欧洲创业者入侵硅谷

    在旧金山市中心一间空旷办公室中，一众西装革履的欧洲官员清了清嗓子，开始谈论欧洲创新和美国投资的荣耀。他们打算建立一家全新的硅谷中心，希望让欧洲的创业天才得到美国人的资助。

    为了庆祝中心的成立，他们在台上举行了剪彩仪式，并用泡沫拼出了欧盟旗帜和美国国旗。不过观众都在玩自己的手机。

    这场充斥着商会式长篇演讲的活动，凸显了欧洲和硅谷之间的脱节。尽管欧洲人试图模仿美国科技界的成功，但他们仍然要学许多东西——首先，他们需要放松自己，还要保持这一行业轻松愉快的氛围。

    意大利总领事莫罗·巴托基在台上表示：“如果欧洲来张自拍，那一定是个老太太形象。”

    这一全新的科技中心于9月正式开放，意图在这个由谷歌（Google）、Facebook和苹果（Apple）统治的时代中展现欧洲最优秀的创新成果。来自海外的初创公司需要向旧金山湾区的投资者证明他们的确有一些新创意，因为投资者还有许多其他选择。

    欧洲人有充分的理由寻求旧金山湾区科技界的投资。据道琼斯旗下的市场研究机构Dow Jones Venture Source统计，风险投资家在2013年对美国公司投资了330亿美元。这是欧盟所有企业同期获得投资额的4倍以上。

    而在科技界，这一差距甚至更大。去年，美国科技公司获得的风投资金为86.7亿美元，而欧盟的同类公司仅有14.4亿美元。

    这个新的欧洲中心设在旧金山市中心一家名为Rocketspace的联合办公室内，那里已经是加拿大、巴西和西班牙公司的孵化中心。来自欧洲各地的初创公司都会受邀前往这里，免费接受培训，参加活动。

    为这家中心提供赞助的机构有着一个极具官僚作风的冗长名字：欧洲创新与科技研究院和通信科技实验室（European Institute of Innovation and Technology Information and Communication Technology Labs）。这个中心自身则使用了一个缩写名称：EITICT实验室，由此可看出组织者多么需要得到硅谷营销专家的帮助。

    包括德国、法国、西班牙和意大利在内的许多国家都已经在硅谷设立了孵化中心，提供导师、培训课程和社交机会等服务。然而，EIT ICT实验室表示他们将从所有欧洲初创公司中挑选最合适的推销对象。这一点，而不是提供某种重要服务，似乎是他们的主要卖点。

    该中心的硅谷顾问保罗·坎贝尔表示：“我们可以优中选优，从而进一步简化筛选过程。”

    In a bare office in downtown San Francisco, European bureaucrats wearing suits and ties cleared their throats and spoke about the glory of European innovation and American investment. They were launching a new Silicon Valley hub that they hoped would get European start-up talent American funding.

    To celebrate, they snipped a ribbon unfurled across the stage and assembled a foam puzzle showing the European Union and US flags. The audience checked their cellphones.

    The event, with its long Chamber of Commerce-style speeches, highlights the disconnect between Europe and Silicon Valley. Although Europeans are trying to emulate the U.S. tech industry’s success, they still have much to learn – starting with the need to loosen up, in keeping with the region’s free and easy vibe.

    “If Europe took a selfie, it would be an old lady,” Mauro Battocchi, Italy’s consul general, said on stage.

    The new tech hub, which formally opened in September, is intended to showcase the best of European innovation at a time when American technology by the likes of Google, Facebook and Apple dominate. The overseas start-ups will need to prove that they have something new to offer Bay Area investors who have plenty of other options to choose from.

    There’s a good reason for the Europeans to look for money in the Bay Area tech scene. In 2013, venture capitalists invested $33 billion in US companies, according to Dow Jones Venture Source. That’s more than four times the amount invested in companies in the entire European Union.

    The gap is even wider in the tech industry. Total venture capital invested in the US tech industry reached $8.67 billion last year compared with just $1.44 billion in Europe.

    The new European hub is hosted in a co-working office in downtown San Francisco called Rocketspace, which is already home to incubators for Canada, Brazil and Spain. Start-ups from all over Europe will be invited to work out of the office, get training and participate in events, at no charge.

    In typical bureaucratic fashion, the organization sponsoring the hub has a mouthful of a name: European Institute of Innovation and Technology Information and Communication Technology Labs. The hub, itself, is known by the acronym, EIT ICT Labs, which shows just how desperately the organizers could use help from Silicon Valley’s marketing gurus.

    A number of countries already have start-up incubators in Silicon Valley including Germany, France, Spain, and Italy. They offer services ranging from mentorship, education classes, and networking opportunities. However, EIT ICT Labs says it will distinguish itself by drawing from start-ups all across Europe, and this rather than any other major program offerings seems to be their major selling point.

    “We can pick the best of the best and make the selection process more streamlined,” says Paul Campbell, the Silicon Valley advisor for the hub.