From teenage horse trading to managing a $107M fund, Camilla Dolan’s runs a masterclass in the "obsession" required to build category-defining brands. This conversation pulls back the curtain on how she and the Eka Ventures team are deploying their second fund to reshape the future of consumer health and sustainability.We discuss the launch of Eka Fund II, the evolution of consumer behavior, and how Eka is building an AI-first firm to identify the next generation of founders.

It's Thursday 16th April & today on VENTURES we have a stellar slate.

On the show today:

Stephen Johnson: Investor, Mercia Ventures

Camilla Dolan: General Partner, Eka Ventures

Berhan Kongel: Co-Founder and CEO, Keyrails

Mikkel Skarnager, Co-Founder and CEO, spektr

Rishabh Kaul: Venture Partner, Hoxton Ventures

Fred Soneya: Co-Founder and General Partner, Haatch

Ollie Bone: Vice President, Evolution Equity Partners

Jarek Pilarczyk went from building and selling multi-million dollar companies in Poland to funding the next generation of European “tech sovereignty.” He reveals why hardware is now a safer bet than software and how Poland’s education system accidentally created a global hub for math genius.

We dive into the “energy bottleneck” of AI, the future of drones with Balnord, and why selling to Scandinavia is often easier than selling at home.

Partner at Balnord and a veteran entrepreneur who successfully exited his computer vision and infrastructure companies in 2012 and 2021. He is now focused on “dual-use” technologies that ensure European independence in space, defense, and industrial resilience.

Timestamps

0:00 – The New Investment: 10-to-1 Drone Efficiency

2:15 – The Edge AI Power Problem: Low Power vs. High Compute

4:30 – Industrial Resilience and European Tech Sovereignty

6:05 – Poland’s History: Why Independence is Deeply Personal

8:15 – Selling Outside Poland: Mentality Shifts in the Baltics

9:40 – The “Math Secret”: Why Polish Technical Talent is World-Class

11:15 – Lessons from First Exits: Fighting IBM in Norway

13:40 – Why Deep Tech? Moving the Needle vs. Software Commodities

17:40 – AI in Deep Tech: Does Every Product Actually Need It?

21:00 – Hardware vs. Software: Defensibility in the Post-ChatGPT World

23:20 – The Energy Bottleneck and Space Data Centers

24:35 – The Story Behind the Name “Balnord”

Mio Fagerhäll is the co-founder of eve, an AI matchmaker that’s removing the swipe entirely and is now Sweden’s fastest-growing dating app. We dive deep into why 80% of users are burnt out on swiping and how AI is finally fixing the "endless choice" paradox.

Timestamps:

0:00 - From Pokemon expert to AI matchmaker

2:27 - The 12-year stagnation of dating app innovation

4:35 - Decoding the "stickiness" of Tinder and Hinge

6:14 - How Eve uses AI to build your profile for you

8:34 - Why prompting is dead and generative UI is the future

10:45 - The GTM strategy

12:18 - The "Lunch Box" lore that captured 50% of Sweden's population

14:09 - Why symmetry and "Eve" define the brand's aesthetic

6:06 - Developing the "Love Algorithm" with math geniuses

18:27 - Enhancing the "Butterfly Effect" with synchronised daily match drops

21:50 - The "Picky" advantage: How Eve balances the gender ratio

24:45 - Finding a co-founder in Hong Kong and the Antler VC story

Boris Paskalev is the co-founder of Logicstar AI and the former founder of Deep Code, which was successfully acquired by snyk. A x5 serial entrepreneur, he is currently building predictive maintenance to fix the "leaky bucket" of modern software applications.

Timestamps

00:00 - Introduction to Boris Paskalev and Logicstar AI

02:21 - Building ML for code in the pre-GPT era

03:40 - The "Mythos" of AI and identifying obscure attack vectors

06:18 - Staying ahead of foundational models through deep analysis

08:44 - The architectural map: Why LLMs ignore important data

11:10 - Running it back: Re-uniting the Deep Code founding team

12:40 - The barometer for business leverage in software fixes

15:15 - The "Leaky Bucket" of customer NPS and app crashes

18:24 - The intensity of the @snyksec acquisition process

21:36 - Why Zurich and ETH are unfair advantages for deep tech

26:07 - Boris's $100M+ goal for childhood brain cancer research

Andrea Gennarini is the Co-Founder and GP of 2100Ventures, a €30M micro-VC proving that Italy is the place to build. This conversation dives into why the world’s 8th largest economy is currently the biggest untapped opportunity in the European tech ecosystem.

Timestamps:

• 0:00 - Introduction to Andrea and the launch of 2100 Ventures

• 2:12 - Why Micro VCs are better for early-stage alignment

• 4:04 - Building an industrial network of 50+ corporate LPs

• 7:10 - The "8th Largest Economy" mismatch: GDP vs. VC per capita

• 8:50 - Leveraging Italy’s massive SME backbone for startup growth

• 11:15 - Defining "Italian DNA" in the venture capital world

• 12:50 - Sourcing founders through Y-Combinator events and hubs

• 14:50 - Vertical focus: B2B SaaS, Physical AI, and Climate Tech

• 19:15 - Why AI is enabling younger founders to build generational companies

• 22:50 - Why the name "2100"?

• 27:00 - Italy’s first Decacorn and the shifting narrative for talent

George Darrah, partner at Systemiq capital and a biologist by training, is revolutionizing how we invest in the intersection of nature and technology. We discuss the future of AI-driven biotech, the cost curves of genomic sequencing, and the portfolio companies transforming everything from soybeans to lab-grown fat.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Introduction and George’s roots in industrial farming.

0:51 - The investment thesis: Where tech meets the physical world.

2:17 - Defining "Decoding Nature" and moving biology out of the lab.

3:47 - Human genome cost curves and the shift to profitability.

4:23 - Case Study: InnerPlant and DNA-sensing soybeans.

7:40 - Hoxton Farms: Lab-grown pork fat and modular manufacturing.

11:21 - VC as a commercial proposition and returning money to LPs.

12:15 - AI as machine learning for unstructured nature data.

13:07 - Basecamp Research: Mapping remote ecosystems for new medicines.

18:24 - Why farming is the ultimate unhedged business risk.

24:07 - The future: GLP-1s and the convergence of food and health.

Jon Coker has built a reputation for spotting consumer giants early, and this deep dive follows the massive news of Eka Ventures closing their $107M second fund.

In this episode, we discuss the evolution of early-stage investing, the proprietary tech stack powering their deal flow, and why the most valuable consumer users are often found in the "back of the churn curve."

Timestmaps

11:30 Jon Coker: Founding Partner, Eka Ventures

12:00 George Darrah: General Partner, Systemiq Capital

12:30 Andrea Gennarini: Co-Founder and Managing Partner, 2100 Ventures

13:00 Boris Paskalev: Co-Founder and CEO, LogicStar AI

13:30 Mio Fagerhäll: CEO, eve

14:00 Jarek Pilarczyk: Partner, Balnord

Timestamps:

0:00 - Raising $110M and the "Most Expensive Sofa Ever"

1:01 - The 80s Gaming Era: Writing code for Nintendo at 13

2:53 - The shift to Manna: Why drone delivery became an obvious bet in 2018

4:34 - Identifying "Regulatory Unlock" as the ultimate market signal

6:53 - Hacking the first prototype: From back gardens to aviation grade

9:15 - Breaking the "Travelling Salesman" Problem: Drones vs. Amazon Vans

11:47 - Energy Economics: Why a 10-cent "dead-head" flight changes everything

12:58 - Throughput Math: How one pad handles 8 deliveries per hour

15:38 - The Ryanair Blueprint: Managing a network of asymmetric flight bases

17:42 - Building through the eras: From Assembly to Cursor AI

19:42 - Human Chess: Transitioning from Solo Coder to CEO of 100x Output

20:52 - 97% AI Code: The startling velocity of modern software commits

22:43 - Beyond Food: Delivering blood, organs, and defibrillators to hospitals

23:42 - The US Expansion: Opening 40 new bases in 6 months

24:17 - The Golden Rule: Where to get a real pint of Guinness in Dublin