Activating Investment Ecosystems: Connect2Scale Publishes Its Policy Recommendations
Connect2Scale has published its Policy Recommendations on Activating Investment Ecosystems, offering a concrete, investor-driven roadmap to strengthen early-stage and cross-border investment across Europe. Developed through extensive stakeholder consultations and an EU-wide investor Task Force, the recommendations address the structural barriers that continue to limit Europe’s ability to scale innovative companies.
The publication responds directly to Europe’s fragmented investment landscape, where regulatory divergence, administrative complexity, uneven investor maturity, and limited exit opportunities slow down capital deployment across borders. Drawing on insights from angel investors, Business Angel Networks, venture stakeholders, and policymakers, the recommendations outline practical measures to build a more integrated, digital, and trust-based European investment market.
What are the key recommendations?
- Legal and Regulatory Harmonisation
- Standardisation, Transparency, and Digitalisation
- Investor Education, Cultural Alignment, and Accreditation
- Syndication and Co-Investment Enablement
- Exit Opportunities and Liquidity Mechanisms
- Cross-Border Integration and Market Infrastructure
These outline what Europe needs to unlock a truly integrated early-stage investment market.
List of Recommendations
At the core of the recommendations is the need for legal and regulatory harmonisation. Investors call for the forthcoming European “28th Regime” to establish a predictable framework for early-stage investment, including harmonised accounting standards, simplified cross-border deal structures, and the elimination of double taxation for cross-border angel syndicates. These measures aim to reduce legal uncertainty and transaction costs, making it easier for investors to operate across Member States.
“Legal and regulatory harmonisation, standardisation, digitalisation, investor trust, exit opportunities and capital recycling.”
The recommendations also place strong emphasis on standardisation, digitalisation, and investor trust. Proposals include a unified European business registry, standard investment templates, fully digital incorporation and governance processes, and a European-wide investor accreditation framework. Together with enhanced investor education, lead investor training, and clearer syndication standards, these measures seek to professionalise angel investing and enable cross-border syndication at scale.
In parallel, the policy framework highlights the importance of exit opportunities and capital recycling. Investors recommend improving secondary liquidity mechanisms, strengthening corporate, startup acquisition pathways, and increasing transparency around exit outcomes. Without credible exit routes, early-stage capital cannot recycle efficiently, limiting the long-term sustainability of Europe’s investment ecosystem.
Read the full document HERE.
The Policy Recommendations were presented to the European investment community during the European Angel Investment Summit 2025 (EAIS25) in Brussels, organised by EBAN and the European Commission. A dedicated Connect2Scale session reaffirmed that while cross-border angel investment is widely recognised as strategically important, coordinated action at EU level remains essential to unlock its full potential.
With this publication, Connect2Scale contributes a clear, implementation-oriented perspective to the European policy debate on scaling innovation. The recommendations provide policymakers, ecosystem builders, and investors with a shared reference point for aligning frameworks, incentives, and practices, an essential step towards a truly European investment ecosystem.