EUVC

Welcome back to the EUCVC Summit Talks, where we bring you the candid insights of Europe’s leading founders, corporate leaders, and investors reshaping venture collaboration.

In this episode, Andreas Munk Holm speaks with Petr Míkovec, Managing Director of Inven Capital, the CVC arm of ČEZ, one of Central Europe’s most conservative utilities. From nuclear power plants to climate tech bets, Petr shares how Inven Capital was born inside a 30,000-person corporate giant—and why culture by design, not default, is the only way to make innovation stick.

From boardroom alignment to founder empathy, this conversation reveals what it takes to balance corporate DNA with startup speed—and how Inven Capital won founders’ trust despite starting from scratch.

#VC #VentureCapital #Investing #TheEuropeanVC #Podcast #Tech #Startup

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, Jeppe sits down with Peter Aksel Villadsen (GN Hearing) and Helle He (PwC) to unpack the messy middle of post-merger integration: aligning strategy and governance, protecting talent and culture, and getting the operating model right so the deal value actually shows up. From pre-close planning to the first 100 days, they share what works, what fails, and how to keep the integration machine honest.

This is essential listening for any corporate venturer, founder, or investor navigating M&A.

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, Kasper Hulthin, serial founder now at Future Five (and co-founder of Peakon, Podio, and others) and Heini Zachariassen, founder of Vivino, the world’s largest wine app and marketplace. Both have experienced firsthand what it means to be acquired by a corporate—and they don’t hold back on the reality behind the headlines.

From culture shock and governance friction to the trade-offs of autonomy versus scale, Kasper and Heini share the inside story of what happens post-acquisition. They also reflect on when collaboration works, how to preserve founder spirit, and what corporates must do to retain the trust and agility of entrepreneurial teams.

This is essential listening for any corporate venturer, founder, or investor navigating M&A.

In this EUCVC Summit Talks episode, Hermann Haraldsson, CEO of Boozt, unpacks the journey of taking a Nordic e-commerce scale-up from scrappy beginnings to a billion-dollar listed company. He discusses Boozt’s playbook for customer trust, operational discipline, and balancing growth with profitability. Hermann reflects on how corporate partnerships can (and can’t) accelerate scale, why governance is critical earlier than founders think, and how AI and sustainability are reshaping retail.

Whether you’re a corporate VC, startup founder, or institutional investor, this is a candid look at the realities of building Europe’s digital champions.

🎧 Here’s what’s covered

• • 00:30 – Boozt Journey: Founded in 2011, IPO in Stockholm (2017), dual listing in Copenhagen (2020). Once the most valuable e-commerce company in the Nordics.

  • 01:30 – Culture From Day One: Three pillars: trust, freedom, and responsibility — built on Nordic values. Hiring the right people and giving them space to grow.

  • 02:30 – The “Care Why” Culture: From “know what” to “know why” to “care why.” How Boozt tests for true ownership mindset (like picking up trash in the warehouse).

  • 03:30 – Scaling Culture: How to keep startup mentality when growing from 5 to 500 people. Inspiration from Bain’s Founder’s Mentality framework.

  • 04:30 – Founder’s Mentality in Action: Key principles: skin in the game, challenging industry wisdom, and obsessively reducing friction for customers and staff.

  • 06:00 – IPO as a Turning Point: Why going public didn’t mean “growing up” — compliance is outsourced, while startup culture is doubled down.

  • 07:00 – Staying a Startup Post-IPO: Hermann’s role shift: from “machinist greasing the wheels” to communicator of values, frontline obsession, and owner mindset.

  • 08:00 – Don’t Fear Compliance: Investors buy into the startup spirit, not the corporate bureaucracy. Compliance is license to operate, not a competitive advantage.

  • 09:00 – Closing Lesson: An IPO doesn’t have to make you corporate — if you focus on what matters, your company’s immune system will fight bureaucracy, not innovation.

At EUVC Summit 2025, Fred Destin, founder of Stride, didn’t give us a movie, or a polished pitch. He gave us something rarer—an unfiltered meditation on truth, technology, and the role of venture capital in shaping the next 50–100 years.

Not Just Capital. Not Just Companies.
Fred framed venture not simply as a financial craft, but as something profoundly human:

“Since I was a kid, I always thought of progress as being intimately related to human flourishing. In our age, the way in which we create—outside of art—is by helping founders build companies. We are in the cockpit with them, creating the future.”

But that future is clouded. Social media, born of “likes” and “shares,” bent the arc of progress into something darker: an attention war.

And now, with AI at full speed, the stakes have never been higher.

Truth Under Siege
Destin warned: truth is costly, outrage is cheap. Investigative journalism may take months, but outrage takes seconds. Algorithms optimized for speed have already shifted the field—and AI could supercharge it.

He asked the room to imagine:

• A future where your AI knows who you dined with, where you’ve been, and what you’ll buy next.

• A landscape where ambiguity is exploited, narratives collapse, and “heroes” are manufactured.

• A world where our meditation spaces, even our inner lives, are monetized and optimized.

“Narratives are how we hold together—companies, funds, societies. When they collapse, what’s left to unite us?”

Stewardship in an Age of Anxiety
Fred’s answer wasn’t fear, but stewardship.

• Stewardship of self: noticing when we’re trapped in attachment, aversion, or ignorance (as Buddhism teaches).

• Stewardship of conversation: asking what quality of dialogue we are having—with ourselves, with founders, with society.

• Stewardship of capital: ensuring the companies we back create a future we can stand behind.

“Maybe don’t tell your LPs you’re doing this. But be intentional. Back companies that are shaping the future you’d be proud to live in.”

The Call to VCs
Fred’s message landed as both caution and inspiration:

• AI can bring abundance—solving crises of climate, soil, nutrition, and health.

• But it can also bring domination—by nation states, corporations, or worse.

• Or, if unchecked, extinction.

The choice isn’t abstract. It’s in the hands of those who sit “inside the vortex”—founders, investors, and stewards of capital.

Leadership That Speaks Truth
Fred Destin reminded EUVC Summit 2025 that venture capital isn’t just about returns. It’s about narrative, stewardship, and shaping futures in an age of anxiety.

“What are we telling the world? Not what is self-serving. But what is true. What is a contribution.”

Congratulations to Fred Destin, Stride, for a Summit Talk that challenged us not just to invest in companies—but to invest in the truth.

In a high-energy session that sparked nods across the room, Lucille and Marc tackled the shifting paradigms in the SaaS market—and made a compelling case for why vertical SaaS is quickly outpacing horizontal models.

Marc opened with a candid assessment of the current SaaS landscape. “What’s the flaw in the current market?” he asked. In his view, horizontal SaaS faces serious headwinds:

• AI is leveling the playing field: Tools like AI-assisted coding have lowered the barrier to entry. Startups can now build and scale to $10–20M in revenue without a CTO, making it easier than ever to launch—but harder to stand out.

• Enterprise sales are brutal: Horizontal SaaS faces challenges in defining clear ICPs (Ideal Customer Profiles), making it harder to gain traction quickly. This often results in sluggish proof points and delayed product-market fit.

Vertical SaaS—companies that serve a single, well-defined industry—has several structural advantages that Lucille and Marc believe make it the smarter play:

1. Clear Go-To-Market Motion
   With deep domain knowledge, vertical SaaS teams know exactly how to sell and to whom. Their understanding of customer pain points gives them a clear runway for product adoption.

2. Economic Moats from the Start
   By solving a niche problem deeply (rather than broadly), vertical SaaS players build sticky products with defensible positioning. This leads to easier upselling and faster PMF (product-market fit).

3. Composable Growth
   Once established in one vertical, these companies can expand into adjacent markets or layers—embedding financial products like payments, insurance, or lending. That transforms them into mini-operating systems for their customers.

4. AI as an Embedded Edge
   AI isn’t just a buzzword here—it’s embedded into the business model. These companies use AI to build smarter workflows, increase automation, and create differentiated products right out of the gate.

5. M&A and Platform Potential
   Vertical SaaS allows for cleaner M&A and roll-up strategies, given the homogeneity of the user base. This is significantly harder with broad horizontal plays. Layering in APIs and platforms makes them extensible and scalable.

Lucille emphasized that success in vertical SaaS hinges on one key ingredient: deep workflow integration. These companies become indispensable to their customers, reducing churn and increasing lifetime value. It’s not about shallow features—it’s about becoming mission-critical.

“The future is not just SaaS—it’s vertical SaaS,” Marc concluded. “That’s how you build enduring, category-defining software companies.”

Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) can be both a powerful ally and a cautionary tale for founders and financial VCs alike. At the EUVC Summit, Nicholas Sauvage of TDK Ventures took the stage to break down the CVC landscape — past, present, and future — and give practical advice for founders considering CVCs on their cap tables.

Nicholas challenged the audience with a question: who’s had a good experience with a CVC? Hands shot up and fewer hands went up for “bad experiences.” This, he noted, shows we’re at a new stage for corporate venture.

He outlined the three eras of CVC:

• CVC 1.0: The early days, marked by balance-sheet-driven investments and corporate sponsorships. These often came with odd term sheets and slower processes, but could unlock synergies.

• CVC 2.0: Skipped over, just like today’s pre-seed to Series A jumps.

• CVC 3.0: The modern era: financially disciplined, strategically aligned, fast-moving, and structured like financial VCs without sacrificing strategic purpose.

Importantly, Nicholas debunked the idea that financial and strategic returns are a trade-off - a "false premise," as he called it. The best CVCs aim for both: venture-type returns and deep strategic synergies.

Nicholas shared the characteristics of high-performing CVCs:

• Fast decision-making (some in under 2 weeks!)

• Clear investment theses

• Slim, empowered ICs (not consensus-based groups of 12)

• Strategic clarity and preparedness

• A giver mindset — value-add first, not value-extract

He also offered advice for traditional VCs:

“Be thoughtful about when a CVC joins your cap table. Some are great at de-risking science, others support go-to-market — it's all about matching their superpower to your founder’s needs.”

TDK Ventures uses a strict three-pillar framework:

1. Contribution to society

2. Venture-type returns

3. Strategic synergy (giver-focused)

If an opportunity scores less than 9/10 on any one of the three, they won’t invest. Why? Because climate tech and deeptech take time and patience, and TDK is playing a long game to back meaningful technologies — like Type One energy and nuclear fusion — that can shape humanity’s future.

Before taking CVC money, ask the hard questions:

• What’s their why?

• What value do they add?

• Are they ready to support at the right stage of your journey?

“Without exits, we don’t have a VC ecosystem,” Nicholas reminded the room — so make sure you’re partnering with CVCs who can help drive toward them.

Tom Wehmeier of Atomico took the stage to present the Achievement of the Year Award, offering a touching reminder of the power of community, storytelling, and persistence in building Europe’s venture identity.

Before diving into the award itself, Tom took a moment to pay tribute to the unsung heroes who make the EUVC Summit possible. Special thanks went to:

• Dan Taylor, Director of Content, whose voiceovers shaped the tone of the event’s videos—even if he had to duck out early for a birthday party.

• Geraldine, for her tireless efforts behind the scenes, now rewarded with, in Tom’s words, “a very well-earned glass of wine—or two, three, I don’t mind!”

It was a warm and human moment, reminding the audience that even in high-stakes venture circles, gratitude and team spirit are what truly drive momentum.

Tom also took the opportunity to reflect on Atomico’s long-standing effort to amplify the voice of the ecosystem—particularly through their widely circulated surveys and reports. He playfully acknowledged the flood of emails and DMs over the years, encouraging people to contribute to the State of European Tech report.

But beyond the spam, the intent was serious:

“It’s been massively important to have the voice of tens of thousands of people shared and elevated… We’re all here because we believe Europe needs to tell its story in a positive way.”

The Achievement of the Year Award isn’t just about one startup’s exit or one investor’s return—it celebrates initiatives that move the whole ecosystem forward. In a continent still carving out its narrative on the global venture stage, this recognition honors those who go beyond capital to inspire, build infrastructure, and create shared momentum.

With that, Tom handed the mic back to Chris to announce the winner—but not before delivering a final rallying cry:

“The need was great then. The need is even greater today.”

“Europe Can Win in Applied AI — If We Play to Our Strengths”

In one of the most focused and forward-looking sessions of the summit, Juliet Bailin of General Catalyst made a compelling case for why Europe is uniquely positioned to lead in applied AI—not by copying Silicon Valley, but by doubling down on what makes the continent distinct.

Juliet opened with a reminder of Europe’s superpowers:

• Regulatory complexity,

• Cultural and linguistic diversity, and

• Strong traditions in research and privacy.

These aren’t weaknesses—they’re strategic advantages for human-centric, domain-specific, and trust-first AI.

“Highly regulated industries are perfect for specialized AI,” Juliet argued. “And cultural diversity is crucial for building human-centric systems.”

Rather than pursuing general-purpose models that require vast compute resources (a game already dominated by US giants), Juliet emphasized applied AI—targeted solutions built into real-world workflows. Europe’s leadership in sectors like healthcare, finance, and mobility offers the perfect foundation.

General Catalyst is backing this with:

• Incubation of applied AI startups

• AI roll-ups of legacy businesses with strong distribution

• Public-private convenings via the General Catalyst Institute

Juliet called on governments to do more than fund foundational research:

“We need governments that can incentivize the adoption of European, homegrown applied AI companies.”

That means clear pathways for public procurement, regulation that encourages innovation, and aligned industrial policy.

Her message to entrepreneurs was crisp and actionable:

• Build in regulated industries where Europe leads

• Prioritize trust-first AI—privacy, explainability, fairness

• Join the EU AI Champions Initiative → AIChampions.eu
  (A platform to connect startups with the corporates and investors driving Europe's AI future)

Juliet closed with a powerful vision—not just of returns or GDP growth, but of rewriting the social and economic history of Europe:

“If we do this right… future historians will talk about it at the next EUVC summit.”

Europe’s tech playbook has evolved — from mastering consumer internet and telecoms to now confronting the most ambitious challenge yet: the green transition. In a compelling Summit address, Natalie Tydeman of Kinnevik framed climate tech not just as a hot trend, but as the defining commercial and industrial transformation of our time.

Despite political headwinds and shifting corporate rhetoric in some markets, Europe’s climate policy support remains strong. More importantly, we’re finally witnessing a turning point: climate tech is no longer about sacrificing economics for sustainability. As Natalie put it, the new breed of green solutions are both commercially viable and environmentally necessary.

What’s needed from founders and investors alike? Patience, resilience, adaptability, and creativity. The capital profiles of these companies often look very different from classical tech — they’re more capital intensive, and success often depends on building coalitions of aligned investors.

Natalie emphasized two core themes where Kinnevik is most focused:

• Green Supply Chains

• Energy Transition

These areas are where the visibility of future revenue streams is strongest — crucial for unlocking project financing and credit facilities. Joint development agreements, government-backed low-cost financing, and project equity play a far bigger role than in SaaS or consumer models.

Europe might lag in some tech metrics, but in climate it’s starting to pull ahead:

• ~50% of EU energy is now renewable vs. under 20% in the US

• 84% of consumers express a desire to shop more sustainably

• Government and blended finance are now key backers of green ventures

This ecosystem makes it possible to build large, climate-positive businesses in Europe without sacrificing scale or returns.

Natalie closed by reaffirming Kinnevik’s conviction: the green transition isn’t just a moral imperative — it’s a multi-decade economic opportunity. The fund is staying highly selective, but deeply committed to supporting the few ventures that can deliver climate impact and venture-scale returns in tandem.

“We’re not looking for the most startups — we’re looking for the ones that will matter most.”

Investing in Climate Requires Patience — and CreativityFinancial Ecosystems & Policy: Europe Has a TailwindThe Takeaway: Selective but Bold