After reading this post [0] I learned that doing business or founding a company in Germany was quite hard. I was wondering which European countries are the best for start-ups and companies? For people who may start small and raise funding domestically and/or aboard?<p>How is the European business atomsphere compared to that of USA and Canada?<p>Thank you.<p>[0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31601638
As just one tiny data point, I recently started a limited company (Aktiebolag) in Sweden and the process of application, opening a bank account, and applying for VAT was _quite_ straightforward. It was not a very fast process and there was a bit of waiting for the various stages to be reviewed (about 5 weeks in total if I remember correctly). But the startup capital was much lower than Germany (25000 SEK) and the whole process was completed online.<p>For less patient people who need an AB with a quicker turnaround, there are companies that can sell you an already formed company with a registered name and company number for what in my opinion is a pretty reasonable fee.<p>However, I did this without any intention to raise funding so cannot speak to that side of it.
I'm in Lithuania for 1 year already, and I'd say depends on what kind of company you want to found.<p>Here in Baltics it's very good for B2B SaaS fintech, deep tech, and that kinda stuff.<p>Everywhere else e-commerse is big.<p>Also depends if you're bootstrapping or fundraising. Fundraising is easier if you're incorporated in Estonia, in other countries no one cares, you'll still need to incorporate in US with C-Corp.<p>The community in Europe is still forming imo.
The process of registering and maintaining a company in the UK is probably as simple and cheap as it gets.<p>London has also emerged as a major hub for tech startups and funding.<p>The snag these days is that the UK is no longer in the single market.