EUVC

The home of European tech. Connecting the people, capital and companies building Europe. EUVC features conversations with the founders, investors, operators and policymakers shaping the continent's future. We explore venture capital, startups, AI, deeptech, defense, industrial policy, entrepreneurship and the ideas driving European competitiveness. From emerging managers and unicorn founders to institutional investors and government leaders, EUVC documents the people building Europe's next chapter.

  1. 17時間前

    Summit | Chris Preston (ZEREN) & Rishabh Kaul (Hoxton Ventures): Building AI-native leadership teams

    What does it really mean to be AI-native when hiring or backing a leadership team? Chris Preston, CEO at ZEREN, a global technology recruitment firm, and Rishabh Kaul, Venture Partner at Hoxton Ventures, discuss how AI is changing the signals that matter in senior talent, from curiosity and hands-on experimentation to judgement and functional expertise. Recorded at the EUVC Summit & Awards Show in April 2026, they explore the trade-off between proven experience and AI-native thinking, how founders can rethink hiring and how investors can better assess and support leadership teams as expectations evolve. Highlights What AI-native leadership looks like in practiceHow founders and investors can assess AI capabilityWhy curiosity and experimentation matter alongside experienceWhen deep domain expertise still matters moreWhy interim executives can help shape evolving rolesWhy early-stage teams should focus on standout strengths rather than perfection Timestamps (00:00) Intro(02:00) How AI is changing leadership hiring(04:00) Why experienced leaders need to stay close to how AI is being used(06:00) How to test for genuinely AI-native thinking(07:00) Balancing proven experience with AI curiosity(09:00) The investor perspective on AI adoption across portfolio companies(11:00) When deep domain expertise still matters more(12:00) Using interim leaders when roles are still evolving(13:00) Why founders should hire for standout strengths, not perfection

    Summit | Chris Preston (ZEREN) & Rishabh Kaul (Hoxton Ventures): Building AI-native leadership teams
  2. 4日前

    This Week in European Tech: Apple rents AI. What should Europe build?

    Apple’s decision to rent rather than build its core AI model raises a wider question for Europe: where should companies own the technology, and where does it make more sense to build on top of the best models available? That is one of the themes in this episode of This Week in European Tech, featuring Dan Bowyer, Mads Jensen and Priyanka Savjani of SuperSeed, alongside Andrew J Scott of 7percent Ventures. They also discuss where Mistral and Wayve can compete, why business data is becoming more valuable and how the AI infrastructure boom is starting to reshape capital markets. Highlights Why Apple may have made “renting AI” more respectableWhere Mistral could find an advantage beyond the frontier-model raceWhy business data is becoming one of AI’s most valuable assetsWhy governments should act as customers, not just grant providersHow AI infrastructure spending is moving into debt marketsWhy new forms of AI reasoning are raising questions around observability and safetyTimestamps (00:00) Intro(03:00) Broadcom and the AI chip race(06:00) Matt Clifford, Anthropic and where AI power sits(08:00) Apple rents AI: build or buy?(12:00) nScale and the numbers behind its AI infrastructure story(14:00) Wayve, Waymo and the autonomous driving race(17:00) Why governments should become startup customers(18:00) Europe, capital flows and the AI kill switch debate(21:00) Thinking Machines, Mistral and the open-source AI race(25:00) Meta’s AI pricing bet and the value of business data(31:00) Why bond markets suddenly matter to tech(37:00) AI financing moves from equity into debt(41:00) Oracle’s leveraged bet on OpenAI(43:00) What happens when AI models reason in their own language?(47:00) Deals of the week(50:00) What to watch next week

    This Week in European Tech: Apple rents AI. What should Europe build?
  3. 9月4日

    Summit | Dave Bailey (Founder Coach): Creating simplicity

    Complexity is one of the biggest barriers to scaling, and AI may make it worse. As building new features gets easier, the temptation is to keep adding. Dave Bailey, CEO of Founder Coach, argues that scaling requires the opposite: subtraction. In this talk from the EUVC Summit & Awards Show 2027, he shares a practical framework for focusing on the goal that matters most, challenging plans that no longer serve it and removing the hidden priorities that create complexity. Dave coaches venture-backed CEOs from Seed to pre-IPO and previously co-founded and scaled multiple venture-backed companies, including Delivery Hero. Highlights Why simple scales and complex failsHow bigger goals and shorter timelines create clarityWhy AI can increase organisational complexityHow hidden goals and fear keep weak plans aliveWhy raising the bar is a tool for subtractionTimestamps (01:15) Why simple scales and complex fails(03:00) Why AI makes complexity worse(03:40) Finding your simplifying goal(05:15) Why bigger goals create clarity(05:40) Compressing the timeline(07:00) Clean thinking vs dirty thinking(08:30) The hidden goal iceberg(10:35) Why fear keeps bad plans alive(10:50) Raising the bar through subtraction(11:45) The path to simplicity Want to simplify how you scale? Book a discovery call with Dave Bailey to identify the challenges holding your company back and explore how Founder Coach can help. https://www.eu.vc/products/dave-bailey-ceo-founder-coach

    Summit | Dave Bailey (Founder Coach): Creating simplicity
  4. 9月1日

    Julien-David Nitlech (IRIS): What Exotec taught IRIS about backing deep tech that lasts

    Exotec’s journey from an early-stage warehouse robotics company to France’s first industrial unicorn, now valued at $2bn+, reflects what IRIS looks for in applied deep tech: differentiated technology, a clear market need and founders who understand both. In this EUVC episode, we are joined by Julien-David Nitlech, Managing Partner at IRIS, to explore why Exotec initially seemed too early, what changed his mind and how the company continued to evolve through international expansion. Julien-David then takes us inside IRIS, the European venture and growth firm founded in 1986. He explains how the firm has navigated four decades of technological change by renewing its teams, ownership and investment thinking while preserving the values at its core. What we cover: Why Exotec initially looked promising but was early for IRIS’s investment thesisWhat Julien-David saw during a 20-minute meeting with its founderWhere IRIS draws the line between applied deep tech and capital-intensive foundational betsHow early customer validation helps IRIS assess a technical stackWhat AI companies need to build lasting value as technologies and markets evolveWhy IRIS may be approaching what Julien-David describes as its “fifth life” Follow EUVC for more conversations with the founders, investors and operators shaping European tech and venture capital. Timestamps (01:20) IRIS at 40: how the firm has kept reinventing itself(05:00) What IRIS looks for in tech investments(07:00) How venture firms survive generational change(13:00) Humility, governance and growing as an investor(18:00) Why fundraising changes how VCs think(22:50) Exotec: the investment IRIS nearly missed(31:00) How IRIS approaches deep tech(38:00) IRIS’s AI investment thesis(44:00) What creates a durable moat in AI(47:00) Concentration, uncertainty and the future of VC(49:00) Could IRIS enter its fifth life?

    Julien-David Nitlech (IRIS): What Exotec taught IRIS about backing deep tech that lasts

番組について

The home of European tech. Connecting the people, capital and companies building Europe. EUVC features conversations with the founders, investors, operators and policymakers shaping the continent's future. We explore venture capital, startups, AI, deeptech, defense, industrial policy, entrepreneurship and the ideas driving European competitiveness. From emerging managers and unicorn founders to institutional investors and government leaders, EUVC documents the people building Europe's next chapter.

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