This year at the EUVC Summit Awards, Robin Klein was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Backed by HSBC Innovation Banking, the award celebrates a lifetime of impact—and Robin’s legacy stands as a blueprint for what long-term conviction in European tech can look like.

As Chris Adelsbach reminded us on stage, we’re no longer an emerging ecosystem. We’ve grown up. And few have helped shape that growth more consistently, more humbly, and more powerfully than Robin.

A Legacy That Began Before Venture Had a Name

Robin’s story doesn’t begin with startups—it begins with family, migration, and belief.

A century ago, his grandfather left Eastern Europe for South Africa. Years later, he handed over his life savings to a young engineer—Robin—to start a business. That first act of belief, Robin said, was venture capital before we had the word for it.

From there, the journey spanned decades:→ Two companies built and exited.→ A pivot to angel investing in 1999.→ A front-row seat to the power law—and the human stories behind it.

From Fledgling Angels to a $2B Platform

What followed was a fundamental reshaping of Europe’s innovation landscape.

Across LocalGlobe, Latitude, and Solar, Robin and his team have helped founders build not only unicorns—but also communities, movements, and ecosystems. They’ve backed science and inclusion, food banks and frontier tech, with LPs from both East and West. Today, their platform manages nearly $2 billion.

And through it all, one belief has remained constant:

Innovation and technology are forces for good—capable of delivering stellar returns to LPs, and positive change to society.

A Call to Builders—And the Future

Robin closed by thanking his grandfather—the original backer—and his son and partner, who now help lead the next generation forward.

His message to the room was clear:

We have the talent, the universities, the engineers. We have the moment.The time is now.Thanks to the foundations we’ve laid— the best is still ahead.

🤗 Join the EUVC Community

Looking for niche, high-quality experiences that prioritize depth over breadth? Consider joining our community focused on delivering content tailored to the experienced VC. Here’s what you can look forward to as a member:

* Exclusive Access & Discounts: Priority access to masterclasses with leading GPs & LPs, available on a first-come, first-served basis.

* On-Demand Content: A platform with sessions you can access anytime, anywhere, complete with presentations, templates, and other resources.

* Interactive AMAs: Engage directly with top GPs and LPs in exclusive small group sessions — entirely free for community members.

🗓️ The EU CVC Summit 2025 | 📆 26 - 28 August 2025 | 🇩🇰 Copenhagen, Denmark

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.eu.vc/subscribe

In this episode, Andreas Munk Holm sits down with Alexander Klyanitskiy and Valentina Zakirova, the founding partners of AdHoc Ventures, a brand-new fund laser-focused on what they call Human Interaction Tech.

They explore why online communication, remote work, and AI are disrupting how we relate at work and in life, and why that opens a massive opportunity for a new kind of VC firm. With a track record of backing unicorns like Flo, Revolut, and Patreon, and institutional knowledge from Bain and SDV, the duo is now raising their first fund to scale this vision.

We dive into how they define their category, the growing $150B+ market opportunity, their standout portfolio performance, and how their unfair advantages—from GTM playbooks to Tier 1 VC intros—create gravity with both founders and LPs.

🎧 Here’s what’s covered:

* 00:05 Introduction to AdHoc Ventures

* 01:30 The Concept of Human Interaction Tech

* 05:28 Market Opportunities in Human Interaction Tech

* 09:23 Investment Strategy and Track Record

* 12:27 Unfair Advantages of Ad Hoc Ventures

* 16:03 Building a Global Fund

* 20:03 The Role of AI in Human Interaction

* 24:25 Value Addition as Specialized Investors

* 25:40 Management Fee Structure Explained

Watch it here or add it to your episodes on Apple or Spotify 🎧. Chapters for easy navigation are available on the Spotify/Apple episode.

✍️ Show Notes

Rethinking the Way We Connect

Valentina and Alex believe that the real crisis of our time is the disconnection of human interaction. Whether it's remote work, online relationships, or AI-first collaboration, the tools we use aren’t built for real connection—and that’s a massive opportunity for early-stage investment.

“This is a communication revolution. We’re not replacing human interaction—we’re upgrading it.”— Valentina, Ad Hoc Ventures

The Investment Case for Interaction

They see four verticals leading the charge:

* Sales Tech: as buying shifts online, connections still close deals

* HR Tech: onboarding, retention, and alignment—now digital by default

* Corporate Stress & Mental Health: a rising concern with real ROI impact

* Relationship Tech: AI coaching and B2B dating tools aren’t just for romance anymore

These are all multi-billion dollar markets—ripe for innovation, growth, and exit activity.

Unfair Advantages that Deliver

Beyond the catchy thesis, AdHoc comes with the toolkit:

* Tier 1 LP intros and co-investors (thanks to Valentina’s SDV network)

* McKinsey & Bain-trained GTM blueprints for hands-on founder support

* Venture partners actively delivering pilots, clients, and warm intros

🤗 Join the EUVC Community

Looking for niche, high-quality experiences that prioritize depth over breadth? Consider joining our community focused on delivering content tailored to the experienced VC. Here’s what you can look forward to as a member:

* Exclusive Access & Discounts: Priority access to masterclasses with leading GPs & LPs, available on a first-come, first-served basis.

* On-Demand Content: A platform with sessions you can access anytime, anywhere, complete with presentations, templates, and other resources.

* Interactive AMAs: Engage directly with top GPs and LPs in exclusive small group sessions — entirely free for community members.

10.000 founders & investors meet up at TechBBQ, europe's leading startup event for entrepreneurs - use this exclusive link to get 20% off for 100 limited investor tickets.

🗓️ The EU CVC Summit 2025 | 📆 26 - 28 August 2025 | 🇩🇰 Copenhagen, Denmark

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.eu.vc/subscribe

At this year’s EUVC Summit, Oliver Holle from Speedinvest delivered a powerful call to arms. In a room filled with the ecosystem’s builders, he laid out a bold vision for European venture: one that embraces our values, recognizes our untapped capital strength, and demands we shift from fragmentation to scale. His words weren’t just timely—they captured a moment of reckoning for European VC. The message? The opportunity is ours to lose, and the only thing standing in the way is us.

Something strange has happened lately—I’ve never felt more proud to be European.

Not in a jingoistic way. But in the sense that Europe’s values—modesty, facts over noise, democratic principles, and consensus-building—are becoming a competitive advantage. At a time when reliability and trust are global currencies, Europe’s soft power has quietly gained weight.

But soft power alone isn’t enough.

Let’s Talk Capital

We love to talk about how small the European VC industry is. But let’s look at the numbers:

* Total AUM in European VC: ~€426B

* Share of pension + insurance capital: <2%

Meanwhile, in the US:

* VC share of pension & insurance capital: ~10.3%

* AUM: ~€3.3T

If we just match the US in allocation %, Europe’s VC industry could 10x—easily.

This isn’t pie-in-the-sky dreaming. The capital is there. The population is there. The macro tailwinds (diversification, geopolitics, time zone alignment with Africa, GCC, and Asia) are aligning.

So what’s missing?

Us.

There’s one bottleneck left—and it’s us.

If we’re serious about 10x-ing this industry, we can’t keep running lifestyle firms.

That doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with them (some of my closest friends do it, and do it well). But we need to build firms with scale in mind. That means:

* Reinvesting fees in people and platform.

* Expanding, not contracting.

* Thinking in decades, not fund cycles.

And—yes—it means consolidation. We simply don’t need thousands of tiny seed funds in Europe. What’s stopping us? One word: ego. Let’s get over ourselves.

Let’s Act Like Our Founders

We ask founders to dream big, build big, take risks, team up with others—and push past comfort.

Maybe it’s time we took a page from their playbook.

We’re at a unique moment. The capital’s there. The global appetite for European reliability is there. All that’s missing is execution.

So let’s build.

Together.

🤗 Join the EUVC Community

Looking for niche, high-quality experiences that prioritize depth over breadth? Consider joining our community focused on delivering content tailored to the experienced VC. Here’s what you can look forward to as a member:

* Exclusive Access & Discounts: Priority access to masterclasses with leading GPs & LPs, available on a first-come, first-served basis.

* On-Demand Content: A platform with sessions you can access anytime, anywhere, complete with presentations, templates, and other resources.

* Interactive AMAs: Engage directly with top GPs and LPs in exclusive small group sessions — entirely free for community members.

10.000 founders & investors meet up at TechBBQ, europe's leading startup event for entrepreneurs - use this exclusive link to get 20% off for 100 limited investor tickets.

🗓️ The EU CVC Summit 2025 | 📆 26 - 28 August 2025 | 🇩🇰 Copenhagen, Denmark

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.eu.vc/subscribe

Welcome back to another episode of At the Cap Table, your trusted inside track on the people, ideas, and power dynamics shaping the future of European venture.

This week, Savs sits down with Hannah Leach, Partner at Antler UK and Co-Founder of VentureESG, for a candid conversation about doing VC differently—from day-one investing and values-led portfolios to walking away from a fund that could have been.

They dive into the rise of “residency models” over accelerators, why ESG is often misunderstood (even by the pros), and how real co-founder chemistry can’t be faked. Hannah also opens up about why Fund II didn’t happen at Houghton Street Ventures, what she’s learned about partnership dynamics, and what kind of founders actually thrive under pressure.

Whether you're building from zero, navigating the future of VC, or just wrestling with what it means to do this job with intention—this one's for you.

Here’s what’s covered:

* 01:50 | How an NGO office in Mumbai sparked a decade-long obsession with founders

* 04:20 | VentureESG: the accidental nonprofit now guiding 700+ VCs and LPs

* 11:30 | Houghton Street Ventures: the thesis, the traction, and the hard call not to raise Fund II

* 18:00 | Why working with the right people trumps firm strategy

* 20:00 | Antler’s “day one” model and what a residency really offers founders

* 23:00 | Week 3 in the Antler cohort: when teams form — and sometimes fall apart

* 25:30 | What actually matters in early-stage teams (hint: not the idea)

* 28:00 | Standard terms, 10-week pressure, and founder selection inside Antler

* 30:00 | Project Europe, collaboration culture, and why VC needs more team sports

* 33:00 | Europe’s strength in AI, climate, and thoughtful founders

* 34:30 | Luck, wonky careers, and why no door is ever really closed

🎧 Listen on Apple or Spotify — or queue it for later with chapters ready to go.

✍️ Show Notes

Houghton Street Ventures: not your typical spinout story

With deep data on 25k+ alumni founders and global co-investment traction, HSV showed what community-led funds could be. But even with momentum, Fund II didn’t happen — and that’s part of the story worth telling.

VentureESG’s rise — from Slack group to standard setter

When regulation, values, and LP pressure collided, Hannah and co-founder Johannes were already building the bridge. Now, the nonprofit supports hundreds of funds in thinking beyond “box-ticking ESG.”

Antler is not an accelerator

It’s a day-one investor with global reach and serious follow-on capital. The 10-week residency is where founder behaviors surface — long before a pitch deck ever does.

Co-founding chemistry, founder transparency, and dealing with conflict

Hannah lays out the soft skills that determine startup outcomes — and how Antler coaches, observes, and bets based on them.

Europe needs more collaboration, not competition

From Project Europe to Mansion House reforms, Hannah argues it’s time to stop building in silos — and start treating startup formation as a shared project.

Connect with Europe’s leading LPs, Family Offices & Fund of Funds this September at Château de Beloeil.

🤗 Join the EUVC Community

Looking for niche, high-quality experiences that prioritize depth over breadth? Consider joining our community focused on delivering content tailored to the experienced VC. Here’s what you can look forward to as a member:

* Exclusive Access & Discounts: Priority access to masterclasses with leading GPs & LPs, available on a first-come, first-served basis.

* On-Demand Content: A platform with sessions you can access anytime, anywhere, complete with presentations, templates, and other resources.

* Interactive AMAs: Engage directly with top GPs and LPs in exclusive small group sessions — entirely free for community members.

10.000 founders & investors meet up at TechBBQ, europe's leading startup event for entrepreneurs - use this exclusive link to get 20% off for 100 limited investor tickets.

🗓️ The EU CVC Summit 2025 | 📆 26 - 28 August 2025 | 🇩🇰 Copenhagen, Denmark

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.eu.vc/subscribe

Welcome to a new episode of the EUVC podcast, where Andreas Munk Holm and Jeppe Høier explore the cutting edge of European venture capital. Today’s guest is Nacho Tovar, who is the Group Innovation Director at IAG. IAG—the airline group behind British Airways, Iberia, and Vueling.

Together, they unpack how one of the world’s most complex legacy industries is retooling itself through deep tech, startup collaboration, and CVC-backed transformation—from synthetic fuels to quantum AI.

This is the CVC playbook for aviation, straight from the cockpit.

🎧 Here's what's covered:

* 02:02 How Childhood Dreams of Flight Became a CVC Career

* 05:12 IAG’s Six Investment Themes: AI, Automation, SAF, CX, Connectivity & Quantum

* 10:01 No Fund Yet—But €200M in Committed Capital Through the Balance Sheet

* 14:30 Why IAG Doesn’t Invest at Concept Stage (And Doesn’t Take Equity in Accelerator)

* 18:32 Nacho’s Career Path: Why Engineering + Accenture + VC = Ideal CVC Operator

* 24:34 Inside Iberia’s Turnaround: From €1M/day Losses to €1B Profit

* 28:47 Co-Investing over Leading: IAG’s Approach to Rounds

* 30:29 What Nacho Brings to the Cap Table: Commercial Scale, Access & Global Brand

* 32:54 The Secret Sauce: Airline Autonomy + Strategic Collaboration

* 34:08 How IAG Unlocks Strategic Value Post-Investment

* 39:23 Why Punctuality, Cost & CX Are All Linked in Aviation

* 44:59 The Airline-Customer Relationship: From Booking to Destination

You can watch it here or add it to your episodes on Apple or Spotify 🎧 chapters for easy navigation are available on the Spotify/Apple episode.

✍️ Show Notes

A €200M Bet on the Future of Flight

Nacho Tovar outlines how IAG is investing €200M over five years into deep tech and operational innovation—backing startups from seed to scale-up across AI, automation, SAF, quantum, and more. But unlike traditional VCs, IAG is driven by strategic outcomes: improving cost efficiency, enhancing customer experience, and reducing emissions.

The Corporate Venturing Stack

From Hangar 51 to IAGi, the airline group has revamped its innovation engine with a dual-track accelerator: “Discovery” for earlier tech, and “Delivery” for market-ready pilots. Startups gain direct access to real operational assets—and the chance to become long-term partners or investment targets.

CVC Done Right: Lessons from a Triple-Threat Operator

Nacho’s path—from engineer at Airbus to consultant at Accenture to VC at Samaipata—has shaped how he builds IAG’s innovation arm. His key advice: “You must speak the language of both founders and corporates. And you need to be obsessed with delivering actual business value.”

AI at the Airport

One standout startup in IAG’s portfolio? Assaia, which uses computer vision to monitor turnaround operations in real-time. From fuel trucks to bag handlers, this technology is now being rolled out across Heathrow—improving both punctuality and cost efficiency.

🤗 Join the EUVC Community

Looking for niche, high-quality experiences that prioritize depth over breadth? Consider joining our community focused on delivering content tailored to the experienced VC. Here’s what you can look forward to as a member:

* Exclusive Access & Discounts: Priority access to masterclasses with leading GPs & LPs, available on a first-come, first-served basis.

* On-Demand Content: A platform with sessions you can access anytime, anywhere, complete with presentations, templates, and other resources.

* Interactive AMAs: Engage directly with top GPs and LPs in exclusive small group sessions — entirely free for community members.

10.000 founders & investors meet up at TechBBQ, europe's leading startup event for entrepreneurs - use this exclusive link to get 20% off for 100 limited investor tickets.

🗓️ The EU CVC Summit 2025 | 📆 26 - 28 August 2025 | 🇩🇰 Copenhagen, Denmark

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.eu.vc/subscribe

Welcome back to another episode of the EUVC Podcast, your trusted inside track on the people, deals, and dynamics shaping European venture. This week marks a major milestone — Episode 50! To celebrate, Dan Bowyer, Mads Jensen of SuperSeed and Lomax from Outsized Ventures, and Andrew J. Scott return to unpack the headlines and trends shaping the European tech landscape.

From the UK government’s OpenAI partnership and what it means, to the missed boat on stablecoins, and to AI outperforming the brightest minds in math—this episode cuts deep into the future of tech, sovereignty, and competitiveness in Europe.

Whether you're a founder navigating policy shifts, an investor eyeing infrastructure plays, or just an AI-curious policy wonk—this one’s for you.

Here's what’s covered

* 00:00 | Celebrating Episode 50The gang reflects on hitting a podcasting milestone and shares quick updates from Denmark, Paris, and a beachside founder retreat.

* 03:30 | OpenAI x UK Government: A Real Deal?The UK’s MOU with OpenAI is meant to boost public sector productivity—but is it too flimsy to matter? The hosts debate if this partnership is toothless signaling or meaningful progress.

* 06:00 | Can AI Actually Transform Public Services?From “Humpfree the Chatbot” to NHS waitlists, the panel weighs in on the real-world use cases, and how opt-in AI diagnostics could solve the NHS backlog.

* 09:30 | The Bigger Picture: AI Sovereignty and StrategyWith the UK relying on US players (OpenAI, Anthropic, Nvidia), are we compromising our digital sovereignty? Andrew drops the big question: Is this the modern equivalent of exporting raw strategic resources?

* 14:00 | US vs UK AI Plans: Build, Baby, Build vs. Think, Baby, ThinkThe team compares the UK's thoughtful “consultancy-style” AI strategy with the US’s aggressive, deregulatory action plan—complete with eagles and executive orders.

* 19:00 | Policy Recommendations from the PodFrom national compute backbones and Buy-UK mandates to AI visa fast-tracks and sovereign LLMs — the panel proposes big ideas Europe should act on today.

* 25:00 | Stablecoins: UK’s Missed OpportunityWhile Japan, Singapore, and the US regulate stablecoins, the UK is just starting consultations. Why? And what’s at stake?

* 30:00 | Dollar Dominance ReinventedMads explains how stablecoins are reinforcing US economic control — and how UK hesitation risks long-term relevance in fintech.

* 34:00 | Ideas for UK Leadership in StablecoinsCould interest-bearing stablecoins become London’s new edge? Could we reclaim fintech innovation by embracing DeFi rails?

* 38:00 | AI Wins Gold at the Maths OlympiadGoogle’s DeepMind and OpenAI hit gold-level scores at the IMO. The gang discusses the leap in AI’s creative reasoning and what it means for R&D, drug discovery, and Europe’s scientific leadership.

* 43:00 | Should Europe Build Its Own Sovereign Research Hub?From CERN-for-AI to training sovereign models, the crew asks whether public sector moonshots are the right way to compete.

* 48:00 | Deal of the Week: Eurazeo’s €650M Fund for AI ScaleupsIn a capital-constrained landscape, Eurazeo closes a rare growth fund to back Europe’s AI champions.

* 50:00 | Wildcard: AI vs. RaccoonsAndrew shares a niche but hilarious use case for computer vision AI: keeping raccoons out of houses. No joke.

🎧 Watch it here or add it to your queue on Apple or Spotify — chapters for easy navigation are ready to roll.

✍️ Show Notes

Public Sector AI: MOU or Move That Matters?

The UK’s OpenAI partnership is more a symbolic toe-dip than strategic leap — but it might still signal a new phase of public-private AI testing.

Europe Needs an AI Marshall Plan

With deregulation, infrastructure buildout, and talent policy in limbo, UK and EU efforts risk falling behind. The panel calls for a Churchill-style response — bold, funded, and forward-looking.

Fintech Friction: Where’s Our Stablecoin Strategy?

While others legislate and launch, the UK dithers. A lack of boldness could see London lose out on the next-gen financial rails and sovereignty.

AI Reasoning Gets Real

Olympiad-level performance shows AI isn’t just mimicking — it’s solving. Europe’s legacy in mathematics could be its AI superpower — if we act.

Connect with Europe’s leading LPs, Family Offices & Fund of Funds this September at Château de Beloeil.

10.000 founders & investors meet up at TechBBQ, europe's leading startup event for entrepreneurs - use this exclusive link to get 20% off for 100 limited investor tickets.

🤗 Join the EUVC Community

Looking for niche, high-quality experiences that prioritize depth over breadth? Consider joining our community focused on delivering content tailored to the experienced VC. Here’s what you can look forward to as a member:

* Exclusive Access & Discounts: Priority access to masterclasses with leading GPs & LPs, available on a first-come, first-served basis.

* On-Demand Content: A platform with sessions you can access anytime, anywhere, complete with presentations, templates, and other resources.

* Interactive AMAs: Engage directly with top GPs and LPs in exclusive small group sessions — entirely free for community members.

🗓️ The EU CVC Summit 2025 | 📆 26 - 28 August 2025 | 🇩🇰 Copenhagen, Denmark

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.eu.vc/subscribe

In this episode, Andreas Munk Holm is joined by Eoghan O’Neill, Senior Policy Officer at the European Commission’s AI Office, to break down the EU AI Act, Europe’s strategy to lead the global AI wave with trust, safety, and world-class infrastructure.

They dive into why the EU’s approach to AI is not just regulatory red tape but a proactive framework to ensure innovation and adoption flourish across sectors—from startups to supercomputers. Eoghan unpacks how startups can navigate the Act, why Europe’s regulatory clarity is an advantage, and how investors should be thinking about this new paradigm.

Here’s what’s covered:

* 02:41 Eoghan’s Unorthodox Journey: From Gravy Systems to AI Policy

* 04:32 The Mission & Structure of the AI Office

* 05:52 Understanding the AI Act: A Product Safety Framework

* 09:40 How the AI Act Was Created: An Open, 1,000+ Stakeholder Process

* 17:42 What Counts as High-Risk AI (And What Doesn’t)

* 21:23 Learning from GDPR & Ensuring Innovation Isn’t Crushed

* 26:10 Transparency, Trust & The Limits of Regulation

* 30:15 What VCs Need to Know: Obligations, Timelines & Opportunities

* 34:42 Europe's Global AI Position: Infra, Engineers, Strategy

* 43:33 Global Dynamics: Commoditization, Gulf States & the Future of AGI

* 48:46 What’s Coming: Apply AI Strategy in September

📺 Watch the episode here or stream it on Spotify or Apple Podcasts—now with chapters for easy navigation 🎧

✍️ Show Notes

The AI Act: Europe’s Bold Bet on Safety, Trust & Adoption

Far from stifling innovation, the EU AI Act aims to unlock it by offering clarity and trust in AI systems. Think: escalators, aviation, medical devices—AI is joining the club of tech governed by mature, proven product safety regulation.

Who’s Regulated, and When?

There are two main “populations” the Act applies to:

* Generative AI model providers (e.g., OpenAI, Mistral) — compliance begins August 2025

* AI systems builders (i.e., most startups using AI) — must understand risk tiers (prohibited, high-risk, low-risk) and align accordingly

A public consultation and clear guidelines are underway to make this easy to navigate, with final guidance expected February 2026.

Defusing Regulatory Capture

The Commission isn’t dictating rules from an ivory tower. With 1,000+ stakeholders involved—ranging from Anthropic and OpenAI to NGOs and SMEs—the Code of Practice is being shaped by the ecosystem. It’s chaired by figures like Yoshua Bengio, with a clear focus on avoiding big tech dominance.

Transparency Is the New Trust Layer

Just like a box of cornflakes, AI systems in Europe will soon come with ingredients and “nutritional” labeling. This transparency layer can drive market adoption and serve as a moat for startups operating in regulated markets.

For VCs: Europe’s a Market Maker, Not a Market Killer

* The AI Act creates a common framework across 27 countries

* Most startups fall outside high-risk, facing minimal obligations

* It creates opportunities in verticals like healthcare, law, and education

* Legal clarity helps de-risk investment

Europe’s Strategic Advantage: Infra + Talent + Policy

* AI Engineers: 30% more per capita than the US, 3x China

* Supercomputers: 15 of the global top 50 are in the EU

* Funding: €20B AI Gigafactories + €1B+ AI Factories investments

* Free compute for approved startups launching H2 2025

Apply AI Strategy: Removing Friction to Scale AI in Verticals

Launching in September 2025, this will outline how to scale AI across verticals—based on real-world use cases and policy actions to overcome blockers like data access, compliance bottlenecks, and institutional inertia.

Why VCs Must Engage Now

Too many are passive or misinformed—often echoing US narratives that misunderstand the role and scope of EU regulations. The Commission wants to hear from the venture ecosystem. Think of it as a two-way street.

EU AI Deep Dive

The EU is laying serious groundwork to own the AI era—not just in legislation, but also infrastructure, strategy, and adoption. Here’s why we think Europe’s positioning is underappreciated:

* Legal Clarity: 1 regulation, 27 markets

* Infra Access: Public compute resources, free for startups

* Talent Base: AI engineers and researchers distributed across leading institutions

* Strategic Foresight: Balancing innovation and safety from Day 1

Open questions remain on defensibility, global regulatory convergence, and how fast agentic AI will scale—but the foundations are being laid now.

Connect with Europe’s leading LPs, Family Offices & Fund of Funds this September at Château de Beloeil.

10.000 founders & investors meet up at TechBBQ, europe's leading startup event for entrepreneurs - use this exclusive link to get 20% off for 100 limited investor tickets.

🤗 Join the EUVC Community

Looking for niche, high-quality experiences that prioritize depth over breadth? Consider joining our community focused on delivering content tailored to the experienced VC. Here’s what you can look forward to as a member:

* Exclusive Access & Discounts: Priority access to masterclasses with leading GPs & LPs, available on a first-come, first-served basis.

* On-Demand Content: A platform with sessions you can access anytime, anywhere, complete with presentations, templates, and other resources.

* Interactive AMAs: Engage directly with top GPs and LPs in exclusive small group sessions — entirely free for community members.

🗓️ The EU CVC Summit 2025 | 📆 26 - 28 August 2025 | 🇩🇰 Copenhagen, Denmark

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.eu.vc/subscribe

In this episode, Jon from the European VC pod is joined by co-host Ambika from Circle Capital for a special look at the Southeast Asian VC landscape. Their guest, Bhavik Vashi—Managing Director at Carta for APAC and MENA—brings both operator and investor lenses to the table. From the myth of “Southeast Asia as a region” to emerging manager struggles, this conversation pulls no punches. If you’re thinking global, this is your field guide.

Here’s what’s covered:

* 01:20 Bhavik’s Journey from Anaplan to Carta

* 03:45 Why “Southeast Asia” Is a Convenience, Not a Region

* 08:00 The Operator’s Reality: Fragmentation, Regulation, and Talent Arbitrage

* 11:45 Power Law Doesn’t Work Here: Rethinking Portfolio Construction

* 16:10 Fund IRRs Are Down, and It’s Worse in Southeast Asia

* 19:00 The First Wave of Emerging GPs: What Went Wrong

* 22:30 The Bright Side: Carta’s $1B Bet and Market-by-Market Nuance

* 27:15 Australia, MENA, Singapore, and What Global LPs Should Understand

* 32:00 The Case for Emerging Managers (And Why LPs Need to Get Over Their Fears)

* 36:10 Belief Shift: The East Isn’t Copying the West Anymore

* 41:00 Hub-and-Spoke Is Dead: Local Ops for Global Scale

* 44:00 Middle East ≠ Europe: Why Singapore and Dubai Are Mirror Plays

📺 Watch the episode here or stream it on Spotify or Apple Podcasts 🎧

✍️ Show Notes

“Southeast Asia Is Not a Region. It’s a Collection of Countries.”

Bhavik sets the tone early: while Southeast Asia is often grouped for convenience, it lacks shared language, regulatory norms, or even investor frameworks. Building across the region feels more like running four separate companies than scaling one. The EU might struggle with fragmentation—but APAC takes it to another level.

Operators vs. Narratives: What VCs Miss

Too many global VCs (and founders) rely on top-down narratives—massive youth populations, digital growth, etc.—without understanding the operational headaches on the ground. From Islamic banking in Malaysia to talent dispersion in the Philippines, nuance is everything. And that nuance breaks the classic power law VC model.

Carta’s View from the Top: IRRs, Emerging GPs & LP Skepticism

Carta’s data shows a troubling trend: post-2017, VC IRRs globally have dropped, reaching zero by 2021 and negative since. In Southeast Asia, they never reached double digits to begin with. For emerging managers, this reality has been brutal. Most GPs who launched in 2021–22 failed to return Fund I. LPs, facing a rough macro, they fled to big brands—and the result was a wiped-out generation of new managers.

The Case for Staying Optimistic: Carta’s $1B TAM & APAC Bets

Despite the gloom, Bhavik remains bullish: Carta is expanding across the region—Singapore, Australia, Abu Dhabi, and Hong Kong—with tailored bets in each market. Southeast Asia still offers scale, consumer demand, and an opportunity to build natively. Meanwhile, MENA and GCC are fast-tracking ecosystems via policy and capital with a “country as a startup” mindset.

The Rise of Specialized Emerging Managers

Bhavik makes a compelling case: smaller, focused GPs deliver alpha. Carta’s data backs it. Yet LPs—especially family offices in Asia—remain allergic to risk. The solution? More co-investments, SPVs, secondaries... and education. Carta is leaning in with data and tooling to make these new models viable.

What Europe Can Learn: Playbooks and Politics

Jon and Ambika round out the episode with a look at cross-pollination. Bhavik suggests Europe’s regulatory rigor could balance APAC’s speed. Meanwhile, Southeast Asia and the Middle East are proving you can execute national innovation strategies like companies—with “CEOs” (read: monarchs or one-party systems) driving long-term playbooks. That governance ≠ growth trade-off? It’s worth studying.

🏁 Closing Thoughts

This episode is a masterclass in realism. Southeast Asia isn’t a silver bullet for LP returns, nor is it a homogeneous market waiting to be cracked. But it is one of the most dynamic, underappreciated regions in global VC. And with Carta investing in infrastructure, Bhavik Vashi is building not just for growth but for staying power.

10.000 founders & investors meet up at TechBBQ, europe's leading startup event for entrepreneurs - use this exclusive link to get 20% off for 100 limited investor tickets.

Connect with Europe’s leading LPs, Family Offices & Fund of Funds this September at Château de Beloeil.

🤗 Join the EUVC Community

Looking for niche, high-quality experiences that prioritize depth over breadth? Consider joining our community focused on delivering content tailored to the experienced VC. Here’s what you can look forward to as a member:

* Exclusive Access & Discounts: Priority access to masterclasses with leading GPs & LPs, available on a first-come, first-served basis.

* On-Demand Content: A platform with sessions you can access anytime, anywhere, complete with presentations, templates, and other resources.

* Interactive AMAs: Engage directly with top GPs and LPs in exclusive small group sessions — entirely free for community members.

🗓️ The EU CVC Summit 2025 | 📆 26 - 28 August 2025 | 🇩🇰 Copenhagen, Denmark

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.eu.vc/subscribe

This week on the EUVC podcast, Andreas Munk Holm is joined by Jörg Binnenbrücker, General Partner at Capnamic, to unpack the story behind one of Europe’s standout software exits—LeanIX, winner of Exit of the Year at the European VC Awards.

Jörg walks us through how a €500K initial check turned into a billion-dollar outcome—and why the deal was perfectly sized for the realities of European venture. We go deep on Capnamic’s founder-first philosophy, their obsession with DPI, and how they’ve built a venture firm that consistently turns real returns across funds—not just paper markups.

From investing early in B2B SaaS to building a culture that mirrors the best of startups, Jörg shares the blueprint behind Capnamic’s flywheel—one rooted in trust, ownership, and team alignment.

This episode is part of our report on Defining your edge as a VC — go here to read it in full 👀

🎯 In This Episode, We Cover:

* The inside story of the LeanIX deal—and why it was a fund-maker

* How Capnamic builds DPI-first into every decision

* Why real founder empathy starts with how your team works

* Lessons from Michael Jordan and Yoda (really)

* Europe’s underrated software founders—and why they’re winning

* Why generalist firms still play a key role in climate, deep tech & beyond

Here’s What’s Covered:

* 03:30 | Why LeanIX is a “Google Maps for Enterprise Software”

* 05:30 | The €500K check that turned into a billion-dollar outcome

* 07:45 | What makes a “perfect” exit for European fund sizing

* 10:30 | DPI > Paper: How Capnamic structures for real returns

* 13:00 | Building founder empathy through operational design

* 16:30 | Every team member gets carry—even platform

* 19:00 | No consensus, no problem: Why Capnamic values conviction

* 22:00 | B2B SaaS, German depth, and the Capnamic thesis

* 25:45 | York on founder-centric processes and fast reps

* 28:00 | Why they track “10x front returners” at investment stage

* 31:00 | The art of timing exits—and when secondaries don’t work

* 34:00 | LeanIX team, bootstrap mentality, and long-term value creation

* 36:30 | Jörg’s parting advice: Start businesses wisely. Play like Jordan.

🎧 Listen now on Apple or Spotify. Chapters are available for easy navigation.

✍️ Show Notes

LeanIX: A European Fund-Maker

Jörg explains why the LeanIX exit was the perfect size for the European market—and why it wouldn’t have mattered much for A16z but changed everything for Capnamic.

DPI Obsession

Capnamic doesn’t optimize for unicorns—they optimize for distribution. Jörg breaks down the firm’s emphasis on real cash returns and how they evaluate exit potential from Day 1.

Everyone Gets Carry

At Capnamic, even the platform team participates in carried interest. It’s a cultural signal—and it drives startup-like accountability across the firm.

Processes That Attract Founders

From investment analyst autonomy to founder-centric ops, Jörg shares how their internal systems drive founder trust and ongoing deal flow.

Why It’s OK to Say No to Crypto (and Other Hype)

Capnamic’s thesis is tight. They know what they’re great at—and where they won’t stretch. Deep tech, crypto? Probably not. But they’ll help you scale the right B2B SaaS.

💡 VC Takeaway

True VC performance isn’t paper unicorns—it’s hard-earned DPI. Capnamic’s disciplined thesis, early conviction, and cultural alignment show what it takes to consistently win in European software investing.

Connect with Europe’s leading LPs, Family Offices & Fund of Funds this September at Château de Beloeil.

10.000 founders & investors meet up at TechBBQ, europe's leading startup event for entrepreneurs - use this exclusive link to get 20% off for 100 limited investor tickets.

🤗 Join the EUVC Community

Looking for niche, high-quality experiences that prioritize depth over breadth? Consider joining our community focused on delivering content tailored to the experienced VC. Here’s what you can look forward to as a member:

* Exclusive Access & Discounts: Priority access to masterclasses with leading GPs & LPs, available on a first-come, first-served basis.

* On-Demand Content: A platform with sessions you can access anytime, anywhere, complete with presentations, templates, and other resources.

* Interactive AMAs: Engage directly with top GPs and LPs in exclusive small group sessions — entirely free for community members.

🗓️ The EU CVC Summit 2025 | 📆 26 - 28 August 2025 | 🇩🇰 Copenhagen, Denmark

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.eu.vc/subscribe

Welcome to the Impact Highlight series, powered by EUVC, where we bring you the people and perspectives shaping European venture.

This week, August Solliv is joined by Fabian Heilemann, founding partner at AENU, a climate-focused Article 9 fund reshaping what institutional-grade impact investing looks like in Europe.

A former serial entrepreneur turned VC heavyweight, Fabian spent nearly a decade at Earlybird before launching AENU alongside his brother. Today, he leads a €170M early-stage climate tech fund with one clear mission: backing ventures that can decarbonize at gigaton scale.

In this episode, we dive into Fabian’s journey from angel investor missteps to system-level innovation, and what it takes to truly build an impact-native VC platform—beyond surface-level ESG.

We talk about why the old fund structures don’t cut it for deep tech and climate moonshots, what real accountability looks like for impact metrics, and why mission-aligned founders are starting to demand more than just capital.

🎯 This Episode’s Themes

* Why Fabian walked away from generalist VC to go all-in on climate

* The hard truths of raising an evergreen fund in a bear market

* What it takes to measure impact—beyond the marketing slide

* How AENU’s founders “walk the talk” in company operations

* Why biodiversity collapse may hit harder than climate

Here’s what’s covered:

* 00:45 | Meet Fabian: From founder to Earlybird GP to climate VC

* 03:30 | When the science became too loud to ignore

* 06:00 | Early mistakes in angel investing—and how it shaped AENU

* 08:45 | Building AENU: Clean slate, pure play, Article 9

* 12:00 | Impact metrics that matter: CO₂e saved or removed

* 15:30 | Walking the talk: Travel policy, green ops & founder integrity

* 18:45 | Challenging the 10-year VC fund model

* 22:30 | Why climate tech exits need more patient capital

* 26:00 | The failed evergreen experiment—and what it taught them

* 30:00 | Climate vs. biodiversity: The next systemic wave

* 33:30 | Why Sequoia won’t fix this—but emerging managers might

* 36:15 | Founder redemptions: Building for impact after fast commerce

* 40:00 | The reality of fundraising as an impact-first VC

* 43:00 | AENU’s three pillars: Energy, decarb & climate adaptation

🎧 Watch or tune in on Apple or Spotify. Chapters are available for easy navigation.

✍️ Show Notes

Impact Isn’t an Add-On

Fabian explains why AENU was built from scratch—not retrofitted—and why true impact requires in-house teams, hard metrics, and full-firm alignment.

The VC Model is Broken for Climate

Hardware, deep tech, and climate moonshots need time. Traditional VC cycles don’t work. Fabian shares how their evergreen model flopped—but what’s next.

Biodiversity is Coming

Climate risk is just the start. Fabian flags biodiversity collapse as the next wave—more complex, more global, and tightly intertwined.

Founders Who Mean It

The most compelling founders today? They don’t just want to build a green product. They embed impact into culture, ops, and decision-making.

Why Institutions Said No

Fabian gets real about trying to raise in 2022, how institutions weren't ready for structure innovation, and why persistence still matters.

💡 Investor Takeaway

System change doesn’t come easy. It takes intentional structure, operational edge, and relentless founder support. The next wave of climate unicorns will be built by those who design for impact from day one—and demand the same from their investors.

Join ImpactVC, a global community of 900+ VCs driving change and using venture capital to tackle the world’s biggest challenges—explore their community, resources, and training at impactvc.co.

10.000 founders & investors meet up at TechBBQ, europe's leading startup event for entrepreneurs - use this exclusive link to get 20% off for 100 limited investor tickets.

🤗 Join the EUVC Community

Looking for niche, high-quality experiences that prioritize depth over breadth? Consider joining our community focused on delivering content tailored to the experienced VC. Here’s what you can look forward to as a member:

* Exclusive Access & Discounts: Priority access to masterclasses with leading GPs & LPs, available on a first-come, first-served basis.

* On-Demand Content: A platform with sessions you can access anytime, anywhere, complete with presentations, templates, and other resources.

* Interactive AMAs: Engage directly with top GPs and LPs in exclusive small group sessions — entirely free for community members.

🗓️ The EU CVC Summit 2025 | 📆 26 - 28 August 2025 | 🇩🇰 Copenhagen, Denmark

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.eu.vc/subscribe