If you attended Europe's largest tech conference last week in Ireland, you probably wouldn't have known Europe had just gone through one of its worst periods in financial history.
Start-ups – big and small – headed in Dublin for "Web Summit", in order to market their companies and also find potential investors, many of whom flew over from Silicon Valley.
Several start-ups told CNBC that this was one of the best times to be an entrepreneur, because the economic downturn was an opportunity for smart individuals to come together and brainstorm ways to help individuals who were struggling because of Europe's slow recovery. That should be welcomed by European consumers, who are faced with the threat of deflation and slowing wage growth.
But while Europe's entrepreneurial spirit may be well and strong, that doesn't mean it is an easy place to grow a company.
The CEO of U.K. start-up Hassle.com—described as Hailo for cleaning services—admitted that despite the strong interest in start-ups, raising capital in Europe was challenging.