EUVC

EUVC is your go-to podcast for everything European VC. Co-hosted by Andreas Munk Holm and David Cruz e Silva, EUVC features some of the most prominent people from the European VC industry, giving you a fresh new perspective on the industry and geo we love. Follow us and stay in the loop with everything European VC on eu.vc

  1. E691 | This Week in European Tech with Dan, Mads and Lomax

    5H AGO

    E691 | This Week in European Tech with Dan, Mads and Lomax

    Welcome back to another episode of Upside where Dan Bowyer, Mads Jensen of SuperSeed and Lomax Ward of Outsized Ventures go behind the headlines shaping European tech, capital, and power. This week is a high-velocity sprint through the AI model wars, hyperscaler capex, and the growing sense that SaaS is about to be structurally repriced by agents. Anthropic and OpenAI go toe-to-toe with flagship model releases just 20 minutes apart, while China quietly ships open models that are starting to look dangerously close to frontier performance at a fraction of the cost. The panel also digs into the so-called SaaSpocalypse, the early signs of a European “uncoupling” from US big tech, and why Spain’s crackdown on social media is being reframed as a public health issue rather than a free speech fight. And then there’s Muskanomics: the $1.5T SpaceX/xAI logic, the data-centers-in-space narrative, and whether any of it survives contact with physics. What’s covered: 02:10 AI model arms race: Anthropic Opus 4.6 vs OpenAI GPT 5.3 (20 minutes apart) 10:45 China’s open-source push: Kimi K 2.5, Qwen3 Max, and swarm capabilities 14:05 Alphabet’s $180B capex signal and Wall Street’s “infraspend” panic 22:35 SaaSpocalypse: $300B wiped off software and the seat-based SaaS collapse narrative 30:05 US–EU uncoupling: France bans Zoom/Teams, Germany moves off Microsoft, sovereignty vibes 36:35 Spain’s social crackdown: CEO liability, under-16 bans, and the censorship slippery slope 43:30 Muskanomics: xAI + SpaceX, “data centers in space,” and why it feels like PR on steroids 56:30 Anthropic Super Bowl ads vs OpenAI: brand war and the ad-monetization fault line 59:25 Critical minerals: EU set to miss 2030 targets and China’s grip on rare earths 1:02:20 Deal of the week + Europe unicorn shout-outs + the new €1B growth fund

    1h 1m
  2. E690 | Sacha Michaud, Glovo: Scaling a Hyper-Competitive Marketplace (and knowing when to exit)

    5D AGO

    E690 | Sacha Michaud, Glovo: Scaling a Hyper-Competitive Marketplace (and knowing when to exit)

    This episode starts with a surprising origin story: before building one of Europe’s most iconic on-demand companies, Sacha Michaud left home at 16 to become a professional racehorse jockey. From there, we go deep into the operator playbook behind Glovo’s rise: launching fast, expanding internationally with limited capital, choosing battles ruthlessly, and pulling out of markets quickly when the data says the flywheel won’t spin. This is a conversation about discipline, focus, and survival in one of the most brutal categories in venture—where network effects are real, fundraising can consume the CEO, and consolidation is always lurking. Less theory. More real-world execution. Share What’s covered: 01:10 From racehorse jockey to startup founder: discipline, sacrifice, and the founder mindset 02:20 How Glovo started: meeting Oscar, shipping in 2.5 months, and rebuilding the MVP later 05:05 International scaling principles: why Europe isn’t enough and why speed mattered 06:25 Fundraising reality: the “lead investor” trap and why multi-stage funds can matter 08:05 Split-scaling and the growth-at-all-costs era: what the ecosystem learned (and didn’t) 10:15 Expansion playbooks: the launch team model and copying what Uber did right 13:25 Competition strategy: when to enter, when to avoid, and why capital constraints shape everything 15:25 Exiting markets fast: Brazil, iFood, and the moment you realize the playbook won’t work 17:35 Network effects in delivery: why the flywheel is more extreme than most marketplaces 19:05 Exclusivity vs multi-homing: how restaurants evolved from “threat” to “channel” 25:55 Emerging markets: Latin America → Eastern Europe → Africa and what changes operationally 33:00 Glovo Cares: why executives still deliver orders and what it teaches the org 34:30 Acquisition mindset: what founders get wrong about selling (and not selling) 43:20 YELLOW VC: building a disciplined pre-seed fund without losing operator sharpness

    47 min
  3. E689 | Simon Thomas, Founder of Paragraf: Graphene Chips, AI Energy, and the Hard-Tech Road from Lab to Fab

    6D AGO

    E689 | Simon Thomas, Founder of Paragraf: Graphene Chips, AI Energy, and the Hard-Tech Road from Lab to Fab

    Welcome back! In this episode, Andreas Munk Holm sits down with Simon Thomas, CEO of Paragraf, one of Europe’s rare hard-tech success stories, taking graphene from scientific breakthrough to industrial-scale electronics. Graphene has been called the “wonder material” for two decades. The promise has always been clear: faster, better, and dramatically more energy-efficient electronics. The missing piece has been execution at scale. Simon and the Paragraf team are building that missing bridge, with the world’s first graphene electronics foundry in the UK, a growing portfolio of real commercial products, and a deep conviction that the next era of computing will require new materials, not just bigger data centers. This is a conversation about what it truly takes to build venture-backed hardware in Europe. How you fund capex-heavy deep tech. How do you keep investors aligned when timelines are long. How you keep teams motivated through delays and national security reviews. And why AI may accelerate materials discovery, but won’t replace the brutal, necessary work of turning atoms into real manufacturing. Share What’s covered: 01:27 What Paragraf is building and why graphene matters now 03:50 Graphene wafers and the world’s first graphene electronics foundry 04:23 What graphene changes for power consumption and device life 05:01 Why graphene isn’t already inside data centers 06:13 The future of “2D electronics” beyond graphene 08:02 Foundry versus product company: why Paragraf does both 09:40 Graphene’s 20-year journey from papers to real-world scale 13:15 When venture investors first showed up and what they needed to see 16:58 Sovereignty, British Patient Capital, and why “national backing” matters 24:08 The product-to-foundry loop and how you hook customers early 27:36 Capex, equity limits, and the painful mechanics of deep-tech financing 30:22 Surviving hard moments: people, pivots, and the NSI Act review 38:10 How to structure boards over time, from tactical to strategic 42:23 Keeping teams committed through uncertainty 46:10 Where Paragraf is today: headcount, geographies, and commercialization 49:16 AI in materials discovery and why manufacturing is still the bottleneck

    54 min
  4. E687 | Axel Deniz, CEO Bosch Business Innovations: Venture Building, Spinouts & How Corporates Can Power Europe’s Deep Tech Wave

    JAN 28

    E687 | Axel Deniz, CEO Bosch Business Innovations: Venture Building, Spinouts & How Corporates Can Power Europe’s Deep Tech Wave

    Welcome back to the EUVC Corporate Podcast. This week, Jeppe sits down with Axel Deniz, CEO of Bosch Business Innovations and Head of Venture Building at Bosch. Axel is building Bosch’s venture-building engine with a clear mandate: get Bosch technology out into the world, through founder-led spinouts, joint ventures, and seed rounds that can stand on their own with external investors. With ~80,000 active patents, 20 new patents per day, and 20,000 researchers globally, Bosch has the assets. Axel’s job is turning them into investible companies. 🎧 Here’s what’s covered: 02:30 Bosch’s unfair advantage: 80k patents, 20 patents/day, 20k researchers 04:10 Horizon 2/3: building for 2030–2035 where incumbents can’t reach 05:30 Hybrid execution: not all in-house, not all studio but a blended model 06:25 Problem definition: Bosch theses + founders bringing problems from outside 08:25 Stage gates: “get to no fast” + external validation early 09:05 Gate #1: attracting “triple-A founders” before anything else 10:35 Founder-led 80/20 vs joint ventures when tech risk is still high 13:10 Venture market fit: choosing where to build is a venture builder superpower 16:20 Founder acquisition: why mediocre pre-seed talent is the biggest risk 23:05 Working with scale-ups: co-create instead of buying or minority investing 24:15 University engine: 5–6 deep partnerships (Carnegie Mellon example) 27:15 Biggest surprises: founder scarcity and portfolio restructuring complexity 29:05 Axel’s advice to founders: don’t start deep tech from scratch 30:30 Axel’s advice to VCs: don’t underestimate corporates’ learning curve 32:00 Axel’s background: founder → Silicon Valley → PWC CVC → Bosch 35:15 Career advice: no cookie-cutter route and trust your gut sometimes 37:10 How founders can engage: programs + direct outreach on LinkedIn

    33 min
  5. E686 | Jan Hofmann, Viessmann Generations Group and Christian Hernandez, 2150: From Climate Hype to Industrial Reality

    JAN 26

    E686 | Jan Hofmann, Viessmann Generations Group and Christian Hernandez, 2150: From Climate Hype to Industrial Reality

    In conversation with our very own Andreas Munk Holm, Christian Hernandez, founding GP of 2150 and Jan Hofmann of the Viessmann Generations Group, look at how climate investing is moving from narrative to industrial reality, where cities, energy, materials, and manufacturing become venture-scale markets, and execution matters more than slogans. Today, 2150 officially launched its €210M second fund, bringing total assets under management to €500M and reinforcing its position as one of Europe’s leading investors backing the technologies shaping future cities and industrial systems. Fund II reflects growing institutional conviction in 2150’s thesis: that cities generate around 80% of global prosperity, and that the next wave of venture-scale outcomes will come from making urbanisation and industrial activity sustainable at planetary scale. The fund attracted a diversified LP base across Europe, Asia, and North America, including Viessmann Generations Group, Novo Holdings, EIFO, Chr. Augustinus Fabrikker, Carbon Equity, and Church Pension Group. Momentum is already underway. 2150 Fund II has already invested into seven companies, including AtmosZero, GetMobil, Metycle, Mission Zero Technologies and three further unannounced deals. Across both funds, 2150’s 27 portfolio companies generate more than $1B in annual revenue, employ 4,500+ people globally, and deliver megatonne-scale climate impact. Key takeaways: Urban and industrial systems are now venture-scale markets.Energy, cooling, industrial heat, mobility, materials, and circular economy solutions are no longer niche climate bets — they are core infrastructure categories with global demand. Impact and returns are converging.2150’s portfolio demonstrates that companies tackling planetary-scale problems can also generate outlier financial outcomes, measured in real revenues, jobs, and deployment at scale. Institutional capital is leaning into climate infrastructure.The breadth of Fund II’s LP base signals a shift: long-term institutions are increasingly backing strategies that combine sustainability with durable, industrial cash flows. Execution matters more than narratives.2150’s analytical, problem-first approach targeting the hardest bottlenecks in cities and industry is translating into faster scaling and earlier commercial traction across the portfolio. Europe can build global category leaders.With platforms spanning energy, materials, and urban systems, 2150’s portfolio shows that European-founded companies can scale globally without compromising ambition.

    52 min
  6. E685 | This Week in European Tech with Dan, Mads & Lomax

    JAN 25

    E685 | This Week in European Tech with Dan, Mads & Lomax

    Welcome back to another episode of Upside at the EUVC Podcast, where Dan Bowyer, Mads Jensen of SuperSeed, and Lomax Ward of Outsized Ventures go behind the headlines shaping European tech, capital, and power. This week’s episode starts, as ever, with tech failing spectacularly, planes landing late, and VCs reminding each other they really should be doing deals. Then it gets serious. From a billion-pound UK data center stopped in its tracks, to Davos and Mark Carney’s quietly devastating diagnosis of the global order, to Europe’s long-awaited 28th regime finally getting real momentum, this is a conversation about whether Europe can still act at scale or whether fragmentation will finish the job. Along the way, the trio digs into China’s AI strategy, whether SaaS has quietly peaked, why defence IPOs are suddenly everywhere, and whether science in the US is really “collapsing” or just being reshuffled under Trump. This is Upside, where optimism is earned, not assumed. Share What’s covered: 00:02 Mads back from the Gulf + Lomax in Nazaré 00:04 UK data centre blocked: what happened + why it matters 00:07 Fast-tracking data centres: national infrastructure vs EIAs 00:12 Davos standout: Mark Carney and the end of nostalgia economics 00:18 Middle powers and fragmentation: why Europe can’t go solo 00:24 AI and jobs: are entry-level roles really disappearing? 00:27 EU Inc / the 28th regime: momentum, labour law, and risk 00:34 Has China already won AI? redefining what “winning” means 00:43 SaaS, defence IPOs, and Europe’s capital reset

    49 min
  7. E684 | Max Schertel, finmid & Tim Rehder, Earlybird: Powering European SMBs with the cash they need

    JAN 20

    E684 | Max Schertel, finmid & Tim Rehder, Earlybird: Powering European SMBs with the cash they need

    Welcome back to the EUVC Podcast, where we bring you the people and perspectives shaping European venture. This week, Andreas Munk Holm is joined by Max Schertel, co-founder & CEO of finmid, and Tim Rehder, General Partner at Earlybird, to unpack the rise of embedded lending infrastructure for B2B platforms. From food delivery and PSPs to ride-hailing and fleet platforms, finmid lets marketplaces offer financing directly to their merchants – with a single integration, across 30+ European markets. Together, they break down why embedded lending is often new capital, not just smoother UX; how better data lets you underwrite the “invisible” SME segment; and what it really takes to scale regulated infra across a fragmented Europe. Here’s what’s covered: 01:03 – What finmid does: One integration for platforms to offer any financing product to business users across Europe 02:02 – Why embedded wins: Tim on data access, risk scoring, and turning platforms into “banks in all but the balance sheet” 04:05 – Owning infra, not capital: Regulation, operations and data engine vs outsourcing pure funding to institutions 06:43 – Economics & margins: Market size, 60%+ gross margins, and why net income beats headline spread 10:47 – Customer examples: How Wolt Cash works, proactive offers in the merchant dashboard, and +80% retention uplift 12:32 – Impact on the market: New capital for underserved SMEs vs just smoothing the bank journey 17:57 – Ticket sizes & duration: Typical loans of €10–20k, up to ~12 months, 85% renewal and the path to larger, longer credit 21:15 – AI & risk: Using generative and agentic AI in ops (adverse media) and data science (millions of data points, daily model iteration) 29:20 – Scaling to 30 countries: U27 + UK, CH, IS – regulation, payments rails and why “ugly detail work” is the real moat 40:17 – Partner alignment: Making financing core to platform metrics (GMV & retention) and hard-won lessons on incentives

    47 min
5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

EUVC is your go-to podcast for everything European VC. Co-hosted by Andreas Munk Holm and David Cruz e Silva, EUVC features some of the most prominent people from the European VC industry, giving you a fresh new perspective on the industry and geo we love. Follow us and stay in the loop with everything European VC on eu.vc

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