Top 10 exports to the US to inspire Spotify as it heads stateside

Europe is desperate to match the US for technology innovation. There are Silicon Roundabouts, changes to intellectual property laws to try to boost innovation and creativity like the US, and even Wills and Kate have pitched in to talk up London as an investment centre.

But Europe has plenty to be proud of already, and Spotify heading to the US is the latest example of yet another European export showing the Yanks how it's done - in this case online music streaming.

The service has every chance of succeeding; it's swish, slick and genuinely innovative, but of course there's no guarantee the US will like what has so enthralled Europeans. Look what happened to Cheryl Cole.

However, the team in green can take considerable solace from a series of notable successes enjoyed by other European adventurers - from innovative technology start-ups to Victorian inventors and literary heroes - as we round up the top 10 European exports to the US.

Honourable mention: Language
Among the many things Europeans have given to the Americas, the English language is possibly the most long lasting and far reaching.

Sure, illness, war and repression were also part of the package, but English has endured. Noah Webster may have removed the 'u' from words like colour and flavour, and standarised on 'ized' instead of 'ised', but it's still a huge common bond between the two continents.

It means that any major US firm or European start-up can launch a service to almost 700 million people and know that everyone will be able to pick it up instantly thanks to the popularity of English.

Honourable mention: Posh film heroes
Is Bourne the new Bond? Who cares? Bond is Bond and the super-suave spy is the best damn man for a crisis. He's taken he States by storm on more than one occasion, and in A View to a Kill helped stop Silicon Valley being flooded by an evil mastermind. Phew!

Then there's Harry Potter, the 13 year-old with a scar on his forehead. Not really the most appealing figure for a nation obsessed with super-sizing but the boy from Privet Drive is a phenomenon in the US, the last film released this week a timely reminder of his impact.

And let's not forget Hugh Grant, the floppy haired, hack-busting luvvie beloved for his bumbling role as Charles in Four Weddings and a Funeral, but less so in Nine Months.