Welcome to a new episode of the EUVC podcast, where our good friends Dan Bowyer and Mads Jensen from SuperSeed cover recent news and movements in the European tech landscape 💬

Go to eu.vc to read the core take-aways.

Chapters:

00:06 Microsoft's Nuclear Energy Plans
00:13 Energy Context in Europe
00:22 UK's Energy Challenges
02:34 Three Mile Island and Energy Needs
06:24 UK's Energy Strategy 
09:18 Amazon's Office Return Policy
11:37 Chip Manufacturing in the UAE
13:56 Future of AI by 2030
14:57 Healthcare and AI
16:27 AGI and AI's Impact on Jobs
18:33 Telegram's Privacy Concessions
20:26 Mark Zuckerberg's Orion Glasses
21:48 Neuralink and Future Interfaces
25:44 Foundations Paper on UK Stagnation

In this episode of the EUVC podcast, Andreas discusses with Fatou Diagne, Founder and Managing Partner at Bootstrap Europe.

Bootstrap Europe is a venture investment firm currently raising the fourth fund, aiming for €350-400M, after closing Fund III with €157M. With €250M in assets under management, Bootstrap Europe is headquartered across London, Luxembourg, and Zurich.

Bootstrap Europe targets companies in the post-Series A+ or Series B stage—those with venture capital already on their cap table, solid KPIs, or valuable patents and assets in place. The firm’s sweet spot? European HQ’d companies, or those with European founders or VCs, with an upcoming allocation to support U.S. expansions. They even have 10% of their fund reserved for other exciting regions, like Africa.

Bootstrap Europe specializes in geeky, transformative sectors: Deeptech, Life Sciences, Cleantech, Fintech, and SaaS, and some of their notable investments are:

• Scandit (Swiss Unicorn) in Machine Vision
• Blueprint Genetics (exited investment, Finnish tech used by Quest Diag during COVID - 1 of 2 largest labs in US)
• Telensa: largest installed base of smart city lighting wordlwide, bought by Signify
• Recent undisclosed exciting investments in robotics, AI healthcare, foodtech, RNA tech

Go to eu.vc for our core learnings and the full video interview 👀

Chapters:

00:03 Meet Fatou Diagne and Bootstrap Europe
00:26 Bootstrap Europe's Investment Focus 
01:25 Diving Deep with Fatou: Trends and Growth
02:51 The Origin of Bootstrap Europe
04:11 Venture Debt vs. Venture Capital
11:11 The Collapse of Silicon Valley Bank
20:27 The Role of Venture Debt in Europe
28:29 Sector Focus: Life Sciences and AI
36:45 Momentum in Business and Financing
37:00 Regional Preferences in Venture Debt
38:16 Germany: Cultural Challenges and Progress 
39:17 Spain: A Unique Venture Debt Market
40:43 Nordics and European Investment Bank
47:33 Macroeconomic Influence on Venture Debt
54:05 Innovative Financing Structures
56:54 Future Predictions for Venture Debt
01:02:09 AI's Impact on Venture Debt and Beyond

Kicking off our efforts to further connect the European VC and Corporate world, we’re talking to our in-house CVC expert and friend Jeppe Høier, uncovering his biggest learnings in CVC, how he thinks about corporates as LPs and the key trends he thinks will impact the industry going forward.

Jeppe Høier is a long-time corporate venturing specialist and former partner at Maersk Growth with more than 80 MUSD invested for a multiple of 3.6x with massive breakout Einride in the portfolio.

Go to eu.vc for our core learnings and the full video interview 👀

Chapters:

00:25 Bridging the Gap Between VC and Corporate Worlds
02:00 The Growing Importance of CVC
02:28 Jeppe's Journey into Venture Capital
03:12 Joining Maersk Growth
05:00 Maersk Growth: Early Days and Challenges
08:03 Strategic Shifts and Direct Investments
11:10 Case Studies and Early Investments
18:18 Strategic vs Financial Motives in CVC
19:18 Challenges and Misconceptions in CVC
25:24 Hiring Talent for CVC Teams
27:47 Diligence in CVC Partnerships
39:15 Corporate Climbing and Collaboration
42:08 Corporate LP Investing 45:08 Trends in CVC in Europe
47:28 Conclusion and Future Episodes

Join us as Tom Wilson from Seedcamp and Anthony Danon from Cocoa talk to Harsh Sinha, Wise-CTO about his angel investing journey, thesis and strategy and core learnings.

Harsh is a seasoned technologist with a passion for creating innovative, scalable, and customer-centric digital experiences. With a strong foundation in team building and a knack for impactful business strategies, he's played a pivotal role in developing server-side technologies and enhancing consumer experiences on web and mobile platforms.

His professional journey includes a significant tenure at PayPal as Director of Product, where he spearheaded the product strategy and development of mobile applications and software for mobile wallet experiences. Join us as we dive into Harsh's insights and experiences in powering global financial infrastructure and pushing the boundaries of technology in finance.

Chapters:
00:00:00 - Introduction to the Super Angel Pod
00:02:32 - Building Experiences & the Primacy of Passionate Builders
00:07:19 - On Non-Technical Founders and Becoming More Objective
00:11:42 - Core Learnings from Angel Investing
00:13:52 - Finding a Middle Ground
00:16:06 - Balancing Diversification and Time to Support Founders
00:18:17 - Assessing Founders and their passion for solving problems
00:20:25 - Three Core Learnings: Team, First Principles, and Avoiding Bias
00:22:35 - Being Naive in Angel Investing and the Importance of Passion
00:24:44 - The Reality of Investments
00:26:55 - Lessons in Angel Investing & Investing Across Europe and Asia
00:31:19 - The Access Issue in European Markets
00:33:32 - Building a Global Lens and Investing Internationally

Today we have Greg Dewerpe with us. Greg is a founder & CIO at A/O, a venture firm in London backing European founders that are building innovative technology companies that directly and indirectly solve mission critical problems in the Built World with a unique access to some of the largest B2B customers in the industry.

A/O has a total of 250€ MN in AUM, an established portfolio of 23 companies and notable investments including SPAN, Passivelogic, SatteliteVu, Plentific and Enter.

At A/O, Greg focuses on building world technology and positive transformation (like decarbonisation, climate resiliency and digitalisation), in Europe & the US, late seed to series B.A/O is also the first VC to ever join as a Global Innovator at the WEF which the attentive listener will know we are big supporters of given our involvement with the UpLink Initiative.

Watch the whole interview and our key take-aways on eu.vc 💖

Chapters:
00:00:00 - Introduction to the European VC Podcast
00:04:12 - Overcoming Challenges in Career Transition
00:07:55 - The Power of Visualization and Positivity
00:11:44 - The Challenges of the Industry
00:15:34 - Building Europe’s biggest Solo GP
00:19:25 - Keyman Risk vs. Team Risk
00:22:54 - The Journey towards Growth and Improvement
00:26:34 - On Bullying, Balancing Work and Parenthood
00:33:59 - Being Present in Relationships
00:38:02 - Confidence, Humility, and Growth in Entrepreneurship
00:41:58 - The Challenges and Opportunities of VC in Real Estate
00:45:44 - The Impact of Technology Transformation on Asset Prices
00:49:32 - Aligning Doing Good and Making Money
00:53:35 - Risk Tolerance and Acceptance of Failure in Venture Capital
00:57:14 - The Benefits of Being a Specialist in Venture Capital

We’re kicking the Super Angel series into a whole new gear for 2024 by introducing Seedcamp-partner Tom Wilson as our new co-host 🥳 alongside the existing host team of the amazing Anthony Danon from Cocoa, David and Andreas 🎙️

But before celebrating Tom, let us just pause and extend a heartfelt shoutout to Anthony Danon, whose contributions as a co-host have been pivotal to the Super Angel Podcast so far 💖. Anthony's vast network, particularly potent within fintech (but, tbh, generally quite mindblowing), has brought forth some of the most brilliant founders and operators to our platform.

But there’s another reason why Anthony is the perfect host for the series: with just shy of twenty angel investments made prior to launching his angel fund Cocoa, his money is where his mouth is - and with two portfolio unicorns, that’s a good place 🦄.

Anthony's deep understanding of the VC space and his dedication to bridging the gap between angels and VCs have been invaluable. His efforts have not only sculpted the podcast's feel, but also its success.

Thank you, Anthony. We can’t wait to continue on our joint journey for decades to come 🚀

Welcoming Tom Wilson to the host team 🎧
Tom comes to us with a wealth of experience from Seedcamp, where he has worked closely with some of the most promising startups in Europe. But Seedcamp is way more than just one of Europe’s top tier seed VCs with a ludicrous track. Ever since their founding in 2007, Seedcamp has been dedicated to connecting VCs and Angels across Europe having built its own fully-fledged network economy where 1,000+ founders, experts, angels and VCs come together to make each other stronger.

Or as Tom said in connection to the launch of Seedcamp VI:

"It does make sense to build a village around the founders for that initial phase and so with our very collaborative approach, and the fact that we had the chance over the past years to work with pretty much everyone that invests early in Europe, we can be a catalyst to really help entrepreneurs find the best partner for that round."

Being a catalyst for finding the right partners. That’s exactly what the eu.vc pod is about - be that as an LP, a co-investor or a founder. Connecting Europe. The super angel series being specifically designed to champion the amazing angels across the continent.

By joining the Super Angel Podcast, Tom brings the collective wisdom of Seedcamp to the forefront, offering listeners a unique insight into the journey of tech investing from the ground up​​.In case you should’ve missed some of our Super Angel episodes (which you’d be excused for, we’re keeping a pretty good pace on the pod), we’ve collected them all for you on the playlist below 🎧

Today we have Klementina Österberg from GU Ventures & Ted Persson from EQT Ventureshttps://eqtventures.com/with us🎙️.

Ted is a Partner at EQT Ventures, a 1.1bn multi Stage venture fund with offices spread across Europe and the US. EQT Ventures are investing out of Fund 3 with a total €2.3bn AUM and an established portfolio of 120+ companies and notable investments including Wolt, Einride, Nothing, Anyfin and Candela.

Klementinahttps://www.linkedin.com/in/klementina-%C3%B6sterberg-fd-jozsa-b5b614/is CEO at GU Ventures, an early seed investor and incubator in Gothenburg, Sweden, that is fully owned by the Swedish State and is an evergreen investment vehicle. GU Ventures invests in deep tech companies formed out of the research at universities. They are investing up to 200k€, have established over 165 companies, of which 82 are in their portfolio today and notable investments including Bico, I-Tech, Surgical Science, all of which are listed on Stockholm Stock Exchange and Nasdaq today.

We’ve reeled in Klementina and Ted for this episode as a warm-up for our participation at the GoWest Conference in Gothenburg, Sweden 🥳 which is proving to a be a real force in DeepTech punching above its wait just as Gothenburg and Sweden is. We’ll be there as there’s lined up for an incredibly cool investor day counting headlines like:

• Fireside chat with Staffan Helgesson, the founder of Creandum
• Climate panel with partners from Norrsken, Pact VC and Planet A,
• DeepTech panel with partners from Speedinvest, Ventech, EQT and NATO Innovation Fund and thought provoking presentations by Sebastian von Ribbentrop at Join Capital and Nicholas Nelson on The rise of Defense Tech
• LP panels with leading pension funds and corporates from the region as well as of course the EIF, Isomer Capital and BFP.

As said, just like the region, GoWest is truly attracting the best of the best. So don’t miss it if you’re into DeepTech 🤖

Chapters
00:00:00 - Introduction to EQT Ventures and GU Ventures
00:02:24 - Klementina & Ted’s Journey in the Venture Industry
00:07:14 - Investing in Deep Tech Startups
00:09:32 - Investing in Startups from Universities
00:11:40 - Investing in Companies Coming out of Academia
00:13:53 - Building Diverse Founding Teams
00:16:14 - The Skills of a Founder and Investor Relations
00:18:24 - Investment Strategies and Cap Tables
00:20:47 - Investing in Post-Internet Companies
00:23:03 - The Need for A Deep Tech Playbook
00:25:14 - Investing in Hardware
00:27:42 - Capital requirements for deep tech companies
00:30:14 - Investing in Deep Tech Startups
00:32:37 - Managing Opportunities in the Sustainable Industrial Sector
00:34:58 - Investment Strategies and Success Stories
00:37:34 - Balancing Expertise and Fresh Perspectives
00:39:52 - Building a Strong Portfolio with Balanced Capital Needs
00:42:04 - The Potential of Biotech
00:44:20 - Managing Technology Risk
00:46:31 - Collaborating with Other Investors as a VC
00:48:50 - Calling for Co-investors at Deep Tech Event
00:51:10 - European Tech Sovereignty
00:53:18 - Drop Us a Review

Considering joining us at GoWest? Here’s what you need to know 🧠


Why GoWest?Two universities. Eight incubators. Many global brands. Industrial heritage. Gothenburg is at the forefront of research& development and home to emerging industries striving to solve tomorrow’s challenges. GoWest is unique. It is fantastic meeting place for investors, startups, scaleups, talent and other stakeholders who want to engage and don’t want to miss out on the opportunities our industries and deep tech spin outs have to offer.What can you expect?There is something for everyone. We facilitate matchmaking and have a dedicated stage for fundraising startups. The hottest topics in deep tech, defense, climate, and health tech will be showcased on the main stage and next year the event will feature a brand-new Deep Tech Investor Day. The Investor Day will add extra value by bringing West Sweden’s investor community together with international peers to discuss current topics and build lasting relationships.Anything else?Yes, Gothenburg is one of the fastest-growing regions in Europe and that adds to our competitiveness on the international stage. GoWest enables easy access to our ecosystem and the region's key stakeholders. The conference has a great line up of speakers and topics on the main stage, side events, networking opportunities and more exciting announcements to come.

Today we have Staffan Helgesson with us. Staffan is the founder of Creandum, a European early stage venture firm with no appointed headquarter but offices (or hubs as they call them) in Sweden, London, Berlin and San Francisco. Creandum just turned 20 years and are investing out of their 6th fund which is a $500m fund to back founders and companies across Europe. In addition to Europe they invest in European diaspora founders in the US.

The firm is a generalist investor but have organised themselves in six main verticals; Health, Climate, Technical SaaS, Application SaaS, Fintech and Consumer, where they spend most of their time.

Creandum has approximately $2 Bn under management and have done close to 150 investments over the years with notable investments including Spotify, Klarna, Trade Republic, Pleo, Bolt, iZettle, Cornershop, depop, Kahoot!, Taxfix, Kry and Factorial. At Creandum, Staffan leads the climate vertical and is also very active investing in Saas companies.

Chapters
00:00:00 - Introduction to Staffan and Creandum
00:01:52 - From Small-Town Origins to Silicon Valley Inspiration
00:03:49 - Loving Niche Sports and Venture Capital in Europe
00:05:47 - The European Investing Advantage & Time as a Solution
00:09:35 - Staffan’s Pivotal Moment
00:11:37 - The Importance of Bold Ideas and Drive
00:13:45 - The Importance of User-Centric Design and Delighting the End User
00:15:35 - Focusing on the Top Companies
00:17:34 - Combining Transformational Change and Hearing the Train
00:19:29 - Investing in the Future of Electric Vehicle Charging
00:21:14 - The Benefits of Electrification and the Future of EVs
00:23:26 - Shout Out to Co-Investor Angel or LP
00:25:18 - Shout out to Creandum during a difficult time
00:27:14 - Building a Franchise
00:29:12 - Building a Firm for Institutions
00:30:59 - Sustainable Competitive Advantage in Venture
00:32:52 - Gut Feeling and Logical Analysis
00:34:46 - The Importance of Gut Feeling in Decision Making
00:36:58 - Approaching Tier One Institutions
00:39:10 - Europe's New Beginnings

Join us for the second episode of the NEUVC podcast which is dedicated to those embarking on their journey in the VC. In this episode, Freddie Macpherson, analyst at Isomer Capital, and Linda Võeras, associate at Karma Ventures, are joined by Mari Luukkainen, Principal at Finland based Icebreaker VC. With a background of building and scaling companies and a great eye and dedication to content, Mari has amassed a massive following of 20,000 people on LinkedIn. In this we dive into her journey as an operator as well as share tips and tricks for VCs looking to develop their personal brand ✨

Chapters:
00:00:00 - Developing Your Personal Brand in VC with Mar Lanan
00:02:59 - Finding Value in Your Journey
00:05:53 - Transitioning to Startup Growth
00:08:43 - From Cleaner Recruiting to VC Investment
00:11:40 - From Hands-on Help to Coaching
00:14:48 - The Paradox of Finding a Job
00:17:56 - Consistency in Content Creation
00:21:12 - Consistency and Networking for Building an Audience
00:24:18 - Attracting Founders at the Pre-Founder Stage
00:27:10 - Building a Personal Brand for Investors
00:30:16 - Overcoming the Challenges of Branding
00:33:12 - The Importance of Emotion in Branding
00:36:20 - The Importance of Emotional Support in Startups
00:39:17 - Transferring Writing Skills to Investment
00:42:14 - Shifting from Operator to Coach in VC
00:45:05 - Building Something Yourself First
00:47:54 - The Role of Venture Capital

We always hear from new VCs entering the market, but rarely do we ever hear from giants leaving the market. Today, we bring you such a conversation.


Honoring the gravity of the situation and the commitment by Fred Destin to share so openly, we invited Joe Schorge, founding partner of Isomer Capital and one of Europe’s most important LP voices, to lead the conversation.

We hope you enjoy listening in as much as we did 💞 watch it in full on eu.vc 👀

Chapters:
00:00:00 - The EUVC podcast with Joe Schorge and Fred Destin
00:02:54 - The Decision to Pause
00:04:59 - Journey of Personal Interrogation
00:07:08 - Motivation and the Next Iteration
00:09:20 - Stepping out of the Noise
00:11:19 - The Challenges of Running a Firm and Raising Funds
00:13:16 - Investor Reactions to Fundraising Efforts
00:15:14 - The State of Fundraising and LP Responsibility
00:17:24 - Positive Response to the Blog Post
00:19:08 - Triggered Responses and Leaving the Prevailing Narrative
00:20:19 - Mistakes and Challenges in Going Public with Cazoo
00:23:08 - The Rise of New VC Funds
00:25:08 - Knowing Your Value and Purpose
00:28:58 - Holding Ambiguity as a VC
00:31:00 - Self Awareness and Humility
00:32:57 - Investor Alignment and Board Tensions
00:35:11 - Shielding Founders and Managing Conflict in Investments
00:37:25 - Framing Discussions in the Right Way
0:38:40 - The State of the Industry Update for 2024
00:43:23 - The Importance of Shadow Work and Enhancing the Present Moment
00:45:20 - The Importance of Personal Work and Connection
00:47:02 - Future Coaching Program for Young VCs

Few periods are as busy as the end of the year. And that is definitely true for us at eu.vc this year as we announce yet another investment that we’ve been working hard on behind the scenes throughout the summer and fall. Consequently, it’s with great pride and pleasure that we announce our angel LP syndicate investment into First Momentum Ventures 🥳.

We’ve known the team for a little more than a year now and have truly enjoyed following them and working with them throughout their raise. Excellent execution, great reputation from all who have come across them and a team that’s set on a path that definitely looks like one that will lead to greatness.

We’re honored to have been invited along for the ride and will make sure that you will all get to hear much more from this team in the future. But now, we invite you to start by getting to know them via this pod episode and our spotlight article on eu.vc 👀🎧


Overview:
First Momentum Ventures (FMV), established in 2017, is a pioneering venture capital firm based in Karlsruhe, Germany, concentrating on pre-seed investments in European technology-driven B2B startups. They have been trailblazers in pre-seed venture capital in Germany since 2018, emphasizing a unique pre-seed strategy with a strong technical DNA. The team behind had its start supporting startups from a pre-seed campus incubator they started in 2015, which have collectively attracted over 500m € in capital​​​​.

Fund II Overview:
The launch of FMV's €35M Fund II targets technical pre-seed founders in the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) and across Europe, focusing on sectors like Deep Tech, Industrial & Climate Tech, Dev Tools & Data, and Enterprise SaaS. They aim to build a portfolio of around 35 companies, targeting approximately 5% ownership with an average initial ticket size of €0.5m and keeping around 30% in follow-on reserves​​.Investment

Performance and Strategy:
FMV Fund I (2018 vintage) demonstrates top quartile performance with a portfolio size of 27 startups, a portfolio multiple of 1.97, and a total IRR of 28%. There are already several clear outliers visible that have a large potential to grow into fund returners (i.e. returning the entire fund by themselves). The follow-on capital raised by these startups amounted to 150m€, highlighting the fund's success in backing scalable and investment-worthy ventures​​.

Unique Approach and Value Addition: FMV stands out for its deep technical understanding and laser-focused pre-seed DNA. Their team of engineers & scientists, connected to leading European universities and industry decision-makers, brings a unique perspective to investing. They are known for rapid processes, candor, and risk-affine technical founder partnerships - true to their credo of “engineers at heart, investors by choice”. FMV's support extends beyond funding to include a dedicated support platform for a holistic support tailored specifically to super early technical companies.

Investment Thesis:
FMV's investment thesis is focused on supporting European deep-tech champions at the onset of their journey. They identified a gap in the market where tech founders face challenges due to a lack of true deep-tech VCs, risk aversion, and a limiting focus on SaaS by European investors. FMV aims to address these gaps by leveraging its technical expertise and network to support founders in overcoming these challenges​​.

Conclusion:
First Momentum Ventures represents a strategic investment opportunity, especially for those interested in early-stage, technology-driven B2B startups in the DACH region. Their technical expertise, strong network, and proven track record in supporting startups from pre-seed to scale make them a compelling choice for investors looking to engage with innovative European startups.Given their performance, unique approach, deep technical expertise, and perfect community fit with our approach to LP investing at eu.vc, we believe investing in First Momentum Ventures' Fund II presents one of the best opportunities currently available in the market to participate in the growth of Frontier Deep Tech Startups in the DACH region at the earliest stages.

Today we have Ondrej Bartos with us. Ondrej is a Founding GP at Credo Ventures, a 75m€ Seed stage venture fund in Prague (and a bit elsewhere!) to back Central Eastern European Tech Startups.Credo are investing out of Fund 4 with a total 250M€ AUM and an established portfolio of 60 companies and notable investments including UI Path, ProductBoard, PriceFX, Resistant AI, and Eleven Labs.


Chapters:
00:00:00 - Ondrej & Credo Bio
00:00:41 - Announcing Roundtable on The Evolution of European Venture
00:04:06 - How Ondrej Got Into Venture
00:06:34 - Pivotal Moments in Venture Investing
00:09:18 - The Challenges of Being an Entrepreneur and VC
00:12:07 - Struggling with Success and Collaboration vs Competition Among VCs
00:14:31 - Maintaining a Calm & Collaborative Approach in Competitive Deals
00:16:58 - The Transformative Power of Success
00:19:34 - Managing Expectations and Transparency
00:22:17 - Collaborative Competitive Rivalry
00:24:44 - The Meaning of Credo
00:27:15 - Supporting Entrepreneurs
00:29:32 - The Importance of Passion and Hard Work
00:32:15 - Respecting Reshma and Co-Investing
00:34:44 - Staying as a Seed and Pre-Seed Fund
00:37:13 - Building Towards a Franchise
00:39:53 - The Logic Behind the Crossover Fund Experiment
00:42:26 - Creating Relationships with Late Stage Investors
00:45:08 - Failure in Internships and Startups

Satgana is a next-generation Climate Tech Venture Capital firm investing in the Future of Earth. With an established portfolio of 13 companies of which ~40% are from underrepresented backgrounds. But maybe most interestingly to many, Satgana boasts an outstanding Multiple on Invested Capital (MOIC) of 4.2x on the fund that is currently closing - in other words; here’s the opportunity to buy in at 1x to a portfolio that’s already achieved quite a mark-up… Seems like impact can go hand-in-hand returns 💞.

What is more, with a community-focused approach and 60+ Limited Partners, Satgana is a great match for us and clearly well-positioned to become one of our strong partners in the climate space giving us exactly what we look for in emerging managers: potential outlier performance, insights and strong co-investment opportunities.

In one sentence, Satgana is looking to support purpose-driven entrepreneurs in Europe and Africa who are developing pain-killers (must-haves), not vitamins (nice-to-haves), to the increasingly severe environmental problems we face today. Needless to say, we’re more than eager to share this in-depth episode and article on Satgana, their journey, and the mission and vision that unites the team behind it.

Chapters:
00:00:00 - LP Syndicate into Satgana Fund One
00:02:16 - eu.vc - a union of values
00:04:27 - The Challenge and Opportunity of Climate Change
00:06:23 - The Journey to First Close
00:08:17 - The Decision to Pursue Funding
00:10:21 - Building an Investment Firm with LPs as the Focus
00:12:19 - Fee Structure and Carry Model
00:14:22 - Investing in Climate Technology
00:16:22 - Investing with Strategic Angels
00:18:14 - Investment Strategy and Fund Size
00:20:09 - Co-investment and Diversification with Angels
00:22:00 - The complexities of GP angel collaboration
00:23:49 - Following On Potential and Portfolio Performance
00:25:50 - Promising Trajectory and Revenue Growth
00:27:54 - The Power of Small Funds
00:30:01 - Investing in Climate Tech
00:32:06 - Addressing Methane Leaks in the Energy Sector
00:34:13 - Y Combinator and the European Ecosystem
00:36:14 - The Success of Y Combinator and Portfolio Companies
00:38:12 - Investing in Africa's Impact Potential
00:40:16 - Portfolio Overview and Investment Focus
00:42:20 - The Importance of Structure and Tracking Investments
00:44:02 - Commitment to Diversity and Social Impact
00:46:02 - Reaching Out on LinkedIn

Welcome to a new episode of the EUVC podcast, where we’ll cover recent news and movements in the European tech landscape with Dan Bowyer and Mads Jensen from SuperSeed.

Go to eu.vc to read the core take-aways.

Chapters:

• 02:45 Telegram CEO Arrested in France
• 03:35 Debate on Free Speech and Responsibility
• 04:07 Balancing Security and Privacy
• 07:58 The Role of Mega Firms in VC
• 12:36 UK Budget and Its Impact on Startups
• 13:44 Potential Tax Changes and Their Implications
• 15:26 Comparing Economic Strategies: UK vs. US
• 16:50 The Need for Bold Economic Moves
• 19:42 Cancer Vaccines and Medical Innovations
• 21:12 AI and Personalized Medicine
• 23:24 AI Regulation and Its Impact on Europe
• 26:39 Germany's Economic Challenges and Renewable Energy
• 28:17 The Future of Nuclear Energy in Germany
• 29:58 Agentic Workflows: The Future of AI in Business
• 31:27 Microservices and Autonomous Agents
• 32:24 Productivity Enhancements in Corporates
• 32:34 Closing Thoughts on AI and Business

Today we have Ben Topor with us. Ben is a Founder & Managing Partner at Titan Capital, an investment firm in Israel backing Israeli, European and American companies by providing growth equity & secondary capital to world-class internet, software, consumer, and financial technology companies, with a bottom-up approach to secondary and growth.

Titan is raising a 50m USD Fund, investing in companies and venture capital partnerships directly and via secondary transactions and is backed by top-tier global investment firms, leading corporations and family offices. And, of note, Tiger Management, which is a well-known investment firm that built an impressive track record in seeding some of the world's best fund managers, backed Titan.

Chapters:
00:00:00 - Introduction and Event Announcement
00:02:47 - The Future of European Venture Capital
00:05:50 - The Pivotal Book: Crossing the Chasm
00:08:51 - The Importance of Solving a Pressing Need
00:11:57 - Factors affecting investment strategies
00:14:50 - Timing the Market and Spreading Your Bets
00:17:58 - Different Considerations for Selling Shares
00:20:48 - Strategies for Secondary Investments
00:23:50 - Finding Bargains in the Secondary Market
00:26:56 - Investing in European Startups
00:29:57 - LP secondary deals
00:36:21 - Winning with a Data driven approach
00:39:21 - The Flexibility of Investing in Growth Companies
00:42:37 - Fundraising Challenges for VCs
00:45:48 - VC Strategies: Long-lasting businesses vs. Threatening categories

Today we have Colin Daymond Hanna with us. Colin is a Partner at Balderton. And I think it goes without saying that I need not introduce this firm; but just in case anyone listening in has just started in venture, I’ll say that in the two decades since Balderton’s founding, they have worked with hundreds of extraordinary European founders, and have raised eight funds totalling more than 3bn Euros.

At Balderton, Colin invests in purpose-driven, product-focused founders spanning verticals including Cloud, Consumer, Crypto, and Fintech. Colin has led the investments into Fuse Energy (formerly Tesseract), Ory, Supernormal, AnyType, Clue (note: the links go to Balderton’s annoucements, interesting reading!). Colin is also part of the team at Balderton responsible for driving the firm's Sustainable Future Goals initiatives.


Chapters:
00:00:00 - Introduction to Colin Daymon Hannah
00:02:54 - Growing up in Asia & the US and transitioning to venture
00:07:28 - Taking a Leap of Faith to Berlin
00:09:51 - The Role of Luck in Decision Making
00:12:05 - Prioritization and Communication
00:14:27 - Balderton's Purpose as a Partner for European Entrepreneurs
00:16:38 - Clue: Empowering Women's Health
00:18:56 - The Local First Mentality and Censorship Resistance
00:21:31 - Lack of Empathy in VC and Overstretching
00:23:40 - Importance of Investor Alignment
00:26:03 - On Purpose and Prioritization
00:28:35 - Prioritization & Portfolio Management
00:30:49 - Transparency in Investing
00:32:54 - Building Networks with Investors
00:35:10 - The Importance of Strong Communication and Vulnerability
00:37:17 - Communication and Gratitude
00:39:12 - How Sports Shape Your Path
00:41:31 - The Importance of Trusting the Process
00:44:01 - Transparency in Achieving Global Goals
00:46:07 - Investing in companies aligned with SDGs
00:48:32 - Express Championing of Positive Externalities
00:50:26 - Tips for Emerging VCs in Europe
00:52:46 - Focusing on the Purpose, Not the Valuation

If there's any market that's not slowing down, it's the secondaries market. And it’s a buyer’s market. But how do you win? We convened some of Europe's best secondaries investors to discuss the current market and how to build your investment strategy, evaluate opportunities and negotiate deals.

Expert Secondaries Panelists:
- Joe Schorge, Founding Partner of Isomer Capital
- Kemper Ahl, Vice President of Industry Ventures
- Martijn de Wever, CEO & Founder of Floww

Go to eu.vc for the write up of our key learnings and as well as the video recording 👀


Chapters:
00:00:00 - Welcome to the roundtable and introductions
00:03:02 - Solving Pain Points in the Private Markets
00:11:29 - The Rise of Venture Secondaries
00:14:20 - Creating a Systemic Approach
00:20:07 - The Need for Innovation in the Market
00:23:00 - Liquidity Solutions and the Secondaries Market
00:25:43 - The Evolution of Intermediaries in the Market
00:28:26 - Creative structuring for late-stage investments
00:33:59 - Bridging the Gap in Due Diligence for New Investors
00:39:14 - Tactics for Dealing in Secondary Market
00:41:51 - The Platform Approach to Venture Secondaries
00:44:35 - Timing the Market vs. Timing the Asset
00:47:19 - Negotiating a Secondary Transaction
00:53:00 - Strategies for Buying into Pre-IPO Companies
01:01:13 - Experts needed for private Capital markets

Today we have Max Bautin with us. Max is a Founding GP at IQ Capital, a 700m€ Seed & Early Stage venture firm in London to back European Deep Tech Startups.IQ Capital is investing out of a 185 m€ Fund 4 and also has a 150 m€ Growth Opportunities fund and has an established portfolio of over 60 companies and notable investments including Thought Machine, Paragraf and Nyobolt.

Chapters:
00:00:00 - Introduction
00:01:51 - From Startups to Asset Management to IQ Capital
00:03:25 - The Cambridge Mafia in Venture Investing
00:05:05 - The Success of the Cambridge Ecosystem
00:06:49 - Why Avoiding Negative Value Added by VCs Is The Holy Grail
00:08:30 - Deep Tech vs Traditional Venture
00:10:06 - Defensibility and Scalability in Deep Tech Companies
00:11:44 - Deep Tech Investments and Hardware Integration
00:13:27 - The Growing Importance of Deep Tech
00:19:51 - IQ’s definition of Deep Tech
00:21:20 - The Productization Journey
00:22:51 - On The Duration of VC Funds
00:24:32 - Focusing on Future Opportunities
00:26:07 - Shoutout to Max's Bestie
00:27:49 - The Success of the Cambridge Ecosystem
00:29:25 - The Importance of IP and Academic Support in Innovation
00:31:05 - The Rise of Cambridge's Tech Ecosystem and Beyond
00:32:47 - Expanding into European Ecosystems
00:34:20 - Building Trust and Reputation in the European Tech Industry
00:35:54 - Quick Fire with Max

Welcome to the first episode of the special series NEUVC, hosted by Freddie Macpherson, analyst at Isomer Capital, and Linda Võeras, associate at Karma Ventures. Today we have Martin Krag with us. Martin is a partner at byFounders, a seed fund looking to back the best tech founders in the new Nordics. We spoke to Martin to hear how he rose to partner in four years, the firm culture and coaching the courage to do so, and, of course, his own secret sauce of excellence.

Chapters:
00:00:00 - Introduction of Martin & byFounders
00:01:52 - Incentive alignment and portfolio assistance
00:03:24 - Joining a Startup Venture Capital Firm
00:04:44 - The importance of decisiveness for VCs
00:06:07 - Using Analysts for Understanding Spaces and Sectors
00:07:43 - Progression and Responsibility Levels
00:09:17 - The Importance of Curiosity and Quick Learning
00:10:41 - Finding Focus and Prioritizing
00:12:09 - Balancing Networking and Board Responsibilities
00:13:35 - The Fluid Partnership with Founders and Career Development
00:15:09 - Building a Strong Team and Defined Roles
00:16:42 - Calibrating New Hires for Long-Term Aspirations
00:18:04 - Transparency and Core Values in VC Industry
00:19:39 - Career Progression and Future at the Fund
00:21:18 - The Responsibility of Partners and Youngsters in Investment Decisions
00:22:40 - Avoidable Mistakes made by Junior VC Team
00:24:29 - Being Patient and Calibrating Before Making Decisions
00:25:58 - The Perspective of a Poker Player-Investor
00:27:30 - Dreaming with the Founders
00:28:57 - Diversifying Experience in the VC Industry
00:30:42 - Choosing between being a VC or Founder
00:32:19 - The Challenges of Being a VC
00:34:14 - Building a Fund and Firm
00:36:15 - Experience and Bad Judgment

Yesterday, Fred Destin shared the news with us all that he’s pausing the raise for Stride Fund III and that he’d “Take a breather and open the door to new possibilities. I have no idea if that includes more investing; what I want to do now is gain some elevation, look at my life and the world around me, and take time to see what emerges.”

The day before, David sat down with Fred for an honest conversation about the state of the current market, how to navigate as a VC, and finally ending on faith and spirituality. The conversation did not cover this hallmark decision by Fred, but certainly, you can trace the meaning and bridge narrative.

"I have to be honest that I'm in a, I'm very much in a kind of pendulum between excitement and concern. And it is difficult for me to look at the state of the world in general, between erosion of democracy, mental health crisis, climate, Ukraine and Israel, and to not take some form of pause to say: where the fuck are we going as a species?"
and Fred continued:

"I heard someone the other day describe humans as, you know; we're behaving like parasites at the scale of our planet, and I think there's something to that. So I would say that at the moment, I'm trying to sit with that and think about what is our impact and our responsibility … What I'm excited about is, I think, there is an increased level of realization that we need to reintroduce humans at the center of what we do. Community, connection, relating. And that what started as a little trickle is starting to be more of a movement. And I think it's showing up in a bunch of places." From this the conversation covered growing up professionally in an American psycho style environments where it’s all about the money as well as the role of religion.

Tune in for the full conversation here or watch it on eu.vc

In today’s episode, Chloe Dagnell from Isomer Capital speaks to Carmen Alfonso Rico, a self-described VC turned Angel at Cocoa. Having previously been at the consumer fund Felix, Series A fund Blossom, and Spanish-HQ’d Samaipata, Carmen is responsible for being the first investor into companies such as Hopin and SideQuestVR.

Now, Carmen is leading the charge at Cocoa Ventures, an angel fund providing the first checks for founders across Europe. Investing $250k-$500k angel checks at pre-seed/seed, Cocoa supports founders as their in-house VC, helping them hack the system with independent and unfiltered insights.

In today’s episode, we’re discussing everything from how Carmen actually helps founders hack the system to fund economics. And bear with us on that fund economics point, as it’s one of the most interesting and overlooked parts of being a great VC and fund manager, and Carmen claims some pretty contrarian views on how she puts her portfolio together.

And of course, we couldn't resist asking the woman behind Cocoa Ventures what her favorite chocolate is 🍫 . So, if you want the hottest tip in town for the best chocolate, then listen all the way to the end 😁

Today we have Fady with us. Fady is a Founding GP at Cybernetix Ventures, a 50m$ pre-seed, seed and Series A venture fund in Boston to back North American and European companies within manufacturing, logistics, construction, and healthcare.Cybernetix are investing out of Fund 1 with a total 50m$ AUM and an established portfolio of 13 companies and notable investments including Realtime Robotics, AirWorks, Bionomous, and Kewazo.

Chapters
00:00:00 - Intro
00:01:42 - New Beginnings in Venture
00:03:44 - Overcoming Challenges and Achieving Success
00:05:51 - The Impact and Expectations of Gen AI
00:07:58 - The Impact of Generative AI on Industries
00:09:46 - Robotics as a Technology
00:11:50 - Manufacturing in the Age of Smart Automation
00:13:44 - Automation in Manufacturing and Healthcare
00:15:47 - Technological Capability vs. Business Model
00:17:36 - The Challenges of Humanoids in the Job Market
00:19:29 - Investing in Robotics, Automation, and Industrial AI
00:21:31 - The Success Story of Universal Robots in Denmark
00:25:31 - Considerations for Product Deployment
00:29:41 - The Rise of Robotics in Boston and Europe
00:31:47 - The Importance of Specialized People in Robotics Investment
00:33:54 - Investing in Smart Machines for the Future
00:36:11 - Investing in Robotics Solutions
00:38:27 - Building a Strong Team in Venture
00:40:21 - Robotics Revolutionizing Our World
00:42:21 - The Rise of Collaborative Robots in the Robot Cluster
00:44:04 - The Rise of Robotics in Odense

Today we have Patrick Murphy with us. Patrick is the co-founder and managing partner at Tapestry VC, a 50m$ seed stage venture fund backing technical and repeat founders across Europe & US. Tapestry VC has its team spread out across the UK and USA.

Tapestry VC are investing out of Fund II with a total 100m$ AUM and an established portfolio of over 40 companies and notable investments including Hopin, Pitch, Builder.ai, Nothing and Manna.

Chapters:
00:00:00 - Introduction of Patrick Murphy and Tapestry VC
00:02:40 - From Goldman Sachs to Venture Capital
00:04:51 - Reversing Investment and Taking Risks
00:07:15 - The Challenges of Merging with a Corporate VC
00:09:03 - The Importance of Stewardship in Early Stage Venture Capital
00:11:21 - Consumer Innovation and Next Generation Users
00:13:50 - The Rise of Gen AI in Revenue Growth
00:16:04 - Scaling Software and Hiring Globally
00:18:09 - The Benefits of Repeat Founders
00:19:53 - Unboxing the new headsets and their features
00:21:10 - Investing in Repeat Founders
00:23:04 - Building a Strong Network and Fostering Global Relationships
00:25:18 - The Reality of Repeat Founders and Dilution
00:27:18 - The Advantage of Experienced Founders
00:29:25 - Building with Serial Founders and High Velocity Talent
00:31:35 - The Value of Co-Investors and Check Sizes
00:33:32 - Adding Value through Syndicates
00:35:54 - Successful Co-investing and Building Trust
00:38:10 - Life is About Picking People
00:40:24 - The Importance of Distribution and Telling Your Story
00:42:36 - Cultural Differences in Pitching
00:44:54 - Pitching Skills in US vs European Investors
00:47:11 - Prioritizing Amazing and Ambitious People
00:49:38 - The Importance of Luck in Success

Today we present Freddie, analyst at Isomer, the venture fund of funds backing Europe's VC champions early and doubling down on their breakout companies, and Linda, associate at Karma Ventures, which is a deep tech VC in Estonia, focusing on Series A companies in the Baltics.
We want to welcome you to the NEUVC podcast series, a limited edition series dedicated to those entering and on their journey in VC, sharing the insights, stories, and learnings from different voices in the industry. There are many ways into VC and a number of skills that can make you successful in this industry. Upon closer inspection, many investors possess superpowers that are super useful for finding new deals, helping portfolio companies grow and succeed, as well as getting the deal signed and sealed.
The series is dedicated to exploring those unique superpowers in some of the trailblazing venture ladder climbers in Europe, drawing out learnings about how to develop them, use them and leverage them. So to this effect, we spoke to a wide range of voices, managing partners, recruiters, principals, and even marketing specialists, to provide a diverse range of opinions on how to help you improve at your job. Hope you'll enjoy!

In this episode of the EUVC podcast, Andreas discusses with Christoph Klink, a Partner at Antler.

He draws on his background as a Business Angel and Partner with McKinsey & Company. Before joining Antler, he served a range of leading technology organizations, amongst others in the mobility and transportation space, on disruptive strategy and building innovative business models. Building and nurturing top-talent organizations is one of his key passions and a great source of inspiration for Christoph.

Christoph is at the forefront of early-stage investing, and we're thrilled to have him share his insights with us. Christoph is investing out of Antler's first Continental European fund, which has an impressive 60M EUR AUM. What sets Antler apart is their focus on investing and supporting startups from "day zero" to Series C.

In today's episode, we're diving deep into a topic that Cristoph has studied recently: The Rise of the European Technical Founder. Christoph will share some insights from their recent report, and why Antler is doubling down on this area and how it could be a game-changer for European tech.

Go to eu.vc for our core learnings and the full video interview 👀

Chapters:

• 00:02 Meet Christophe Klink from Antler Continental Europe
• 00:13 Antler's Investment Focus and Portfolio
• 00:44 The Importance of Technical Founders in Europe
• 03:12 Christophe's Recent Study on Technical Founders
• 04:15 Challenges in Building European Tech Giants
• 06:54 The Rise of Technical Founders in Europe
• 21:30 Antler's Approach to Founder Team Composition
• 26:09 The Role of Generalists and Specialists in Startups
• 28:53 Finding the Right Co-Founder
• 29:13 Recap of Core Learnings
• 29:48 European Tech Giants Dilemma
• 29:54 Rise of Technical Founders
• 31:14 Meet Christoph: The Investor
• 33:23 Antler's Work Ethic and Culture
• 36:48 Challenges of Building Antler
• 38:24 Olympic Medalists vs. Unicorn Founders
• 40:35 Top Lessons in Venture Capital 47:16 Advice for Emerging VCs

Joining us today for a deep dive on the state of diversity in European venture, we have Kinga Stanislawska from European Women in Venture and Juliet Rogan from HSBC Innovation Banking.

Juliet works in the investor coverage team at HSBC Innovation Banking – Providing support and access to the HSBC platform to investors and their portfolio companies.
Prior to joining HSBC, Juliet spend 10 years at Barclays where she co-founded the female founders forum.

Kinga is a co-Founder of the leading CEE (Poland based) VC fund - Experior VC with investments in data driven CEE startups with global ambitions. She is also an Investment Committee Member at EIC as well as the EIC Fund, the largest deep-tech fund in Europe and board member at fast growing companies. As one of Europe's first VC funds to be befounded by women, Kinga also co-initiated the European Women in VC Community which published an annual report on the state of diversity in European Venture - which we dive into today 👀

Chapters:
00:00:00 - Introduction to The Episode
00:02:07 - Increasing Female Presence in Tech and Venture
00:04:16 - Launching the Report at TechBBQ
00:06:13 - The Foundation Of The Survey
00:08:27 - The Importance of Diversity in Funding
00:12:24 - The Performance of Mixed Teams
00:14:53 - The Importance of Getting More Women into the Industry
00:16:37 - Equity in Investments and Succession Planning
00:18:38 - Affordability of General Partnerships for Women
00:20:40 - The Importance of Diversity in Management Teams
00:22:26 - Progression and Measurement in Impact Investing
00:26:15 - Equality and Support in Venture Capital
00:28:26 - The Rise of Female Emerging Managers in VC
00:32:24 - Reflections on VC Accelerators & VC Lab in Particular
00:34:28 - Broadening Access to Venture Capital for Women
00:38:27 - Investing in Diversity for Long-Term Success
00:40:25 - Personal Choice and Taxpayer Institutions in Europe
00:42:32 - The Speed of Change and Female-led Startups
00:44:36 - Collaboration and Unity

Today’s a special day here at eu.vc as we’re announcing our investment into Nucleus Capital 🥳 and of course, we do that by sharing with you a deep dive episode with Max and Isabella, the two General Partners of Nucleus.

For those who've been with us for a while, the name 'Nucleus Capital' might ring a bell🔔. And for good reason, as we’ve been tracking the firm's journey right from the launch of Nucleus I. To big hardship, we missed the opportunity to invest in Nucleus I, so of course, we’re now buzzing with excitement as we’re binding the final knots for our Nucleus II Syndicate.

Based in Berlin, Nucleus Capital is a frontrunner in the Pre-Seed and Seed venture space, dedicated to supporting purpose-driven founders who are solving systemic challenges to planetary health.

Dive in with us 👀 and read the whole article covering Nucleus on eu.vc

Chapters:
00:00:00 - The European VC Podcast Introduction
00:04:10 - Pooling expertise and building a community
00:08:11 - The Journey of Building Nucleus
00:11:30 - Making the Decision to Work Together
00:12:56 - Isabella Realizing The Worst Decision She Could've Made
00:14:38 - Lessons Learned from Fundraising
00:16:18 - Inflection points and supporting founders
00:17:43 - Tech Bio: Software-driven models leveraging biological data sets
00:19:44 - The Importance of Meta-Level and Environmental Factors
00:21:41 - Building Relationships and Effective Decks
00:23:30 - Differentiation and Positioning in the Startup Industry
00:25:16 - Delivering Change and Driving Returns
00:27:14 - Bio-based solutions for industry decarbonization
00:29:17 - Sector Focus for Better Returns
00:30:51 - Including Sustainability and Deep Tech Premiums in Valuations
00:32:53 - Investing in Technologies for Sustainable Production
00:34:23 - Repath, Analyzing Risk Exposure and Climate Change
00:36:15 - Planet A Foods The CO2 Footprint of the Cocoa Industry
00:39:41 - Enabling a Viable Future
00:41:38 - Balancing the Portfolio

#EUVC #VC #VentureCapital #Investing #TheEuropeanVC #Podcast #Tech #Startup

Today we have Andrew Noble with us. Andrew is a partner at Par Equity, an early-stage venture fund backing health tech, climate tech and industrial tech companies. Par Equity invests in the north of the UK, applies a hybrid investment model (angel approach meets VC), and focuses on B2B IP rich companies to create outstanding results.
Par Equity has a total of £213m AUM and an established portfolio of 77 companies, 48 in the current portfolio and 29 exits, and notable investments including Integrated Graphene, AEM, Fuuse, Current Health, Delta DNA and ICS Learn.

Chapters
02:12 - From Professional Skiing to VC
05:40 - From Intern to VC - Andrew’s journey at Par Equity
07:27 - The Grit of Being a Sports Athlete in Business
09:10 - Launching a Self-Funded Search Fund
15:37 - The Role of VCs in the Startup Journey
17:43 - The Evolution of ParEquity and the Benefits of a Melting Pot Approach
19:16 - Deep dive on the North of the UK Tech Ecosystem
21:07 - Dislocation in the Funding Landscape
22:57 - Concentration of VC $$ in Capital Cities & Investing outside of them
28:45 - Success Story: Delta DNA
32:13 - Andrew’s Three Biggest Learnings from the Last 10 Years
34:01 - The Importance of Local Players and Existing Relationships in VC
36:00 - Investing in People in Your Region
37:44 - Key Advice for Emerging Managers
39:06 - Considerations for LP Makeup
40:42 - A VC firm's success indicators

Today we are happy to welcome Robin Godenrath managing director and founding partner of Picus Capital.

Picus Capital is managing an investment portfolio of more than 1bn EUR and was the first investor in European unicorns such as Personio and Enpal.

Today we have Sarah Drinkwater with us. Sarah is the General Partner at Common Magic, a pre-seed/seed solo GP fund investing in and supporting founders building products with community at their core across Europe and the US.

Today we are happy to welcome Ambre Soubiran. A mathematician by training, she has spent the first decade of her career working in the equity derivatives and capital markets industry. Amber has a passion for world-changing technologies and is personally interested and invested in the digital assets space since 2012. Amber is currently the CEO of Kaiko, the reference market data provider in the blockchain industry. Kaiko is a global organisation with offices in NYC, London, Paris, and Singapore, servicing top-tier financial institutions and enterprises with reliable and actionable financial data.

Today we have Johannes Weber with us. Johannes is a serial entrepreneur and a pioneer in the field of impact venture capital in Europe. With his team in Munich, Berlin and London, he manages over €200M and invests in technology-based companies in areas such as climate, health and education (the so-called impact unicorns). Johannes has been interested in the interface between entrepreneurship and "personal mastery" for many years and is enthusiastic about bringing and passing on his knowledge to the companies he finances.

Ananda Impact Ventures are investing out of Fund IV with a total 200€ AUM and an established portfolio of 35 companies and notable investments including E-DNA Company Nature Metrics, New Space Company OroraTech and Education Company One Day. At Ananda Impact Ventures, Johannes Weber focuses on TechBio, Education and Climate in Europe and led the investments into Closed Loop Medicine, One Day and Auticon.

Today, we have with us Saeed, Vice President of the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, where he works towards transforming the city of Dubai into an international technology hub. Saeed was previously the Director of Dubai Future Academy, an initiative under Dubai Future Foundation. He has also led projects for the foundation such as the Global Coders Initiative, the 1 Million Arab Coders-project as well as the foundation’s upskilling program. Additionally, he has considerable experience at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center as Mission Strategist for the Emirates Mars Mission and Program Director for the UAE's 100-year space exploration strategy, the Mars 2117 Programme.

Jump to the parts that matter most to you 👀
00:00:00 - Introduction to Saeed and the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy
00:02:10 - From the Space Program to Ecosystem Building & Venture
00:06:08 - The Mars 2117 Program
00:10:50 - The Trade & Commerce History of Dubai
00:13:02 - Dubai's Resilience and Business-Focused Mindset
00:14:51 - Dubai as a Testbed for Innovation
00:16:38 - The Evolution of the Funding Landscape
00:18:32 - The Love for Experimentation in the Government of Dubai
00:20:10 - Experimenting with Global Market Solutions in Dubai
00:23:36 - Dubai as an Location for Engineering Talent
00:25:22 - Dubai as a Gateway for Business Opportunities
00:27:04 - Support for Investors in Dubai
00:28:41 - Investing in Tech and Transforming Nations
00:30:32 - Investment Opportunities for Family Businesses in Dubai
00:32:11 - Family Business Investments and Market Access in Dubai
00:33:45 - Connecting Businesses with Dubai
00:35:37 - Expand Northstar and Market Access Opportunities
00:37:24 - Launchpad Dubai and the Benefits for Companies
00:39:09 - Creating the Perfect Ecosystem for Growth

Noor Sweid is the General Partner of Global Ventures, a UAE-based international venture capital firm with presence in Cairo, Jeddah, Riyadh, Tunis and Lagos. Noor was the Chief Investment Officer at The Dubai Future Foundation and Managing Partner at Leap Ventures.

Prior, Noor joined her family business, Depa, where she scaled the business tenfold, executed four cross border acquisitions and led the region’s first IPO on the LSE and the NASDAQ Dubai, achieving a billion+ dollar valuation.

Noor has also been recognized in Forbes’ World’s Top 50 Women in Tech, and the Arabian Business 100 Most Powerful Arab Women list. And to top it off, she has also received the prestigous Arab Woman Award for Finance.

Today we are happy to welcome Philipp von dem Knesebeck, Co-Founder of Blue Future Partners, a European Venture Capital Fund of Funds with a global mandate to back Emerging Managers and start-ups across the USA, Europe, Israel and Asia-Pacific.

Prior to co-founding Blue Future Partners in 2015, Philipp spent five years running the Venture Capital activities of a European Family Office from 2011 to 2015. There he started building substantial expertise in both fund and direct investments in early and growth–stage companies. His investment focus was predominantly in the software and internet space with geographic exposure ranging from the US to Europe and Asia-Pacific.

AI is not just a buzzword; it's a force that's transforming industries across the board.

This is why we have brought together Europe’s top tech minds for a roundtable discussion that will provide an inside look at the most significant trends and investment strategies, helping you stay ahead of the curve.

Our guests:

• Sam Cash, Founding Partner, Entropy Industrial Capital
• Eric Truebenbach, Managing Director, Teradyne Robotics Ventures
• Claude Ritter, Managing Partner, Cavalry Ventures

The discussion begins with an overview of what AI in this context actually means, followed by a deep dive into whether the buzz around AI’s impact on both white-collar and blue-collar jobs is more hype or genuine reality. With insights from leading VCs, the conversation will also show how investors approach AI in these industries, showcasing notable companies and the strategic interests driving their investment decisions.

Additionally, the event will discuss the European investment landscape for AI, weighing the strengths, opportunities, and challenges unique to this region, offering a clear picture of where the continent stands in the global AI race.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-cash/
Chapters:

• 06:23 Defining AI in the Physical World
• 08:20 Applications and Impact of AI in the Physical World
• 12:48 Challenges in AI Deployment
• 22:26 Transitioning to AI-Enabled Robotics
• 29:13 Overcoming Obstacles in AI and Robotics
• 33:27 Investor Landscape in Europe
• 34:08 AI's Impact on the Physical World
• 36:34 Challenges for Generalist Investors
• 38:55 The Future of AI and Robotics
• 43:13 Investment Strategies and Risks
• 45:35 Emerging Trends in AI
• 57:26 Europe's Position in Robotics
• 01:04:13 Closing Thoughts and Future Outlook

Today we have Sam Endacott with us. Sam is a Partner at firstminute, a $400m seed-stage venture fund based in London & Berlin to back founders across Europe (and opportunistically in the US and Rest of World). The fund has invested across all sectors and is a generalist VC but has typically focused on SaaS, DeepTech, Developer Tools and FinTech. firstminute is backed by over 130 unicorn founders in addition to current and former CEOs of Global Corporates.

firstminute are investing out of Fund III with a total $100m AUM and an established portfolio of over 130 companies. Notable investments include A.Team, Storyblok, Robocorp, Engflow, Wayve, Klang, Clockwork Labs, Ramp, Element and Generation Home. The portfolio has raised follow-on financing rounds from Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz, Atomico, Index, Benchmark, Coatue, Softbank, Tiger, General Catalyst, Northzone, Mubadala Capital, NFX, Balderton, D1, Felicis, Bain Capital and Tencent. At firstminute, Sam focuses on SaaS, Developer Tools, AI / ML and FinTech and has led investments into a number of the fund’s high performing companies such as Storyblok (raised $58m) and a number of recent deals in the AI / ML space which are not yet announced!

Today, we're happy to feature Francesco Simoneschi, Co-Founder and CEO at TrueLayer and angel with 60+ investments.

In this episode, Francesco dives deep into his experience going from VC to angel investing, the nuances of angel investing, shedding light on some counterintuitive lessons he's learned along the way. He delves into the importance of trusting your instincts when assessing early-stage startups and why sometimes, early traction can be a red flag.

Francesco also shares his strategies for making international investments and the value of building a network of trusted insiders in unfamiliar territories. Plus, he reflects on the soft skills and leadership qualities that he wishes he had focused on earlier in his career.

Jump to the parts that matter most to you and watch our core highlights below 👀
00:02:52 - On Starting TrueLayer in Italy
00:05:54 - Francesco’s 60+ angel portfolio & striking a balance as an operator
00:07:30 - The complementarity of angel investing and being an operator
00:08:44 - Angel Investing in the FinTech Ecosystem
00:09:12 - Balancing Excitement and Discipline in Investing
00:11:00 - Reflections on Investing in a Marihuana delivery startup
00:14:16 - Investing in The Development of Wetware Computers
00:15:45 - On The Drive of Entrepreneurs
00:17:12 - Accessing European Capital for Early Stage Opportunities
00:18:34 - Investing in Various Industries
00:20:01 - Diversifying Portfolio as a Tech Entrepreneur
00:22:54 - Balancing Risk and Fun in Angel Investing
00:24:10 - Assessing Founders and Key Ingredients
00:22:44 - The Importance of Financial Savvy and Diversified Portfolios
00:24:26 - Mitigating Financing Risk
00:26:16 - Investing Based on Value and Learning
00:28:16 - Investing in Early Stages and Venture Funds
00:30:08 - The Importance of Diversification
00:32:03 - Trusting Your Instincts in Angel Investing
00:34:00 - Capturing Signals in Investment Strategy
00:35:48 - The Reality of Bridge Rounds
00:37:39 - The Importance of Discipline in Angel Investing
00:39:17 - Playing the Long Game
00:41:11 - Importance of Soft Skills and Leadership in Education

Our next guest is Gloria Bauerlein, founder and general partner at Puzzle Ventures. Puzzle Ventures is a new pan European 21.5 million euro fund investing in super early stage B2B companies, and it's one of the solo female GP led funds. Before Puzzle, Gloria was a prolific angel investor, but that's not why we're speaking with her today. Uniquely, she has actually sat on all sides of the cap table. As an investment banker, VC investor at TCV and Index, startup operator at Kry and Back, and angel investor, and built Puzzle to continue backing Europe's top founders with larger checks but with the flexibility of an angel.
Gloria's LPs include founders and operators that you'll have heard from, from the likes of Kry, Stripe, Coinbase, and WhatsApp, and more who've tread in the founders footsteps. They offer assistance beyond capital to Puzzle Ventures portfolio and can share valuable insights and connections with founders to help them grow.
In this episode, we'll hear more about Gloria's journey into VC, her thoughts on ownership versus allocation, tips for micro funds on sorting out the unsexy side of fund management before getting carried away with deploying capital, and how to have a culture of giving first when nurturing relationships and being collaborative in VC.

Today we bring you a roundtable on the impact of artificial intelligence on the wonderful world of venture capital. In this episode, we bring together a stellar panel of Europe's top investors to explore the real secrets of how AI is transforming the VC landscape.

• Fred Destin, Founding GP of Stride
• Claude Ritter, Founding GP of Cavalry
• Ekaterina Almasque, GP of Open Ocean
• Dr. Andre Retterath, Partner of Earlybird Venture Capital

In this episode, we focus on how AI is changing the way VCs invest. We chose to delve into the "how" rather than the "what" of AI in VC. We're here to uncover the real secret sauce that's driving change in the VC world. We won't waste your time with generic information you can find on the internet. Instead, we've gathered Europe's best investors to share their insights.Our agenda for today includes:

1. Where our panelists see the biggest venture opportunities in AI.
2. The debate on whether AI favors incumbents or startups.
3. Strategies to avoid getting caught up in hype cycles.
4. A philosophical discussion on AI's societal impact and how VCs should navigate it.

Enjoy!

Today we have Juliette Audet with us. Juliette is a Partner at Forbion a multi-stage venture fund in Amsterdam and Munich backing biotech companies in Europe and North America to impact the future of medicine.

Forbion is investing out of 2 separate funds: Forbion Ventures Fund VI and Forbion Growth Opportunities Fund II, of €750M and €600M respectively, with a total of 3b EUR AUM and an established portfolio of 44 companies, with notable investment including NewAmsterdam Pharma, Gyroscope and Inflazome.

At Forbion, Juliette focuses on the Venture strategy, investing in biotech companies from pre-clinical stage to Phase 1b and led the investments in NewAmsterdam Pharma, Mestag and Dualyx amongst others.

Jump to the parts that matter most to you 👀
00:02:10 - Transitioning from Consulting to Pharma and Biotech
00:03:44 - Discipline and Resilience in Career
00:05:18 - Recognizing the Moment to Fold
00:07:17 - The Importance of Science and Interaction in Investments
00:08:50 - The Importance of Board Dynamics
00:10:25 - Board Composition and Power Dynamics
00:12:07 - Creating Consensus on the Board
00:13:37 - The Importance of Governance in Building an Effective Board
00:14:53 - Governance and relationship building with board members
00:16:35 - The Benefits of Virtual Board Meetings
00:18:21 - The Importance of Providing Value
00:20:30 - The Value of External Perspective in VC
00:22:21 - The Unique Nature of Biotech Companies
00:23:57 - Pharma's Need for External Acquisitions
00:25:47 - The Inflection Point in BioTech
00:27:16 - Slump in M&A Activity in Pharma-Biotech & the dawning opportunity
00:28:34 - The Development Process from Preclinical to Phase 3
00:29:58 - The Dynamic between CVCs and Institutional VCs in BioTech
00:33:14 - The Predictability of Biotech VC vs Traditional Venture
00:34:54 - Shoutout to Julie Grant from Canaan
00:36:33 - Balance and Fulfillment in VC
00:38:21 - Getting to know your LPs

Today, we're happy to welcome you to Renaud Visage, co-founder and ex-CTO of Eventbrite, one of Europe’s biggest tech successes and the event platform we’ve all used. Eventbrite IPO'd in 2018 and Renaud left the company in 2021 and is now investing full time out of Paris where he focuses on investing in climate tech startups and on building a ClimateTech Growth Fund where Renaud’s experience from scaling Eventbrite is one-of-a-kind.

With more than 75 angel investments to date, Renaud brings a level of operational experience and the skill to help founders solve complex technical problems like none other. On top of this, Renaud is a Venture Partner with the renowned seed firm Point Nine.

Jump to the parts that matter most to you and watch our core highlights below 👀
00:02:26 - Challenges of Building Eventbrite
00:04:20 - Renaud's Angel Investing Journey Begins
00:05:25 - Renaud's Accidental First Deal
00:06:52 - Lessons from Angel Investing
00:09:10 - Renaud’s Investment Thesis and Strategy
00:11:28 - Renaud's Value-add for Founders
00:12:48 - Evolution in Finding and Evaluating Investment Opportunities
00:14:00 - Doubling down on Impact Investing
00:16:45 - Going from early to growth stage investing
00:19:40 - Generalists vs specialists in Climate investing & investing in hardware
00:21:56 - Networks and co-investing in the climate space
00:24:55 - The lack of European growth stage financing in climate
00:25:30 - Renaud’s core learnings from Angel investing
00:27:00 - The importance of your value prop and network as an angel
00:29:10 - Follow-on investing as a venture investor
00:36:05 - Renaud’s most counterintuitive learning
00:37:30 - Top tips to angels wanting to invest internationally
00:39:30 - Advice to his own 10 year younger self

Today we have Sean O'Sullivan with us. Sean is a Managing General Partner at SOSV, a global, multi-stage venture capital firm that operates early stage startup development programs, notably HAX, IndieBio, and Orbit Startups. They are the first check in deep tech, starting at pre-seed.

SOSV have a $1.5 Billion in AUM and an established portfolio of 1000+ companies including Upside Foods, Perfect Day, Opentrons, and Formlabs. Sean is on the board of Khan Academy, the Tyndall Institute, the Autism Impact Alliance, the Brain Foundation, and a number of private companies.

From serving as a janitor to embracing his passions as a musician, filmmaker, and even running a humanitarian organization in Iraq, Sean O’Sullivan’s multifaceted nature reveals a remarkable tapestry of life experiences. Among the intriguing anecdotes is his encounter with a rare viral infection that affected his eye, providing a testament to resilience and adaptability. His ventures extended to the world of television, where he enjoyed a stint as a TV star in Ireland, further exemplifying his versatility.

In conclusion, Sean O'Sullivan's venture journey offers a tapestry of experiences, showcasing the significance of perseverance, long-term commitment, and a diverse entrepreneurial mindset. These insights have molded his investment philosophy, guiding SOSV's strategic approach to support startups in their earliest stages and nurture their growth through series B and series C, while emphasizing the immeasurable value of riding the wave with successful companies for the long haul.

Today we’re welcoming Jed Ng on the EUVC pod. Jed is a self-taught angel with 1x exit and has backed 2 startups from seed to unicorn. He started his own syndicate in 2020 and is backed by 1000+ investors today. He is also the Founder of AngelSchool.vc - a venture education program that helps angel investors build their own syndicates in just 8 weeks.

As an operator, Jed built the world’s largest API Marketplace with RapidAPI (an a16z backed company).

Today, we're happy to welcome you to Charlie Delingpole, founder of ComplyAdvantage, an AI-driven financial crime risk and detection technology powered by Complydata. They have raised $100m from Index Ventures, Balderton Capital, OTPP and Goldman Sachs with global hubs in London, New York, and Singapore.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• The importance of being part of a strong angel community with peers you trust and whose opinion you value
• How Charlie thinks about activating his network as part of his diligence process
• Why Charlie is going from a more international strategy to a more nationally focused one
• Why Charlie believes it’s important to impose systematic professional processes on himself when angel investing

Hello everyone and welcome to “At The Cap Table” podcast - the exciting new series dedicated to hearing from the top European female investors who are taking the VC industry by storm.

Our next guest is the brilliant Ruth Foxe Blader, Partner at Anthemis!

Ruth is a fintech investor, emerging technology & communications expert with 15 years-international experience at Fortune 500 companies. At Anthemis, Ruth leads strategic investment efforts across Europe and North America. Ruth specialises in technology-enabled business models, insurance technology, risk transfer, early stage investing, product strategy and digital transformation.

Prior to joining Anthemis, Ruth worked for Allianz SE, where she led digital innovation efforts. She was a founding member of the AllianzX team, where she led investments in startups including Lemonade, MoneyFarm, Argus Cyber Security and SimpleSurance.

A New Jersey native, Ruth has spent the last decade between New York, London and Paris. In 2018 and 2019, Ruth was recognized for her outstanding contribution to the global financial technology ecosystem and listed among the Women in Fintech Powerlist by Innovate Finance. She currently serves on the boards of Axle, Demex, Hokodo, Hometree, Kaiko, Proportunity and Stable.

Alongside Sophie Winwood, she is the co-founder of WVC - a movement that promotes inclusion, empowerment and integration of VC in Europe and beyond.

The Seed: Weekly Tech & VC Roundup This week on The Seed:

Featuring insights from Alex McDonald (Sequel.co), Mads Jensen (SuperSeed), and Andreas (EUVC). Join us for a deep dive into the latest in tech, startups, and venture capital.

Chapters:

00:00 - Intro and welcome
01:14 - Launch of The Seed podcast collaboration
05:14 - UK rejects EU youth mobility scheme: Missed opportunity or political maneuvering? Mads and Alex discuss the implications for talent and investment.
10:02 - AI fears on the rise: 56% of US firms now see AI as a potential risk. Alex argues against heavy-handed regulation, while Mads considers the need for oversight.
18:42 - California's proposed AI regulation: Discussing potential liability for model developers.
23:15 - Startup shutdowns up 60%: Alex provides context, suggesting it's part of a natural cycle following increased startup formation in 2021-2022.
25:33 - The "silent VC recession": Examining the recent 0.4% return in Q4 2023 after a two-year drought. Mads explains the industry's need to adjust to new realities.
31:54 - The value of patience in VC: Alex shares insights on why funds optimizing for quick returns often underperform in the long run.
36:22 - UK AI funding controversy: Discussing Labour's decision to scrap a £1.3B Conservative AI initiative.

Welcome to today’s roundtable on raising in a bear market. We have some of Europe’s best and most active LPs with us to discuss the following three topics:

• LP views on the state of the current market and when you see the light at the end of the tunnel?
• The most important considerations the panel sees managers having today and the tactics they employ to be successful
• Advice from the panel to managers thinking about embarking on the raise of their first fund today.

Speakers:

• David Dana - Head of VC Investments at EIF
• Joe Schorge - Founding Partner of Isomer Capital
• Christian Roehle - Head of Investment Management at KFW Capital
• Michael Sidgmore - Co-Founder & Partner at Broadhaven Ventures by Broadhaven Capital Partners

And finally, we just wanna give a massive shoutout the sponsor of this roundtable: Affinity without whose continued support we couldn’t dedicate all our time to create content like this roundtable for you. So if you’re not yet a client, our message is clear: do reach out, say thx and consider if they’re the platform for you!

Today we're happy to welcome Agate Freimane, Founding Partner of Norrsken, one of Europe's leading impact venture capital funds born out of Norrsken Foundation, which hosts events, operates co-working spaces, and runs accelerator programmes across the Nordics, Iberia, and Eastern Africa.
Their fund is dedicated to investing in early-stage startups focusing primarily in climate tech and they've led the investments into almost 50 companies, highlights including Northvolt, Einride, 1komma5 and Matsmart.

Jump to the parts that matter to you 🎧
00:00:00 - "Tear down this wall"
00:01:04 - Disclaimer and Introduction
00:03:10 - Journey into venture
00:12:00 - Impact Investing in Europe
00:15:24 - The Decline of Opportunity Funds and LP Appetite
00:17:52 - Shifting Topics in the Impact Space
00:18:27 - LP Appetite & The Challenging Environment
00:22:09 - The Drive for ESG Reporting in Europe
00:24:49 - The Challenge of Impact as a Business Model
00:28:19 - The Importance of Finding the Right Problems
00:31:02 - Agate’s Core Learnings in Life
00:36:12 - Building Team and Culture as a VC Firm
00:38:23 - Assumptions and Feedback in Team Building and Culture
00:39:38 - Capital Deployment and Small Bad Bets
00:40:31 - Ego in VC & Professional Development
00:45:19 - Regrets and Priorities
00:45:35 - Top Tips for Fundraising In Europe

Today we are happy to welcome Niels Fritze, Head of Scale Invest, a young Single Family Office, where he oversees all aspects of the family's financial affairs, including investment management, estate planning, and wealth preservation.Niels utilizes his expertise in financial analysis, risk management, and strategic decision-making to optimize the family's wealth and ensure their long-term financial security.

Jump to the parts that matter to you 🎧 and watch the highlights below 👀
00:00:00 - European VC on Marc Penkala’s Rooftop Terrace
00:02:26 - Transitioning to a Family Wealth Management
00:05:25 - The Black Swan Year and Market Uncertainty
00:07:18 - Diversifying Your Portfolio with Alternative Assets
00:09:13 - The Popularity of Alternative Investments in the US
00:11:18 - Family Offices and VC Investment
00:14:23 - Understanding Family Office Investment Approaches
00:16:54 - The Benefits of Slow and Steady Growth in Startups
00:19:07 - The Importance of Deploying Capital Efficiently
00:22:17 - The Role of Fees in VC Fund Investing
00:23:42 - Assessing the Return on Capital Efficiency in Family Offices
00:28:23 - Commitment to Impact Investments
00:30:00 - Active vs Passive Investment Strategies
00:36:01 - The Importance of Brand Building in the Family Office Space
00:36:57 - Co-investment Opportunities and the LP Perspective
00:40:06 - Family offices vs venture capitalists
00:45:18 - Lessons Learned from LP Investing
00:46:45 - Quickfire Round and Tips for Emerging VCs

🔫 The Quickfire Round 🔫

Q: What advice would you give to your own 10 year younger self?
A: Enjoy your life to the fullest.Try to look left and right all the time. Do something else than just VC, like physically, some sort of handcraft work.

Q: What advice would you give to VCs fundraising?
A: Know how to pitch your VC and get expert help.

Q: What is the most counterintuitive thing you've learned since you've started investing in venture?
A: Sometimes it really pays out way more when you reinvent an old idea which is already in place, than invent something new which has no use.

Watch the full episode on eu.vc