EUVC Newsletter - 04.08.2025
From soft power to hard choices—Europe’s venture future is being built now.
Europe’s venture story isn’t just about capital—it’s about conviction.
From aviation giants retooling their futures through startup collaboration, to founders redefining resilience after funds that never launched, this week’s voices remind us: ambition is nothing without courage.
At the EUVC Summit, Oliver Holle dared us to 10x European venture—not by copying Silicon Valley, but by owning our soft power and building on our unique strengths. And as we honor Robin Klein in the Hall of Fame, we’re reminded that ecosystems aren’t built by chance. They’re built by those who show up, decade after decade, with belief, humility, and grit.
Whether it’s new funds betting on human interaction tech, CVCs navigating transformation, or the 50th episode of This Week in European Tech, the thread is clear: we’re no longer waiting for permission. We’re writing Europe’s next chapter in real time.
The question isn’t if Europe will lead. It’s how—and whether you’ll be part of the building.
With 💖
David & Andreas
Table of Contents
🎧 Podcasts of The Week
CVC: Reinventing Aviation: CVC Strategy at 30,000 Feet with Nacho Tovar of IAG
Founder: What Comes After a Fund That Didn’t Raise?
EUVC Summit 2025: Oliver Holle: On Soft Power, Ambition & 10x-ing European Venture
Pitch: Alex & Valentina of AdHoc Ventures on Betting Big on Human Interaction Tech
EUVC Summit 2025: Hall of Fame: Honoring Robin Klein at EUVC Summit 2025
VC: This Week in European Tech with Dan, Mads, Lomax & Andrew Scott
🎧 Podcasts of The Week
Reinventing Aviation: CVC Strategy at 30,000 Feet with Nacho Tovar of IAG
Welcome to a new episode of the EUVC podcast, where Andreas Munk Holm and Jeppe Høier explore the cutting edge of European venture capital. Today’s guest is Nacho Tovar, who is the Group Innovation Director at IAG. IAG—the airline group behind British Airways, Iberia, and Vueling.
Together, they unpack how one of the world’s most complex legacy industries is retooling itself through deep tech, startup collaboration, and CVC-backed transformation—from synthetic fuels to quantum AI.
This is the CVC playbook for aviation, straight from the cockpit.
🎧 Here's what's covered:
02:02 How Childhood Dreams of Flight Became a CVC Career
05:12 IAG’s Six Investment Themes: AI, Automation, SAF, CX, Connectivity & Quantum
10:01 No Fund Yet—But €200M in Committed Capital Through the Balance Sheet
14:30 Why IAG Doesn’t Invest at Concept Stage (And Doesn’t Take Equity in Accelerator)
18:32 Nacho’s Career Path: Why Engineering + Accenture + VC = Ideal CVC Operator
24:34 Inside Iberia’s Turnaround: From €1M/day Losses to €1B Profit
28:47 Co-Investing over Leading: IAG’s Approach to Rounds
30:29 What Nacho Brings to the Cap Table: Commercial Scale, Access & Global Brand
32:54 The Secret Sauce: Airline Autonomy + Strategic Collaboration
34:08 How IAG Unlocks Strategic Value Post-Investment
39:23 Why Punctuality, Cost & CX Are All Linked in Aviation
44:59 The Airline-Customer Relationship: From Booking to Destination
You can watch it here or add it to your episodes on Apple or Spotify 🎧 chapters for easy navigation are available on the Spotify/Apple episode.
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What Comes After a Fund That Didn’t Raise?
Welcome back to another episode of At the Cap Table, your trusted inside track on the people, ideas, and power dynamics shaping the future of European venture.
This week, Savs sits down with Hannah Leach, Partner at Antler UK and Co-Founder of VentureESG, for a candid conversation about doing VC differently—from day-one investing and values-led portfolios to walking away from a fund that could have been.
They dive into the rise of “residency models” over accelerators, why ESG is often misunderstood (even by the pros), and how real co-founder chemistry can’t be faked. Hannah also opens up about why Fund II didn’t happen at Houghton Street Ventures, what she’s learned about partnership dynamics, and what kind of founders actually thrive under pressure.
Whether you're building from zero, navigating the future of VC, or just wrestling with what it means to do this job with intention—this one's for you.
Here’s what’s covered:
01:50 | How an NGO office in Mumbai sparked a decade-long obsession with founders
04:20 | VentureESG: the accidental nonprofit now guiding 700+ VCs and LPs
11:30 | Houghton Street Ventures: the thesis, the traction, and the hard call not to raise Fund II
18:00 | Why working with the right people trumps firm strategy
20:00 | Antler’s “day one” model and what a residency really offers founders
23:00 | Week 3 in the Antler cohort: when teams form — and sometimes fall apart
25:30 | What actually matters in early-stage teams (hint: not the idea)
28:00 | Standard terms, 10-week pressure, and founder selection inside Antler
30:00 | Project Europe, collaboration culture, and why VC needs more team sports
33:00 | Europe’s strength in AI, climate, and thoughtful founders
34:30 | Luck, wonky careers, and why no door is ever really closed
🎧 Listen on Apple or Spotify — or queue it for later with chapters ready to go.
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Oliver Holle: On Soft Power, Ambition & 10x-ing European Venture
At this year’s EUVC Summit, Oliver Holle from Speedinvest delivered a powerful call to arms. In a room filled with the ecosystem’s builders, he laid out a bold vision for European venture: one that embraces our values, recognizes our untapped capital strength, and demands we shift from fragmentation to scale. His words weren’t just timely—they captured a moment of reckoning for European VC. The message? The opportunity is ours to lose, and the only thing standing in the way is us.
Something strange has happened lately—I’ve never felt more proud to be European.
Not in a jingoistic way. But in the sense that Europe’s values—modesty, facts over noise, democratic principles, and consensus-building—are becoming a competitive advantage. At a time when reliability and trust are global currencies, Europe’s soft power has quietly gained weight.
But soft power alone isn’t enough.
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Alex & Valentina of AdHoc Ventures on Betting Big on Human Interaction Tech
In this episode, Andreas Munk Holm sits down with Alexander Klyanitskiy and Valentina Zakirova, the founding partners of AdHoc Ventures, a brand-new fund laser-focused on what they call Human Interaction Tech.
They explore why online communication, remote work, and AI are disrupting how we relate at work and in life, and why that opens a massive opportunity for a new kind of VC firm. With a track record of backing unicorns like Flo, Revolut, and Patreon, and institutional knowledge from Bain and SDV, the duo is now raising their first fund to scale this vision.
We dive into how they define their category, the growing $150B+ market opportunity, their standout portfolio performance, and how their unfair advantages—from GTM playbooks to Tier 1 VC intros—create gravity with both founders and LPs.
🎧 Here’s what’s covered:
00:05 Introduction to AdHoc Ventures
01:30 The Concept of Human Interaction Tech
05:28 Market Opportunities in Human Interaction Tech
09:23 Investment Strategy and Track Record
12:27 Unfair Advantages of Ad Hoc Ventures
16:03 Building a Global Fund
20:03 The Role of AI in Human Interaction
24:25 Value Addition as Specialized Investors
25:40 Management Fee Structure Explained
Watch it here or add it to your episodes on Apple or Spotify 🎧. Chapters for easy navigation are available on the Spotify/Apple episode.
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Hall of Fame: Honoring Robin Klein at EUVC Summit 2025
This year at the EUVC Summit Awards, Robin Klein was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Backed by HSBC Innovation Banking, the award celebrates a lifetime of impact—and Robin’s legacy stands as a blueprint for what long-term conviction in European tech can look like.
As Chris Adelsbach reminded us on stage, we’re no longer an emerging ecosystem. We’ve grown up. And few have helped shape that growth more consistently, more humbly, and more powerfully than Robin.
A Legacy That Began Before Venture Had a Name
Robin’s story doesn’t begin with startups—it begins with family, migration, and belief.
A century ago, his grandfather left Eastern Europe for South Africa. Years later, he handed over his life savings to a young engineer—Robin—to start a business. That first act of belief, Robin said, was venture capital before we had the word for it.
From there, the journey spanned decades:
→ Two companies built and exited.
→ A pivot to angel investing in 1999.
→ A front-row seat to the power law—and the human stories behind it.
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Europe & the US: Not Rivals—Partners in Building
At the EUVC Summit 2025, William McQuillan of Frontline Ventures delivered a data-backed reminder: If we’re serious about building global companies from Europe, we need to stop treating the US as a rival—and start treating it like the deeply connected partner it already is.
Robin Klein & the Power of Ecosystem Builders
The session opened with a heartfelt nod to Robin Klein, this year’s Hall of Fame inductee. When Frontline asked leading investors across the continent “Who has been most influential in your journey in European tech?”—four out of five said Robin.
“Building an ecosystem isn’t just about investing. It’s about building a fund, a culture, and a movement. Robin has done all three.”
His recognition is a signal to us all: the best investors aren’t just backing startups—they’re laying foundations for the entire ecosystem to thrive.
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This Week in European Tech with Dan, Mads & Lomax
Welcome back to another episode of the EUVC Podcast, your trusted inside track on the people, deals, and dynamics shaping European venture. This week marks a major milestone — Episode 50! To celebrate, Dan Bowyer, Mads Jensen of SuperSeed and Lomax from Outsized Ventures, and Andrew J. Scott return to unpack the headlines and trends shaping the European tech landscape.
From the UK government’s OpenAI partnership and what it means, to the missed boat on stablecoins, and to AI outperforming the brightest minds in math—this episode cuts deep into the future of tech, sovereignty, and competitiveness in Europe.
Whether you're a founder navigating policy shifts, an investor eyeing infrastructure plays, or just an AI-curious policy wonk—this one’s for you.
Here's what’s covered:
00:00 | Celebrating Episode 50
03:30 | OpenAI x UK Government: A Real Deal?
06:00 | Can AI Actually Transform Public Services?
09:30 | The Bigger Picture: AI Sovereignty and Strategy
14:00 | US vs UK AI Plans: Build, Baby, Build vs. Think, Baby, Think
19:00 | Policy Recommendations from the Pod
25:00 | Stablecoins: UK’s Missed Opportunity
30:00 | Dollar Dominance Reinvented
34:00 | Ideas for UK Leadership in Stablecoins
38:00 | AI Wins Gold at the Maths Olympiad
43:00 | Should Europe Build Its Own Sovereign Research Hub?
48:00 | Deal of the Week: Eurazeo’s €650M Fund for AI Scaleups
50:00 | Wildcard: AI vs. Raccoons
🎧 Watch it here or add it to your queue on Apple or Spotify — chapters for easy navigation are ready to roll.
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