EUVC Newsletter - 14.07.2025
This week, we’re pulling back the curtain—new pipes, side doors, and sharp edges reshaping how Europe’s venture game gets played.
Sometimes it feels like Europe’s venture landscape is held together by sheer stubborn optimism. Good thing we’ve got plenty of that. From circularity rebranded as strategy to retail investors plugging the climate finance gap, we’re seeing old walls come down—and new playbooks emerge where few thought to look.
This week is about exactly that: building new pipes for old money, rewriting corporate venture’s rulebook, and remembering that even in 2025, half the real deals still happen at the side party, not the keynote. From Italy’s focused founders to the GPs finessing their hustle backstage, one thing’s clear—when you can’t break in through the front door, you find a window (or three).
It’s messy, it’s imperfect—and that’s what makes Europe’s next act worth showing up for.
With 💝 David & Andreas
Table of Contents
🎧 Podcasts of The Week
VC: I am only in venture, because I'm doing defense. I'm not in defense because I'm in venture
CVC: Building Europe's Corporate VC Playbook
Roundtable: Julia Binder, Manuel Braun & Enrique Alvarado Hablützel on Circularity as Strategy, Not Sustainability
Impact Highlight Series: Jacqueline van den Ende on rewiring capital for climate impact and making everyday investors part of the solution
Founder: Founding with Focus: Why Italy’s VC Moment Is Now
VC: This Week in European Tech with Dan, Mads & Lomax
✍️ Insights Article of The Week
🎧 Podcasts of The Week
Building Europe's Corporate VC Playbook
Welcome to a new episode of the EUVC Podcast, where we bring you the people and perspectives shaping European venture.
This time, we flip the mic: Jeppe Høier, normally the host, steps into the hot seat in a conversation with Francesco Di Lorenzo, Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at CBS and an expert on entrepreneurial and innovation strategy.
In this episode, you’ll get the full backstory on Jeppe—from PwC to CFO at a pan-European fund, Heartcore Capital, to building Maersk’s CVC arm, and now shaping Europe’s corporate VC landscape through the EU CVC podcast, newsletter, and summit.
They dive deep into how corporate venture works (and fails), why the immune system metaphor holds true, and what’s needed to build an ecosystem across Europe that actually delivers.
🎯 This Podcast’s Themes:
From finance to strategy: Jeppe’s journey into venture
Why CVC is more organ transplant than M&A
How to survive 3 CEOs—and why you must
Fund of funds vs. direct investing: what’s trending in corporate venture
Building Europe’s corporate VC community: podcast, masterclasses, summits
Here’s what’s covered:
00:00 | From Interviews to the Interviewee: Jeppe in the spotlight
02:00 | Auditor Turned VC: From PwC to CFO of a pan-European fund
04:30 | The Maersk Years: Strategy, innovation, and the “immune system”
07:00 | Organ Transplant Theory: Why CVCs often get rejected
10:00 | Newsletter to Podcast: Building the EU CVC platform
12:00 | The European Vision: A fragmented but collaborative ecosystem
14:00 | Strategic vs Financial Tension: Why most corporates are confused
16:00 | Global Case Studies: TDK Ventures, Woven Capital, Maersk Growth
21:00 | The Pivot Playbook: Survive, evolve, stay relevant
23:30 | How to Do CVC Right: From metrics to mindset
25:00 | Fund of Funds 101: What corporates need to know
27:00 | Advice to MBAs: Learn the craft, love the long game
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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Julia Binder, Manuel Braun & Enrique Alvarado Hablützel on Circularity as Strategy, Not Sustainability
In this episode, Andreas Munk Holm sits down with Julia Binder (IMD), Manuel Braun (Systemiq), and Enrique Alvarado Hablützel (Chi Impact Capital) to unpack the evolving world of circular venture. They dive into why circularity should be viewed as a horizontal investment lens — not a niche — and how startups across materials, manufacturing, and infrastructure are already proving out scalable models.
From textile dyeing to resale logistics and digital product passports, the group highlights how circularity intersects with every vertical and why now is the time for more GPs and LPs to get involved.
Here’s what’s covered:
00:50 – “We don’t invest in dumb things”: The Pale Blue Dot mindset
02:30 – Why current supply chains reward harm — and how venture can reverse it
04:30 – Startups vs. corporates: Who’s best positioned to drive change?
07:40 – 5 monetizable circular business model archetypes
12:10 – What infra is needed to scale circularity?
15:00 – Real-world startups & back-end enablers in resale, reuse & track-and-trace
18:00 – Circularity: Horizontal lens or vertical category?
23:00 – Where capital is flowing: Startups, funds & LPs getting serious
26:00 – Hype cycles: AI ascendant, circularity under the radar
28:00 – Building ecosystems: Infrastructure, co-opetition, and collective voice
31:00 – Final call: Why everyone — from founders to family offices — must engage
📺 Watch the episode here or stream it on Spotify or Apple Podcasts — now with chapters for easy navigation 🎧
Join ImpactVC, a global community of 900+ VCs driving change and using venture capital to tackle the world’s biggest challenges—explore their community, resources, and training at impactvc.co.
Jacqueline van den Ende on rewiring capital for climate impact and making everyday investors part of the solution
Welcome to a new episode of the EUVC Impact Highlight, where we bring you the people and perspectives pushing the boundaries of purpose-driven venture. This week, August Solliv sits down with Dougie Sloan, Managing Director, Impact Venture at Better Society Capital, and Jacqueline van den Ende, Co-founder & CEO of Carbon Equity, to explore how we unlock billions for climate action by rethinking the very architecture of venture capital.
Together, they delve into how Carbon Equity is transforming everyday citizens into climate LPs, why “retail” doesn’t mean amateur, and how technology, transparency, and trust can finally bring impact investing to scale.
This episode’s themes:
Why climate finance is stuck—and how we build new pipes
Reimagining access: giving more people a seat at the capital table
The rise of the prosumer LP: conviction, education, and agency
Bridging alpha and impact without trade-offs
Redesigning private markets for participation at scale
Here’s what’s covered:
00:30 Jacqueline’s journey: from traditional VC to climate capital rebel
02:15 The climate capital gap: why only 2% of VC goes to climate tech
03:45 Institutional capital vs. bold innovation: the trust mismatch
05:30 Rethinking “retail”: building for a sophisticated next-gen LP
07:00 Tech as an enabler: onboarding, transparency, and scale
08:45 What private market investors need (and don’t get today)
10:00 Productizing the LP experience: clarity, ownership, conviction
11:45 How Carbon Equity builds education into capital deployment
13:00 The vision: mobilizing the masses without dumbing things down
14:30 Impact with returns: challenging the trade-off fallacy
16:00 What’s next: tokenisation, retail regulation, and unlocking access
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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End-to-end coverage of Fund Admin, Tax, Accounting, Compliance, ESG, and more—enabling you to focus on what matters most: supporting visionaries and maximizing LP returns.
Founding with Focus: Why Italy’s VC Moment Is Now
Welcome to a new episode of the EUVC podcast, where we connect and champion the voices shaping European venture. Today, we spotlight Lorenzo Franzi, Founding Partner at the Italian Founders Fund, to explore how a new generation of fund managers is reshaping Italy's startup landscape—and why deep empathy, focused strategy, and intentional market building are the foundation.
Lorenzo opens up about his journey from angel investor to institutional VC, shares insights on navigating Italy’s regulatory landscape, and explains why now is the time to believe in the Italian opportunity.
Here's what's covered:
02:00 Why Fund Strategy Starts With Empathy: How Lorenzo’s unique experience grounds his founder-first approach
05:15 The Thesis of Italian Founders Fund: A triad of Italy, diaspora, and inbound startups
08:10 Why There Are No Small Funds in Italy: Structural barriers and the missing middle
12:44 Data-Driven Support at Scale: Building productized VC operations
16:02 Market Maturation: Applying Foundamental's venture framework to Italy
19:00 Building an Edge through Focus: A concentrated portfolio with proximity-driven value
22:30 From Angels to Institutions: What the Italian startup scene needs next
25:50 Forget Unicorn Chasing: Why the alpha strategy matters more at pre-seed
28:40 Is Now the Time to Back Italy? Lorenzo’s bet and what makes it different
30:18 Ecosystem Building Through Visibility: Why global VCs must come meet local founders
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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This Week in European Tech with Dan, Mads & Lomax
This week, Dan Bowyer and Mads Jensen of SuperSeed and Lomax from Outsized Ventures, gather to unpack the macro forces and micro signals shaping European tech and venture.
They sit down to break down the two sides of the IPO market: the soaring optimism behind Figma’s public debut — and the deep freeze that’s hit London listings harder than at any time since before the dot-com crash.
They also unpack what Figma’s $730M paper loss means, how vertical AI is the next generation of SaaS, and what the UK must fix to stand a chance in the global listings race.
If you’re investing, building, or just trying to make sense of the markets this summer — this one’s for you.
Here’s what’s covered
02:30 | AI infra’s moment & CoreWeave hype
Why infra plays like CoreWeave and Circle have the market buzzing — but vertical AI is where the next SaaS returns lie.04:50 | Figma’s $730M paper loss explained
Mad breaks down the headline figure, the failed Adobe deal, the FTC veto, and why this IPO is about fundamentals — not hype.08:20 | Tender offer drama & employee morale
How Figma’s $20B exit fizzled — and the May 2024 tender to keep teams motivated ahead of listing.12:00 | Figma as a bellwether for design & vertical AI
Why product-led SaaS is shifting toward deep vertical AI workflows — and what that means for investors.15:45 | London: the slowest IPO H1 in nearly 30 years
Counter to the US’s $9B+ haul in 12 deals, London managed just $160M across five listings. A brutal gap.18:10 | Worse than dot-com. Worse than ‘08.
Dan & Mad put the numbers in perspective: this is the weakest stretch since before many listeners were born.26:15 | Dual-class shares & free float: too little too late?
Why tweaking share classes & float minimums is more copy-paste than innovation — and not the real fix.35:20 | The ESG paradox & listing tension
Where does London’s ESG edge help — and where does it push big companies abroad?40:15 | US vs UK capital markets: talent, trust & scale
Why founders and funds still flock to New York — and the structural advantages London must address.44:30 | Can London fight back?
What would it actually take to make London relevant again for growth listings? Dan’s realist take.50:00 | Lessons from Figma for founders
Why strong fundamentals still matter — and how the tender saga shows the cost of employee trust.55:00 | The vertical AI playbook: Europe’s edge?
Where Europe’s sector expertise might win if it can get capital markets working again.
🎧 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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I am only in venture, because I'm doing defense. I'm not in defense because I'm in venture
Welcome to a new episode of the EUVC Podcast, where we bring you the people and perspectives shaping European venture.
This week, Andreas Munk Holm sits down with Nicholas Nelson, founding GP of Archangel, the new defense-first fund going all in on the blunt reality of European strategic autonomy.
Nicholas is no newcomer to this. From advising governments to serving in Afghanistan, launching syndicates, or building dual-use bridges when few wanted to touch defense, he’s stayed on the same mission while the market shifted all around him.
In this episode, Nicholas breaks down why Europe needs unapologetic defense-first investing, why dual-use alone won’t cut it, and what founders, LPs, and co-investors must face up to if they’re serious about Europe’s sovereignty.
Here’s what’s covered:
00:00 | Nicholas Nelson’s journey: from service to syndicates to Archangel
02:00 | Two decades of doing defense before it was cool
04:00 | Why now? Why real defense? Why not just dual-use?
07:00 | The war tech shift: tanks out, rapid iteration in
10:00 | Ukraine’s ‘hourly sprints’—why on-the-ground matters
13:00 | Deterrence, lethality & Europe’s strategic gap
16:00 | When dual-use brands muddy the water (and why that’s risky)
19:00 | The bullets & bombs dilemma: investing when LPs say no
22:00 | Primes, vendor lock & the truth about the military industrial complex
26:00 | ESG tensions: Europe’s extra layer of complexity
30:00 | The pan-European Anduril myth—why it doesn’t map
34:00 | Local vs. pan-European scaling: what’s realistic
37:00 | Exit routes & why the big growth rounds go abroad
40:00 | The flywheel we didn’t get to—coming in part two
📺 Watch the episode here or stream it on Spotify or Apple Podcasts—now with chapters for easy navigation 🎧
Diary of an Emerging Manager - Part 7: The Events and Beggars on Parade
Breaking into GP/LP events as a new manager is part hustle, part comedy. Tickets are overpriced, guest lists are secret, and half the game is polite begging for a spot in the room.
Once inside, you’re hunting warm intros, dodging fake LPs, and trying to stand out in a sea of hungry GPs. The best connections rarely happen during speeches — they happen late at night, at side parties over cheap drinks and honest talk.
Lesson learned? The real work starts after the last cocktail is poured.
Startup Incorporation: Costly Mistakes & How to Avoid Them
Startup incorporation isn’t just paperwork; it’s the bedrock of every successful exit. In our recent EUVC Masterclass, Rena Kakon (Shado Ventures) and Tom McGinn (Northzone) unpacked real-life lessons on how poor incorporation can cost founders millions — or block an exit entirely.
💡 Key insights:
Incorporating in the wrong jurisdiction can add unnecessary taxes or kill deals.
Delaware is popular, but not always right if you have no US operations.
Use a simple framework: Where are the founders tax-resident? Where’s the IP? Where’s your market?
Think twice before “flipping” your company to another jurisdiction to please investors.
One founder lost $100M on a $600M exit — don’t be that founder.
🎥 Watch the full masterclass here.
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Dario combines deep institutional, operational, and investment expertise, investing in early-stage companies and funds. Recognized as a "40 Rising Star under 40" by VCJ, he actively contributes to the industry.
Before founding LTV Capital, Dario co-led fund investments at Anthemis Group, a top fintech investor, where he developed early-stage fintech plays with BBVA and pioneered a media-financial services fund. His background also includes spearheading international expansion at emerging markets fintech JUMO and contributing to the creation of ROAM, now Africa's largest classifieds group.
Academically, he holds a Master of Business Science in Finance from the University of Cape Town; his dissertation on "Tencent Holdings Limited" is widely downloaded and cited.
Outside of work, Dario is a former 125cc motorcycle racing champion who now advises the Finetwork Mir Racing Team, supporting young talent in motorsports. He is driven by a passion for empowering others and fostering change in the emerging manager VC ecosystem.
↓ Meet Dario at the EUVC community LP AMA Register below to attend tomorrow↓
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