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In this episode of the EUVC podcast, Andreas discusses, with Richard Muirhead, Managing Partner at Fabric Ventures, the transformative potential of Web3 and AI.

Richard shares insights into how these technologies will reshape the internet, the power dynamics between big tech and decentralized communities, and Fabric Ventures' role in this evolving landscape. They also discuss ethical considerations, the development of decentralized finance, and the challenges and opportunities facing venture capital in Europe.

Fabric Ventures is a 125M EUR fund, with 250M under management, anchored in Europe around Paris & Zurich, but investing globally. They are actively investing in WEB3, which has become a global phenomenon, and they have incredible investments in their portfolio so far, such as Sorare, Ramp, Near, Immutable, Polkadot, Flashbots, and many more.

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Chapters:

In this conversation, we explore the distinction between construction tech and prop tech, with a focus on the former. Construction tech is a project-based business that optimizes supply chains, while prop-tech is an operations-based business that focuses on real estate transactions and utilization. The conversation delves into:The different segments within construction tech, including architecture, engineering, construction, and supply chain technology.The importance of outcome-based business models.The role of AI and data infrastructure in the construction industry.The conversation concludes with an analysis of the funding trajectory of construct tech and its potential for future growth. Andreas and Patric examine the waves of technology in the construction industry and the importance of data connectivity and harmonization. They also touch on the challenges of pre-manufactured housing and the fallacies in VC fund strategies. Patric shares insights on their fund model, which is vertically dedicated, global, and focused on early-stage investments. They prioritize preempting follow-on rounds and emphasize the importance of staying involved and not delegating decision-making. Patric also offers advice to young people in the industry, including thinking from a DPI perspective and finding differentiation.

About the guest.

Patric Hellermann, the Founding General Partner of Foundamental, an $84M EUR venture capital fund focusing on construction technology, with $100M EUR Fund III just launched.

About the firm.

Foundamental is led by three GPs, 1 in the US, 1 in Europe, and 1 in Pacific Asia. They are investing in AEC-Tech: 3D-design, Construction, Renovation, Supply Chain & Logistics, and Blue-Collar Work, starting from day zero up to Series A.

Portoflio highlights count Infra.Market (Series A), Enter (pre-seed), Speckle (pre-seed), Rayon (pre-seed), Metalbook (pre-seed), SafeAI (seed), and Wizfreight (seed).

Key facts include a 94% follow-on rate among Fund-1 companies, the vast majority of which they invested at seed, top-decile returns in both funds, incl. top-decile DPI (Fund-2 actually top 3-5% currently), circa 10 portfolio companies have achieved net-profitability.

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Chapters:

00:03 Meet Patric Hellemann and Foundamental
00:32 ConstructTech Explained
03:40 PropTech vs. ConstructTech
05:40 AECS: Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Supply Chain
06:58 Robotics in Construction
08:51 Challenges and Opportunities in Construct Techbr...

Celebrating one of the finalists in the Newcomer of the Year category at this year’s European VC Awards, this episode dives deep with Sarah Drinkwater, solo GP at Common Magic.

Common Magic is a pre-seed/seed solo GP fund investing in and supporting founders building products with community at their core across Europe and the US. As a small fund, they act like an angel:fast decisionsoperationally usefulcomfortable being the first commitment
Sarah Drinkwater has been building communities in tech for over 15 years and building communities for fun for much longer. From advising protocols for Filecoin and Gitcoin on their ecosystem building to growing Campus, Google’s East London space for startups, and growing an angel investing portfolio of 36 startups, she built playbooks and networks that can help founders build powerful communities right from the start.
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Chapters:

00:24 Diving into Community

00:53 Common Magic's Investment Focus
03:07 Sarah's Journey and Achievements
04:19 Understanding Community in Tech
10:58 Blockchain and Community
17:27 Community as an Investment Focus
22:19 Fund Structure and Geography
22:47 Investment Focus and Strategy
23:27 Community and Market Assumptions
27:30 Monetization Strategies
28:29 Challenges in Community Building
35:45 AI and Community Platforms
38:38 AI Investment Trends
42:29 Fund Status and Future Plans

Celebrating a new finalist in the Firm of The Year category at this year’s European VC Awards, this episode dives deep with Beata Klein, Principal at CREANDUM.

Creandum is a leading European early-stage venture capital firm backing some of Europe’s most successful tech companies, including Spotify, Pleo, Kahoot, Depop, Trade Republic, Neo4j, and Factorial. Creandum has hubs in Stockholm, Berlin, London, and San Francisco.

In this episode, we dive deep into Beata’s article “AI in B2B SaaS: Beyond Vertical and into the Horizon(tal),” which we reproduce below together with the rest of the show notes.

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Chapters:

01:05 Deep Dive into AI and Horizontal vs Vertical SaaS
04:27 Beata's Insights on B2B SaaS and AI
06:15 The Future of AI in Horizontal SaaS
07:22 Challenges and Opportunities in AI Integration
09:15 Exploring Legacy Systems and New Innovations
20:31 Legal Tech and AI: A Disruptive Force
32:39 AI First Approach: The Future of User Interfaces
33:23 Revolutionizing the Internet: Human vs. Agent Interaction
35:10 Blockchain and AI: A Seamless Future
35:48 Tailwinds in AI: Adaptability and Data Ingestion
37:28 The Power of AI in Data Ingestion
41:03 AI in Compliance: Disrupting Legacy Systems
42:44 Horizontal vs. Vertical AI Applications
47:50 The Future of AI: European vs. US Models
51:48 Work-Life Balance and Career Growth in VC
59:06 Advice for Aspiring VCs: Embrace Failure and Specialize

Join us as Tom Wilson from Seedcamp and Anthony Danon from Cocoa talk to Szymon Sypniewicz, co-founder & CEO of Ramp Network.

Prior to Ramp, he was an advisor for a peer-to-peer bitcoin lending platform. He has a background in law and has worked for several legal firms, including Norton Rose Fulbright.

Szymon has also worked as the Director of Research at the Adrianople Group, where he conducted research on free economic zones around the world – focusing on areas in which companies are taxed very lightly or not at all to encourage economic activity. Like many leaders across the crypto space, Szymon has roots in libertarian free-market ideology, he is one of the original founders of the Libertarian Party in Poland.

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Chapters:
00:50 Simon's Background and Journey01:03 Founding RAMP Network01:47 Transition to Angel Investing02:39 First Angel Investment Experience02:50 Investment Strategy and Learning02:53 Focus on Complex Technologies03:57 Investment Patterns and Themes05:03 Web3 and Early Stage Investments05:42 Criteria for Selecting Founders08:49 Geographical Focus: Poland and Europe10:45 Specialization vs. Broad Knowledge14:40 Characteristics of Successful Founders23:07 Advice for Aspiring Angels27:37 The Role of Angel Investors

Celebrating a new finalist in the Firm of The Year category at this year’s European VC Awards, this episode dives deep with Xavier Lazarus, Partner at Elaia Partners.

We’re very excited to have this conversation with Xavier because, as you already know, Elaia has achieved many things in +20 years of activity. Elaia is a French venture capital firm focused on European digital and deep tech startups, from early stage to growth development.

Together with Xavier, we’re gonna tackle the following topics:Generative AI & how it has been shaping venture capitalFuture AI trends and what we should expect from this industryThe recent 200M round they have just participated in with H companyThe rise of Paris as a venture ecosystem and innovation hub… and some other exciting topics that we invite you to discover by yourself.
Go to eu.vc for our core learnings and the full video interview 👀

Chapters:

00:44 Diving into Gen AI and H Company
01:48 Xavier's Transition from Boutique to Franchise
04:58 Exploring H Company's AI Innovations
12:03 AI's Impact on Various Sectors
15:17 Future of AI in Education and Beyond
32:14 The Rise of French Tech
32:26 The Impact of AI and International Investments
34:02 Challenges and Strategies in Fund Modeling
36:28 Portfolio Management and Risk Assessment
43:52 Elia's Growth and Expansion
44:50 Strategic Partnership with Lazard
54:30 Personal Insights from Xavier Lazarus
58:23 Reflections on VC and Entrepreneurship