This collaboration involved examining 2,000 potential candidates, eventually narrowing down to 125 leading entities in innovation support across 19 European countries. The evaluation was based on three primary criteria: feedback from alumni who had participated in at least one programme, recommendations from external experts including investors, entrepreneurs, and academics, and an analysis of the most successful startups that emerged from each hub.

Last year marked the tenth anniversary of the Enterprise Hub, which has supported nearly 400 researchers, graduates, and SME leaders. These individuals have subsequently founded and expanded businesses that apply their inventions in practical settings. The scheme's members have been instrumental in creating close to 6,000 jobs and have successfully secured over £1.3 billion in additional funding.

Commenting on the top ten place announcement, Dr John Lazar CBE FREng, Chair of the Enterprise Committee, said: “I am thrilled to see this recognition for the Hub after a decade of working to support talented entrepreneurs and business leaders.  The Enterprise Hub has helped them to transform breakthrough engineering innovations into disruptive spinouts, startups and scaleups that seek to solve the pressing problems of our time. We hope this ranking helps us to attract even more engineers from all backgrounds to apply for our schemes and get the support they need.”

Agnes Czako is the Founder and CEO of AirEx, a smart ventilation system. She is now expanding her business after taking part in the Enterprise Hub’s SME Leaders programme in 2020. She says: “We loved working with their team, both during our programme and also since then, as an alumni. The team has always been helpful, cooperative, and friendly. We received great support around fundraising, hiring and peer-to-peer support through meeting other hub alumni companies."

George Wright is CEO of Vochlea Music, a music technology company. He completed the Enterprise Fellowships programme in 2018 and says: "Without the Enterprise Hub, Vochlea would have failed before it started. The hardest thing for any new entrepreneur (who doesn’t have inherited wealth) is the initial capital. The second hardest thing is using that capital wisely enough to kickstart their business. The Enterprise hub provides both the initial capital and the entrepreneurial training for how to use it wisely. I was very fortunate to be backed by the hub and have the greatest respect for their mentorship and support."

UK companies topped the list of Europe’s leading Startup Hubs 2024, with 24 winners, 16 are from Germany, and 15 from Spain.