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🎙️ Upside Podcast: The Real Stories Behind The Headlines Affecting European Venture
Hosts: Dan Bowyer (SuperSeed), Andrew J Scott (7Percent), Mads Jensen (SuperSeed)
🔥 Episode Highlights
This week, Dan, Andrew, and Mads tackle the latest trends shaping Europe’s startup and tech ecosystem, including:
🥩 FoodTech & Future Farming
🔍 OpenAI's Big Moves & Antitrust Drama
🏥 Deal of the Week
🛠️ Policy & Regulation Corner
🌟 Bonus: Cool Startups & What's Next
Thanks for listening to Upside – where we make sense of the chaos behind Europe's venture scene.
👉 Subscribe, rate, and share if you enjoy the show!
🎙 Upside: The Real Stories Behind European Venture
Hosts: Dan (SuperSeed), Lomax (Outsized), Andrew (7%),
Guest: Dilek Dayinlarli (Scalex Ventures)
⏪ In This Episode
This week on Upside, the gang is joined by the brilliant Dilek Dayinlarli, founder and managing partner at Scalex Ventures. Together, they unpack the latest headlines, industry trends, and ecosystem insights — with a deep dive into the fast-emerging Turkish tech scene.
🔥 What We Cover
⚡ Rapid-fire News Roundup
📈 Reports & Market Trends
💬 Big Conversations
🌍 Spotlight on Turkey Dilek brings us into the fast-growing Turkish tech ecosystem:
🏆 Deals of the Week
🔗 Resources Mentioned
🎙️ Featuring:
Dan (SuperSeed VC)
Lomax (Outsized)
Andrew (7%)
00:30 – Klarna’s IPO Pulled & BNPL Under Pressure
Lomax reflects on Klarna pulling its IPO, amid turbulent markets and declining peers like Affirm. Is the buy-now-pay-later model starting to creak under macro pressure?
02:15 – Wave AI x Nissan: A Mega Auto Deal from Cambridge
A highlight for the UK: Wave AI’s $1.2B-backed AV tech lands a landmark partnership with Nissan for post-2027 production.
03:30 – Shopify's CEO Goes AI-First
Dan and Andrew react to a leaked Shopify memo urging teams to prove a task can’t be done by AI before requesting headcount.
05:05 – AI Futures Project: Black Mirror Vibes
A fascinating, speculative look at global AI scenarios via ai-2027.com — think Asimov meets geopolitics.
06:45 – Tariff Talk: Trump, Trust & Europe’s Wake-Up Call
Dan shares his eight theories on Trump's new tariff push, what it means for global trust, and Europe’s potential silver linings — including brain drain reversals and safe haven appeal.
10:45 – What Founders Should (and Shouldn’t) Do
Lomax: “Head down and build” remains the advice — though hardware startups at Series A/B should evaluate manufacturing strategy. Dan and Andrew agree: short-term panic isn’t the play.
14:45 – Hardware & Biotech: Sector-Specific Risk
How US-origin requirements, reshoring costs, and future pharma tariffs could force hard decisions on supply chains and capex.
17:45 – Market Reactions, Investment Shifts & “VC Panic”
From "RIP Good Times"-style memos to portfolio rebalancing — VCs are reacting in varied (and sometimes dramatic) ways.
22:15 – Report Review: State of Venture (CB Insights Q1 2025)
27:15 – AI Bubble or Boom?
Dan & Lomax debate how long the mega-investments in gen AI can last. Andrew points to foundational tech (chips, infra, cyber) as the safer long-term bets.
32:30 – The Data Center Power Squeeze
Power scarcity is slowing new data center builds — particularly in Europe. Efficiency, not just scale, may be the next AI gold rush.
34:30 – Report Review: UK AI Sector (Tech Nation)
38:45 – “The UK Thinks Small”
Lomax reads Barney Hussey-Yeo’s powerful critique of UK scale-up culture — a call for bigger ambition, smarter regulation, and less fear.
41:45 – What Needs to Change?
Andrew: “We don’t need more government-run funds — we need to unwind bad policies.” Immigration, pensions, and tax reforms are the real levers for growth.
44:15 – Deals of the Week 🚀
46:45 – Final Thoughts
Despite the gloom around tariffs, IPO slowdowns, and policy inertia, Q1 shows Europe's tech scene still has major moves to make — especially if founders stay focused and regulators get out of the way.
The shifting sands of geopolitics, defence tech, and AI — and what it all means for European startups, investors, and the broader ecosystem. From Germany’s defence splurge to Trump’s tariff theatrics and the commoditisation of LLMs, this one spans continents and controversies.
🧵 Topics Covered
📊 Data Points
📝 Show Notes Extras
🎙️ Upside: The Real Stories Behind The Headlines Affecting European Venture
Hosts:
🎙️ Upside: The Real Stories Behind European Venture
🎧 In This Episode
Join Dan, Lomax, and Mads, with special guest Alex Macdonald (founder of Sequel and investor), for an opinion-packed episode exploring:
🔦 Project Europe: Can It Save European Founders?
💊 23andMe’s Collapse: The Business Model That Wasn’t
🧬 Data, DNA & Deletion Regret
📉 Spring Statement Reactions: A Missed Moment for Growth?
🤖 AI Corner: DeepSeek vs. Gemini vs. Reve
🚨 Startup Scandals & Fraud Watch
🇺🇸 US Brand Damage: Does It Matter in Europe?
💥 Deal of the Week
📌 Highlights
02:04 – Europe’s Biggest Company Is… SAP?
03:25 – 23andMe Files for Bankruptcy
07:33 – Project Europe Deep Dive
25:08 – Spring Statement Reactions
34:29 – AI Corner - deep seek, Gemini and Reve
42:15 – Startup Scandals
48:52 – Brand Damage
58:52 – Deal of the Week
Hosts: Dan, Lomax (Outsized), Andrew J Scott (7%), Mads (SuperSeed VC)
Runtime: ~48 minutes
Topic: Markets, M&A, AI mayhem, longevity hype, startup espionage — and a little bit of Bryan Johnson's bedtime routine.
🔍 This Week on Upside:
We’re going full spectrum this week: markets moving, EVs charging faster than ever, biblical-level AI revelations, Google splashing the cash, and even MI5 making a guest appearance (kind of). The crew breaks down what’s really happening in European tech and beyond.
💸 Markets Corner
⚡ EV Watch
🍽️ Food, Forever?
🧠 AI Corner
🇪🇺 Europe in Focus
🔐 Startup Espionage Files
💤 Longevity, Sleep & 7PM Bryan
🎧 Memorable Quotes
“At some point, we’re going to wake up and realise the food system was as damaging as cigarettes.” – LomaxThe UK’s Cost-Cutting Drive – DOGE'esque?
UK government’s plan to cut civil service costs using AI-driven efficiencies. Public sector pensions estimated between £2.5-5 trillion – is cost-cutting enough? Will AI and startups play a role in optimising government spending?
Project Europe – Can It Keep Talent From Leaving?
20VC’s Harry Stebbings launches Project Europe to fund under-25s with €200K for startups. Inspired by the Peter Thiel Fellowship, but will it stop US firms poaching European talent? Lomax questions if we need more pre-seed funding or if growth capital is the real gap. Mads gives a history lesson on how Europe fell behind the US in venture capital.
AI Corner: Anthropic, Manus, & Google's Larry Page Returns
Anthropic scales annualised revenue from $1B to $1.4B in three months. Manus.im emerges as a powerful AI agentic platform (built on Claude 3.7). Larry Page launches Dynatomics, an AI startup focused on manufacturing. Microsoft explores alternatives to OpenAI, testing DeepSeek for Co-Pilot. Mistral shifts focus from LLMs to AI applications (finance, OCR, and tables).
The Market Meltdown – MAG7 Down $2.7 Trillion
Nvidia, Tesla, and others take a hit, erasing trillions in market value. Meta is the only MAG7 stock that didn’t drop. Could Trump’s tariff-driven trade wars be purposefully fuelling market volatility? Is this a short-term dip, or are we heading into a full-blown recession?
IPOs & M&A – Are We Finally Back?
63 IPOs in the US this year – up 90% from last year, but uncertainty looms. CoreWeave and Hinge Health file for IPOs, but timing may not be ideal. Figma, once blocked from an Adobe acquisition, now eyes public markets. The AI-powered startup Moveworks exits to ServiceNow for nearly $3B.
Deals of the Week
Lomax’s pick: Thorizon (Netherlands) raises €12M for next-gen nuclear reactors.
Dan’s pick: Stroll (France) raises €12M for AR-powered neurorehabilitation.
Digital therapeutics are making a comeback after a tough few years.
Upside Podcast: Defence, Health Tech & The Future of European Venture
This week on Upside, Dan Bowyer (SuperSeed VC) is joined by Lomax (Outsized) and Peter Ward (Humanity) to dive into two major themes dominating European venture: defence and health tech. With Mads away running up hills in Spain with fellow VCs and LPs, the trio take a no-holds-barred approach to dissecting the latest developments shaping investment, technology, and geopolitics.
1. Welcome & Introductions (00:12)
2. Defence & European Venture (02:22)
3. Private Capital & Defence Innovation (06:32)
4. Trumponomics & European Startups (22:37)
5. The Future of Health Tech in Europe (30:37)
6. Deals of the Week (44:31)
Euro Grind, Google Grind, and Startup Hustle.
As normal we dig behind the headlines to discuss the real stories affecting European venture. With Dan Bowyer, Mads Jensen, Andrew Scott and Karin Nielsen.
The State of European Tech vs. the U.S.
Funding Gaps & European Venture Trends
AI Advancements & Enterprise Adoption
The Future of Work & The ‘Grind’ Debate
AI’s Impact on Venture Capital
Deal of the Week: Lovable
In this episode of Upside, hosts Dan and Mads from SuperSeed are joined by Ben Prade, Partner at GP Bullhound. Topics covered:
State of European Venture Capital
Geopolitics & VC - the Munich Security Conference, JD Vance, European autonomy in defence and tech, China filling the void
VC Fundraising & LPs
AI and defence are hot baby! Shift from US pension to government cash, VCs must engage in ecosystem building, economic policies influencing VC strategies.
The Future of European VC
European VC has outperformed the US in IRR (20.8% vs 18.2%) over the last decade. We're nailing AI, Fusion and Quantum.
Quantum: Hype vs Reality
Microsoft's Majorana 1 Quantum Chip, cautious optimism, power PR and viable quantum computing by 2030.
Grok 3
Grok 3 is out, speed and benchmarks vs Claude and GPT 4.5.
Fusion
France’s CEA West Tokamak reactor sets a new record with 22 minutes of continuous fusion, limitless clean energy, realistic timelines for commercial fusion.
Startup Funding Dynamics - Go big early?
Peter Walker’s Carta report:
Theory 1: AI reduces startup costs, meaning less = more.
Theory 2: AI increases competition, making capital more crucial for scaling.
= Seed Strapping
Asteroid Mining
Spotlight on Karman Plus, autonomous asteroid mining. Government funding in space.
From the publisher's feed
This week's happenings in startup and investing land. Getting underneath VC, and discussing how to better support the European startup eco-system.
Every week we share what's been on…