European founders call for single EU startup body to boost tech sector [Video]

Founders of some of Europe’s largest technology unicorns on Monday backed an open letter calling for a “tech renaissance” fueled by the creation of a single pan-European entity to promote startups and innovation in the bloc.

The list of entrepreneurs backing the proposal includes the likes of Patrick Collison, CEO of payments tech giant Stripe; Taavet Hinrikus, co-founder of money transfer app Wise and venture capital firm Plural, and Eléonore Crespo, CEO of French accounting software unicorn Pigment.

The letter was also signed by VC firms Index Ventures, Sequoia and Seedcamp.

“The multitude of countries and cultures in Europe is its unfair advantage. But because of that, our startup scene is fragmented,” read the open letter, which was published Monday on a newly created website for the EU Inc initiative.

“Legal and regulatory compliance is a burden, and cross-border collaboration is rare,” said the letter, which added that, unlike U.S. venture capitalists, the capital from European investors tends to remain …