At France Digitale Day in Paris this week, France Digitale, a startup advocacy association which lobbies the French government for startup legislation, has launched Allied for Startups, alongside 14 other country-based associations of similar nature based on 4 continents: Startup Chile, Startup Brazil, Berlin-based The Factory, Startup Malaysia, the USA’s Engine Advocacy & Startup Malaysia are just some of the well-known advocacy groups who have signed on board.
The goal of the group is simple: create an international lobby that can push pro-startup legislation across multiple markets, evening out the playing field and eliminating the fragmentations of legislation across markets. Taxation, privacy, Startup Visa, Open Data & Copyright law are all on the docket.
Speaking with France Digitale co-founder and VC Marie Ekeland about this project earlier this week, she made it clear that France Digitale’s ability to affect change within France was limited due to the international nature of many of the problems faced by the venture & startup community today. With multiple countries and continents leveraging a common legislation, there is a possibility to have a greater impact, to push a level playing field, and bring a larger representation and understanding of legislation to startups.