Scaling Europe

Sebastian Johnson
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  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated weekly

Every week Seb Johnson sits down with 5 of Europe's best builders and investors to talk about what's going on in European Tech. Prior guests include the founders of Lovable, Cleo, Voi an Zilch, as well as top VCs from 20VC, Index, Balderton and Creandum.

  1. 23 hr ago

    Zeynep Yavuz-Willson, Partner at General Catalyst: GC is an early stage investor and AI transformation firm

    General Catalyst has built one of the most active investment theses in Europe around artificial intelligence transforming massive service industries like law, property management, accounting, and insurance. Their portfolio features companies tackling this shift from different angles, including Legora selling software directly to law firms and Dwelly scaling through hands-on growth in real estate. Zeynep Yavuz-Willson is a Partner at General Catalyst, where she focuses on early-stage investing across Europe. Before venture she worked in private equity and operating roles, and she says learning from founders is still her favourite part of the job. The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel. Check them out here: https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk Sponsors: SurrealDB: https://surrealdb.com/ Airwallex: https://www.airwallex.com/uk Lovable: https://lovable.dev/ Parloa: https://www.parloa.com/ Conveo: https://conveo.ai/ NatWest: https://www.natwest.com/ WWT: https://www.wwt.com/ Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 1:06 - Why General Catalyst is betting on AI transforming services 4:04 - Why Dwelly was worth the risk despite being burned before 8:39 - Which other service industries General Catalyst is watching 11:08 - Why customer trust is becoming the real advantage in AI 13:50 - The rest of the AI stack, open source and data 20:35 - Why concentrated industries adopt AI faster than fragmented ones 26:31 - How General Catalyst's capital model is changing 28:51 - Is General Catalyst still a venture firm 30:46 - How the venture industry has changed since 2020

  2. 4 days ago

    Quddus Pativada and Dominic Raab, Founder and Founding advisor of Index Law: BREAKING: Dominic Raab joins Index Law

    Dominic Raab, the former UK Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary, has just joined IndexLaw as a founding advisor. IndexLaw helps businesses and individuals handle legal work, review contracts, and build legal strategies using artificial intelligence. The platform automates routine tasks while connecting users with real lawyers for final review. Quddus Pativada is founder and CEO , and Dominic Raab is a founding advisor at IndexLaw. They believe AI can make legal help simple and put people directly in control of their own legal matters. The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel. Check them out here: https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk Sponsors: SurrealDB: https://surrealdb.com/ Airwallex: https://www.airwallex.com/uk?utm_source=other&utm_medium=partner_referral&utm_campaign=v01_emea_multi_ib_dg_prtmk_mofu_scalingeuropeLovable: https://lovable.dev/ Parloa: https://www.parloa.com/ Conveo: https://conveo.ai/ NatWest: https://www.natwest.com/ WWT: https://www.wwt.com/ Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 0:21 - What IndexLaw is building 1:06 - Dominic Raab's new role at IndexLaw 3:18 - The personal story behind IndexLaw's founding 6:00 - How IndexLaw differs from Harvey and Legora 9:14 - Why the legal industry is ripe for disruption 11:54 - The UK's unusually open rules for legal AI 14:17 - Dominic's day-to-day role as advisor 15:18 - How Quddus and Dominic's partnership began 17:56 - IndexLaw's goals for the next 18 months

  3. 5 days ago

    Gabriel Le Roux, Co-founder & CEO at Primer: Primer gives companies more control over how they accept customer payments

    Primer gives merchants one place to manage and optimise every part of their payments. Through a single integration, businesses can connect payment providers, payment methods, and fraud tools, then control how payments are routed and processed. By bringing payment data and AI-powered intelligence together, Primer helps businesses reduce failed payments, lower costs, and expand into new markets. Gabriel Le Roux is Co-founder and CEO at Primer. He believes that as payments get more automated and complex, merchants need one connected system with full data behind it. The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel. Check them out here: https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk Sponsors: SurrealDB: https://surrealdb.com/ Airwallex: https://www.airwallex.com/uk?utm_source=other&utm_medium=partner_referral&utm_campaign=v01_emea_multi_ib_dg_prtmk_mofu_scalingeurope Lovable: https://lovable.dev/ Parloa: https://www.parloa.com/ Conveo: https://conveo.ai/ NatWest: https://www.natwest.com/ WWT: https://www.wwt.com/ Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 0:13 - What Primer does 1:15 - Primer's new $100m round 3:38 - Why Primer built its AI agent, Companion 6:52 - How customer research shaped Companion 9:45 - Companion's surprising adoption 11:59 - How culture shapes Primer's approach to selling 16:16 - Primer's plans to double down on the US 18:02 - Why Primer has been data-driven from day one

  4. 6 days ago

    Erik Bernhardsson, CEO of Modal: Modal powers cloud infrastructure for AI

    Modal gives AI startups the computing power they need to run their products, and a safe way to run code their AI writes on its own. Its revenue has grown 5x this year and is now closing in on $1bn annually, backed by a recent $355m raise to keep up with demand.Erik Bernhardsson is CEO at Modal. He's certain AI startups will keep needing more computing power than anyone expects, and that demand is contributing to Modal's growth.The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel. Check them out here: https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjkSponsors:SurrealDB: ⁠https://surrealdb.com/⁠Airwallex: ⁠https://www.airwallex.com/uk?utm_source=other&utm_medium=partner_referral&utm_campaign=v01_emea_multi_ib_dg_prtmk_mofu_scalingeurope⁠Lovable: ⁠https://lovable.dev/⁠Parloa: https://www.parloa.com/Conveo: https://conveo.ai/NatWest: https://www.natwest.com/WWT: https://www.wwt.com/Timestamps:0:00 - Introduction0:21 - What Modal does0:57 - Modal's $355m round and revenue growth1:51 - How Modal forecasts and buys computing power ahead of demand3:40 - Why most of Modal's growth comes from AI-native startups7:04 - Modal's biggest use cases: inference, sandboxes and coding models9:07 - The shift toward cheaper Chinese and open-source AI models12:21 - Modal's expansion into London and Stockholm19:44 - What Erik learned building Spotify that he's applied at Modal23:14 - The one part of the job Erik still can't delegate27:19 - Why Erik expects capital efficiency to matter again33:32 - Modal's path to $1bn in annual revenue

  5. 6 days ago

    Hendrik Van Hove, Co-founder of Conveo: BREAKING: Conveo raised $50M Series A

    Conveo just raised a $50m Series A from DST Global, Balderton Capital, Visionaries, 6 Degrees Capital and Y Combinator, bringing its total funding to $55.8m. Conveo helps large companies understand what their customers want, using AI to run the research and get the findings to the teams that need them. The company has grown from 12 to 80 people in less than a year. Hendrik Van Hove is Co-founder of Conveo. He believes the real value of AI for big companies comes from pairing it with people, and that's the part most competitors miss. The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel. Check them out here: https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk Sponsors: Chargebee: ⁠https://www.chargebee.com/events/beelieve/london/2026⁠ SurrealDB: ⁠https://surrealdb.com/⁠ Airwallex: ⁠https://www.airwallex.com/uk?utm_source=other&utm_medium=partner_referral&utm_campaign=v01_emea_multi_ib_dg_prtmk_mofu_scalingeurope⁠ Lovable: ⁠https://lovable.dev/⁠ Parloa: https://www.parloa.com/ Conveo: https://conveo.ai/ NatWest: https://www.natwest.com/ WWT: https://www.wwt.com/ Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction0:13 - Conveo's new $50m Series A0:24 - The investors behind Conveo's round1:53 - What Conveo builds4:03 - Customers like Google and Unilever5:06 - Why investors backed Conveo over rivals6:52 - Conveo's case for pairing AI with people12:04 - What Conveo got wrong early on15:34 - How Conveo won its first major clients18:16 - Conveo's plans for the new funding19:14 - Why Conveo is building a new category

  6. 20 Aug

    Danyal Akarca, Co-founder at Callosum: BREAKING: Callosum raised $100m Seed

    Callosum just raised $100m led by Atomico, Plural and DCVC. It's one of the largest seed-stage rounds in UK history, coming just five months after Callosum came out of stealth. Callosum builds software that lets AI run across many different types of chips at the same time, making it faster, cheaper and more capable. Danyal Akarca is Co-founder at Callosum. He believes AI can only have a real economic impact once it becomes cheaper and faster to run, and that's exactly what Callosum is built to do. The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel. Check them out here: https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk Sponsors: Chargebee: https://www.chargebee.com/events/beelieve/london/2026 SurrealDB: https://surrealdb.com/ Airwallex: https://www.airwallex.com/uk?utm_source=other&utm_medium=partner_referral&utm_campaign=v01_emea_multi_ib_dg_prtmk_mofu_scalingeurope Lovable: https://lovable.dev/ Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 1:09 - Callosum's approach to AI infrastructure 5:56 - How Callosum's technology works for customers 8:48 - Callosum's new $100m round 12:33 - How Callosum built partnerships with chip companies like Cerebras 17:14 - Why Callosum wasn't built just to make chips work together 20:03 - What the $100m will fund next 24:54 - Why cost is becoming as important as speed for AI buyers 28:03 - Who Danyal thinks will win the AI stack over the next three years 33:03 - Why London has become a serious AI hub

  7. 18 Aug

    Thomas Bigagli, EMEA Partner at Plug and Play Ventures: Europe needs bigger and faster capital to keep startups home

    Plug and Play Ventures invests in startups across Europe and runs a platform connecting them with large corporate partners. It has grown from a family office into an institutional investor with nine funds, and now runs 65 offices with more than 700 people worldwide. Thomas Bigagli is EMEA Partner at Plug and Play Ventures. He believes Europe already has the talent and ideas, and just needs investors willing to move faster and write bigger checks to keep its best startups from leaving. Sponsors: Chargebee: https://www.chargebee.com/events/beelieve/london/2026 SurrealDB: https://surrealdb.com/ Airwallex: https://www.airwallex.com/uk?utm_source=other&utm_medium=partner_referral&utm_campaign=v01_emea_multi_ib_dg_prtmk_mofu_scalingeurope Lovable: https://lovable.dev/ Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 0:28 - What Plug and Play's EMEA role involves 2:29 - How Europe's startup landscape has changed 3:20 - Why deep tech is such an exciting opportunity right now 5:05 - Where Europe's hardware and deep tech hubs are emerging 6:07 - Plug and Play's early bets in Lithuania and Italy 9:56 - The one question every founder gets asked 12:32 - Why more European founders are thinking globally 15:52 - US investors' growing presence in Europe 17:15 - Why European VCs still move slower than American ones 18:41 - The European firms closing the gap

  8. 14 Aug

    Srdjan Kovacevic, CEO & Co-Founder of Orqa: Building leading drone hardware in Europe

    Orqa is a Croatian company that designs and manufactures drones, components and ground stations entirely in Europe, a rare setup in an industry that mostly relies on China. Orqa now builds primarily for defence customers across NATO and the West, and shipped 250,000 products last year, a number it's on track to double in 2026. Srdjan Kovacevic is CEO and Co-Founder of Orqa. He believes most Western militaries aren't ready for drone warfare yet, and that needs to change fast. The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel. Check them out here: https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk Sponsors: Chargebee: https://www.chargebee.com/events/beelieve/london/2026 SurrealDB: https://surrealdb.com/ Airwallex: https://www.airwallex.com/uk?utm_source=other&utm_medium=partner_referral&utm_campaign=v01_emea_multi_ib_dg_prtmk_mofu_scalingeurope Lovable: https://lovable.dev/ Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 0:15 - What Orqa builds 1:07 - Why Orqa set out to build Europe's answer to Chinese drone brands 2:36 - Why Orqa builds everything in Europe 5:03 - Orqa's current production scale 6:41 - How the war in Ukraine pulled Orqa into defence 8:05 - Why Orqa builds for NATO's future needs, not Ukraine's immediate ones 10:19 - Orqa's production numbers: 250,000 products shipped last year 13:16 - Orqa's biggest supply chain bottleneck 15:40 - Why the AI boom is causing a new chip shortage for Orqa 19:10 - Ukraine's drone warfare numbers 20:36 - How drone warfare has transformed the battlefield

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About

Every week Seb Johnson sits down with 5 of Europe's best builders and investors to talk about what's going on in European Tech. Prior guests include the founders of Lovable, Cleo, Voi an Zilch, as well as top VCs from 20VC, Index, Balderton and Creandum.

Information

  • Creator
    Sebastian Johnson
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    237
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Sebastian Johnson
  • Show Website
    Scaling Europe

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