Raising Europe with Tom Guinness

Is this the next billion-dollar medical blockbuster? Medical TV shows have been lying to you about cardiac arrest - 80% of cases cannot be shocked using defibrillators. Now, Dr. Habib Frost is building the medical technology required to save the 80% of cardiac arrest patients the world has left behind.Habib Frost is a physician and the CEO & Founder of Neurescue, a Copenhagen-based MedTech company. A former child prodigy, Habib graduated as Denmark's youngest medical doctor at just 23 years old. After witnessing the tragic limitations of emergency medicine firsthand, he traded his clinical path for entrepreneurship to develop the next generation of life-saving technology.In this episode, he explains: ◼ The Flatline Myth: Why you can’t shock a heart back to life if the problem isn’t electrical. ◼ Supercharging the Heart: How a robotic "mechanical defibrillator" redirects blood flow to potentially save lives during non-shockable cardiac arrests. ◼ The Antibiotic Milestone: Why this device could save more life years than any innovation since the introduction of antibiotics. ◼ Blockbuster Economics: How a sterile, single-use device can create a billion-euro revenue opportunity.◼ The Future of First Aid: How the device for "the rest of us" may eventually replace office defibrillators.Chapters00:00 Intro 02:35 The Youngest Doctor: Why Skipping Grades Led To Entrepreneurship 05:15 The "Aha Moment": Losing Two Patients In One Day 10:30 The Flatline Myth: Why Medical TV Dramas Are Lying To You 14:20 Why Defibrillators Fail 80% Of Cardiac Arrest Victims 19:50 Mechanical Defibrillation: How To Redirect Blood Flow In 2 Minutes 24:10 From Napkin Sketch To Class 3 CE Mark 29:00 Building A Billion-Dollar Blockbuster Product 33:45 Global Rollout: Activating Paris, Spain & Germany 38:20 Raising €10 Million: Backing From Novo Nordisk, Ambu, and ALK-Abello Executives in addition to West Hill Capital 42:15 The Next Chapter: A Device For Non-Professionals 46:10 Can This Save More Lives Than Antibiotics? 50:00 Habib’s Advice For MedTech Founders Enjoyed the episode? Find more interviews with leading European Tech founders & investors on our channel.Follow Raising Europe, here:◼ Website - https://raisingeurope.com/◼ Follow Tom Guinness – https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-guinness-raising-europe/◼ Follow Raising Europe – https://www.linkedin.com/company/raising-europe/◼ Subscribe on Substack - https://raisingeurope.substack.com/You can follow Habib, here:LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/habibfrost/Find out more about Neurescue:Website - https://neurescue.com/#MedTech #Cardiology #Entrepreneurship #VentureCapital #HealthcareInnovation #DeepTech #Startups #HabibFrost #Neurescue #RaisingEurope #TomGuinness

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐚 𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 - 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞. In the world of modern medicine, we have the medications to treat high blood pressure, yet it remains the number one cause of heart attacks and strokes globally. The bottleneck isn't the science of the drug - it's the reality of human behaviour. With doctors often having less than 10 minutes per consultation, there is simply no time to coach patients through the complex lifestyle shifts required to save their lives.In this episode of the 𝐑𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭, host 𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 sits down with 𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐌𝐜𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧, Co-founder and CEO of 𝐍𝐚𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐁𝐢𝐨, to discuss how his team is using digital therapeutics to bridge the gap between medical advice and real-world human action. 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦:➡️ Europe is becoming the global blueprint for "prescribable software." By securing medical device certification in Europe, 𝐍𝐚𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐁𝐢𝐨 is navigating one of the world's most stringent regulatory environments to unlock massive markets like Germany’s DiGA reimbursement system. Their journey shows how European founders are leveraging deep clinical expertise to build scalable, purely digital solutions that can reduce the burden on overstretched public health systems. 𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞, 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨:𝟏. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝟎𝐦𝐦 𝐇𝐠 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞: Why a modest drop in systolic blood pressure has the same impact on mortality as quitting smoking. 𝟐. 𝐁𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐌𝐨𝐚𝐭: How 𝐍𝐚𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐁𝐢𝐨 uses self-determination and nudge theory to empower patients to make lasting changes in diet, exercise, and stress. 𝟑. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝: A behind-the-scenes look at achieving European medical device certification and why it’s a fast track to global markets like the FDA. 𝟒. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐆𝐀 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥: How Germany’s unique insurance system allows doctors to prescribe software, creating a multibillion-euro addressable market for digital health. 𝟓. 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐃 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐜 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞: Tom’s journey from developing Ireland’s national COVID early warning system to tackling the world's leading cause of death – from building their MVP to their latest fundraising plans. 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭:👤 𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐌𝐜𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧: The Co-founder & CEO of 𝐍𝐚𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐁𝐢𝐨. A medical doctor and engineer by background, Tom earned his MD & MBA from Trinity College Dublin. He previously worked on smart inhaler technology that led to the development of the National COVID early warning system for Ireland. When he isn’t tackling global hypertension, he’s a fan of sci-fi, Dungeons & Dragons, and is a dead ringer for a young Clone Wars-era Ewan McGregor. 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡?🔔 𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞, 📌 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐞, and ♻️ 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐬:𝐑𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞: https://raisingeurope.com/𝐍𝐚𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐁𝐢𝐨 𝐖𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞: https://www.nazatabio.com/#healthtech #digitaltherapeutics #entrepreneurship #biotech #longevity

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐨𝐬 - 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞.

⁣In the world of high-growth tech, the shift toward consumption-based pricing is making traditional sales workflows obsolete. Account managers are no longer just selling products - they are becoming consultative partners who must back every conversation with deep product data to prevent churn and drive expansion.

In this episode of the 𝐑𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭, host 𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 sits down with 𝐎𝐢𝐬í𝐧 𝐎’𝐒𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐧, Co-founder and CEO of 𝐃𝐲𝐥𝐞, to discuss his journey from being a key early employee at a European unicorn to building an AI-powered revenue powerhouse in New York City.

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦:

➡️ The "Unicorn Factory" effect is real. By leveraging experience gained at Klarna, founders like Oisín are bridging the gap between European talent and US-scale ambition. Dyle is solving a critical friction point in the SaaS model: how to provide "white glove" treatment to thousands of SMBs simultaneously through AI-driven signals and automated workflows.

𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞, 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨:

𝟏. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐚 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐭: How serving as the number two employee for Klarna in Ireland revealed a $46 billion company's biggest struggle - managing 1,600+ SMB partners efficiently.

𝟐. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐈𝐓 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐩: Why Oisín moved to Boston for an MBA not for the degree, but as a deliberate launchpad to build and scale a business in the U.S. market.

𝟑. 𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐯𝐬. 𝐍𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐞: A look at why Dyle doesn't want to be your next CRM, but rather the "best provider of signals" that ingests data into tools like Posthog, Mixpanel, and Amplitude.

𝟒. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧-𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭: Why the future of account management is a "360 role" where one person oversees onboarding, renewals, and expansion backed by real-time product analytics.

𝟓. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 & 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠: How Dyle is already managing over 55,000 accounts, reducing churn by up to 20%, and identifying 3x more expansion opportunities for its customers. In addition to their backing by Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator (ERA) and Link Ventures.

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭:

👤 𝐎𝐢𝐬í𝐧 𝐎’𝐒𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐧: The Co-founder & CEO of Dyle, a New York-based startup providing AI-powered revenue insights. A Dublin native and Trinity College Dublin graduate, Oisín previously launched Klarna in Ireland before earning his MBA from MIT. When he isn’t helping sales teams spend more time with customers, he’s likely riding his motorbike from Boston to Brooklyn, playing tennis, or watching No Country for Old Men.

𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡?

🔔 𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞 to stay updated on the people building the future.

📌 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐞 this episode for your next deep dive into sales automation and scaling strategies.

♻️ 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 with your network to help founders bridge the gap between Europe and the US.

💬 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 “𝐃𝐘𝐋𝐄” and we’ll send our 10 key takeaways from this episode straight to your inbox.

𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐬:

𝐑𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞: https://raisingeurope.com/

𝐃𝐲𝐥𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞: https://www.dyle.io/

#salestech #ai #entrepreneurship #technology #venturecapital

In VC, there are actually no rules.

While US investors are backing $50M+ Seed rounds, European ones often focus too much on derisking rather than embracing the risk that drives the Power Law.

The problem isn't a lack of talent; it's a gap in mindset. To make Europe sovereign again, investors and entrepreneurs must shift from local players to global contenders, betting on a future where AI reshapes every major industry.

In this episode of the Raising Europe Podcast, host Tom Guinness sits down with Briac Lescure, Investor at Daphni, prolific angel investor, and former Co-founder & Co-CEO of Popchef, to discuss how France’s most active VC is building the future of European tech.

Why this matters for the European Tech Ecosystem:

➡️ Daphni is redefining the "French VC" identity. By moving from a "French VC based in Paris" to a "European VC investing from Paris," they are repositioning themselves to capture the massive value creation coming from AI applications, climate, deeptech, retail, inclusion, sovereignty-focused tech, and beyond.

In this episode, we dive into:

1. The Entrepreneur-to-VC Transition: How scaling Popchef to 100+ people and €10 million ARR gave Briac a unique connection with founders that "operator-lite" VCs lack.

2. The "No Rules" Investment Strategy: Why Briac prioritises resilience and learning curves at Pre-Seed, and pure growth as the answer to everything at Seed.

3. The AI-Powered Investment Team: A look at how Daphni uses proprietary algorithms to screen hundreds of pitch decks per week and write AI-assisted investment notes.

4. Winning the "Marquee" Deals: Tactics for beating top-tier firms by being early, leveraging personal networks, and "fighting" on the ground in cities like London or Barcelona.

5. A "Top 0.7%" Discipline: Briac’s "Rocky Balboa" arc in golf - training 10 hours a day for six months to become one of the top amateur golfers in France - and how that intensity translates to VC.

About the Guest:👤 Briac Lescure:

An Investor at Daphni, the Paris-based firm named the most active VC in France in 2025. Before VC, he spent a decade as Co-founder & Co-CEO of Popchef, raising over €20 million. When he isn't hunting for unicorns, he's shooting two-over-par on the golf course or plotting a second career in the French Secret Service (DGSE).

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Important links:

Raising Europe Website: https://raisingeurope.com/

Daphni Website: https://www.daphni.com/

#RaisingEurope #VentureCapital #AI #EuropeanTech #Entrepreneurship #Sovereignty

One diabetic dies every 15 seconds.

c.450 million T2 light diabetic lives are at risk with 1-in-10 adults being diabetic and 1-in-3 adults being pre-diabetic.

The problem isn't lack of technology; it's a lack of accessible technology. Today, patients are stuck between painful finger pricks (BGM) and expensive continuous glucose monitors (CGM) that many simply cannot afford.

In this episode of the ⁠Raising Europe⁠ Podcast, host Tom Guinness sits down with Luc Pierart, co-founder and CEO of LipsTech, to discuss how they are disrupting the medical device industry with the world's first connected lip balm.

Why this matters for Healthcare & MedTech:

➡️ ⁠LipsTech is targeting the "abandoned" 75% of the non-reimbursed market: T2 light diabetics. These are individuals who don't need to dose insulin but desperately need a non-invasive, affordable way to monitor their glucose and stay out of the hospital. This does not exist.

In this episode, we dive into:

1. The 20-Second Saliva Test: How LipsTech measures glucose and biomarkers through saliva with 98% accuracy, eliminating the need for needles.

2. The Reusable Revolution: Why their electrochemical enzymatic technology is a game-changer, allowing a single consumable to be reused 60 times over 60 days.

3. The Wellness-First Strategy: Why Luc is launching as a "wellness" product first to bypass traditional medical marketing hurdles and reach users faster via social networks.

4. Closing the Cost Gap: A breakdown of the unit economics - providing monitoring for c.$300 per year, compared to $1,000 for standard CGMs, and the funding required to bring their product to the market.

5. A "Tony Stark" Approach: Luc’s journey from big corporates (Motorola, Alcatel) to filing 50+ patents and building a company on the mantra that "nothing is impossible".

About the Guest:

👤 Luc Pierart: An industry veteran with 30+ years of experience in manufacturing and consumer electronics. He is a serial entrepreneur who previously built a CGM smartwatch company, PKvitality, sold to Withings in 2023.

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Important links:

Raising Europe Website: https://raisingeurope.com/LipTech

Website: https://lipstech.fr/

#RaisingEurope #MedTech #Healthcare #HealthTech #Startup

Can this AI agent finally end the "total chaos" of modern hiring?

In this episode of the Raising Europe Podcast, host Tom Guinness sits down with Stéphane Millet and Clément Revillion, two of the four Co-founders of Umamy AI.

➡️ Umamy AI is an AI-driven hiring engine that acts as the HR "secret sauce" for growth-stage companies. It identifies top-tier talent in a sea of millions of applicants, delivering more effective "A-player" hires at a fraction of the cost of traditional headhunting agencies.

Stéphane shares his journey from building and successfully exiting his previous startup, Demooz, to realising that LLMs were the missing piece needed to automate the recruitment workflows he had built previously. While Clément provides the perspective of a big tech veteran, drawing on a decade of experience at Google and Salesforce to help build a product that integrates seamlessly into the tools recruiters already use.

In this episode, we dive into:

1. The "Total Chaos" of Modern Hiring: How scaleups like Deel and Revolut are inundated with applications and why the problem has shifted from attracting talent to identifying it.

2. Building the "Secret Sauce": How Umamy AI evolved from its MVP on Slack to a sophisticated AI engine that saves talent acquisition teams up to 40 hours a month.

3. Founder-Led Hiring at Scale: Why top talent / A-players don't reply to automated LinkedIn spam and how Umamy AI allows CEOs to focus on 90-minute recruitment cycles instead of 20+ hours of work on recruitment per week.

4. The Path Ahead: A look at Umamy AI’s experience in the HEC Incubator and their revenue goals for the end of 2026 & 2027.

5. The Human in the Loop: Why Stéphane and Clément believe AI won't replace recruiters, but will instead act as a tool to keep the human element focused on qualified candidates.

About Stéphane Millet 

Stéphane is a lifelong entrepreneur and the former co-founder and CEO of Demooz, which he successfully exited to Marvesting in 2021. A self-described geek who likes to automate everything, he co-founded Umamy AI to close the loop on founder-led recruitment efficiency using LLMs.

About Clément Revillion

Clément spent nearly a decade at international tech giants such as Google and Salesforce. He co-founded Umamy AI to fix the "broken" recruitment market, bringing a big-tech perspective to the startup's growth and go-to-market strategy.

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Can AI finally eliminate the "expensive guesswork" and 50% return rates driving chaos in the global fashion industry?

To celebrate International Women’s Day, we are spotlighting the women building and backing the future of European tech. In this episode of the Raising Europe podcast, host Tom Guinness sits down with Phoebe Gormley, the Founder and CEO of Fit Collective (currently rebranding to Maeve), and Valerie Aelbrecht, a VC investor with AlbionVC.

➡️ Fit Collective is a UK-based startup building the fit operating system fortomorrow's fashion supply chain, using AI and data science to remove production guesswork and drive profitability for retailers. ➡️ AlbionVC is a UK-based venture capital firm that has been backing visionary founders with long-term capital and scale-up know-how since 1996.

Phoebe shares her unconventional path from being the first female tailor on Savile Row to building the "fit operating system" for the global fashion supply chain. While Valerie provides the investor's perspective, drawing on her own experience as a former entrepreneur who successfully exited her food-tech business before joining AlbionVC.

In this episode, we dive into:

1. The Savile Row Scientist: How Phoebe’s background in engineering and tailoring led her to solve the "physics problem" of fit that costs the industry billions.
2. Building Fit Collective / Maeve: The strategy behind the rebranding from Fit Collective to Maeve as the company builds a comprehensive fashion data science platform.
3. A Record-Breaking Raise: The reality of raising £3 million - the largest pre-seed ever by a solo female founder in the UK - and the challenges of pitching to "Simons" who don't understand the fit problem.
4. The Investor Framework: Valerie breaks down why "grit", credibility, and the ability to be a "talent magnet" are the non-negotiables when backing visionary founders.
5. The Future of European Tech: Why Valerie is bullish on Europe’s "unicorn factories" and Phoebe’s goal to 5x revenue by partnering with billion-pound retailers.

About Phoebe Gormley

Phoebe Gormley is a second-time founder who dropped out of university to become the first womenswear tailor on Savile Row. She is now the Founder & CEO of Fit Collective (rebranding to Maeve), using AI to remove the human error that drives a 50% return rate in women's fashion.

About Valerie Aelbrecht

Valerie Aelbrecht is a former founder of ProToGo and the JV Network who now focuses on B2B software, healthcare, and deep tech investments at AlbionVC. She is an experienced VC investor who serves as an empathetic "sparring partner" for founders on their boards.

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Raising Europe is a community-supported channel. If you find value in our content, please subscribe and share to help us continue bringing you behind-the-scenes insights into the future of European tech.

Can AI replace "brute force" in the relationship-driven world of private markets?

In this episode of The Raising Europe Podcast, host Tom Guinness sits down with Thomas Nolan, the Co-founder and CEO of Ardessa - an AI-powered private markets fundraising and relationship management platform based in Dublin.

Thomas shares his journey from working at StepStone Group, one of the world's largest asset managers, to launching his own startup to solve the manual and mundane problems he faced daily.

In this episode, we dive into:

1. The "Aha" Moment: Why Thomas left a successful career in London to "jump in feet first" into entrepreneurship.

2. Building Ardessa: How the platform uses AI to automate the 60% of repetitive tasks that keep fundraisers away from high-value relationship building.

3. Bootstrapping in 2026: The reality of building a lean AI company today and why Thomas is waiting until mid-2026 to seek additional capital.

4. Company Culture: Why being a good person and having a relentless work ethic are the two non-negotiables for the Ardessa team.

5. Industry Insights: Thomas's take on a billion-dollar market opportunity and why he views Ardessa as the "relationship operating system" for any long-term deal cycle.

About Thomas Nolan

Thomas Nolan is a former private credit and fundraising professional with experience at Palm Street Capital and StepStone Group. He is now building Ardessa to modernise the "old way" of doing business in private capital markets.

Support the Show

Raising Europe is a community-supported channel. If you find value in our content, please subscribe and share to help us continue bringing you behind-the-scenes insights.

Freeda CEO Peter Starr reveals his vision for the future of construction tech and provides insights into how to build a leading AI startup from Paris.