2025 marked a turning point for the EU GovTech project, as it evolved from a pilot aimed at accelerating public-sector digitalisation into a fully established initiative with a strategic mission: to explore, structure, and disseminate knowledge about the GovTech landscape across Europe.
Integrated within the Interoperable Europe Portal, EU GovTech provides a comprehensive overview of the innovative initiatives, startups and scaleups in Europe, while also showcasing best practices drawn from reports, studies, and market analyses.
EU GovTech offers to public and private innovators across Europe a dedicated space to increase visibility, build connections, and demonstrate impact, giving them the opportunity to be included in the GovTech Atlas. In addition, users can stay informed through the regularly updated news section and deepen their expertise via the Knowledge Centre featuring curated resources and reports on the GovTech ecosystem and market.
GovTech Initiatives: accelerators of innovation
EU GovTech Initiatives represent structured efforts designed to foster the adoption of innovative digital technologies within public administrations across Europe, with the aim of modernising, transforming, and enhancing the delivery of public services.
The EU Catalogue of GovTech Initiatives maps a diverse ecosystem of such entities, encompassing, among others, research centres, public agencies, incubators, and European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs). As of 2025, a total of 159 GovTech initiatives have been identified and mapped. Agencies and networks of the European Union account for the largest share, with 19 initiatives (12% of the total). At national level, Germany hosts the highest number of mapped initiatives (18, 11%), followed by Spain (17, 11%), Belgium (12, 8%), and Italy (11, 7%), highlighting a geographically diverse and dynamic GovTech landscape across Member States.
Geographical distribution of the EU GovTech Initiatives
Distribution of the initiatives based on sponsorship
EU GovTech Initiatives are supported through different sponsorship models, reflecting the collaborative nature of the ecosystem. These initiatives may be publicly sponsored, privately led, or established through public–private partnerships, depending on their governance structure and funding model. As of 2025, mixed public–private sponsorship represents the most prevalent model, accounting for 84 initiatives (53% of the total). Purely public sponsorship also plays a significant role with 63 initiatives (40%), underscoring the strong involvement of public authorities in shaping the GovTech landscape, while a smaller number of initiatives are exclusively privately sponsored, with 12 initiatives (8%). This distribution highlights the importance of cross-sector collaboration in driving digital innovation in the public sector.
In terms of initiative types, the ecosystem is equally diverse. European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) constitute the largest category with 56 initiatives (35% of the total), reflecting their central role in supporting digital transformation across Member States. They are followed by governmental agencies and public sector innovation bodies (36 initiatives, 23%), which further demonstrate the institutional commitment to GovTech development. Other relevant categories include GovTech hubs or labs (19, 12%), accelerators and incubators (18), European Commission projects (13), platforms and networks (18), and academia and research centres (5). Together, this typological distribution illustrates a mature and multifaceted GovTech ecosystem, combining policy-driven initiatives, innovation intermediaries, and knowledge institutions across Europe.
Distribution of the initiatives based on type
EU GovTech Companies: innovation meets the public sector
EU GovTech Companies are innovative startups and scaleups that function as key drivers of innovation in the public sector, developing and delivering digital solutions that support modernisation within public administrations across Europe. As of 2025, the Catalogue of EU GovTech Companies maps this dynamic and expanding ecosystem, capturing a total of 946 firms operating across a wide range of technological domains and public sector functions.
As of 2025, the Catalogue includes a broad geographical distribution of companies across European countries. Germany hosts the largest share, with 111 companies (12% of the total), followed by Spain with 94 (10%), Sweden with 89 (9%), Italy with 79 (8%), and France with 74 (7,8%). The Netherlands accounts for 64 companies (7%), while Denmark (45, 5%), Norway (42, 4%), and Finland (40, 4%) also demonstrate strong representation. This distribution highlights both the concentration of GovTech activity in several leading innovation ecosystems and the widespread emergence of GovTech entrepreneurship across Member States. It also reflects the dynamism of fast-growing innovation environments, such as Estonia with 21 companies (2%) and Ukraine with 13 companies (1.4%), as well as the presence of GovTech actors in smaller markets, including Georgia (4 companies, 0.4%) and Albania (2 companies, 0.2%).
Geographical distribution of the EU GovTech Companies
Distribution of GovTech Companies based on COFOG
The EU GovTech Companies Catalogue classifies companies according to the Classification of the Functions of Government (COFOG), a framework developed by the OECD to categorise public sector activities by policy domain. In 2025, the largest share of mapped GovTech companies operate in General public services, accounting for 304 companies (32% of the total). This is followed by Health, with 199 companies (21%), and Economic affairs, with 190 companies (20%). Education represents 67 companies (7%), while Public order and safety accounts for 74 companies (8%). Smaller but still relevant segments include Housing and community amenities (10 companies, 1%), Environmental protection (13 companies, 1%), Recreation, culture and religion (11 companies, 1%), and Social protection (19 companies, 2%). This functional distribution demonstrates that GovTech innovation in 2025 is strongly concentrated in core state functions and welfare-related services, while also extending across a broad range of government activities.
A transformation process into a fully established initiative
Timeline of the GovTech Connect and EU GovTech Projects
EU GovTech is the result of a process launched in 2022 to strengthen innovation and digital transformation across Europe’s public sector. Its first concrete step was GovTech Connect, a European Commission pilot project designed to build a pan-European GovTech ecosystem. Running until 2024, the initiative aimed to connect governments with innovative startups and was structured around four EU-wide GovTech startup boot camps, which formed the core mechanism for testing new models of collaboration between public administrations and emerging technology providers.
Building on the successful results of the pilot, in 2025 GovTech Connect has undergone a transitional phase aimed at consolidating the project into a fully established initiative. As part of this process, the project evolved into EU GovTech and was strategically embedded within Public Sector Tech Watch (PSTW) under the Interoperable Europe Portal. This transformation was supported by a complete redesign and rebranding of the Collection, including visual and structural alignment with the Portal’s identity, alongside a dedicated communication campaign to reinforce visibility and continuity within the GovTech community.
As part of this transition, several key innovations are being introduced to strengthen and expand the platform’s scope. Among them, a taxonomy revision of the Catalogue of GovTech Startups, now the Catalogue of the EU GovTech Companies, aims at better reflecting the maturity and diversity of the ecosystem. At the same time, the introduction of the “Submit Your GovTech Company” tool allows European innovative startups and scaleups to be included in the dataset by themselves. Moreover, the newly launched “Startup Corner Digest”, a monthly section of the EU GovTech news webpage, will provide insights and updates from the European GovTech and startups ecosystem.
Focus 1: An enriched database through a taxonomy revision
The redesign of the EU GovTech Collection and its closer integration with the Public Sector Tech Watch initiative have led to a revision of the taxonomy concerning the EU GovTech Companies database. With a data model that expands from 13 to up to 35 information elements, the updated taxonomy enables the collection of a broader and more accurate set of information, while ensuring full alignment with the PSTW classification framework. As a result, GovTech companies benefit from increased visibility and recognition through a more comprehensive description of both the firm and the solutions they offer. At the same time, public institutions and other stakeholders seeking GovTech solutions gain a deeper and more structured understanding of the services available. Moreover, the strengthened link with the PSTW catalogue enhances integration across the Collections and ultimately fosters closer, more valuable collaboration between public and private stakeholders.
Building on a methodological paper outlining the objectives of the taxonomy revision for the EU GovTech Companies Catalogue, the updated classification introduces several significant enhancements to the existing company-level information, such as name, website, geographical coverage and description. These include the addition of key data such as founding year and company size, covering indicators such as staff numbers, turnover, balance sheet and capital raised. The update also provides more granular information on the solutions offered, incorporating specifications on the technologies employed, including AI, blockchain, IoT, 5G, cloud computing and digital twinning, together with their corresponding Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs), ranging from level 1 (Basic Principles Observed) to level 9 (Actual System Proven in an Operational Environment). Furthermore, the Classification of the Functions of Government (COFOG) has been adopted to replace the previous main domain classification, thereby strengthening consistency, standardisation, and comparability across collections. The company status field has been expanded from two categories (active; inactive) to four (active; inactive; pre-launch; acquired), reflecting a broader range of development stages. Finally, to facilitate collaboration between and stakeholders such as public administrations and the GovTech companies listed in the database, a dedicated public contact detail has been included.
While newly added companies will already include the full set of updated information, a dedicated maintenance phase running until August 2026 is being carried out to enrich existing startup and scaleups profiles. This process will address missing data, verify company status and refine descriptions, ensuring overall completeness, accuracy, and consistency across the collection.
Focus 2: Deeper integration with the PSTW ecosystem
The strengthened link between EU GovTech and Public Sector Tech Watch, reinforced through the migration and redesign of the Collection, is reflected both in the enhanced features of the respective databases and in closer internal collaboration aimed at building shared knowledge and a cohesive community.
This integration is further reflected in the content created within Public Sector Tech Watch. Throughout 2025, several success stories on GovTech use cases and expert opinion articles on the GovTech ecosystem were published in the PSTW Collection. Among these, Ibrahim Köran, Head of GovTech at Heliad, highlighted the importance of GovTech investment in generating public value and driving innovation. In parallel, Iuliia Drobysh, Project Manager at the Kyiv GovTech Centre, explored how digital resilience has become a cornerstone of national resilience through GovTech initiatives.
In addition, stories including “Parla: Improving Access to Berlin’s Public Documentation through GenAI” and “Deliberations at scale in Eindhoven: fostering citizens’ participation with generative AI” illustrate how GovTech initiatives like Berlin CityLab and startups such as Dembrane, featured in the collections, are actively contributing to innovation across the European public sector.
Related features
- Discover the EU GovTech Atlas: https://interoperable-europe.ec.europa.eu/collection/eugovtech/govtech-atlas-explore-initiatives-and-companies
- Submit Your GovTech Company tool: https://interoperable-europe.ec.europa.eu/collection/eugovtech/submit-your-eu-govtech-company
- Link to the PSTW Collection: https://interoperable-europe.ec.europa.eu/collection/public-sector-tech-watch