Scaling Europe

Max is the founder and CEO Azoma, GEO platform helping brands and retailers get recommended by AI Search. Max spent 6 years at Amazon in the search team before founding Azoma.

The company has taken off and is now working with leading companies around the world to help them get their brands noticed by LLMs.

We discussed

• How AI will fundamentally change the way people interact with retailers
• Why those not optimising for GEO are already behind
• The first things companies should be doing to get started on GEO
• The biggest mistakes brands make when they optimise their content for LLMs

and much much more

Will founded and exited a very early AI company. Since then he has been investing in Deeptech across Europe.

On the day of the interview it was announced that Will was joining SpeedInvest as a partner leading on Deeptech. We discussed:

• Being a very early AI builder and what he thinks of the AI hype
• Why Europe desperately needs for ex-founder VCs
• The type of founder he's looking to back
• The state of deeptech investing across Europe

and much much more

Saul Klein is a serial entrepreneur turned investor. He created Phoenix Court, the VC firm that houses LocalGlobe, Solar and Latitude.

Through LocalGlove he has invested in some of the best businesses in the world, including Wise, Figma, Monzo, Robinhood, Zego, Tide and many more.

On the day of the interview ⁨@DealRoom⁩  announced that, according to their analysis, Phoenix Court is the best VC in Europe.

We discussed:

• Why Thoroughbreds (companies with $100m ARR) are the new unicorns
• What Europe needs to do to support Growth Stage companies
• What LocalGlobe got right to be the best
• The role entrepreneurs should play in shaping government policy

+ much much more

Guy is a partner at DN Capital where he led an early investment into Cognigy, the German AI company that was recently acquired for $955m.

We discussed:

• His lead investment into Cognigy and sitting on the board
• The state of European venture and AI

• How he made it to Partner in 6 years
• US companies snapping up European scaleups

and much much more

Brian Walker is the CEO of Revel, a company building the AI data layer for Robotics.

He also bought one of the Project Lovable companies during the hackathon and grew it to $100k ARR in under a week.

We discussed:

• The future of robotics and whether Tesla will come out on top
• The Lovable hackathon, how he got involved and why he bought the company
• How he has managed to grow the company to $100k ARR and what's next

Plus much much more!

Meshed describes itself as the UK’s first AI-native insurance broker it's targeting the outdated and inefficient broker processes that are leaving UK SMEs underinsured.

The platform uses AI agents to automate quoting, insurer chasing, and policy admin and just announced raising £950k from Haatch, Aviva and angels.

We discussed:

• Traction to date
• How they raised their pre-seed
• Having a product background as a Cofounder and COO
• The future of Meshed and why Insurance is ready to be disrupted by AI

And much much more!

Onstage is Europe's largest demo day. Over 2000 companies apply for just 20 spots.

Previous companies have gone on to raise close to $1bn.

Issie is the cofounder and we discussed:

• What companies need to do to make it through
• The work they do helping emerging managers raise their first fund
• The future of Onstage and raising a fund
• The next demo day and when to apply

And much more!

Amelia Miller is a Fellow at the University of Cambridge, a published psychologist, and a former international athlete, and now cofounder at Ivee.

Ivee the job platform for people that have been out of work for some time. It launched last year and is already doing almost half a million in ARR. We discussed:

• Building her business with her sister while working full time and when the right time to go all-in way
• The 996 debate, her online feud with Harry Stebbings and then meeting up in person
• Why "Content is King" and the role it plays in Ivee's growth

And more!