Innovation and Private Capital x aulium

Thomas Viguier
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Conversations with the people shaping private capital. Jump into the world of Private Markets. Your front-row seat into the world of private capital. We’ll be sitting down with top investors and industry-leading executives across sectors, unpacking the strategies, stories, and mindsets that drive private equity and beyond. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, dealmaker, or just curious about how capital really moves, this is your chance to listen in on the conversations shaping the future of business.

  1. Just Produce Returns – How Chris Wade Built Isomer Capital | Chris Wade (Isomer Capital)

    2d ago

    Just Produce Returns – How Chris Wade Built Isomer Capital | Chris Wade (Isomer Capital)

    European venture capital has matured from simple investment managers into true fund managers who understand that producing returns means more than waiting ten years for an exit. Chris Wade of Isomer Capital explains why the shift toward active portfolio management—including strategic secondaries and disciplined liquidity events—is reshaping how European VCs operate and how LPs evaluate them. The conversation explores what separates good funds from great ones in today's market. Wade argues that smaller funds statistically deliver better returns, that team dynamics matter more than individual credentials, and that fairness and urgency—lessons from his decade at Nortel—remain the foundation of successful partnerships. He discusses why Isomer sits on 90% of its portfolio funds' LPACs, not for governance but to help managers build enduring firms. The discussion also covers why pension fund allocation in Europe lags the US (0.009% vs 0.028% of AUM), and why the answer isn't regulation—it's simply producing consistent returns. Wade highlights how funds like Credo Ventures evolved from average to world-class by understanding when to take money off the table, citing their 11X DPI return on UiPath as a model of maturity. Key points include: 🎯 Good VCs invest; great fund managers actively manage exits and liquidity, not just wait for IPOs 📊 Smaller funds (below €100M) statistically produce higher multiples—4X+ is easier at scale 🤝 Team cohesion under stress is the hardest thing to DD, and the most critical—negative behaviors repeat 💰 European pension funds will increase VC allocation when returns prove consistent, not because of regulation 🚀 European companies like ElevenLabs and Lovable are growing faster than any prior generation—revenue, not just valuation Subscribe to Aulium for more conversations on innovation and private capital. About Chris Wade [co-founder & Partner of Isomer Capital]:Co-founder and partner of Isomer Capital, an LP investing in European venture capital funds. Previously spent over a decade at Nortel and DSC, founded Cambridge Positioning Systems, ran the UK Venture Capital Unit, and served as a venture partner at Octopus and Entrepreneur First before co-founding Isomer in 2015 with Joe Schorge.About Aulium:Aulium is a video show exploring Innovation and Private Capital, hosted by Thomas Viguier.Connect with us:➡ Aulium on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aulium➡ Thomas Viguier: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tviguier/

    1h 5m
  2. Why Quantum Computers Won't Replace Your Laptop – Simon Fried (Classiq)

    3d ago

    Why Quantum Computers Won't Replace Your Laptop – Simon Fried (Classiq)

    Quantum computing is no longer a lab curiosity—it's approaching commercial reality, and enterprises unprepared for the shift risk being left behind. Simon Fried from Classiq explains why 2026 is emerging as quantum's inflection point, and what businesses must understand now to build durable advantage in a space most still find impenetrable. The conversation cuts through quantum hype to reveal a pragmatic roadmap: quantum processing units (QPUs) are the next "you" in the compute stack, complementing CPUs and GPUs rather than replacing them. Classiq's software abstracts the complexity of quantum hardware, allowing domain experts—chemists, quants, computational biologists—to develop quantum applications without needing PhDs in physics. The approach mirrors classical computing's evolution toward higher abstraction, enabling organizations to build reusable assets rather than throwaway experiments. Fried discusses why finance and simulation-heavy industries are early movers, how AI and quantum form a virtuous cycle, and the talent crunch threatening to bottleneck adoption as commercial quantum advantage arrives. **Key Discussion Points:** 🧮 Quantum computers won't replace classical systems—they'll handle subroutines where QPUs deliver speed, accuracy, or cost advantages classical chips cannot match. 🔐 The decryption threat timeline keeps compressing; what seemed decades away now looms within years, forcing urgent post-quantum cryptography preparation. 💼 Early enterprise wins will be incremental—slightly better options pricing, marginally optimized portfolios—but enough to ignite competitive pressure across sectors. 🎓 The talent gap is acute: abstraction and agentic AI are the only scalable solutions to turn domain experts into quantum developers in weeks, not years. 📈 Over $230M raised, Classiq represents the most-funded quantum software company, signaling investor confidence that the software layer will capture lasting value as hardware commoditizes. Subscribe to Aulium for more conversations on innovation and private capital. About Simon Fried [VP Comm and BD at Classiq]:Vice President of Communications and Business Development at Classiq, where he has been since 2022, leading go-to-market strategy for the quantum software platform. He co-founded Nano Dimension, helping take the company through two NASDAQ listings over eleven years, ran go-to-market at MeaTech through its NASDAQ listing, co-founded Israel's first single malt whisky distillery, and spent over a decade on marketing strategy and applied behavioural economics at Mountainview Learning after starting his career at Michael Porter's Monitor Group.About Aulium:Aulium is a video show exploring Innovation and Private Capital, hosted by Thomas Viguier.Connect with us:➡ Aulium on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aulium➡ Thomas Viguier: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tviguier/

    1h 12m
  3. Why Data Centers Need 2–4 Years Before They Print Money - Damir Špoljarič (VSHosting)

    4d ago

    Why Data Centers Need 2–4 Years Before They Print Money - Damir Špoljarič (VSHosting)

    The European data center market faces a critical talent shortage: fewer than 40 people on the continent possess the deep operational experience needed to deliver at scale. While speculators chase headlines about AI infrastructure demand, the real bottleneck isn't capital—it's grid capacity, permitting delays, and a four-year build cycle that turns promising projects into multi-year slogs. Damir Špoljarič walks through the mechanics of building AI-ready data centers from scratch: securing "powered land," navigating Environmental Impact Assessment red tape that caps most European facilities at 85–90 megawatts (versus 500 MW in Texas), and designing for future chips that may demand one megawatt per rack. He explains why cold Nordic climates and available grid capacity are reshaping the data center map, why hyperscalers now lease third-party infrastructure instead of building their own, and how his GI21 fund adapts to 25-million-euro average exits rather than chasing unicorns. The conversation also traces his path from a 220-kilo teenage coder to airline pilot to repeat founder—losing over 100 kilos to earn his medical license—and culminates in a stark 2035 vision where AI and robotics displace jobs at scale, forcing society to rethink the time-for-money exchange underpinning modern economies. **Key Discussion Points:** ⚡ Tier-four redundancy and 100% uptime gave VSHosting a defensible moat in a saturated hosting market—paranoia paid off when one outage could have bankrupted the bootstrapped company 🏗️ European data center construction is bottlenecked by grid capacity and EIA regulation, not capital—municipalities and outdated permitting are the real constraints 🌡️ AI racks now pull up to 150 kW each (formerly 10 kW), with vendors targeting one megawatt per cabinet—designing for unknowable 2029 chip specs is the hidden technical challenge 🎯 Market validation trumps pitch decks: proof that customers will pay beats every other signal when evaluating early-stage startups 💼 As an investor allocating personal wealth, he advises keeping VC exposure below 5 percent due to the asset class's speculative nature and management-fee-driven funds Subscribe to Aulium for more conversations on innovation and private capital. About Damir Špoljarič [Founder VSHosting + Gi21]:Founder of VSHosting, which he started in 2006 at seventeen and scaled to host two thirds of Czech and Slovak e-commerce before exiting to German operator Contabo in 2019 and then into KKR in 2022. He founded Gi21 Capital in 2022, a balance-sheet investor across deep tech, AI, B2B SaaS, robotics, infrastructure, and aviation with no LPs and no fund lifecycle, leads the advisory board at Lighthouse Ventures, and continues to fly as a commercial airline captain.About Aulium:Aulium is a video show exploring Innovation and Private Capital, hosted by Thomas Viguier.Connect with us:➡ Aulium on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aulium➡ Thomas Viguier: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tviguier/

    1h 8m
  4. Why Roboticists Misunderstand Their Users — Kirsty Lloyd-Jukes (Stateful Robotics)

    6d ago

    Why Roboticists Misunderstand Their Users — Kirsty Lloyd-Jukes (Stateful Robotics)

    Most roboticists think people love robots — because roboticists love robots. That fundamental misunderstanding, according to this conversation, is holding back the entire industry from mainstream adoption. The discussion unpacks a critical gap in the robotics stack that has nothing to do with dexterity or computer vision. While foundation models and scaling laws are unlocking short-horizon skills — teaching robots to pick up objects or navigate obstacles — they don't solve the problem of long-horizon autonomy. Industrial inspection robots today require manual mission planning: pointing and clicking on maps, scripting task lists that break the moment the environment changes. The challenge isn't making robots more capable; it's making them autonomous enough to operate unsupervised for hours, days, or weeks — reacting to battery levels, rerouting around obstacles, and prioritizing tasks without constant human oversight. This is where decision intelligence comes in: translating strategic goals into tactical actions, enabling robots to think not just about the next five minutes, but the next five days. The conversation also explores why robotics can't simply copy the language model playbook, the third wave of mobile robots in unstructured environments, and why the ultimate goal is to make the robot disappear entirely. 🤖 Why robotics can't rely on the same scaling laws as language models — data scarcity, reliability requirements, and on-device compute constraints make the problem fundamentally different 🧠 The distinction between skills (short-horizon control) and strategy (long-horizon decision-making) — and why both are needed for true autonomy 🏭 How unstructured environments — oil rigs, construction sites, warehouses with humans — demand a new approach to robot tasking ⚡ The productivity case for robots in aging economies with stagnant growth and onshoring pressures 🎯 Why the end goal is making people forget the robot exists — focusing on outcomes, not the machine Subscribe to Aulium for more conversations on innovation and private capital. About Kirsty Lloyd-Jukes [CEO of Stateful Robotics]:Co-founder and CEO of Stateful Robotics, a decision intelligence software company spun out of the University of Oxford. Previously ran investor relations, fundraising and corporate development at Waymo for over four years, including the company's first external round of over $3bn in 2020 and a $2.5bn Series B in 2021, and before that sold an Oxford spinout to Waymo and spent time in consulting at Oliver Wyman.About Aulium:Aulium is a video show exploring Innovation and Private Capital, hosted by Thomas Viguier.Connect with us:➡ Aulium on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aulium➡ Thomas Viguier: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tviguier/

    55 min
  5. When Claude Gets 10x Better, Is Your Business Safe? - Hillel Zidel (Kennet Partners)

    Jun 24

    When Claude Gets 10x Better, Is Your Business Safe? - Hillel Zidel (Kennet Partners)

    When Claude is 10x better, is your business model still defensible? That's the question Hillel Zidel says every growth investor must answer before writing a check — because frontier models will get there faster than most founders expect. This conversation unpacks how Kennet Partners sources and scales capital-efficient B2B software companies — businesses that have bootstrapped to meaningful scale without relying on VC funding cycles. Zidel explains why these companies tend to be more customer-centric, why their founders deploy capital more wisely, and how avoiding complex cap tables leads to cleaner exits at moderate valuations. The discussion moves from due diligence and governance structures to the messy reality of professionalizing founder-led businesses: hiring CFOs, upgrading teams, and pushing cautious CEOs to finally spend the cash sitting on their balance sheets. Zidel also details Kennet's US expansion playbook, the psychology of bootstrap founders adapting to institutional oversight, and why "team above all" is the principle that rescues deals from catastrophic pivots. Key Discussion Points: 💡 AI test: if foundation models improve 10x, does your company gain more value or become obsolete? 🚀 Bootstrap DNA: companies that reach scale without external capital are more likely to use growth funding wisely 🇺🇸 US expansion: founder relocation and early customer referenceability are stronger predictors of success than hiring a GM 📊 Capital efficiency reality check: some portfolio companies still hold 50%+ of invested cash at exit — and that's often a founder psychology issue, not a strategy 🔄 Exit cultivation: strategic acquirers should know your business years before you're ready to sell, not when you run a process Subscribe to Aulium for more conversations on innovation and private capital. About Hillel Zidel [Managing Director of Kennet Partners]:Managing Director at Kennet Partners, a growth equity firm focused on bootstrapped and capital-efficient B2B software companies, which he joined in 2009 when the firm transitioned from venture capital to growth equity. Prior to Kennet, he worked at ETV Capital and KPMG, and started his career in B2B technology startups in South Africa. Over 17 years at Kennet, he has completed dozens of deals and helped lead investments including Eloomi, which was acquired by Ceridian.About Aulium:Aulium is a video show exploring Innovation and Private Capital, hosted by Thomas Viguier.Connect with us:➡ Aulium on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aulium➡ Thomas Viguier: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tviguier/

    1h 7m
  6. Iron Fuel: The €2.5B Pipeline to Replace Fossil Fuels - Mark Verhagen (RIFT)

    Jun 23

    Iron Fuel: The €2.5B Pipeline to Replace Fossil Fuels - Mark Verhagen (RIFT)

    Industrial heat decarbonization represents nearly 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions, yet alternatives like hydrogen and electrification repeatedly fail feasibility studies. Mark Verhagen and his co-founders at RIFT discovered a century-old technology that modern economics finally make viable: burning iron powder to generate industrial heat with zero carbon emissions. The process sounds counterintuitive but works like fireworks at scale. Iron powder burns at 2,000°C—matching natural gas combustion—producing only iron oxide as a byproduct. That oxide is collected, transported back to a central facility, and recharged with hydrogen to become fuel again. The system achieves 95% energy efficiency compared to fossil fuel boilers at 80-85%, with lower nitrogen oxide emissions than any competing fuel. RIFT sells the boiler system with 15-year fuel contracts, guaranteeing returns and taking on performance risk. The company has secured €2.5 billion in letters of intent in the Netherlands alone and recently closed a €140 million financing round to build its first commercial fuel factory. **Key Discussion Points:** 🔥 Iron fuel delivers cheaper heat than fossil fuels today for certain customers, with no carbon emissions and a circular fuel loop ⚡ The technology complements electrification—e-boilers run when solar and wind are abundant, iron fuel covers the remaining 60-70% of operating hours 🏭 First commercial implementation targets 3.5 terawatt hours of decarbonized energy from one fuel plant serving ten boiler systems 🚛 Transport costs stay low because iron powder is safe and dense; a single truck can serve 500 km economically 💰 Deep tech requires longer validation cycles than software, making milestone planning and capital structure critical to survival Subscribe to Aulium for more conversations on innovation and private capital. About Mark Verhagen [CEO & co-Founder RIFT]:Co-founder and CEO of RIFT, a company developing iron fuel technology to decarbonise industrial heat, Mark Verhagen launched the business in September 2020 alongside co-founder Lex Scheepers. He studied chemical engineering and business administration before deciding that iron fuel deserved a company rather than just a thesis. RIFT has grown to around 75 people and has raised an 83 million euro Series B led by PGGM Infrastructure, with support from the EU Innovation Fund and the Breakthrough Energy fellowship.About Aulium:Aulium is a video show exploring Innovation and Private Capital, hosted by Thomas Viguier.Connect with us:➡ Aulium on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aulium➡ Thomas Viguier: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tviguier/

    1 hr
  7. 95% of North American Tenders Demand AI — France Lags Behind | Arnaud Petit (Sage)

    Jun 18

    95% of North American Tenders Demand AI — France Lags Behind | Arnaud Petit (Sage)

    95% of tenders in North America now include AI requirements, while France lags far behind. The gap isn't about innovation—France produces world-class startups—but about adoption speed, regulatory complexity, and a reluctance to move beyond legacy systems. The conversation unpacks why European SMBs, particularly in France, remain slow to embrace cloud and AI despite aggressive domestic innovation. E-invoicing mandates arriving in 2025–2026 will force digitalization across 4 million French companies, creating a massive competitive shift. The discussion reveals how finance teams are transitioning from retrospective reporting to predictive and prescriptive analytics, and why markets like Poland, Morocco, and Eastern Europe are outpacing Western assumptions. Real examples include Sage's conversational AI studio launching in June, its global B2B network connecting customers across borders, and the structural challenges of scaling SaaS across fragmented European markets with different compliance calendars, languages, and ecosystems. 💡 E-invoicing regulation will trigger mass digitalization in France, accelerating cloud and AI adoption across millions of SMBs ⚡ Finance teams must shift from 75% reporting production to 5–10%, reallocating time to predictive analytics and strategic advice 🌍 Eastern Europe and Africa are adopting latest-generation tech faster than Western Europe, bypassing legacy infrastructure entirely 🔗 Sage Network operates as the first global B2B marketplace, connecting invoicing, banking, tax authorities, and AI services in one secure environment 🚀 PennyLane and similar challengers face a different game when scaling internationally—local ecosystems, accountant networks, and compliance vary drastically Subscribe to Aulium for more conversations on innovation and private capital. About Arnaud Petit [MD Sage France and Southern Europe]:Managing Director for Sage France and Southern Europe, overseeing operations across France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and the broader Southern European region. Before joining Sage, he spent 25 years in finance leadership roles at Cisco, Philips, Microsoft, and Atos, serving as CFO before transitioning into general management. He has led the modernization of 14 Sage products in two years and trained 100% of his team on AI while navigating France's upcoming e-invoicing mandate and the regional SMB software landscape.About Aulium:Aulium is a video show exploring Innovation and Private Capital, hosted by Thomas Viguier.Connect with us:➡ Aulium on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aulium➡ Thomas Viguier: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tviguier/

    1h 20m
  8. How VC Secondary Markets Changed in 10 Years - Thomas Dadashi (Entier Capital)

    Jun 17

    How VC Secondary Markets Changed in 10 Years - Thomas Dadashi (Entier Capital)

    Ten years ago, telling investors you were doing secondaries in venture-backed tech companies meant explaining what secondaries even were. Today, everyone wants to talk — because everyone has liquidity needs or is considering a transaction. Thomas Dadashi, founder of eNTIER Capital, walks through the mechanics and market dynamics of secondary investing in late-stage European tech. The conversation covers how secondaries work in practice — buying stakes directly from founders, VCs, or LPs — and why pricing discipline matters more than chasing trophy names at inflated valuations. Dadashi explains the shift from a buyer's market where education was the challenge to today's competitive environment where differentiation comes from relationships, sector focus, and the ability to move without fund deployment pressure. The discussion touches on specific cases including Revolut, Darktrace, and Vinted, and explores why operating deal-by-deal rather than through a traditional fund structure offers flexibility to pause when markets overheat. **Key Discussion Points:** 🎯 Secondary transactions require navigating preemption rights, board approvals, and cap table politics — securing waivers upfront avoids doing all the work only to be preempted by existing shareholders 💰 Discount-to-NAV is misleading in venture: different funds mark the same company at wildly different valuations, and paying a premium can make sense if the exit case justifies backward calculation 🚀 Target returns of 3x in four years reward liquidity risk and mispricing risk in late-stage companies, often just past profitability but two to five years from exit 🧬 Biotech and life sciences represent the next frontier — a market even more dislocated than tech secondaries were a decade ago, requiring clinical trial expertise and likely a dedicated fund structure 📉 AI hype creates dangerous FOMO: Anthropic's valuation jumped 20-25% every few weeks in early 2025, while fintech and SaaS assets sit at reasonable prices with less competition Subscribe to Aulium for more conversations on innovation and private capital. About Thomas Dadashi [Founder of Entier Capital]:Founder of Entier Capital, a European venture secondaries firm he launched in 2019 after three years as Investment Partner at TempoCap and earlier experience in PwC transaction services in Paris. Since founding, Entier has closed more than one hundred and fifty million dollars of transaction value, focusing on direct secondaries on operating companies and selective LP-stake transactions on early-stage VC funds, with past deals including exposure to names like Revolut, Darktrace, Vinted, and Seedcamp.About Aulium:Aulium is a video show exploring Innovation and Private Capital, hosted by Thomas Viguier.Connect with us:➡ Aulium on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aulium➡ Thomas Viguier: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tviguier/

    57 min
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Conversations with the people shaping private capital. Jump into the world of Private Markets. Your front-row seat into the world of private capital. We’ll be sitting down with top investors and industry-leading executives across sectors, unpacking the strategies, stories, and mindsets that drive private equity and beyond. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, dealmaker, or just curious about how capital really moves, this is your chance to listen in on the conversations shaping the future of business.

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