It's time to cash in on Britain's global talent The event was initiated last year by Index Ventures, along with JP Morgan and Code Advisors, with the simple idea of introducing the two sides of the marketplace - companies and investors - to one another. The 13 companies presenting that day came from across European time zones - the UK, the Netherlands, Spain, Scandinavia and Russia - and delivered a refreshingly diverse mix of products and services, from games, e-commerce, payments solutions and enterprise software to financial services, entertainment and travel. Common to most was their global reach and their focus on offering services via mobile devices and tablets, as well as the desktop web. Investors were in many cases surprised at the scale and rate of growth these businesses were able to show and at the sophistication of the management teams" presentations. There was palpable electricity in the room and most left the conference with the impression that European technology - so long depicted as the bridesmaid to Silicon Valley's starrier bride - is reaching game-changing velocity. The businesses we saw at the event were a very representative sample of European-born high growth companies. But they were just that a sample. Indeed, we estimate that there are more than 50 companies in the IPO "zone," comprising businesses that are growing fast and have substantial revenues (at least five of the 13 have sales exceeding $500m). Fewer than half are Index-backed companies. But although there's much to celebrate, we need a reality check too. Events such as these are all too rare on this side of the Atlantic. In the US, they are viewed as part of the basic education of companies and investors in the run-up to a potential IPO, which is why the only option European and Israeli stars have had -if they wanted an in-depth and insightful conversation about capital markets over the past 10 to 15 years - has been to fly across the Atlantic. While it's no exaggeration to say that these conversations are an essential part of the process of building great companies, it's also true that, in itself, the conference was not the silver bullet to tackle that much-hyped question: "Where are the European $bn companies?" Nevertheless, it was a significant part of a wider campaign that was kicked off in May last year by Neil Rimer of Index Ventures and followed up with a number of posts and press articles. The campaign addressed the issues around providing genuine choice to entrepreneurs who want to continue to build their companies independently without resorting to a sale to a large US corporation. We argued that the London Stock Exchange needed to open up to high growth tech companies and that investors should take a closer look at the great businesses being built on their doorstep. The LSE and the Government responded magnificently by creating the "High Growth Sector" on the main market and abolishing stamp duty on AIM stocks held within ISAs to improve retail investor participation and increase liquidity. And yet an attitude of "Why bother with pushing the LSE and exposing these companies to UK and European fund managers, when there are perfectly good markets in New York?" persists in many quarters. Which is why the case for our best crop of companies going public in London still needs to be made. And made vociferously. To that end, these are the factors that I believe tilt the balance in London's favour (over New York), if the business has its headquarters in Europe and, potentially, Israel: Operational challenges: you cannot run any company without talking to your shareholders regularly. In the case of a publicly listed one, every quarter - without fail. For a European head-quartered company with a predominantly US shareholder base, this means regular coast-to-coast trips for the chief executive and chief financial officer. There are also the analyst and press briefings to be done. Sure, an investor relations team can take some of the intensity, but make no mistake, the cost and distraction are significant and exacerbated by distance and jet lag. Creating a US HQ is an option, but there are also significant associated costs from economic and business perspectives. The mythology of the higher valuation obtained in the US: it's generally assumed that US investors value growth companies more highly than their more conservative counterparts in the UK. This may well apply to pre-profit companies, but examining some of the investment banks" statistics we see that after two years the price-to-earnings ratios tend to even out. We would argue in any case that the listing price is of relatively small consequence - especially if current shareholders are not "bailing out." Markets value growth, of course, but they also value predictability and strong earnings. US (and other) investors do invest in European companies listed on the LSE: increasingly the top tech investors are global. Look at the major shareholders of Rightmove, ASOS, MoneySuperMarket. Unequalled support from the very top: if you plan a listing in the US, you are unlikely to get an invitation to the White House. Here in London, however, we are regularly able to get the government and the LSE into the same room thanks to the support of No 10 and the Chancellor. It's becoming increasingly clear that we cannot continue to have a thriving startup scene without the later, higher rungs in the ladder being in place too. We need viable, compelling options for companies who wish to remain independent and join the ranks of the global giants. Robin Klein is a Venture Partner at Index Ventures and Founding Partner of The Accelerator Group