Forget FAANG. Europe needs to bet on BRIOCHE!

2026-06-25 · Source: Sifted · Field: Technology & Digital — Emerging Technologies & Innovation, Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, E-commerce & Digital Commerce · Depth: Fundamental Awareness, short

Summary

An editorial proposes "BRIOCHE" as a new acronym to highlight Europe's emerging tech champions, comprising Bolt, Revolut, Iceye, Oura, Celonis, Helsing, and ElevenLabs. This initiative aims to create a coherent narrative for European tech, similar to how FAANG (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google) or MANGOS (Meta, Anthropic, Nvidia, Google, OpenAI, SpaceX) did for US companies. Unlike FAANG's California cluster, BRIOCHE companies span diverse sectors like mobility, defense, enterprise software, AI, and wearables, and are geographically distributed from Estonia to the UK. The article argues that Europe should celebrate its tech successes earlier, rather than waiting for them to reach trillion-dollar valuations, to prevent founders and investors from migrating to the US and losing regional ownership.

Key takeaway

For investors and policymakers evaluating European tech, you should actively identify and champion promising companies like those in the proposed BRIOCHE acronym early in their growth. Waiting for trillion-dollar valuations risks losing these innovators to US markets and investors. Proactive support and recognition are crucial to cultivate a robust, self-sustaining European tech ecosystem and prevent talent migration.

Key insights

Europe must recognize and champion its tech companies early to foster regional growth and retention.

Principles

• Acronyms create coherent tech narratives.
• Early recognition retains tech talent.
• Tech success isn't solely trillion-dollar valuations.

In practice

• Identify diverse European tech leaders.
• Promote regional tech success stories.
• Support companies before global dominance.

Topics

• European Tech
• Tech Acronyms
• Startup Ecosystems
• Venture Capital
• AI Startups
• Enterprise Software

Best for: Investor, Entrepreneur, Executive

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Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by Sifted.