The pod that unpacks the real news behind the clickbait affecting European venture.

Hosts: Dan, Mads, Lomax, Andrew

02:41 — Bending Spoons deep dive
Debt-fuelled roll-up, “Berkshire of consumer apps” analogy; Ukrainian peer Gentek noted; why more post-COVID roll-ups didn’t materialise.

04:34 — US debt vs Europe risk
Market’s view on capital allocation/dynamism; Decacorns vs unicorns; power-law returns reinforce Botha’s point.

06:01 — “VC isn’t an asset class” debate
Power-law concentration, PR angle, and incentives; media takeaways.

07:31 — Euro VC vibes
Lakestar & optics; ecosystem still 5× over decade despite headlines.

08:30 — Feature: Should governments buy stocks?
Khosla’s 10% stake in all public companies to offset AI/AGI shocks:

• Pros: Alignment with growth; potential UBI funding; sovereign-wealth-style upside.
• Cons: Partial nationalisation optics, execution complexity, tying state finances tighter to market swings.
• Middle paths: SWF/index recycling of taxes; robot/compute taxation; focus on efficient government vs expropriation.

17:45 — Back-of-envelope math
US equities ~$60T → 10% ≈ $6T; even 10% yield wouldn’t cover current US interest bill; cautions on bull-market assumptions.

19:03 — UK Budget preview (26 Nov)
Backdrop: softer productivity, fiscal squeeze.

• Likely: CGT/inheritance tweaks, mansion tax; maybe EMI/startup relief refinements.
• Founder advice: avoid doom loop—head down and build; some may move to US, less so Dubai.

22:25 — Should founders raise now (pre-correction)?

• Consensus: If you can raise on decent terms, extend runway; always-be-raising (selectively).
• Don’t panic or over-dilute; keep shipping.
• If no PMF, fix product/positioning before chasing capital.

29:02 — AI Corner

• NVIDIA at $5T: Hyperscalers’ capex still ramping; huge backlog; dominance but margins likely compress with competition/custom silicon.
• Nokia stake: Smart edge/5G–6G positioning; GPUs closer to towers for network optimisation & edge AI.
• OpenAI recap: For-profit structure finalised; Microsoft looks like the clearest public proxy (exclusivities, licenses).
• Meta’s mixed moment & layoffs framed more as performance-management cycles than AI doom.

42:58 — Deals of the Week

• Sales Patriot (Warsaw): €4.2m to modernise defence procurement; aim to be system of record.
• Legora (legal AI, Stockholm): $150m at $1.8B, ~5 months after Series B.
• Robin AI: Sale process after $70m raised—cautionary tale on GTM/scale.
• Bending Spoons ↔ AOL/Vimeo: More roll-up momentum.
• Synthesia: $200m at $4B; reportedly turned down a $3B Adobe offer—go-for-growth stance.

45:50 — UK quantum spotlight
QFX round (Paul Graham involved); UK’s deep quantum bench (PsiQuantum/Quantinuum roots; Oxford Ionics ~$1B sale to IonQ). Challenge: scaling while keeping firms in the UK.

Upside - the weekly pod exploring the real news behind the clickrage affecting European venture, startups and investing.

Hosts: Dan, Mads, Lomax, Andrew

04:56 - Amazon, Robots & Europe’s Automation
• Amazon aims for 75% robotised operations by 2033 in the US.
• Automation = productivity growth, not mass layoffs.
• Europe: >80% of warehouses still manual; Germany highly automated.
• Debate: displacement vs. growth; Europe can't fall behind.

18:50 - AI & Europe’s Industrial Revolution
• Can Europe capture AI’s value?
• Most AI projects fail due to lack of readiness, not tech.
• The human in the loop - Underinvestment in training and integration.
• Discussion: China racing ahead; Europe needs tech-smart leadership.

39:04 - UK AI Sandbox - What a waste of sand?
• New UK initiative to test AI under relaxed rules.
• Unlike fintech, AI isn’t “gate-kept” - barriers are procurement and deployment.
• Use NHS as testbed for AI admin tools to cut waitlists.

50:13 - EU “28th Regime” - Directive or Law?
• Proposed single EU startup entity (like a Delaware C-Corp).
• Regulation = uniform law; Directive = messy national versions.
• Local tailoring inevitable - but harmonisation could save €2B/yr in admin costs.

59:54 Deal of the Week - Comind
• Comind raises $102M Series A (Plural) — non-invasive brain-computer interface.
• Mentions: Revolut ($75B raise rumour), Wayve ($2B fundraise).

Upside #62 w/ Dan and Mads from SuperSeed plus Ben from Bullhound Capital

Key Topics
• Fundraising climate in European for VC - friend or foe?
• Goldman Sachs’ Industry Ventures acquisition - getting into alternatives?!
• Nobel Prize in Economics: Why does this matter to VC and Europe?
• What's fuelling the AI bubble headlines? Hype vs fundamentals
• China’s physical AI advantage - have they won AI already?
• Europe does have a strategic path
• Deal of the Week: ecoRobotix

03:01 – VC Fundraising Outlook
• Post-2021 pullback continues.
• Flight to top brands: most LP capital going to top 30 funds.
• More government/EU money = policy strings.
• Low DPI but potential relief from Klarna IPO.
• Market consolidation = stronger survivors.

07:08 – LP Sentiment
• Big AI rounds crowding noise → more space for overlooked gems.
• Growing interest in early-stage, AI, defence, resilience.

09:23 – GS Buys Industry Ventures - Why?
• Traditional finance deeper in VC.
• Secondary liquidity engine + huge data moat (700 funds / 10k co’s).
• Smart strategic move for Goldman.

12:36 – Nobel Prize in Economics?
• Aghion & Howitt’s work proves innovation drives growth — VC validated.
• Missing pieces: state de-risking, catch-up growth, China’s dual strategy.

20:42 – AI “Bubble” or Just Massive Bets?
• OpenAI’s trillion-dollar compute plans (NVIDIA, AMD, Broadcom, Oracle).
• OpenAI vs Google monetisation war.
• Circular financing risk with negative margins down the stack. Will retail be left holding the baby?
• Long-term value in vertical AI with data moats.

31:11 – China’s Physical AI Advantage
• Western Execs return “shaken” from dark factories.
• BYD rising fast.
• China deploying “good enough” open-source AI into everything.

39:24 – Europe’s Playbook
• JP Morgan’s $1.5T “security & resiliency” plan shows capital *can* be mobilised.
• Europe’s challenge: reallocate pension/government capital to productive tech.

45:43 – Deal of the Week: ecoRobotix
• Swiss physical AI agri-robotics.
• Precision spraying cuts pesticide use 95%.
• €90M Series D led by Highland Europe & McWin.

Voices: Nicholas Nelson (Archangel) • Dan • Lomax • Mads

TL;DR

• Defence-first wins on capability and returns; primes are partners and channels.
• Helsing: buys platforms/revenue for access; layers AI—different from Anduril’s buy-TRL-tech + scale model.
• Beyond drones: biggest gap/opportunity is tactical EW.
• Procurement: more fast lanes (SOF, pilots); primes getting easier to work with.
• AI: real profits exist (esp. NVIDIA), but value chain is fragile; expect a correction, not a collapse. Picking winners > timing.

02:40 — Why defence-first
Beats dual-use on outcomes and returns; lifelong focus.

04:32 — Definitions
Customer = MoDs + primes; aim: lethality/readiness and societal resilience. Beware “defence-washing”.

06:37 — What’s hot
Avoid herd to drones only; counter-UAS, EW, human performance, deception, survivability.

08:23 — Helsing buys Grob
Neo-prime play: new co buys legacy manufacturing for platform access.

10:42 — The two Defence M&A playbooks
Anduril: buys mid-TRL tech (Area-I, Dive LD/Ghost Shark, Adranos) → scales via brand/distribution.
Helsing: buys finished products/revenue (Mittelstand) → immediate customers; then add AI.

14:25 — Prime status & capital
Distribution + capital to AI-enable platforms.

17:47 — Roll-up vs build
Narrative “build”; execution “roll-up + build”.

19:47 — Drones & ‘drone wall’
Layered answer: blunt with drones, hold with conventional forces.

21:49 — The big one: Electronic Warfare (EW)
NATO underinvested; tactical EW is the unmet need; legacy kit is ’80s/’90s.

24:54 — Startup wedge
Put EW at the edge (drones/aircraft/fixed) → near-term wins.

26:33 — Baltic realism
History, 2007–09 Estonia cyber, current incursions; likely Kaliningrad corridor.

28:19 — Founder mistakes
Tech ≠ win by itself; experience + gov engagement matters; US analogue: top funds have IC/SOF DNA.

30:43 — Are there really only a “Few buyers?”
Many real buyers inside a MoD/DoD (services, sub-units, innovation orgs).

36:23 — Sovereignty & US primes
US strategics will buy abroad; Europe balancing autonomy with jobs/exits.

41:07 — Starlink vs IRIS²
Starlink’s lead + cadence; IRIS² slower—watch timelines vs evolving threats.

47:18 — AI bubble?
Warnings vs fundamentals; self-funded capex; real profits.

49:37 — NVIDIA ramp
$4.4B (2023) → $73B this year; growth tempers multiples.

51:48 — AI Circular money & margins
Cursor → Anthropic → hyperscalers → NVIDIA; only NVIDIA mints big margins; margin pressure coming (new semis, China, SLMs).

53:12 — Picking beats timing
Dot-com lesson: Cisco losses vs Amazon wins.

54:19 — Capacity vs efficiency
Capex likely useful long-run, but open source squeezes costs.

55:52 — Platform risk
Frontier labs moving up-stack; vertical AI + trust + data = moat.

58:58 — Base case
Likely correction (30–50%) at some point; timing is unknowable (not investment advice).

🎧 Upside Ep #60 — “White Gold, Red Ink, and Reinventing VC”

Hosts: Dan · Lomax · Andrew
Recorded: Oct 2, 2025

01:00 – Quick News Highlights

• 🇺🇸 US Shutdown — $15B GDP loss per week; political theatre more than fiscal risk.
• 🇬🇧 Labour Party Conference — Starmer’s 13% approval, OBR to cut productivity; £10B headroom could flip to £20B deficit.
• 💰 UK recovers $5B from Bitcoin fraud (FT)
• 🔐 UK demands Apple backdoor again (TechCrunch)
• 🤖 OpenAI $500B valuation (FT)
• 🌉 EF exits Europe, launches “Bridge” Bay Area program (Sifted)
• 🎬 Sora 2 video model - Sam A videos. Bwahaha

10:00 – EF’s US Pivot

EF closes Paris/Berlin, focusing on US founder “sheep-dipping.”
Validation of EU founder quality but reminder: growth capital + urgency still American advantages.

17:00 – Germany’s Lithium Discovery

• 43M tons found in northern Germany — ~$600B in-ground value.
• DLE extraction (from brines) cleaner but unproven.
• Europe could cover 50 years of demand, yet permitting, costs, and NIMBY issues loom.
• Real win may lie in refining and gigafactory build-out, not mining alone.

22:00 – London’s IPO Decline

• London slips to #23 globally; IPO volume down 69% ($248M → $42M).
• Causes: low equity appetite, no tech weighting, over-regulation, pension conservatism.
• Fixes: incentivise pension investment, cut stamp duty, attract tech listings.

27:00 – Should Governments Bail Out?

• UK guarantees £1.5B loan to JLR (post-cyberattack).
• Critics: moral hazard, no cyber-insurance, political pork-barrelling.
• Compare: Germany’s bold €500B public investment plan.
• Consensus: backstop only if government gets warrants + drives reform.

41:00 – Reinventing VC

• US mega-firms become RIAs, investing across public/private assets.
• New players: Evantic ($400M), Striker (10 LPs × 10 startups).
• AI models now beat humans at picking founders.
• Europe lags — still relationship-driven, early-stage remains “artisanal.”

51:00 – Deals of the Week

• 💥 Concept Ventures – £88M pre-seed fund (UK)
• 🧪 Periodic Labs – $300M seed (ex-DeepMind/OpenAI)
• 💼 Creator Fund – €80M pan-EU deep tech
• ⚖️ Legora – raising $100M @ $1.7B
• 🧠 Black Forest Labs – $4B valuation talks
• 🦄 Cleo, Tide hit unicorn status

57:00 – Defence & Tech

• Highlights from London Resilience Conference: surge in EU defence startups, faster US build cycles, procurement reform lagging.
• MI6’s real “Q” reveals gadget: surveillance dog poo.

59:00 – Wrap

Europe’s week in contrast: industrial ambition (Germany), structural pain (London), creative churn (VC & AI). Momentum builds — even amid the mess.

Yes we're European VCs so YES we're talking AI and defence! But there's still more of the pie to eat, so dig in.

02:00 🇬🇧 UK in the doldrums
* Little to no growth (1.5% vs US 3.8%).
* Inflation stubborn at 3.8%.
* 130k jobs lost since last budget.
* Housing, Heathrow, HS2 — stalled megaprojects.

06:30 📉 Structural weaknesses
* UK pensions: only 4.4% in UK equities (vs 50% in past).
* FTSE = $2.8T — smaller than Apple alone.
* R&D spend at 1.7% vs US 3.5%.

10:00 🚀 Reasons for optimism
* Revolut hits 70m users, Canary Wharf HQ, £3bn UK investment.
* UK AI leaders: Wayve, ElevenLabs, Synthesia, Cleo.
* Nvidia building Europe’s biggest GPU cluster (120k Blackwells by 2026).

13:00 🤝 Trump visit & £150bn US deal
* Breakdown: £90bn Blackstone, £22bn Microsoft, £5bn Google, £1.5bn Palantir, £3.9bn Prologis.
* UK pledges $80bn procurement from US tech/defence.
* Historic scale, but execution challenges loom.

18:30 📝 What the UK must do — 5-Point Plan
1. Regulatory bonfire
2. Pension capital unlocked
3. Energy independence
4. Planning revolution
5. Startup Central (“29th Regime”)

24:00 🌍 H1B debacle
* US slaps $100k fee on new H1Bs (was $1.5k).
* Big Tech shrugs, startups squeezed.
* Europe’s opening: 24h visas for £100k+ roles could flip the script.

28:30 🤖 AI Corner
* Nvidia invests $100B into OpenAI — vertical integration play.
* Cohere hits $7B with AMD deal; Modular raises $250M to break CUDA lock-in.
* DeepSeek achieves GPT-4-level performance at 1/20th cost.
* JLR cyberattack halts production for 3+ weeks; systemic risk exposed.

37:00 🛡️ Defence Corner
* Russian drones breach NATO airspace — first NATO shots fired.
* Copenhagen airport shut, Polish & Baltic incursions.
* NATO launches Eastern Sentry, Europe boosts spend to 3.5% GDP.
* Defence unicorns rising: Helsing ($12B), Quantum Systems, Tekever.

45:00 💸 Deals of the Week
* nScale: £1.1B raise at £3B — Europe’s newest AI datacenter unicorn.
* Ōura: $875M raise at $11B valuation.
* Aerospacelab: $110M for satellite constellation.

On today: Dan, Mads, Lomax, Andrew.

This week we chat with Mike the ex editor of TechCrunch, getting his take on the past, present and future of all things Euro-startup. Mads shares his thoughts on the All In Summit. We chat about defence strategies, pension funds and Euro cash injections, Germany moving and shaking their startup scene, Draghi's anniversary, the EU Inc guys / 28th regime - and what this all means for us in venture, for founders, investors and startups.

00:35 – TechCrunch Europe → reset
Redundancies post-Yahoo sale; Mike takes a breather, experiments with social video.

01:29 – Mike’s showreel
’95 journo → FTGuardian → joins TechCrunch Europe in ’07; spins up The Europas and Techfugees.

03:51 – New media > old blogs
Creators (MrBeast, Bari Weiss, Cleo Abram) now disrupt the disruptors; social is the front door for news; AI reshapes formats.

06:02 – Europe’s vibe, not the Valley’s
Fragmentation persists, but Slush VivaTech Web Summit LTW etc. anchor a distinct EU flavour.

09:24 – Culture shift needed
Be candid *and* boosterish; being bigger and bolder.

12:17 – All-In Summit debrief
Robotics “hand problem” (26 actuators arm; supply chain missing), AGI ≈ 5–10y, China’s practical AI push, enterprise AI moats (boring infra), Europe’s latent talent vs weak commercialisation; “physical AI” window is NOW.

16:27 – EU Inc & Draghi (1-year on)
EU-wide startup entity push; Draghi’s 383 recs: only ~40 actioned; public consultation live at eu-inc.org.

18:29 – What to fix in Europe
Planning gridlock (HS2 file bloat; energy permits ~44 months) + misallocated pensions (€16T, >55% in bonds ~3%). Shift saver incentives and trustee “prudence” toward productive assets to unlock ~€970B yr.

20:56 – Implementation drag
Only a sliver of Draghi implemented; call for a “crack” execution unit; R&D under-invested vs US. EU grants take ~240 days from green light to cash.

24:02 – UK pensions: rhetoric vs mechanics
Fee caps & plumbing still block meaningful allocations despite political cheerleading.

28:28 – Germany’s draft startup tax reform
Founder and VC-friendly fixes from German Govt (e.g., ESOP dry income relief, longer deferral, broader eligibility).

35:39 – Deal of the week: ASML → Mistral (€2B)
Mistral >€100m ARR; ASML’s strategic seat to frontier models; comps far below US hypers; BNP with 800+ use cases. Raises EU late-stage capital question; balance sheets stepping in.

48:48 – Defence - UK Strategy, Russian Drones and NATO/European Reaction
Poland shoots down Russian drones; UK to 2.5% GDP defence by 2027 (+ regional £250m hubs). Good signal, too small; procurement speed is the moat; Eastern front buying *now*.

Let markets drive early-stage VC; fix EU growth/IPO capital via pension reform. Win AI as power users, not model builders. Geopolitics demands EU/ally coordination. Quantum’s having a moment.

This week it's Mads, Lomax and Dan. All European early stage VCs looking behind the headlines to explore what's affecting venture, founders and investors.

00:00–03:07 — “28th regime” for EU VC?Dan proposes a structured EU venture vehicle

03:07–07:46 — Let chaos reign- Bottom-up or top-down? governments already big LPs; VC must deliver performance to unlock pensions.

07:46–13:11 — Macro & pensions.Dealroom report: EU VC-backed value ≈ $3.5T; domestic pensions rising but tiny vs need; UK fiscal context not worst in G7.

13:24–16:46 — Macro vs micro - Do we care?Great teams still raise; next KPI is a Europe-born “Mag-7-scale” company.

16:46–19:49 — Why UK tax payers support MAG7.Rules favour bonds (low fees/vol); reform prudential & tax to channel savings into EU productive assets.

19:49–21:25 — Can EU scale.Capital aggregation at multi-billion rounds remains the choke point.

22:41–25:48 — Google antitrust.No breakup; must share index/click data on commercial, non-discriminatory terms—light remedy.

26:18–30:16 — Isambard & AI adoption.UK supercomputer is symbolic; real edge is becoming the best AI adopter (health/life-sciences, public services).

32:25–39:47 — Power of Xi.China’s manufacturing lead; EU needs re-armament, industrial base, and alliances (US + Asian democracies).

40:24–41:54 — Deals of the week (Quantum).Quantinuum raises $600m (≈$10B val); IQM hits unicorn; prior Oxford Ionics → IonQ deal noted.