Welcome back to the EUVC Podcast, where we bring you the people and perspectives shaping European venture.
Today we’re joined by Lucanus Polagnoli (Founding Partner & CEO) and Stephanie Urbanski (Managing Director) of Calm/Storm — a specialist early-stage fund backing software-only digital health across Europe. Fresh off the close of Fund II, we dive into how they’ve evolved from a solo-GP experiment into a community-powered platform, why they keep the scope digital-only, and how they navigate regulation, AI and the post-COVID reality without losing the plot.
🎯 This Episode’s Themes
Same, same — but sharper: Fund II doubles down on pre-seed/seed, software-only digital health, with bigger checks and higher ownership.
Community as a product: 60+ “supporting partners” and 110+ LPs powering 100+ co-invests — founder-to-founder help on demand.
Specialist by design: Why digital health (no molecules, no hardware) lets a small fund move fast and add tangible value.
Regulation ≠ roadblock: In health, approvals can protect moats — if you have the patience and the cash plan.
AI without the buzzwords: Companion to clinicians, not a replacement; curated, longitudinal data beats generic LLM advice.
Europe’s moment (still): Later-stage money does show up now; e-prescriptions and rails are here; US health is just as complex.
Logo gravity matters: Follow-on quality (Sequoia, Balderton, Creandum et al.) is the strongest portfolio predictor.
⏱️ Here’s what’s covered
00:24 | Names & origins - how to say “Polagnoli” (and why words matter)
01:24 | Fund II - same stage/sector/geo; larger tickets (€400–500k initial), higher ownership, co-lead when conviction is high
03:30 | Supporting partners - 60+ founder-operators + LPs as an on-call help network
05:45 | Why Calm/Storm - the gap they saw in 2019; launching Feb 5, 2020, right before the pandemic wave
08:52 | Post-COVID reality - rails stayed (e-scripts, digital flows), tourists left; real followers now fund B/C rounds in Europe
11:08 | Longevity & prevention - out-of-pocket willingness, AI unlocking insights from dormant data
13:21 | Team split - Stefanie’s operator engine + community execution; Lucanus on strategy and navigation
16:10 | Why digital-only - software speed, small teams, low capex; pass on molecules/hardware for fund construction reasons
22:45 | Regulation as moat - ThinkSono’s 8-year climb on DVT ultrasound automation; Europe vs. US complexity myths
26:44 | AI in health - pattern recognition, prep and triage; risks of generic LLMs for personal diagnosis
31:10 | Adoption & incentives - public vs. private delivery, prevention economics, and Europe’s risk-capital bottleneck
36:26 | Where AI wins first - curated data, longitudinal monitoring, workflow copilots; the missing top-10 health app
42:58 | Community receipts - burnout averted, board-level engagements, LPs turning co-investors
45:27 | Portfolio & follow-ons - Nelly, Lindus, 9am Health; why “who picks you up” predicts outcomes
48:56 | Exit math & fund design - earlier liquidity via M&A/secondaries; co-lead over “winner-takes-all”; stay early-stage by choice
Welcome to a new episode of the EUVC Podcast, where our good friends Dan Bowyer, Mads Jensen, Lomax Ward, and Andrew Beebe (Managing Director at Obvious Ventures) dig into the headlines shaping Europe’s venture, policy, and tech future.
This week, the crew dives deep into automation and AI’s real-world impact:
Amazon’s plans to replace half a million jobs with robots, the question of whether AI can truly spark a new industrial revolution in Europe, the UK’s new AI sandbox experiment, and an update on the long-awaited 28th Regime—the EU’s bid for a unified startup entity.
They also unpack China’s automation surge, Europe’s productivity crisis, and whether policy and politics are keeping pace with the technology curve.
🎧 Here’s what’s covered
00:24 Amazon’s Robot Push - Replacing 500,000+ jobs with automation — what it means for Europe’s workforce and competitiveness.
05:26 Automation & Employment - Europe’s 31M manufacturing workers, Germany’s 80% robotized auto sector, and whether job “shifts” beat displacement.
09:37 Productivity & Policy Tension - Can Europe keep up as Asia deploys 70% of new industrial robots? And how do we balance growth with labor protection?
16:00 AI’s Second Industrial Revolution - John Thornhill’s “Industrial Revolution 2.0” thesis — does Europe have the institutional capacity to absorb and profit from AI?
21:24 Enterprise AI Failure Modes - Why 50–75% of AI implementations flop — and why it’s a skills and structure problem, not a tech one.
26:05 White Collar Co-Pilots - AI as enabler, not replacer — from doctors to lawyers — and why the change must happen at human speed.
28:00 China’s Lead & Europe’s Complacency - China’s robot factories, biotech dominance, and why European policymakers “don’t feel the fire.”
34:15 Politics & Technocracy - Why Europe needs tech-literate leaders before the next wave of disruption turns social.
38:00 UK’s AI Sandbox - A new initiative to let startups test AI in the wild — but is it another FCA-style fix or a token gesture?
41:30 AI in the NHS - Where regulatory sandboxes could actually work — in diagnostics, admin automation, and cutting waiting lists.
48:00 EU’s 28th Regime - A pan-European startup entity proposal — regulation vs. directive, and whether it can fix the admin drag across borders.
55:00 The German Bottleneck - How 200+ local laws still choke innovation — and why fixing Germany alone could free €800M+ annually.
59:00 Deal of the Week: CoalMine - Plural backs UK brain-computer interface startup CoalMine with a $102M Series A — Europe’s Neuralink moment.
Welcome back to another episode of the EUVC Podcast, where we bring you the people and perspectives shaping European venture.
Today, we’re joined by Alexandre Mars, the French entrepreneur and philanthropist behind Blisce, one of Europe’s pioneering B Corp-certified venture funds. From bootstrapping his first business at 17 to building and selling multiple startups across Europe and the US, Alexander has seen both sides of the entrepreneurial journey — the grind and the freedom.
In this conversation, we explore his evolution from founder to impact investor, the trade-offs between wealth and purpose, the challenge of defining “impact” in venture capital, and why Europe’s next tech era will depend on bridging public policy, capital, and purpose.
🎧 Here’s What’s Covered:
This week, Andreas Munk Holm and Jeppe Høier sit down with Matti Rönkkö, Managing Director of Kiilto Ventures, the venture arm of Finnish family-owned Kiilto.
From Rocket Internet to running a corporate-backed, family-owned venture arm, Matti shares how Kiilto Ventures blends family capital, industry know-how, and VC pace to back startups in the sustainable built environment. They dive into portfolio examples, CVC vs VC dynamics, co-investing with generalists, and why superior product performance at price parity is the only path forward in climate and construction tech.
🎧 Here’s what’s covered:
00:30 – Cold open & setup: why this is a “CVC episode”
01:00 – Who is Matti? From Rocket Internet & scale-ups to Kiilto Ventures
02:00 – What is Kiilto Ventures: mandate, geography, and ownership model
04:56 – CVC, VC, or family office? Matti’s “best-of-all-worlds” answer
07:30 – How Kiilto’s mothership helps: labs, chemists, and customer intros
10:44 – Rocket Internet lessons: speed, scale, and culture
18:12 – The built environment’s big four problems: carbon, circularity, health, inefficiency
20:25 – Portfolio snapshots: Recoma, Nobody Engineering, Acembee
24:21 – Co-investing & partnerships: specialists + generalists, and when offtakes make sense
37:27 – Macro & climate politics: why only price-parity products will win
In this episode, Andreas Munk Holm speaks with Anders Kjær, General Partner at PSV Hafnium, Denmark’s first dedicated deep tech fund. Together, they explore the evolving role of technical founders, the Nordic research-industrial complex, and how early-stage deep tech capital needs to work differently to unlock tomorrow’s transformative companies.
Here’s what’s covered:
01:30 Why PSV Hafnium Was Built—and the Deep Tech Opportunity in the Nordics
04:13 PSV Hafnium as a Symbol of Deep Tech: The Element & the Brand
08:24 Turning Research into Portfolio Power: DTU's Role in Diligence & Support
10:19 Can a Copenhagen-Based Fund Compete Across the New Nordics?
14:26 Nordic Tech Clusters: Are There Regional Strengths or Pure Serendipity?
19:43 Bio Solutions, Green Energy & Industrial Legacy: Why Deep Tech Thrives Here
21:15 Sciencepreneurs Rising: Shifting Founder Mindsets in Deep Tech
24:52 How PSV Hafnium Gauges Entrepreneurial Readiness in Deep Tech Teams
27:44 What Generalist VCs Get Right—and Wrong—About Deep Tech
30:18 What “European Resilience” Actually Means at the Early Stage
36:18 The Common Thread in All Deep Tech Bets (Hint: It’s Not Sector)
42:09 Bridge Rounds in Deep Tech: A True Test of Conviction
45:53 Rapid Fire: Nordic Bets, Myths to Kill, & Advice to Scientist Founders
Welcome to a new episode of the EUVC Podcast, where our good friends Dan Bowyer and Mads Jensen from SuperSeed are joined by Lomax Ward from Outsized Ventures and Ben Prade, investor & operator at Bullhound Capital (the investment arm of GP Bullhound), for an unfiltered look at Europe’s venture reality: fundraising pain, secondaries-as-a-service, AI’s power hunger, China’s “dark factories,” and how Europe unlocks the capital to compete.
Ben focuses on deep tech, AI, quantum, and space, and he brings a clear-eyed view on how liquidity, secondaries, and structural headwinds are reshaping the market.
🎧 Here’s what’s covered
02:35 Fundraising reality: fewer funds, flight to brands
Why ~25% of new VC money goes to the top 10 brands; what that means for emerging managers; and why DPI is king again.
05:26 Sovereign LPs & strings attached
When government money shapes mandates: the upside (more capital) and the risk (policy over performance).
06:45 Chinks of light: Klarna & liquidity
How high-profile exits (and lock-ups ending) can recycle cash back into European VC.
09:37 Goldman buys Industry Ventures
Why a Wall Street giant wants secondary data + wealth distribution — and how that can unclog LP portfolios.
13:08 Nobel Prize & growth mechanics
Creative destruction (Aghion–Howitt) meets realpolitik: state de-risking, catch-up industrialization, and China’s “build both infra and innovation” model.
21:24 AI’s “everything app” moment
OpenAI’s ~30 GW compute plan (> $1T decade CapEx), Google’s ad-cash advantage, and the looming pricing showdown.
25:09 Circularity vs. reality
Vendor-financing analogies in AI, but remember: revenue expectations — not loops — pop bubbles.
28:03 Unit economics: AI ≠ SaaS
Negative gross margins down the stack; LLMs climbing into apps; why vertical data + UX decide winners.
32:02 China’s dark factories
Execs return “shaken”: robotized plants, BYD’s surge, and how physical AI (motors, batteries, autonomy) changes competitiveness.
39:29 Unleashing Europe’s capital
JP Morgan’s $1.5T initiative vs. European pensions stuck in gov bonds; rewiring incentives to fund productive risk.
45:00 Deal of the Week: ecoRobotix
€90M Series D (Highland Europe, McWin). Precision AI spraying that cuts herbicides/pesticides by up to 95% across 20+ countries.
Welcome back to the EUCVC Summit Talks, where we spotlight Europe’s corporate venture leaders, founders, and academics shaping the future of venture collaboration.
In this episode, Francesco Di Lorenzo, Associate Professor at Copenhagen Business School, takes the stage to share fresh research on the state of corporate venture capital (CVC) in the Nordics. From Sweden to Denmark, Francesco explores how corporates are experimenting with different venturing models, what makes CVC effective, and why Nordic corporates are some of Europe’s most important venture partners.
Rather than polished slides, Francesco offers candid reflections from the Summit itself: the open questions corporates face, the trade-offs in structuring CVC units, and why cultural change in the boardroom is key if corporate venturing is to succeed long-term.
🎧 Here’s what’s covered
00:00 Nordic snapshot — Why the region punches above its weight in tech and CVC.
01:00 Tools beyond CVC — Incubators, accelerators, and venture clienting: complementary or conflicting?
03:00 The CVC effect — Beyond capital: what corporates bring to the table (and why it matters).
05:00 Measuring success — Why CVC units last only 3.7 years on average and the difficulty of proving ROI.
07:00 Smart money vs. just money — How engineer exchanges and board participation can be more impactful than capital alone.
08:00 Venture clienting — A rising model where corporates act as first customers instead of investors—and the risks it carries.
10:00 Governance cycles — Why CVC units live and die with CEO tenure, and why board-level protection is essential.
11:00 Collaboration vs. competition — What data says about corporates co-investing (and when they don’t).
13:00 Nordic findings — Early results from research in Norway, Finland, and Sweden: small portfolios, early-stage focus, and bureaucracy as the top blocker.
14:00 AI paradox — Corporates investing in AI startups but cutting internal AI budgets—what this signals for the future.
Welcome back to the EUCVC Summit Talks, where we bring you candid conversations with Europe’s leading founders, corporate leaders, and investors shaping the future of venture collaboration.
In this session, Christian Tang, Partner at San Francisco–based Acme, and Claus Gregersen, CEO of the 275-year-old evergreen investor Augustinus Fabrikker, explore what global ambition really means in today’s venture landscape.
From recalibrating US expansion strategies to navigating sovereignty, trade tensions, and structural resets, they unpack how investors and founders must adapt to thrive in a more complex—but still interconnected—world.
🎧 Here’s what’s covered:
00:00 Setting the stage: Cycles, crises, and why this downturn feels different.
02:00 Structural reset, not just another downturn—why waiting for “normal” is not an option.
03:30 Investors as navigators, not moral arbiters—what it means in practice.
04:15 Why the US remains critical: learning, scaling, and surviving tough competition.
06:00 Page nine of every pitch deck: the inevitable US expansion slide.
07:20 Trade tensions vs. venture building—why early-stage models aren’t derailed by politics.
08:30 The importance of value-adding capital—choose partners for impact, not geography.
09:15 Lessons from COVID and defense: building lean, fast, and resilient.
10:00 Closing thoughts: capital may be scarcer, but ambition must remain global.
Welcome back to the EUCVC Summit Talks, where we bring you candid conversations with Europe’s leading founders, corporate leaders, and investors shaping the future of venture collaboration.
In this episode, Anne C. Fleischer, Global VP of Consumer Engagement and New Business Models at Novo Nordisk, joins Henrijette Richter, Managing Partner at Sofinnova Partners, for a conversation on the future of health innovation.
Together they explore how corporates and VCs are driving the next wave of digital health, the role of AI in transforming patient care, and what it takes to turn breakthrough science into scalable business models.
🎧 Here’s what’s covered:
00:00 Pharma’s digital leap — why Novo Nordisk is going “beyond the pill” with AI and personalized engagement.
01:30 The investor’s lens — what makes AI-driven health fundable versus “still a science project”.
03:00 AI at the patient interface — where machine learning is closest to real-world integration.
04:30 Corporate + VC collaboration — how pharma and venture can align (and where they clash).
06:00 Scaling deeptech in health — what it takes for startups to go global from day one.
07:30 Consumerization of health — balancing trust, privacy, and the impatience economy.
08:45 Europe’s edge — strengths in science and regulation, risks of falling behind the U.S..
09:30 Lightning round — the next big thing in health innovation: specificity for patients.
Corporate venture capital has become a $100B+ force in tech. Charlie Hayward from Global Corporate Venturing unpacks what’s really driving the trend: which sectors are heating up, where CVCs make a difference, and how Europe stacks up under capital constraints and geopolitical pressure.
Here’s what’s covered:
00:00 – Setting the stage: CVC as a $100B+ global force
01:00 – Why corporate venture matters: from Microsoft’s outlier story to the role of corporate backers
03:00 – Active CVC units: stock performance and why entrepreneurs should care
04:00 – Lower bankruptcy risk & higher exit multiples for CVC-backed startups
05:00 – State of play: fundraising headwinds, but CVCs take the long-term view
05:30 – Early-stage shift: corporates getting active in seed & pre-seed rounds
06:00 – Global hotspots: Latin America and APAC showing strong momentum
07:00 – What CVCs bring: board seats, portfolio support, but still lighter on financial-return expectations
08:00 – Who plays the game: large corporates with $1B+ revenues dominate, but LP stakes open doors for smaller players
09:00 – New frontiers: universities, accelerators, and venture clienting as the next CVC battlegrounds
Welcome back to the EUCVC Summit Talks, where we bring you candid conversations with Europe’s leading founders, corporate leaders, and investors shaping the future of venture collaboration.
In this session, Marcus Behrendt, Managing Director at BMW i Ventures, and Nicole LeBlanc, Partner at Woven Capital (Toyota’s global growth fund), join Andreas Munk Holm to explore the shifting landscape of mobility and corporate venture.
From navigating capital-intensive hardware bets to finding the balance between strategic alignment and financial discipline, Marcus and Nicole share what they’ve learned running two of the world’s most active mobility CVCs. They open up on exits, collaboration with startups, and how CVCs must evolve to remain relevant in an era of autonomous, connected, and electrified vehicles.
🎧 Here’s what’s covered:
00:00 BMW i Ventures’ journey from corporate “experiment” to one of Europe’s most established mobility CVCs.
01:00 Woven Capital’s global mandate — $800M to invest in growth-stage companies shaping the future of mobility.
02:00 Strategic vs. financial returns: how to keep credibility with founders while serving corporate parents.
04:00 The hard part of hardware — why scaling in mobility takes patient capital and operational backing.
06:00 Startups + corporates = frictions and opportunities — lessons from portfolio collaborations.
08:00 Exit realities: IPO droughts, M&A dynamics, and how mobility startups find liquidity.
10:00 The next decade of CVC in mobility: sustainability, AI, and cross-border collaboration.
Welcome back to another episode of the EUVC Podcast, where we bring you the people and perspectives shaping European venture.
Today, we’re joined by Alexey Plesakov and Alexander Lis from Social Discovery Ventures (SDV) — a quietly influential, globally active investment firm deploying capital across the US and Europe. Born out of the bootstrapped success of Social Discovery Group (the company behind Dating.com), SDV invests in both funds and directs, with a venture allocation far above the family office norm.
We dive into their origin story, why they’re leaning into Europe now, their approach to fund vs. direct investments, and how they think about the future of VC in a more uncertain macro climate.
🎯 This Episode’s Themes:
From bootstrapped dating giant to global LP & VC player
Why diversification isn’t just about having “more investments”
How they balance US vs. European VC allocations
The case for emerging managers — and the collaboration edge they offer
Where they see the biggest bets in European tech over the next decade
Why they’re playing more conservatively in 2025 — without stopping deal flow
Lessons from building lean — and the “Five Whys” test for cutting through hype
🎧 Here’s what’s covered:
00:24 | Welcome & Origin Story: From Dating.com to a global investment portfolio
01:24 | Bootstrapping a Unicorn: How Social Discovery Group scaled without outside capital
04:38 | The Myth of Diversification: Quality over quantity in portfolio construction
06:19 | Why 30%+ of Their Assets Are in Venture Capital
08:44 | Leveraging Network Effects: How their IT roots give them an edge in sourcing deals
09:31 | VC Fund Portfolio: From NEA & Khosla to emerging managers like Davydov & Black River
14:26 | US vs. Europe: Why their overall portfolio skews 70% US but VC is more balanced
15:55 | Emerging Managers vs. Big Names: Risk, return, and picking the right early funds
19:41 | Big Picture Bets: Tariffs, decoupling, and a possible US–Europe tech split
22:31 | Direct Investment Focus: Fintech, PSD3, and voice-first neobanking
25:07 | Macro vs. Micro: Combining top-down analysis with bottom-up deal work
27:05 | Playing Defense in 2025: Why they’re slowing deployment without stopping pipeline building
30:23 | European VC Arbitrage: Lower valuations — until growth takes off
34:23 | Bootstrapping Lessons: Discipline, burn control, and ROI-driven decisions
35:25 | The “Five Whys” Test: Cutting through hype to find fundamentally sound investments
With: Nicholas Nelson (Archangel) • Dan • Lomax • MadsTL;DW• Defence-first wins on capability and returns; primes are partners and channels.• Helsing: buys platforms/revenue for access; layers AI—different from Anduril’s buy-TRL-tech + scale model.• Beyond drones: biggest gap/opportunity is tactical EW.• Procurement: more fast lanes (SOF, pilots); primes getting easier to work with.• AI: real profits exist (esp. NVIDIA), but value chain is fragile; expect a correction, not a collapse. Picking winners more important than timing.Content with Time Codes02:40 — Why defence-firstBeats dual-use on outcomes and returns; lifelong focus.04:32 — DefinitionsCustomer = MoDs + primes; aim: lethality/readiness and societal resilience. Beware “defence-washing”.06:37 — What’s hotAvoid herd to drones only; counter-UAS, EW, human performance, deception, survivability.08:23 — Helsing buys GrobNeo-prime play: new co buys legacy manufacturing for platform access.10:42 — The two Defence M&A playbooksAnduril: buys mid-TRL tech (Area-I, Dive LD/Ghost Shark, Adranos) → scales via brand/distribution.Helsing: buys finished products/revenue (Mittelstand) → immediate customers; then add AI.14:25 — Prime status & capitalDistribution + capital to AI-enable platforms.17:47 — Roll-up vs buildNarrative “build”; execution “roll-up + build”.19:47 — Drones & ‘drone wall’Layered answer: blunt with drones, hold with conventional forces.21:49 — The big one: Electronic Warfare (EW)NATO underinvested; tactical EW is the unmet need; legacy kit is ’80s/’90s.24:54 — Startup wedgePut EW at the edge (drones/aircraft/fixed) → near-term wins.26:33 — Baltic realismHistory, 2007–09 Estonia cyber, current incursions; likely Kaliningrad corridor.28:19 — Founder mistakesTech ≠ win by itself; experience + gov engagement matters; US analogue: top funds have IC/SOF DNA.30:43 — Are there really only a “Few buyers?”Many real buyers inside a MoD/DoD (services, sub-units, innovation orgs).36:23 — Sovereignty & US primesUS strategics will buy abroad; Europe balancing autonomy with jobs/exits.41:07 — Starlink vs IRIS²Starlink’s lead + cadence; IRIS² slower—watch timelines vs evolving threats.47:18 — AI bubble?Warnings vs fundamentals; self-funded capex; real profits.49:37 — NVIDIA ramp$4.4B (2023) → $73B this year; growth tempers multiples.51:48 — AI Circular money & marginsCursor → Anthropic → hyperscalers → NVIDIA; only NVIDIA mints big margins; margin pressure coming (new semis, China, SLMs).53:12 — Picking beats timingDot-com lesson: Cisco losses vs Amazon wins.54:19 — Capacity vs efficiencyCapex likely useful long-run, but open source squeezes costs.55:52 — Platform riskFrontier labs moving up-stack; vertical AI + trust + data = moat.58:58 — Base caseLikely correction (30–50%) at some point; timing is unknowable (not investment advice).
Welcome back to the EUCVC Summit Talks, where we bring you the voices shaping Europe’s venture and corporate collaboration landscape.
In this episode, Andreas Munk Holm speaks with Tanja Lind Melskens, Head of Corporate Strategy and M&A at Terma, Denmark’s tier-one defense technology group. As Europe re-arms and defense spending surges, Tanja shares how startups, corporates, and investors must rethink dual-use technology, navigate inflated wartime valuations, and prepare for the post-conflict market.
From frontline innovation in Ukraine to the challenges of ESG in defense tech, this conversation sheds light on one of the most important—and controversial—frontiers for venture collaboration.
00:00 Europe’s re-armament: rising budgets, real opportunities—and inflated valuations.
01:30 Ukraine as the “Silicon Valley of defense tech”: 4 million drones a year and frontline R&D.
03:00 Why startups must prepare for the post-conflict market, not just donation-driven sales.
04:30 Terma’s Kyiv subsidiary and partnerships with Ukrainian startups.
06:00 Drone wars and critical infrastructure: protecting energy, transport, and hospitals.
07:00 ESG in defense: compliance vs. survival in frontline innovation.
08:00 Risks no VC faces: working with founders whose survival is uncertain.
💡 One-liner takeaway: Europe’s defense tech boom is real but risky—success depends on bridging frontline innovation with post-conflict markets, and balancing ESG ideals with the brutal realities of war.
Welcome back to the EUCVC Summit Talks, where we bring you candid conversations with Europe’s leading founders, corporate leaders, and investors shaping the future of venture collaboration.
In this session, Andreas Munk Holm is joined by Crispin Leick, Managing Director of EnBW New Ventures, Georg Reifferscheid, Head of Sustainability Ventures at REWE Group, and Jeppe Høier. Together, they explore how corporates are deploying capital, rethinking supply chains, and integrating AI to tackle Europe’s most urgent challenge: the energy transition.
From evergreen venture models to decarbonizing retail operations, the discussion dives deep into how industrial and consumer giants are investing, where capital is moving fastest, and why success still depends on aligning financial and strategic incentives.
🎧 Here’s what’s covered
00:00 The energy transition is here — Europe’s corporates on the frontlines.
01:00 Evergreen VC at EnBW New Ventures — why Crispin calls it the “best decision ever.”
03:00 REWE Group’s sustainability mandate — tackling scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions.
05:00 Where venture capital meets infrastructure — smarter, more capital-efficient deployment.
06:00 AI in energy — real-world use cases from batteries to trading algorithms.
07:00 Cooling, HVAC, and sustainable construction — REWE’s innovation priorities.
08:00 Financial return first — why strategic impact only follows startup success.
09:00 Incentives matter — why carry and financial alignment are make-or-break in CVC.
✍️ Show Notes
Evergreen Model at EnBW New Ventures
Unlike closed-end CVC funds, EnBW’s evergreen structure reinvests all exit proceeds into new startups.
This creates stronger alignment with founders and sharper accountability for the investment team.
Crispin: “It’s the best decision we made in nine years — we’re entrepreneurs ourselves.”
Decarbonizing Retail at REWE Group
Sustainability ventures are embedded directly in operations.
Current focus: scope 1 & 2 emissions (energy, mobility, buildings).
Scope 3 (supply chain) remains the hardest challenge due to missing data and supplier dependency.
AI in Energy
Not chasing LLMs or infrastructure — instead focusing on applied AI.
Examples: battery analytics for health monitoring; algorithmic trading in intraday power markets.
Innovation Priorities at REWE
Cooling and HVAC with natural refrigerants.
Alternative building materials (wood, green concrete).
Greener retail store construction.
Financial First, Strategic Second
For both corporates, financial returns are non-negotiable.
Strategic impact only comes if startups succeed.
Incentives (including carry) are key for aligning CVC teams with true financial discipline.
💡 One-liner takeaway: The energy transition needs corporates that invest like VCs — financially disciplined, strategically relevant, and willing to back startups tackling Europe’s toughest infrastructure and sustainability challenges.
Welcome back to the EUCVC Summit Talks, where we bring you ground-level conversations with the founders, corporate leaders, and investors shaping Europe’s innovation future.
In this episode, Andreas Munk Holm sits down with Nadia Carlsten, VP at DCAI, and Bjarke Ruse Sejersen, CEO of Go Autonomous, to explore how Europe is putting AI hype into practice. From Denmark’s launch of the Gefion supercomputer to startups training proprietary models, this conversation dives into the reality of building AI factories that deliver business value — and what it will take for Europe to compete globally.
Nadia shares why compute sovereignty matters and how Denmark is positioning itself as a hub for large-scale AI innovation, while Bjarke explains how Go Autonomous trained the world’s first B2B foundation model — and why European startups need braver investors to seize the AI-native future.
🎧 Here’s what’s covered:
00:00 Forget the AI hype — why compute sovereignty matters for Denmark and Europe.
01:40 From infrastructure to innovation — Nadia on how Gefion enables Danish startups and researchers.
02:15 Go Autonomous’ leap — Bjarke on training the world’s first B2B foundation model.
03:20 Scale in action — handling €30B annually with tailor-made AI.
04:00 Adoption gap — Nadia on why Denmark must accelerate real-world AI use cases.
05:20 Capital mindset — Bjarke on why Europe lags the U.S. in risky AI-native investments.
06:30 Investor responsibility — Nadia on knowing which startups are fine-tuning vs. building foundational models.
07:30 Green AI — Europe’s unique advantage: pairing supercomputing with sustainability.
08:15 The missing link — Nadia on translating business ambition into compute-ready AI projects.
09:00 Corporate + startup collaboration — Bjarke on why structured partnerships could be Europe’s AI superpower.
Welcome back to the EUCVC Summit Talks, where we bring you candid conversations with Europe’s leading founders, corporate leaders, and investors shaping the future of venture collaboration.
In this session, Sead Bajrovic of Water Impact Partners and Gijs de Bruin of PureTerra Ventures take the stage to unpack one of the most overlooked challenges in climate investing: water. From scarcity and pollution to corporate resilience and trillion-dollar opportunities, they explain why water technology must become a central pillar of Europe’s impact and climate strategy.
🎧 Here’s what’s covered
00:00 Why water is the “oil that runs everything” — and why it’s undervalued.
01:00 The hard facts: only 0.3% of Earth’s water is accessible, and demand will outstrip supply by 40% by 2030.
02:30 Legacy systems can’t cope — why centralized water treatment is failing.
04:00 Corporate risk: data centers, manufacturing, and the Amazon Arizona case.
05:00 Who’s leading: Apple, BASF, and L’Oréal’s water stewardship programs.
06:00 Investment shift — from niche impact to mainstream VCs entering water.
07:00 UN data: every $1 invested in water resilience returns $7.
08:00 Innovation spotlight: AI, software, and applied technologies for efficiency.
09:00 The most disruptive thing? Corporates putting real money into water.
Welcome back to the EUCVC Summit Talks, where we bring you candid conversations with Europe’s leading founders, corporate leaders, and investors shaping the future of venture collaboration.
In this session, Andreas Munk Holm speaks with Bodil Sidén, Founding Partner at Kost Capital, and Marika King, Head of PINC, the venture arm of Paulig. Together, they explore how Europe can reinvent food systems to feed 10 billion people by 2050—without destroying the planet.
From test kitchens and Michelin chefs in VC funds, to evergreen corporate models and the hunt for plastic-free packaging, Bodil and Marika share their unique approaches to food and agri-tech investing, the biggest opportunities ahead, and what they look for in founders building the future of food.
🎧 Here’s what’s covered
00:00 Feeding 10 billion people by 2050 — why food is “different” and needs a new venture model.
01:00 Inside Kost Capital’s test kitchen — from Michelin chefs to food historians in due diligence.
02:00 PINC’s evergreen model — why speed and long-term capital matter for food innovation.
03:00 Execution over ideas — why market obsession beats product obsession.
04:00 The secret sauce: validating food science claims in real time.
05:00 When corporates add value without killing agility — the good and bad of CVC in food tech.
06:00 The holy grail: plastic-free packaging that behaves like plastic.
07:00 Big bets today: green fertilizers, bio-controls, smart water, and sustainable agriculture.
08:00 AI as an enabler — cutting costs and accelerating product development.
09:00 Food, health & nutrition — the rise of sustainable fatty acids, vitamins, and bio-based aromas.
Welcome back to the EUCVC Summit Talks, where we bring you candid conversations with Europe’s leading founders, corporate leaders, and investors shaping the future of venture collaboration.
In this episode, Samuli Sirén, Managing Partner at Redstone, joins Andreas Munk Holm to explore how data-driven deal sourcing is reshaping venture capital. Redstone has spent nearly a decade building Sophia, its proprietary analytics platform, to track trends, identify group dynamics, and map startup opportunities long before they show up on mainstream radars.
From the promise and limits of AI in scouting to the common mistakes corporates make in startup sourcing, Samuli pulls back the curtain on what works, what doesn’t, and how data can give investors an edge without replacing human judgment.
🎧 Here’s what’s covered
00:00 Data, hype, and reality — is algorithmic deal flow just LP marketing or a real sourcing edge?
01:00 Building Sophia: Redstone’s proprietary database for mapping opportunities
02:00 Identifying groups and dynamics — why trends matter more than picking a single winner
03:00 From regulation to signals: how legal shifts and new markets trigger clusters of startups
04:00 Geography and global scope — why national champions rarely scale, and why global is better
05:00 Corporate mistakes in sourcing — overfocusing on core business and overestimating their value
06:00 Doing it right: how corporate LPs can learn, stay hands-off, and still gain massive value
07:00 Lessons from Redstone’s fintech funds — German banks as LPs and the power of curiosity
Welcome back to EUVC Live in Malmö, where we bring you unfiltered conversations and reflections from the people shaping Europe’s venture ecosystem.
As the day closed, Andreas Munk Holm, co-founder of EUVC, took the stage for the final word — a candid reflection on where real power comes from and what Europe’s venture community must do next.
Throughout the day, speakers discussed sovereignty, collaboration, and Europe’s industrial future. Andreas’ message cut through with urgency: if we want Europe to lead, we can’t stop at innovation — we must step into politics.
He pointed to the example of the United States, where the tech ecosystem has rallied around political power, influenced policy, and put its candidates into office. The takeaway? Values matter, but influence requires engagement — and Europe’s founders and investors need to find their voice in the political arena.
🎧 Here’s what’s covered:
00:30 Closing thanks — to Sophia for orchestrating EUVC Live, to Jeppe for bringing it to life, and to Nicole and Team Woven for backing Team Europe.
01:00 Europe’s mood — sovereignty, collaboration, and the belief that unity is power.
01:30 The missing ingredient — understanding that real power doesn’t just come from technology or capital, but from politics.
02:00 Lessons from the U.S. — how tech rallied around a candidate, won power, and now shapes national policy from within the system.
02:30 The power of lobbying — Andreessen Horowitz’s largest internal team today isn’t marketing or hiring — it’s policy and lobbying.
03:00 The challenge for Europe — we have the values and the vision, but not yet the political infrastructure or courage to act collectively.
03:30 The call to action — for VCs, founders, and ecosystem leaders to step up, take a side, and engage politically to secure Europe’s future.
