In a wide array of funding and investment directed at open source, enterprise and venture capital funding rarely gets an important slot in European discussions.

However, as shown in our recent "State of Commercial Open Source" research report of ~800 VC-backed commercial open source (COSS) companies, the virtuous cycle created by enterprise contributions and VC funding not only improves upstream open source projects across virtually every metric but drives thriving commercial ecosystems creating tangible economic and societal value.

The data is clear: while public funding (so far) often functions as early-stage seed capital or a safety net for critical projects, research shows enterprises contributing over $7.7B annually in funding and paid developer time to open source on a global basis. Furthermore there is a big promise in VC funding for open source, also in Europe, with the number and value of transactions rising in recent years, with $26.4B invested in 2024 and strong investment performance indicators.

As vertical sectors like finance, energy, telco, and agriculture increasingly embrace open source as a pillar of their digital transformation, it’s clear that commercial open source has become a superior venture model and a strategic opportunity for Europe, but one that requires engaging diverse stakeholders and mutual education on the opportunities at hand.

In this talk we will share Linux Foundation Europe’s experience of building (and balancing) some of the largest global open source ecosystems as well as Commit’s unique perspective as the first fund solely focused on commercial open source investments in Europe.