When NATO announced plans to launch a €1bn innovation fund back in 2022, heads turned. €1bn? To invest in defence and security? Backed by 24 countries? At the time, most European VCs were still incredibly wary of backing defence companies — and nothing like this had ever been attempted before.

Three years on, host Amy Lewin is joined on the Sifted Podcast by Dame Fiona Murray, current chair and former vice-chair of the Nato Innovation Fund (NIF), to take stock of how the experiment is playing out.

Since becoming operational in 2023, the fund has faced significant scrutiny. Four of its original founding partners have left, one of them pursuing legal action over a compensation dispute, while former chair Klaus Hommels stepped into a new role last September following questions around potential conflicts of interest.

Amy and Fiona discuss these controversies, as well as what the fund is actively looking to invest in today, the structural challenges facing Europe’s defence tech startups and what still needs to change if European nations are to build long-term technological resilience in an increasingly unstable world.

When Markus Villig founded Bolt 12 years ago, it was one of dozens trying to take on Uber. Today, it’s the only major European ride-hailing company left — worth €7.4bn and expanding across taxis, scooters, car rental and delivery.

This week, Europe editor Mimi Billing sits down with Markus to discuss why it’s now almost impossible to build a new ride-hailing network, why he thinks Europe is sleepwalking into a “disaster” on self-driving cars and physical AI, and how he’s helping shape Estonia’s defence tech landscape.

Markus also explains why founders should engage more with politicians, what Europe needs from a single capital market — and his experience as the youngest board member of any US public company, thanks to buy now, pay later giant Klarna.

Kanishka Narayan, the UK’s AI minister, joins us on the Sifted Podcast hot off the heels of the big reveal of UK chancellor Rachel Reeves’ latest budget, which announced some fairly positive moves for Britain’s entrepreneurs — as Amy and Kanishka discuss in this episode.

In his role as AI minister — which he’s had for just two months — Kanishka holds some pretty chunky responsibilities: including ensuring that the UK seizes upon the opportunities AI presents to us — and leverages tech for growth.

In this episode of the Sifted Podcast, Amy asks Kanishka if he thinks the UK is moving fast enough on adopting and regulating AI, what the biggest risks the technology poses to the nation are and where he thinks the government should put its resources to have the most positive impact on the tech sector.

Few founders have the know-how — or the guts — to take on Apple. But Carl Pei, founder and CEO of London-based startup Nothing, is one of them. Nothing makes smartphones and earphones at a fraction of Apple’s price, has shipped millions of units, raised $200m in September at a $1.3bn price tag — and is now exploring AI-native devices and apps.

In this episode, host Amy Lewin sits down with Carl to explore how Nothing is approaching prototyping new devices, why Europe has struggled to produce globally successful hardware startups and what a future of personalised phones might actually look like.

Carl also shares how spending time in China taught him the hardware ecosystem’s secrets, why India represents one of the biggest opportunities of our lifetime and which early-stage founder he has on his radar.

It’s that time of year again: Atomico’s State of European Tech report has landed.

In case you don't have the time to wade through its mammoth 183 charts, this week host Amy Lewin is joined by senior reporter Miriam Partington to bring you the report’s most surprising findings, with a focus on talent.

And it paints a rosy picture: respondents say it’s getting easier to recruit and retain top-tier talent in Europe, and the continent’s pool of senior tech tech employees has grown faster than the US over the last decade.

But do founders actually feel that shift on the ground? And how much appetite is there to finally fix Europe’s long-lamented market fragmentation? And why, a decade on, is the gender funding gap showing no signs of closing?

Read Atomico’s report, here: https://www.stateofeuropeantech.com/

Read our top highlights, here: https://sifted.eu/articles/state-european-tech-report-2025

Read about the Mistral and SAP partnerships, here: https://sifted.eu/articles/france-germany-partnership-mistral-sap

Read about why VCs are ditching the boardroom for operator life, here: https://sifted.eu/articles/vcs-becoming-operators

If you would like to sponsor the podcast, please email [email protected]

This week it's another special episode from the Sifted Summit, with senior reporter Kai Nicol-Schwarz sitting down with serial entrepreneur Alex Depledge — founder of Resi and Hassle.com, and now entrepreneurship advisor to UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

Alex shares her experience of navigating government and trying to make changes for the UK's tech sector, and discusses how to tackle the exodus of startup talent from the country. Her and Kai get into how to unlock more late stage capital for high-growth companies, how pension funds can play a bigger role and how the UK government is bringing in business experience to help guide policy.

Want to sponsor the podcast? Email [email protected] to express your interest.

PLUS: Take our listener survey here: https://form.typeform.com/to/WbVxsSv7 (T&Cs apply)

This week, Daphné Leprince-Ringuet is joined by head of research Jonathan Sinclair and senior reporter Kai Nicol-Schwarz to unpack the state of AI in Europe.

Funding for European AI-native companies has nearly doubled to €8.9bn this year, and acquisitions hit a record high of 18 last month — all while valuations continue to climb. But do the numbers tell the full story?

The trio digs into insights from Sifted’s inaugural AI ranking, alongside recent reporting, to explore questions like: Should France still be considered Europe’s AI hub? Why do 95% of GenAI pilots fail at big corporations? And when is the AI bubble going to burst?

Read the report here: https://sifted.eu/rankings/ai-100-2025

Want to sponsor the podcast? Email [email protected]

Plus take our listener survey here: https://form.typeform.com/to/WbVxsSv7

This week host Amy Lewin sits down with Erin Platts, CEO of Octopus Ventures. Erin joined Octopus at the beginning of this year after a two decade stint at Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), where she oversaw UK operations throughout its dramatic collapse in 2023.

Erin walks Amy through the climactic weekend that SVB went under, revealing what really happened behind the scenes as industry partners scrambled to keep startups’ cash safe.

The pair also dig into the state of venture in the UK, including the ups and downs faced by Octopus Titan, the £1.4bn listed fund that’s shed almost £600m in value since 2021 — and how Erin plans to steady the ship.

They also discuss her views on the Mansion House Accord, her role on the UK government’s industry taskforce and why Octopus Ventures has experienced such high churn in recent years.

Want to sponsor the podcast? Email [email protected]

Take out listener survey here: https://form.typeform.com/to/WbVxsSv7 (T&Cs apply)

This week it’s another special episode recorded live at the Sifted Summit, with host Amy sitting down with Sequoia Capital’s Luciana Lixandru.

Luciana, who established the legendary Silicon Valley firm's presence in Europe in 2020, discusses the continent’s “Act Two”, and ambitions to build $100bn companies. She talks about what Sequoia looks for in founders, how to build a defensible AI business and why she believes London is becoming the centre of Europe’s AI renaissance.

Luciana and Amy also discuss the resurgence of robotics, why fintech still matters and how founders can balance building in Europe with winning in the US.

Want to sponsor the podcast? Email [email protected] to express your interest.

PLUS: Take our listener survey here: https://form.typeform.com/to/WbVxsSv7 (T&Cs apply)

This week it's the first in a series of special episodes recorded in front of a live audience at the Sifted Summit, and we're kicking off with a bang: a fireside discussion between former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Sifted's founder and editorial director John Thornhill.

They discuss the ongoing AI revolution, with Eric arguing that the technology is actually undervalued today, and why "industrial" bubbles can actually be a good thing after they burst. He also talks about what the rest of the world can learn from Ukraine when it comes to automation in the defence sector, and about how Europe can compete on the global stage in the new AI economy.

PLUS: Take our listener survey here: https://form.typeform.com/to/WbVxsSv7 (T&Cs apply)