The list covers companies from France, Spain, Sweden, the Czech Republic and several other European countries - and shows that Europe is no longer just a regulator of tech, but a builder of it.

Among them: BottleCap AI from Prague, developing foundational LLM models optimised for efficiency. The only Eastern European startup on the list - but present enough to remind people that the region is not just an outsourcing destination for the Western tech sector. PLD Space (Spain) is building an orbital rocket launcher - the kind of thing the EU is trying not to leave entirely to Musk. Proxima Fusion is working on nuclear fusion.

Across the list: AI agents, robotics, fintech, defence tech, space. This is not a roster of productivity apps or food-tech startups - it is a list of hardcore infrastructure bets. Europe has chosen to compete where it is harder and where it is needed.

Is the Balkans on the list? No. Could it be? The potential is there - engineering talent, lower costs, EU integration pressure pushing companies to look for local solutions. The question is whether an ecosystem will form to keep that talent home, instead of letting it move to Berlin, Vienna or London.