Changes at EUVC: Less Noise, More Signal

From founders to policy, and a new format to spotlight European VCs — we’re evolving to better serve the ecosystem and you.

Since we launched our very first episode to a grand audience of 12 people in December 2021 — yes, David has a big family and they all listened; oh, and that one guy named Greg we’ve never identified — we’ve had just one mission: connect and champion European venture.

We’re now more than 450 episodes in and the last six months we’ve been sending you an email daily. That is going to change a bit.

However, our mission has never been more pertinent. Europe is coming together, leading voices are rallying behind Europe — we’re rewriting our narrative and defining the path to progress. And we’re honoured to be playing our little part in it.

Following some intense soul searching (and head scratching), we’ve decided to make some changes and we’re excited to announce them to you.

The TL;DR

⚖️ We’re leaning more into policy.

📸 We’re creating a pod format dedicated to champion European VCs.

👷‍♂️ We’re starting to spotlight Europe’s founders on the pod

💌 We will spam you—less!

Let’s unpack that.

We’re leaning more into policy

Aristotle once declared, "Man is a political animal." We believe it's time European VCs and tech founders pick up the mantle and become so too.

Globally, two of the three most influential individuals today aren't politicians or traditional elites - they're tech-driven "tech bros". Recently, Marc Andreessen shared on the "Invest Like the Best" podcast that he would never have predicted a decade ago that a16z’s largest team today would be its political arm. The old guard is gone; technologists and their financiers now shape our world.

Europe keeps getting in its own way. Whether it’s navigating fragmented regulatory frameworks, raising in a market with limited pension capital, or planning for exits without a unified stock exchange — the friction is real. The AI Act, GDPR, and a patchwork of local rules may come from good intentions, but the result is predictable: founders hesitate, investors hold back, and innovation shifts elsewhere. These aren’t abstract policy debates — they shape where the next generation of tech gets built. And if we care about Europe’s role in that future, we can’t afford to stay on the sidelines.

Now, Europe stands at another critical juncture: defense spending. Will we continue to funnel billions into legacy systems and entrenched giants — or will we back the next generation of innovators shaping defense and dual-use tech?

This isn’t just about keeping up with the U.S. It’s about staying relevant on a global chessboard where others are already playing bold, coordinated moves. The U.S. may be the loudest player, backing high-profile startups like Anduril and Palantir, but it’s far from alone. China is racing ahead with military modernization and tech dominance at the core of its strategy. India, Japan, and South Korea are ramping up spending and local innovation. And countries like Saudi Arabia and Israel continue to invest aggressively in frontier defense technologies.

Even within Europe, frontline states like Poland and the Baltics are pushing above 3% of GDP — in sharp contrast to the EU average of 1.9%. That average remains well behind the U.S. (3.3%) and far below what’s needed to lead, rather than follow.

Initiatives like ReArm Europe show ambition, but risk defaulting to the familiar: big numbers flowing toward big contractors. Meanwhile, the kind of startups that could reshape our capabilities — in AI, space, autonomy, cybersecurity — remain underfunded, under-leveraged, and underrepresented in procurement processes. Companies like Helsing show what’s possible, but their scale pales in comparison to global peers.

Europe doesn’t just need to spend more — it needs to spend smarter. Because in this global game, we’re not just behind the U.S. We’re surrounded by players moving fast and thinking strategically. If we don’t back our own innovators now, we risk watching the next wave of defense tech — and with it, a critical pillar of our economic and strategic autonomy — get built elsewhere.

It’s time to stop playing defense and start playing to win. Pawns don’t shape endgames — vision and velocity do.

Let me be clear: I don’t care whether you are a techno-optimist, a policy nerd, a deep skeptic, or just here for the memes; I don’t care where you stand politically or how you feel about the loudest voices in tech. What I care about is your active participation. I’m not some visionary or thought leader. Odds are, you’ve achieved more than I have. So I hold ZERO judgment over your views — I just hope you’ll voice them and fight for what you believe in.

Why do I hope so?

Technology has shaped society more dramatically than any other force over the last fifty years. From electricity to cars, landlines to smartphones, and printing presses to Facebook and TikTok. Every aspect of life has transformed - and the pace is only accelerating.

You, as VCs, spend your time alongside the builders of our collective future. You're the closest thing we have to time travelers. Europe desperately needs more from you than investment and hoping for big returns a decade later.

As seers of the future, you can become agents of change who actively shape European progress. This requires stepping into political arenas, making decisions, and having tough conversations on issues you'd rather avoid. But remember Uncle Ben’s words: with great power comes great responsibility.

Venture's true strength has always extended far beyond our assets under management. Now is the moment to embrace this strength and live up to our responsibilities. Europe needs you now more than ever.

So why do we “announce” this?

Firstly; we’re here to amplify you in every way we can. So just reach out if you want to share your views in writing or on the pod.

Secondly; we’ve got the EUVC Summit coming up which is fully dedicated to this mission. Some of you will be there in person and some of you will join us on the live feed. If you’ve got the time on May 14th or want priority access to the recordings afterwards register to join the live stream here.

🎫 Get in-person ticket or join via live stream 🎦

The Summit Agenda

11:00–12:00 — Arrival & Networking Lunch
12:00–14:00 — Act 1
🎙️ Welcoming & The European Response To The America First Agenda
🏆 Hall of Fame
14:00–14:45 — Networking Break ☕
14:45–15:45 — Act 2
🎙️ The Path to EU Inc, Unlocking Pension Capital, Impact 2.0 & VC Firm Building
🏆 Newcomer & Exit of The Year
15:45-16:45 — Act 3
🎙️European Resilience, Leadership Leadership & Winning LP strategies
🏆 Impact Leader & Firm of The Year
16:45–17:30 — Networking Break ☕
17:30-18:45 — Act 4
🎙️Future of European Early Stage, Redefining the US & EU Relationship & Finding A Meaningful Life in Tech
🏆 Achievement of The Year & Emerging Manager of The Year
19:00–20:30 — Grand Awards Dinner 🥂
20:15–21:30 — Act 5
🎙️ Building European VC Franchises, Defending Europe & Capturing Rising Opportunities
🍸 Networking & Goodbye

And finally: We’ve got much more coming, one being a gathering for tech policy aficionados. And we’d love to get involved and help support where ever we can, so don’t hesitate to reach out if you’re brewing on something 💌

A brand new format & database to champion European VCs

We’re doubling down on our mission to champion and connect European venture.

With the EUVC database, we’re creating a new way for European VCs to showcase who they are and what they’re building - in the format that presents them best.

400+ episodes in, we’ve earned our stripes in long-form storytelling - deep, topical convos that dive into what makes this ecosystem tick. But we’ve heard the feedback: long episodes can be too dense, too indirect. Sometimes you just want the signal, not the noise.

These episodes are a crisp, 30-minute, 1-way communication format that puts the spotlight on your story, strategy, and edge - supported by a presentation shared via screen.

We hope this will be a great opportunity for you to be discovered, understood, and remembered.

👉 Go here to join the waitlist, submit your own entry for inclusion, and get in line to present on the pod 🎙️

Check out the teaser of very first episode of this format featuring Oleg Bibergan and Aleks Shamis from s16vc 📷

More European founders on the pod 🦄

We’ve always focused on the people shaping European venture — from LPs and GPs to policymakers and ecosystem builders. But there’s been one big gap: the founders themselves.

That’s changing. Now.

Founders are the beating heart of venture, and it’s time we give them a louder voice on EUVC. They’re the ones turning abstract ideas into real-world change, pushing the limits of what’s possible, and putting it all on the line — often in environments that don’t yet reward that level of ambition. And while we’ve told the stories of the people funding and enabling that journey, we haven’t spent nearly enough time with those actually living it.

Expect deep-dive episodes with Europe’s most thoughtful and ambitious founders — not just for inspiration, but to unpack what it really takes to build category-defining companies on this continent. Think cross-border scale, navigating EU regulation, hiring across fragmented talent pools, or raising from global investors while staying rooted in Europe.

And the timing couldn’t be more critical.

While Europe now produces 36% of global startups, it accounts for only 14% of the world’s unicorns - a reflection of the persistent scale-up gap facing our region.

But that’s changing.

In the past few years, Europe has consistently outpaced the U.S. and Asia in unicorn creation growth rates. Today, European startups are just as likely as their American peers to hit $1B+ valuations within five years - when funded. Momentum is real.

What’s missing is visibility into how it’s happening - and what it really takes to scale here.

Founders navigating that leap from early traction to global breakout face challenges unique to Europe: fragmented markets, patchy access to growth capital, and regulatory hurdles that slow momentum.

By sharing their real, unfiltered stories, we’re not just celebrating success - we’re building a shared knowledge base to help the next 3,900 growth-stage startups in the pipeline chart a better path forward.

These are stories the whole ecosystem needs to hear - not just because they’re impressive, but because they’re instructive. And to keep the lens grounded in early conviction and capital formation, some of these episodes will feature one of the founder’s early backers, giving you a 360° view of what it really takes to back, build with, and scale Europe’s best.

Got someone we should speak with? Hit reply - we’d love to hear from you.

We will spam you…less!

In the age of AI, continued clickbait and reach driven journalism (and creator-ism for that matter), being respectful of your time and attention should be a holy grail to us. We’ve never meant to deviate from this, but we’ve operated on the assumption you’d scan and skip our daily emails efficiently, making it a good format to promote our guests’ thought leadership effectively to those who care about each individual episode. We’re now making a change.

We’re focusing our publishing around fewer publications centring our email cadence around a weekly newsletter wrapping up of all new euvc podcast episodes and received guest articles.

In addition to this we will also occasionally send announcement emails and thought leadership articles—especially when they touch on tech policy and our broader mission: shaping the future of innovation and European competitiveness.

We hope you will welcome all of these changes with open arms and continue reading and listening.

We are deeply honoured to have every one of you in our subscriber base.

Thank you so much for your support 💖