Does a lack of investment hamper European start-ups?

Europe needs to increase its investment in the tech sector, according to CA Technologies.

Despite having the same level of coding proficiency as America, Europe's start-up scene still lags behind Silicon Valley in many ways, EMEA president Marco Comastri said at CA World, the company's annual conference, last week.

"In terms of competence, I don't see a big difference. Universities in Europe, I think they are delivering a level of education which I think is the same quality as any other university in the world," he said.

"In Silicon Valley, it's easier to start a company in this kind of new environment Why? I think it's easier to find money - to find risk capital."

Comastri says that this is due to Europe's much more risk-averse financial culture. America, by contrast, breeds many more venture capitalist firms.

These speculative investment firms have played a large part in Silicon Valley's success, frequently providing large cash injections to startups, allowing them to grow and flourish.

According to Comastri, Europe's more turbulent economic conditions have hade firms reticent to gamble on untested start-ups.

"We need to take a little bit more risk, because risk equals reward. In a way, I think we are too conservative We are not trusting our youth, which I think is a killer," he added.

He also noted that European business culture is a lot less forgiving of failure than it is in America. "It's a problem," he claimed. "It's something we need to fix. Because if we want to push the innovation, we need to accept failures."