Scaling Europe

Europe just added 1 trillion in tech value. Investment is rising, unicorn creation is strong, and ambition across the ecosystem is higher than ever.

At Slush in Helsinki, I spoke with Tom Wehmeier, Partner at Atomico and author of the State of European Tech report, about what this moment really means.

With 44 billion invested into European tech this year compared to 500 billion in the US over three years, Europe is growing fast, but the challenge now is scale.

The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel - check them out here: https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk

Sponsors:

SurrealDB: The multi-model database for AI agents. Check them out here: https://surrealdb.com/

Omni: The AI analytics platform trusted by fast-growing companies like Perplexity, Synthesia, and dbt Labs. Check them out here: https://omni.co/

Venture Comet: The platform that gives startups and scale-ups real-time equity tracking, daily business insights and automated management information. Check them out here: https://venturecomet.com/

Europe just added 1 trillion in tech value. Investment is rising, unicorn creation is strong, and ambition across the ecosystem is higher than ever. At Slush in Helsinki, I spoke with Tom Wehmeier, Partner at Atomico and author of the State of European Tech report, about what this moment really means.With 44 billion invested into European tech this year compared to 500 billion in the US over three years, Europe is growing fast, but the challenge now is scale.The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel - check them out here:https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjkSponsors:SurrealDB: The multi-model database for AI agents. Check them out here: https://surrealdb.com/Omni: The AI analytics platform trusted by fast-growing companies like Perplexity, Synthesia, and dbt Labs. Check them out here: https://omni.co/Venture Comet: The platform that gives startups and scale-ups real-time equity tracking, daily business insights and automated management information. Check them out here: https://venturecomet.com/

Timestamps:

0:00 - Introduction to Scaling Europe show

1:06 - Key trends from the State of European Tech

2:49 - Europe's crossroads moment in tech

5:27 - Four missions for European tech growth

6:41 - Urgency for European tech action

7:36 - Building mission Europe together

9:01 - Need for European nationalism

10:50 - Celebrating European success and ambition

12:58 - Discussing roles of policy makers and ecosystem

14:14 - Importance of signing the open letter

15:29 - Vision for the future of the ecosystem

17:31 - Predictions for the European market in 2026

ElevenLabs is not just one product. It now runs an API business, a creator platform and a fast scaling enterprise agents unit that barely existed a year ago. Luke Harries leads growth across it, and his approach is simple: if revenue stops when you step away, you have not built a system. Inside the company, intensity is deliberate. The goal is an Olympic level team, with low ego as a hiring filter.

The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel - check them out here:

https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk

Sponsors:

SurrealDB: The multi-model database for AI agents. Check them out here: https://surrealdb.com/

Omni: The AI analytics platform trusted by fast-growing companies like Perplexity, Synthesia, and dbt Labs. Check them out here: https://omni.co/

Venture Comet: The platform that gives startups and scale-ups real-time equity tracking, daily business insights and automated management information. Check them out here: https://venturecomet.com/

Timestamps:

0:12 - ElevenLabs Summit in East London

1:02 - Three businesses at ElevenLabs explained

2:19 - Enterprise growth channels discussed

3:36 - Transition from creative to enterprise business

4:00 - From nothing to millions

5:14 - New channels for growth strategies

6:12 - Exciting marketing stunts planned

6:40 - Personal career journey and transitions

7:50 - Engineering mindset for growth systems

8:12 - Importance of building a pro system

10:34 - Cultural values at ElevenLabs

11:16 - Balancing execution with a positive culture

Every company IVP backs in Europe competes directly with Silicon Valley. There is one global bar, and that is the level founders are measured against.

At Slush in Helsinki I spoke with Eric Liaw, General Partner at IVP, about what that actually means when you are building from Europe and how the timeline for moving to the US has shifted.

A few years ago many companies would only think about the US once they were around 50m in ARR. Today that conversation often starts much earlier, closer to 10 to 15m.

The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel - check them out here:

https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk

Sponsors:

SurrealDB: The multi-model database for AI agents. Check them out here: https://surrealdb.com/

Omni: The AI analytics platform trusted by fast-growing companies like Perplexity, Synthesia, and dbt Labs. Check them out here: https://omni.co/

Venture Comet: The platform that gives startups and scale-ups real-time equity tracking, daily business insights and automated management information. Check them out here: https://venturecomet.com/

Timestamps:

0:00 - Introduction to Scaling Europe show

1:11 - Eric discusses objectives at Slush

2:10 - Importance of face-to-face interactions

4:01 - Regional talent development in Europe

6:03 - Importance of market opportunities

6:34 - Excitement about European tech ecosystem

8:12 - Global mindset for European founders

9:50 - Role in helping companies access US market

11:43 - Advice for European founders expanding to US

12:18 - Importance of having a founder on the ground

14:01 - Role of sales leaders in US market

15:04 - Eric's three proudest investment deals

Building DeepL started with a clear bet: language would be the first place where AI had to be genuinely good.

At Slush in Helsinki, I sat down with Jarek Kutylowski, CEO and founder of DeepL, and we talked about why “good enough” wasn’t enough for translation, how quality became the company’s moat, and what changes when AI moves from experiments into real business use.

The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel - check them out here:

https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk

Sponsors:

SurrealDB: The multi-model database for AI agents. Check them out here: https://surrealdb.com/

Omni: The AI analytics platform trusted by fast-growing companies like Perplexity, Synthesia, and dbt Labs. Check them out here: https://omni.co/

Venture Comet: The platform that gives startups and scale-ups real-time equity tracking, daily business insights and automated management information. Check them out here: https://venturecomet.com/

Timestamps:

0:00 - Introduction to Scaling Europe show

0:25 - Interview with Eric, CEO of DeepL

1:00 - DeepL's journey and mission explained

3:22 - DeepL's focus on translation quality

6:08 - New functionality for translation services

7:12 - Understanding enterprise customer needs

9:02 - Engaging in deeper customer conversations

10:12 - Vision for new AI product development

12:55 - Challenges of building startups in Europe

14:58 - Importance of targeting global markets

16:05 - Best moment in the founder's journey

18:06 - Overcoming emotional challenges as a founder

It took Zango eleven months to get its first major bank fully live, including six months just convincing IT to open up APIs. Ritesh Singhania, Co-founder and CEO at Zango, shares what it actually takes to sell compliance software into large financial institutions and why once a bank trusts you, the relationship tends to last.

The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel - check them out here:

https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk

Sponsors:

SurrealDB: The multi-model database for AI agents. Check them out here: https://surrealdb.com/

Omni: The AI analytics platform trusted by fast-growing companies like Perplexity, Synthesia, and dbt Labs. Check them out here: https://omni.co/

Venture Comet: The platform that gives startups and scale-ups real-time equity tracking, daily business insights and automated management information. Check them out here: https://venturecomet.com/

Karl has spent the last 6 years transforming how consumers purchase and retailers sell tech...moving from outright ownership to subscription-based access.

The company has raised £150m and has just announced hitting £56.5m of ARR and £10m of EBITDA

ElevenLabs went from a $2m pre-seed to an $11bn valuation in three years, scaling to $330m in ARR as voice AI moved from curiosity to enterprise priority. Mati Staniszewski, Co-Founder and CEO at ElevenLabs, breaks down what changed inside the company once growth stopped being hypothetical and started compounding at scale.

The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel - check them out here:

https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk

Sponsors:

SurrealDB: The multi-model database for AI agents. Check them out here: https://surrealdb.com/

Omni: The AI analytics platform trusted by fast-growing companies like Perplexity, Synthesia, and dbt Labs. Check them out here: https://omni.co/

Venture Comet: The platform that gives startups and scale-ups real-time equity tracking, daily business insights and automated management information. Check them out here: https://venturecomet.com/

Lars is a leading angel investor and founder based in Athens.

In 2004, Lars and his brother Jens sold their mapping startup, Where 2 Tech to Google. Lars became the Head of Google Maps from Where 2’s technology, and was then the Director of Engineering at Facebook in Menlo Park and London.

He's now founded Panathenea - a leading tech event in Athens.

European venture has been through the SaaS boom, the 2021 bubble, the reset, and now the AI wave. I spoke with Richard Anton, General Partner at OXX, about why being AI native now defines the winners, how services are being rebuilt as software, and why Europe generates strong venture returns while pension funds still allocate just 0.12% to the asset class.

The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel – check them out here:

https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk

Timestamps:

0:14 - Introduction to Richard Anton and Oxx

1:22 - Market changes since 2017 discussed

4:13 - Importance of being AI native6:55 - AI transformation in portfolio companies

7:31 - Europe's readiness for AI opportunities

9:54 - Lack of capital resources in Europe

11:20 - European pension funds' low venture investment12:44 - Need for faster pension fund action

14:09 - Importance of investing in US VCs

15:01 - Differences between US and European investors

16:59 - Europe offers better venture capital returns

18:24 - Advice for LPs entering the VC world

Stacks, the agentic platform for enterprise finance, has raised a $23M Series A led by Lightspeed, with EQT Ventures, General Catalyst, and S16VC doubling down.

The round comes less than a year after Stacks’ $12 million seed financing led by General Catalyst, underscoring the company’s rapid traction and momentum.

Since emerging from stealth less than a year ago, Stacks has onboarded more than 30 enterprise customers globally, saving finance teams over 100,000 hours annually by automating reconciliations, journal entries, and the month-end close.

The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel – check them out here:https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk

Timestamps:

0:12 - Stacks announces $23 million Series A funding

1:00 - Over 30 enterprises onboarded to platform2:01 - Monthly financial close workflow explained

3:20 - Target customers include finance leaders and accountants

6:29 - Time to close the books is 8 hours

7:05 - 30% of customers are in the US8:11 - Future goals include significant customer growth

9:19 - Launching additional functionality this year

12:57 - Transitioning from bootstrap to venture-backed

14:02 - Importance of efficiency in finance today

15:39 - Flipping the data manipulation equation

19:20 - Accelerating R&D to meet customer needs