Which firms receive digital innovation support? Evidence from the European Digital Innovation Hubs network

Governments have increasingly prioritised business support services and innovation intermediaries to stimulate economic growth, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises. This article examines which firms access services from publicly funded digital innovation intermediaries, using data from European digital innovation hubs (EDIHs), to compare approximately 15,600 customer firms against the broader European business population across demographics, performance, capital structure and innovativeness. We find that EDIH customers tend to be larger, faster-growing and more active in high-tech, knowledge-intensive and ICT sectors, suggesting stronger pre-existing digital capabilities. These findings indicate that, while EDIHs support innovative and digitally mature firms, less advanced firms may be systematically underserved. Policymakers designing innovation intermediary initiatives should carefully consider the selection mechanisms that shape targeting, to ensure these programmes effectively reach their intended beneficiaries.