Scaling Europe

Sebastian Johnson
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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. 11h 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

  2. 11h 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

  3. Aug 20

    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

  4. Aug 18

    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

  5. Aug 14

    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

  6. Aug 11

    Shahriar Tajbakhsh, Co-founder & CTO of Metaview: BREAKING: Metaview acquired Reval

    Metaview just acquired Reval, a recruiting agency built to run entirely on AI. The deal brings more talent and technology into Fillmore, Metaview's AI recruiting co-worker. Metaview's platform is already used by more than 5,000 companies, and Fillmore works by researching, sourcing and reaching out to candidates without any human involvement. Shahriar Tajbakhsh is Co-founder and CTO of Metaview. He expects Metaview to become the single platform for end-to-end hiring within a year, handling everything from a company opening a role to someone being hired. 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 - Introduction0:12 - Metaview's AI-first approach to recruiting1:07 - Metaview's traction across more than 5,000 companies2:10 - What Fillmore is and how it works6:22 - Why Metaview built Fillmore as a co-worker, not an agent8:08 - Fillmore's early results since its soft launch12:24 - Why Metaview acquired Reval14:14 - How the Reval and Metaview teams came together15:39 - How mission-aligned teams speed up Metaview's hiring20:02 - What success looks like for the Reval acquisition

  7. Aug 7

    Ameera Patel, CEO at TidalSense: TidalSense diagnoses lung disease in under 4 minutes

    TidalSense has built a handheld device that diagnoses COPD, a common lung disease, in under four minutes. It's already used across the NHS and has drawn interest from more than 60 countries since launching last year. The Cambridge-based company just raised $19m to expand into new markets. Ameera Patel is CEO of TidalSense. She believes what matters most to healthcare providers is a better patient experience and more efficient care. 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 - Introduction0:19 - TidalSense's $19m round and what problem it solves1:08 - Why the standard diagnostic test hasn't changed since the 1800s2:44 - What TidalSense has built3:35 - TidalSense's rollout across the NHS4:21 - The demand TidalSense has seen since launching5:16 - Ameera's personal journey to founding TidalSense9:48 - Inside TidalSense's $19m round and its lead investor12:02 - TidalSense's plans to expand into the US and China14:47 - TidalSense's biggest bottleneck right now15:59 - What's needed for TidalSense's next raise

  8. Aug 4

    Jan Oberhauser, Founder & CEO at n8n: Freeing employees from repetitive boring tasks

    n8n is a workflow automation platform that frees employees from repetitive, boring tasks. SAP recently made a strategic investment in the company, valuing it at €5.2bn, more than double what it was worth seven months ago. Jan Oberhauser is Founder and CEO of n8n. He believes the real value isn't the time saved, but the chance to give employees more meaningful work instead of repetitive tasks. 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/2026SurrealDB: 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 0:41 – n8n's €5.2bn strategic investment from SAP 2:41 – How valuable the SAP partnership could be 4:04 – What drove the valuation jump in seven months 5:03 – The real value customers get from n8n 11:38 – Balancing community users with enterprise customers 14:23 – How n8n's community has evolved 18:19 – How Jan's role has changed as CEO 22:44 – What Jan is seeing across the AI ecosystem 28:20 – What n8n looks for when hiring 29:11 – Why n8n rejects hustle culture 29:54 – Flexible hours and company values 31:49 – Balancing being CEO and a father 33:43 – Staying European 35:47 – US vs. European investors 37:33 – Quickfire round

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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
    234
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Sebastian Johnson
  • Show Website
    Scaling Europe

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