Allied For Startups' Position on the first review of the Digital Markets Act

Startups are the ultimate drivers of competition and innovation. They bring new ideas to market, challenge incumbents, and scale across borders.

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) was designed to ensure fair, contestable digital markets by setting clear rules for how large platforms interact with business users. As the European Commission reviews the DMA, the key question is whether it truly delivers for startups.

Our main messages are:

• Do no harm to startup growth: Thresholds and obligations should not create “glass ceilings,” and acquisitions – vital for founders and investors – must remain viable. Uncertainty around potential blocks could undermine fundraising and the startup lifecycle.
• Simplify and ensure proportionality: One-size-fits-all rules and overlaps with the Data Act or GDPR create indirect burdens for startups that rely on platform services. Proportional obligations are essential.
• Reinforce the single market: Divergent national enforcement risks fragmenting the EU digital market. Startups need a coherent, harmonised rulebook.
• Safeguard access to data-driven advertising: Cost-effective advertising is often the only way startups can reach customers. DMA restrictions should not reduce access to these essential tools.

To ensure the DMA benefits startups, our key recommendations include:

1. Place startups at the centre: Every adjustment should be assessed against whether it makes it easier for founders to launch and scale in Europe.
2. Ensure proportionality and legal certainty: Avoid one-size-fits-all obligations and clarify enforcement to reduce compliance risks for startups.
3. Prevent fragmentation: Align EU and national enforcement to maintain a truly single digital market.
4. Streamline regulatory overlap: Integrate DMA review into broader simplification efforts, minimising conflicts with GDPR, the Data Act, and other instruments.
5. Protect the startup lifecycle: Safeguard acquisitions as predictable exit routes to secure funding and encourage entrepreneurship.
6. Support fast enforcement: Startups need timely remedies to compete effectively.

The DMA is one of Europe’s most ambitious regulatory projects. Its review is an opportunity to strengthen markets, reduce barriers, and ensure a level playing field for startups. By keeping startups at the heart of the DMA, Europe can foster a more competitive, innovative, and scalable ecosystem for the next generation of companies.