Scaling Europe
Sebastian Johnson interviews Europe's top founders and investors each week, discussing the latest trends and developments in European tech. Past guests include founders from companies like Lovable, Cleo, Voi, and Zilch, as well as prominent VCs from 20VC, Index, Balderton, and Creandum. The podcast provides insights into the European startup ecosystem and investment landscape.
Episodes
Danyal Akarca, Co-founder at Callosum: BREAKING: Callosum raised $100m Seed
Callosum just raised $100m led by Atomico, Plural and DCVC. It's one of the largest seed-stage rounds in UK history, coming just five months after Callosum came out of stealth. Callosum builds software that lets AI run across many different types of chips at the same time, making it faster, cheaper and more capable.Danyal Akarca is Co-founder at Callosum. He believes AI can only have a real ec
Thomas Bigagli, EMEA Partner at Plug and Play Ventures: Europe needs bigger and faster capital to keep startups home
Plug and Play Ventures invests in startups across Europe and runs a platform connecting them with large corporate partners. It has grown from a family office into an institutional investor with nine funds, and now runs 65 offices with more than 700 people worldwide.Thomas Bigagli is EMEA Partner at Plug and Play Ventures. He believes Europe already has the talent and ideas, and just needs investor
Srdjan Kovacevic, CEO & Co-Founder of Orqa: Building leading drone hardware in Europe
Orqa is a Croatian company that designs and manufactures drones, components and ground stations entirely in Europe, a rare setup in an industry that mostly relies on China. Orqa now builds primarily for defence customers across NATO and the West, and shipped 250,000 products last year, a number it's on track to double in 2026.Srdjan Kovacevic is CEO and Co-Founder of Orqa. He believes most Wes
Shahriar Tajbakhsh, Co-founder & CTO of Metaview: BREAKING: Metaview acquired Reval
Metaview just acquired Reval, a recruiting agency built to run entirely on AI. The deal brings more talent and technology into Fillmore, Metaview's AI recruiting co-worker. Metaview's platform is already used by more than 5,000 companies, and Fillmore works by researching, sourcing and reaching out to candidates without any human involvement.Shahriar Tajbakhsh is Co-founder and CTO of Meta
Ameera Patel, CEO at TidalSense: TidalSense diagnoses lung disease in under 4 minutes
TidalSense has built a handheld device that diagnoses COPD, a common lung disease, in under four minutes. It's already used across the NHS and has drawn interest from more than 60 countries since launching last year. The Cambridge-based company just raised $19m to expand into new markets.Ameera Patel is CEO of TidalSense. She believes what matters most to healthcare providers is a better patie
Jan Oberhauser, Founder & CEO at n8n: Freeing employees from repetitive boring tasks
n8n is a workflow automation platform that frees employees from repetitive, boring tasks. SAP recently made a strategic investment in the company, valuing it at €5.2bn, more than double what it was worth seven months ago.Jan Oberhauser is Founder and CEO of n8n. He believes the real value isn't the time saved, but the chance to give employees more meaningful work instead of repetitive tasks.Th
Zaya Kadyrova, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Aspire11: Unlocking Europe's pension money for tech growth
Aspire11 invests European pension money into some of the world's biggest private tech companies, unlocking capital that's historically stayed on the sidelines. Its first fund raised €500m, and backs both early-stage VC funds and late-stage tech companies such as Revolut, Databricks, ElevenLabs and Vinted.Zaya Kadyrova is Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Aspire11. She believes much of the
Patrick Murphy, Partner at Tapestry VC: Backing the repeat founders behind Europe's unicorns
Tapestry VC backs repeat founders who are already building their second or third company. Around 60% of Europe's new unicorns in the past couple of years have come from exactly that group, and Tapestry just closed an $80m third fund to keep backing them.Patrick Murphy is a Partner at Tapestry VC. Seven of the roughly 70 investments he's made in his career have grown into $100m+ revenue com
Dan Lifshits & Ilia Drozdov, Co-founders of Dwelly: BREAKING: Dwelly raised $170m Series B
Dwelly just raised a $170m Series B led by EQT Growth and General Catalyst, five months after its last round, taking total funding to around $250m. Dwelly acquires traditional letting agencies across the UK and moves them onto a shared AI system. The AI handles compliance and admin work, so staff can focus on landlords and tenants instead.Dan Lifshits and Ilia Drozdov are Co-founders of Dwelly. Th
Linus Eriksson Noren and Resat Ozutok, Co-founders of TechCredit Partners: TechCredit Partners helps founders raise debt to scale faster
TechCredit Partners helps tech founders raise debt capital to fund growth without giving up more of their company. The firm has raised close to $1 billion for clients across more than 20 countries in the last three years.Linus Eriksson Noren and Resat Ozutok are Co-founders of TechCredit Partners. Most founders don't realize how much of their business, like contracts or equipment, can be used
Oana Jinga, Co-founder of Dexory: Dexory’s robots save warehouses millions
Dexory builds robots that scan warehouses and track everything inside them in real time. Companies use that data to know exactly what stock they have and where, resulting in massive savings.Oana Jinga is Co-founder of Dexory. The company has scanned over 1.3 billion warehouse locations so far, using real data collected directly from customer sites. Dexory recently raised a $165m Series C to scale
Issie James, Co-founder at Onstage: BREAKING: Onstage has been acquired by Sifted
Onstage has just been acquired by Sifted. The company runs Demo Day, an early-stage pitch event that connects founders with VCs, backed by a network of 350 venture capital partners who select the finalists.Issie James is Co-founder at Onstage. Onstage's strategy has always been to build an audience its founders and VC partners can use to reach more customers, and joining Sifted was the natural
Stanislaw Kastory and Mikolaj Firlej, Co-founders and General Partners at Expeditions: Backing Europe's defence startups with €197m fund
Expeditions is one of Europe's only venture funds dedicated to defence and security startups. The firm recently closed its second fund at €197m.Stanislaw Kastory and Mikolaj Firlej are Co-founders and General Partners at Expeditions. The firm backs early-stage teams across defence, cybersecurity, quantum and space technology. The new fund plans to make around 40 early-stage investments, with h
Jacomo Corbo, CEO & Co-Founder at PhysicsX: Helping companies design & manufacture industrial products faster
PhysicsX helps companies design and manufacture industrial products faster, using AI instead of traditional physics simulation.Jacomo Corbo is CEO and Co-Founder of PhysicsX. Its technology helps manufacturers cut defects and lower costs, from casting aerospace parts to smelting aluminum more efficiently. The company recently raised a $300m Series C at a $2.4bn valuation, more than doubling its Se
Francesco Sciortino, Co-Founder & CEO of Proxima Fusion: Building the critical power infrastructure for clean energy
Proxima Fusion recently raised €411m at a €2.4bn valuation, the largest funding round in European fusion. The company is building a fusion reactor designed to produce clean, safe energy continuously, without the risk of a runaway reaction.Francesco Sciortino is Co-Founder and CEO of Proxima Fusion. The company has around 200 people working across Munich, Zurich and Oxford. Proxima's next miles
Max Buchan, CEO of Valarian: BREAKING: Valarian raised $50m Series A
Valarian has raised a $50m Series A led by NEA, just over a year after a $20m Seed. The company built Acra, an infrastructure layer that lets organizations run sensitive AI systems securely on any cloud, from public cloud to on-prem or the edge.Max Buchan is Founder and CEO of Valarian. The company signed $43m in contracts in its first quarter alone and expects to do about $100m this year.The Scal
Jon Steinback, Co-Founder and CEO at Marker: BREAKING: Marker raised $13m Seed
Marker just came out of stealth and raised a $13m Seed led by Index Ventures. Marker is an AI editor built to help writers develop their ideas and get feedback throughout the writing process. Jon Steinback is Co-Founder and CEO of Marker. He and co-founder Ryan Bowman built it to support the whole writing process, from thinking through drafting to editing. The result is a modern word processor mad
Laura McGinnis, Partner at Singular: Growing Singular's London office to back UK founders
Singular is a European early-stage venture capital firm investing from Seed through Series B, with portfolio companies including Aikido, Vibe, Basecamp and Spore.Bio. Laura McGinnis is joining Singular as a Partner. She previously spent several years in venture at Balderton Capital. In London, she'll focus on building out the firm's presence and backing UK and Ireland founders earlier in t
Sai Shivareddy, Founder and CEO at Nyobolt: Building the critical power infrastructure for the AI world
Nyobolt is building fast energy storage systems for AI infrastructure, where data centres and robotics require far higher power density and faster charging than conventional technologies can provide.Sai Shivareddy is Founder and CEO at Nyobolt. The company spent years developing its technology before AI infrastructure created demand for it, and is now deploying its systems in robotics, with data c
Carla Gómez Cano, Co-founder at THEKER: Theker Robotics’ generalist robots automate any factory task
THEKER Robotics builds robots that takes over the hardest physical labor inside heavy factories.Carla Gómez Cano is Co-founder at THEKER. Their robots that do manual, physical work, like moving packages, assembling parts and folding garments, and use smart software to handle any task or material on a single platform. The company recently raised an $85m Series A, one of the largest robotics rounds
Toby Mather, Co-Founder of Rig: BREAKING: Rig raised $2.8 Pre-seed
Rig just raised $2.8 pre-Seed led by Emerge Capital to build infrastructure that helps companies use their internal data with AI. The platform connects existing data systems so teams can build AI apps, workflows and agents more easily.Toby Mather is Co-founder of Rig. He says the biggest challenge is no longer building AI applications, but giving them secure access to the right internal context. R
Jonathan Godwin, CEO at Orbital: Orbital raised $50m Series B
Orbital recently raised a $50m Series B led by Plural to scale its AI platform for developing advanced materials.Jonathan Godwin is Co-founder and CEO at Orbital Industries. The company is using AI to discover a new GPU cooling material for data centres, with plans to apply the same technology to hardware and manufacturing across sectors such as semiconductors, energy and aerospace.The Scaling Eur
Seltz raised $12.5M seed: Antonio Mallia, CEO at Seltz
Seltz just raised a $12.5m Seed as it launches its first product and looks to build a new generation of web infrastructure for AI.Antonio Mallia is Founder and CEO at Seltz. The company is building for a world where AI agents become a new type of web user, requiring a completely different way to access information online. Instead of returning a list of links, Seltz is rebuilding the entire search
Will Bennett, Principal at Seedcamp: BREAKING: Seedcamp closed $220M + $100M Funds
Seedcamp just closed $220M + $100M funds as it looks to support European founders from their first cheque through to later stages of company building. The new $220M core fund will continue backing early-stage companies, while the $100M select fund allows Seedcamp to double down on breakout portfolio companies from Series B onwards.Will Bennett is Principal at Seedcamp. He believes the definition o
Matteo Benedetti, Founder at Debtist: Debtist scaled to €15M ARR in just 3 years
Debtist scaled to €15M ARR in just 3 years as it builds an AI-powered receivables management platform across Europe.Matteo Benedetti is Founder at Debtist. The company started from identifying a gap in traditional debt collection and built an end-to-end software platform that automates receivables management using AI across email, calling, document handling, and legal workflows. It now serves arou
Jacob Houlberg, Co-founder of Evertrace: Evertrace helps early stage funds identify new investment opportunities
Venture funds are becoming more systematic about finding founders before anyone else has seen them. As more firms build internal sourcing tools, the real advantage is shifting from collecting signals to knowing which opportunities are actually worth chasing.Jacob Houlberg is Co-founder of Evertrace, which helps more than 220 venture funds identify founders at the earliest stages of company creatio
JP Haas, Co-Founder & CEO at Conduct: BREAKING: Conduct just raised $60m in a Series A
Conduct just raised $60m in a Series A co-led by Index Ventures and ICONIQ, with strategic investment from SAP and participation from existing investors.JP Haas is Co-Founder and CEO at Conduct. The company builds an AI operating system for enterprise software that maps heavily customised systems like SAP and Salesforce and helps enterprises execute changes across them faster.The Scaling Europe sh
Pablo Palafox, CEO at HappyRobot: HappyRobot helps enterprises run core operations with AI
Many of the industries that keep the economy running still rely on emails, phone calls and manual coordination between people. AI is starting to change that, allowing companies to automate work that previously required large operational teams.Pablo Palafox, CEO at HappyRobot, believes the biggest opportunity in AI is not building better chatbots, but helping businesses actually get work done. As m
Judith Dada, General Partner, Visionaries Club: How Europe can stay competitive in the age of AI
AI is becoming one of the most important questions facing Europe, yet many leaders still underestimate both the speed and scale of the transformation.Judith Dada is General Partner at Visionaries Club and one of the authors behind Europe 2031, a new scenario exploring how Europe could fall behind in an AI-driven world over the next five years. The solution, she believes, is for Europe to move fast
Nad Chishtie, Founding Designer, Head of Design at Lovable: Turning non-technical people into builders
More people than ever before can now build software, as AI removes many of the technical barriers that previously stood in the way. Lovable is helping lead that shift, with two-thirds of its builders coming from outside the tech industry.Nad Chishtie is Founding Designer and Head of Design at Lovable. He believes the next generation of software will be built by far more people than ever before, wi
Johannes von Borries and Benjamin Erhart, GPs at UVC Partners: Backing Europe’s next deep tech champions
UVC Partners is a European venture capital firm investing in early-stage deep tech companies in Europe, including Proxima Fusion and Isar Aerospace.Johannes von Borries and Benjamin Erhart, GPs at UVC Partners, back companies working on fusion energy and space systems, where development takes long cycles and requires high capital and coordination between research and industry.The Scaling Europe sh
Michael Bajwa, CEO and Co-founder of Zaro: BREAKING: Zaro just raised $5.1m pre-seed
AI agents are becoming more capable, but most companies still rely on software built for a different era. Zaro just raised a $5.1 million pre-Seed round led by Cherry Ventures to build infrastructure designed specifically for the agentic era.Michael Bajwa is CEO and Co-founder of Zaro. Following the sale of Convergence to Salesforce, he believes enterprises have not yet had their ChatGPT moment, a
Hadrien Canter, CEO and Co-founder of Alta Ares: BREAKING: Alta Ares just raised $50m
Cheap drones are changing modern warfare, creating demand for new air defence systems that can operate at scale. Alta Ares just raised $50 million to help countries defend against emerging aerial threats.Hadrien Canter is CEO and Co-founder of Alta Ares. Drawing on his experience working in Ukraine and the Middle East, he believes Europe has a unique opportunity to build a stronger defence ecosyst
Jordi Romero, Founder and CEO at Factorial: Factorial raised $150m at a $2.5b valuation
Factorial just raised $150m from General Catalyst at a $2.5bn valuation as the company enters its next phase as an AI-native business. The new capital will be used to accelerate growth through acquisitions across Europe.Jordi Romero is Founder and CEO of Factorial, which recently turned 10 years old. He believes AI is changing how software companies serve their customers and sees Europe as one of
Oliver Molander, Founding General Partner of Inception Fund: Europe needs to build indispensable technology.
European investors are moving faster, while global funds are becoming increasingly active across the Nordics. As competition for the best founders intensifies, technical talent is attracting more attention than ever at the earliest stages.Oliver Molander is Founding General Partner of Inception Fund, which recently expanded to €30 million. Drawing on his experience as both a founder and investor,
Alex McCracken, Head of Venture Capital Relationships, EMEA at J.P.Morgan: European AI startups are raising bigger rounds than ever
European AI startups are raising billion-dollar rounds, while defence and deep tech companies are attracting far larger rounds than the market was seeing a few years ago.Alex McCracken is Head of Venture Capital Relationships, EMEA at J.P. Morgan, where he is seeing US investors move into Europe earlier and more technical AI founders raise capital across the market.The Scaling Europe show is prese
David Helgason, Co-founder at Transition Ventures: Raising $150m Fund II
Transition VC raised a new $150m fund to back highly technical founders building the next generation of energy, compute and industrial companies.David Helgason, Co-founder at Transition VC, says AI is increasing demand for compute, power and industrial systems at a time when venture is moving beyond traditional software. The new fund will focus on companies building across energy, hardware and ind
Ashley Paulus, VP of Revenue (UK & EEA) at Checkout.com: Checkout.com reached 78% growth in the UK and 60% in Europe
Checkout.com is one of Europe’s leading payments companies, powering transactions for some of the world’s biggest digital businesses.Ashley Paulus, VP of Revenue (UK & EEA) at Checkout.com, is leading the company’s growth across two of its most important markets after 78% growth in the UK and around 60% growth in Europe last year. As merchants look for better acceptance rates, global coverage
Philipp Schröder, Co-founder and CEO at 1KOMMA5°: Delivering the cheapest and cleanest electricity in the world
1KOMMA5° is working to deliver the cheapest and cleanest electricity in the world, at a time when energy is becoming one of the biggest questions behind the AI boom.Philipp Schröder, Co-founder and CEO at 1KOMMA5°, has grown the company from home electrification into one of Europe’s most important energy players. It is already managing one gigawatt of capacity, with a much larger ambition: making
Jonathan Low, CEO at Scope: BREAKING: Scope raised $20m
Scope is building AI for the people who inspect the physical world, from factories and industrial equipment to the assets companies rely on every day.Jonathan Low is CEO at Scope, and the company has just raised $20m led by Index Ventures after growing more than 10x since relaunching last year. Much of this work still runs on pen, paper, Word and Excel, and Scope is turning inspection work into us
Manuel Silva Martinez, GP at Mouro Capital: BREAKING: Mouro Capital closed $400m fund
Mouro Capital is a fintech-focused venture firm investing at the intersection of financial services and technology.Manuel Silva Martinez is a GP at Mouro Capital, and they just announced a new $400m fund backed by Banco Santander, giving the firm more capital to back fintech entrepreneurs across the US, Europe and Latin America. Mouro’s thesis has stayed close to financial services, but the opport
Martin Mignot, Partner at Index Ventures: How founders are building and leading companies in the AI era
European founders are still going to the US earlier than ever, but AI is now changing how the companies they build actually operate.Martin Mignot, Partner at Index Ventures, looks at this shift from inside a global firm working with founders on both sides of the Atlantic. For founders and CEOs, AI is becoming much bigger than a tooling question. The challenge is to rethink how the company works be
James Regan, CEO of Oriole Networks: Building radically faster networks for AI
AI data centres are running into a network bottleneck as models demand more bandwidth, more connected processors and dramatically more power.James Regan, CEO of Oriole Networks, thinks the industry is still trying to scale architectures that fundamentally do not work at the size AI is heading towards. Oriole’s approach replaces electrical packet switches with photonic switching technology designed
Kevin Smith, CEO at Venture Comet: Helping founders unlock equity earlier in their startup journey
Founders can spend years building valuable companies while paying themselves almost nothing, with all of the upside locked away until an exit that may still be years off.Kevin Smith, CEO at Venture Comet, is building a platform that helps founders release a small amount of equity earlier in the journey instead of waiting for a single make-or-break outcome at the end. One of the biggest shifts he p
June Angelides MBE, Founder of the Portfolio Method and Venture Partner at Samos Investments: Building a platform to manage multiple roles and income streams
Most people running multiple roles have no clear way to price their work or decide what is actually worth their time.June Angelides MBE, Founder of the Portfolio Method and Venture Partner at Samos Investments, is building a product around that problem after seeing it play out in her first workshop, where most participants realised they were underpricing themselves once they broke everything down.
Andre Retterath, General Partner at Earlybird Venture Capital: Earlybird’s €360m fund and the future of European deep tech
Earlybird raised a €360 million early-stage fund, its largest yet, after extending the hard cap during the raise to bring in an additional institutional LP.Andre Retterath, General Partner at Earlybird Venture Capital, talks about how that number is decided before the fund is even raised, with ownership targets and follow-on reserves shaping the size more than anything else in a market where liqui
Stefan Bader: CEO on Cello on automating growth and GTM
Stefan Bader is a the co-founder and CEO of Cello, a tech company focused on user-led growth through referral-based marketing for B2B software companies. He is also running the GTM10 awards - an awards programme for the best GTM operators. Check it out here: https://thegtm10.com/The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel - check them out here:]https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjkAlso by:Mishcon: ht
Dan Westgarth, Chief Operating Officer at Deel: From Revolut to Deel: inside two hypergrowth companies
Deel has grown into one of the fastest scaling SaaS companies globally, building a fully remote organisation of over 7,000 people and reaching more than $1 billion in annual revenue.Dan Westgarth, COO at Deel, shares how he went from customer support at Revolut to leading operations at Deel, and why scaling a company at that speed comes down to constant reinvention, high talent density and a cultu
Harvey Hodd, founder at Rivan: Rivan raised a £25 million Series A
Rivan has just raised a £25 million Series A to scale its synthetic fuel technology, after building and operating the UK’s largest synthetic natural gas plant in under a year.Harvey Hodd, Founder at Rivan, shares how the company built and proved its first plant and is now focused on scaling manufacturing to bring synthetic fuels into the grid at costs that compete with fossil fuels.The Scaling Eur
Roxanne Varza, Director at Station F: Station F became a launchpad for Europe’s top startups
Station F has become one of the defining institutions in French tech, housing 1,000 early-stage startups in Paris and launching F/ai, a new AI programme bringing together major labs, top funds and a sharper focus on commercial acceleration.Roxanne Varza, Director at Station F, shares how Station F grew alongside the rise of the French ecosystem and why the focus is now shifting toward helping stro
Sarah Fleischer & Ksenija Milicevic Neumann, Co-founders at tozero: Building Europe’s first battery recycling plant
tozero is building Europe’s first industrial battery recycling demonstration plant, taking lithium-ion battery recycling from research to a live facility running in the real world.Sarah Fleischer and Ksenija Milicevic Neumann, Co-founders at tozero, share how the team built and launched the plant from scratch, now processing end-of-life batteries into critical materials like lithium and graphite,
Constantin Schröder, Co-founder at Arbio: How Arbio built an AI-enabled rollup machine for holiday rentals
Arbio is acquiring holiday home portfolios across Europe and using AI to turn highly manual property managers into much more scalable businesses.Constantin Schröder, Co-founder at Arbio, shares how the company has completed 30 acquisitions so far and is using AI to automate pricing, guest communication and operations, turning property management into a far more scalable, software-like model, with
Roei Samuel, CEO at Connectd: Connectd is one of the fastest growing companies in Europe with 17m ARR
Connectd has grown to 17m ARR, building a cross-border network of senior talent and enabling companies to access specialised expertise on a flexible basis.Roei Samuel, CEO at Connectd, says the shift to fractional work is accelerating as companies rethink how they hire, increasingly relying on flexible, high-skill operators to support and augment teams, driven by strong UK–US growth and network ef
Dan Lifshits & Ilia Drozdov, Co-founders of Dwelly: Entering the London market.
Dwelly is acquiring traditional lettings and real estate agencies across the UK and integrating them into an AI-enabled platform to automate workflows and scale them more efficiently.Dan Lifshits and Ilia Drozdov, Co-founders of Dwelly, talk about Dwelly entering the London market, which represents around 40% of the UK rental market, marking a major step in scaling their model and consolidating th
Jonathan Sanders, CEO at Light: Light replaces fragmented finance tools with one platform
Light is replacing fragmented finance stacks and traditional ERPs by bringing payments, accounting and reporting into one AI-native platform.Jonathan Sanders, CEO at Light, says this shift is only possible now because AI changes how software works, moving beyond fixed SaaS tools towards “organic” systems that learn, adapt and operate more like a team member inside the company.The Scaling Europe sh
Jon Coker, Founding Partner at Eka Ventures: Eka Ventures closed £80m second fund
Eka Ventures has just closed its second fund at £80m, doubling down on early-stage investing across health, wellbeing and sustainability.Jon Coker, Founding Partner at Eka Ventures, says the firm’s edge comes from backing companies before they become obvious, using a data platform that has sourced around half of its deals and a founder assessment approach focused on how quickly founders can develo
Mark Ball, Artistic Director at the Southbank Centre: AI and technology are changing how art is experienced
Technology is becoming a bigger part of how art is created and experienced, from immersive formats to AI-driven tools.Mark Ball, Artistic Director at the Southbank Centre, says artists are increasingly using technology to create new types of experiences, with a new Creative Intelligence festival exploring how AI is shaping creative work and raising questions around ownership and copyright.Image cr
Carlos Eduardo Espinal, Managing Partner at Seedcamp: European tech moved from small thinking to building for global stage
Investing has shifted from backing products to backing teams, and now increasingly to backing execution, as building products becomes easier.Carlos Eduardo Espinal, Managing Partner at Seedcamp, says the focus today is on founders who can attract strong teams and execute clearly from the start.The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel - check them out here:https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjkSpons
BREAKING: Isaiah Baril-Dore, Index Ventures: UK expands EMI stock option scheme for startups
The UK has updated its EMI stock option scheme, bringing more companies back into eligibility as startups raise larger rounds and stay private longer.Isaiah Baril-Dore, Reward and Talent at Index Ventures, says stock options remain the main lever for hiring, with secondary sales becoming more common as employees look for liquidity before an IPO.The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel - check
Nick de la Forge, Co-Founder / GP at Planet A Ventures: Angel money is coming back to European tech
Planet A Ventures is an early-stage fund investing in companies building within planetary boundaries, using internal scientists and lifecycle assessments to analyse the real impact of each investment.Nick de la Forge, Co-founder and General Partner at Planet A Ventures, highlights that angel money is returning to European startups and that companies are getting better at monetising.The Scaling Eur
Nadir Izrael, Co-founder & CTO at Armis Security: Armis got acquired by ServiceNow for $7.75B
Armis Security builds software that helps organisations understand and secure everything connected to their environment, from devices to critical infrastructure.The company has grown past $300 million in ARR, with customers expanding usage as new products are added, and was acquired by ServiceNow in a $7.75 billion all-cash deal, at a time when AI is increasing both the scale of what needs to be s
BREAKING: Orrick just launched DealFlow 6.0 report: Jamie Moore, Partner at Orrick
Orrick has just released its latest Deal Flow report, analysing over 400 venture and growth deals across Europe worth more than $10 billion.Liquidation preferences have moved back to 1x, and secondaries are now happening more often from Series B as a way to take liquidity before exit.The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel - check them out here:https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjkSponsors:Surrea
Founders need to think global from day one: Sara Rywe, General Partner at byFounders
American funds are moving fast in the Nordics, with some flying in and pushing term sheets within 24 hours, forcing European investors to keep up.Sara Rywe, General Partner at byFounders, says speed and community now decide the best early-stage rounds. More experienced founders are also paying closer attention to values alignment and local support, not just brand.The Scaling Europe show is present
IQM becomes the first listed European quantum computing company: Jan Goetz, CEO & Co-Founder at IQM
IQM reported around $30 million in revenue and $100 million in bookings, and announced plans to become the first listed European quantum company, showing how far quantum computing has moved into real commercial use.Jan Goetz, Co-founder and CEO of IQM, says the company builds full-stack quantum computers with its own chip factory, assembly line and data centre. That makes access to capital a centr
Defence, security and resilience funding in Europe grew 4x in 5 years: Sander Verbrugge
Defence, security and resilience startups in Europe have grown 4x over the past five years, with funding now reaching nearly $9 billion as larger rounds start to emerge.Sander Verbrugge, Partner at the NATO Innovation Fund, says the ecosystem is now producing companies with real revenue and scale. He argues the bigger issue is awareness.The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel - check them out
Brite pay-by-bank operates across 27 markets: Lena Hackelöer, Founder & CEO at Brite Payments
Pay-by-bank is becoming a serious alternative to cards in Europe, as merchants look for cheaper and faster ways to process payments.Lena Hackelöer, Founder and CEO of Brite Payments, says that shift is being driven by how expensive and fragmented payments are for merchants. She describes how Brite expanded into markets where demand already existed, while staying profitable early to keep control as
Granola raised $125 million Series C at a $1.5 billion valuation: Sam Stephenson, Co-founder
Granola has just raised a $125 million Series C at a $1.5 billion valuation, becoming one of Europe’s newest AI unicorns, after spreading from VCs and founders into companies almost entirely through word of mouth.Sam Stephenson, Co-founder of Granola, says that growth has been driven by word of mouth more than any other channel, with early adoption coming from people who spend their days in meetin
Spore.Bio’s technology can detect bacteria in 10 minutes: Amine Raji, Co-founder & CEO, Spore.Bio
Spore.Bio has unveiled a new microbiology technology that can detect, quantify and identify bacteria in under 10 minutes, replacing a process that typically takes 5 to 20 days and has not meaningfully changed for decades Amine Raji, Co-founder and CEO of Spore.Bio, says the company spent three years building and validating the technology to work directly in industrial environments, with machines
Startups in Europe are being built to win globally: Filip Dames, Founding Partner at Cherry Ventures
Europe used to build strong local companies. Now founders are building global winners from day one, with a much higher ceiling than before.Filip Dames, Founding Partner at Cherry Ventures, says ambition across Europe has shifted, early stage funds are staying focused even as rounds get bigger, and more companies are being built in deep tech as Europe moves into harder problems.The Scaling Europe s
Credo announces $88m Fund V: Maciek Gnutek & Jakub Krikava, Parters at Credo Ventures
Credo Ventures has raised an $88m Fund V to continue backing pre-seed founders from Central and Eastern Europe, keeping the fund size unchanged even with strong performance and LP demand.Maciek Gnutek and Jakub Krikava, Partners at Credo Ventures, say staying disciplined on fund size is key to returning top outcomes, with the focus on backing the best founders early across the region and its diasp
Dash0 raises $110M Series B at $1B valuation: Mirko Novakovic, CEO at Dash0
Dash0 has raised a $100m Series B at a $1bn valuation after hitting over $10m ARR and growing faster than expected, becoming a unicorn just months after its Series A.Mirko Novakovic, CEO of Dash0, says the shift to agent-generated code is driving this change, as software is deployed faster than it can be reviewed and observability becomes essential to keep systems running in production.The Scaling
0TO9 wants to build 1,000 profitable fintech companies: Jessica Holzbach, Partner and CEO at Germany 0TO9
0TO9 is aiming to build 1,000 profitable fintech companies, based on the idea that founders should not have to rebuild licensing and compliance from scratch.Jessica Holzbach, Partner at 0TO9 and former Co-founder of Penta, says fintech has become harder to start at the earliest stage, even as build times have dropped from years to weeks with AI.The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel - check
UK venture funding reaches $23.6B: Jenny Edwards, Managing Director, Head of NatWest Venture Banking
UK startups raised around $23.6B last year, bringing venture funding back close to previous highs and signalling renewed momentum in the ecosystem. At the same time, investment is concentrating around larger rounds and AI companies, while the long-standing challenge of helping UK startups scale into global companies remains.Jenny Edwards is Head of Venture Banking at NatWest, working with founders
A new generation of researcher founders think like engineers: Devika Thapar & Ale Maiano, Co-founders at Wilbe
Build Weeks take scientists from idea to investment readiness in seven days, allowing Wilbe to work with hundreds of researchers each year instead of a handful of cohorts.Devika Thapar and Ale Maiano, Co-founders at Wilbe, say the shift is driven by a new generation of researchers who want to move faster and build companies earlier, as scientists increasingly think and operate more like engineers.
Fuse exceeds $500m ARR: Alan Chang, Founder and CEO at Fuse Energy
Fuse Energy has already crossed $500m in annualised revenue and grown 10x.Alan Chang, Co-founder and CEO of Fuse Energy, says the company’s real constraint is not capital but hiring enough great engineers. The business continues scaling in the UK energy market and is preparing to expand into new products and markets.The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel - check them out here:https://get.dee
nexos.ai raised two rounds in its first year: Justas Morkūnas, COO at nexos.ai
AI adoption inside companies still looks far messier than the hype suggests, with teams using different tools, uneven security standards and little visibility into how AI is actually used day to day.Justas Morkūnas, COO at nexos.ai, is building around that problem with a no-code agent platform designed to help companies move from prompt to outcome while keeping security and control in place, espec
Wiz is the largest venture-backed M&A in history: Shardul Shah, Partner at Index Ventures
The $23B Wiz acquisition has become the largest venture-backed M&A in history, a milestone moment for the tech industry and the cybersecurity ecosystem. In this conversation, Shardul Shah, Partner at Index Ventures and an early backer of Wiz, reflects on the long relationship with the founders that began years before the company existed and why conviction in people, more than markets or produc
Backing Alan from 2017 to €785M ARR at a €5B valuation: Jan Hammer, Partner at Index Ventures
Alan has grown from a small French startup into one of Europe’s most ambitious digital health companies, reaching €785M ARR and a €5B valuation after Index first backed the company in 2017.Jan Hammer, Partner at Index Ventures, reflects on that journey from the early investment to today and what it takes to build a company capable of scaling across markets and transforming healthcare systems.The S
Jentic builds the missing layer between AI and enterprise systems: Sean Blanchfield, CEO at Jentic
Large companies already run on thousands of APIs and internal systems, which makes connecting AI to the systems that actually run a business far more complex than it first appears. Sean Blanchfield, Founder of Jentic, discusses why this integration challenge is becoming one of the biggest obstacles for enterprise AI and why he believes a new infrastructure layer will be needed to manage how AI int
Entrepreneurs First raised $200M: Jonny Clifford, Partner at Entrepreneurs First
Entrepreneurs First has raised $200m in fresh capital to continue backing founders before they even have a team or an idea. The firm has built its model around identifying ambitious individuals early in their careers and helping them turn that potential into companies.Jonny Clifford, Partner at Entrepreneurs First, explains why many of the world’s best potential founders never start companies in t
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