EUVC newsletter - 24.03.2025
Welcome to our community-sourced newsletter, which features the most important news from the European venture ecosystem and the latest submissions to the EUVC insights platform—the platform that collects and amplifies the best long-form pieces from the EUVC community.
Click here to submit your articles, events, or projects 📥
📝 Article | Diary of an Emerging Manager - Part 3: F FOR FINANCE
Why it matters: Building a fund from scratch? It's less “glamorous pitch decks” and more Excel-induced existential crisis. This article walks through the real work behind fund size modeling, ops planning, and performance metrics—aka the stuff that makes or breaks Fund I.
Lessons #1: Fund size follows thesis, not LP appetite. #2: Ops costs are sneaky and painful. #3: Most first-time GPs either oversell or guesstimate.
Why it matters: €5.76B raised by female founders in 2024 = 12% of the total VC pie—holding steady with market trends despite the downturn. Deep tech is their playground: 33% of their capital went there, outpacing the average.
AI’s the MVP, with 77% of founders using it and 25% of big rounds AI-fuelled (hello, Cradle & Sana Labs). With bigger rounds, rising unicorns (Cardior, Pigment), and more exits (+15% M&A, 3 IPOs), this ain’t your average diversity stat drop—it’s a playbook for LPs & GPs betting on high-output, undercapitalized segments.
💬 Survey | What is the future of investments in Central and Eastern Europe?
Join the Money in Motion research project, an initiative by The Recursive in collaboration with Grammig Advisory’s Central & Eastern European Wealth Summit. They are diving deep into how High-Net-Worth Individuals (HNWIs) invest, what emerging trends are rising, and where private capital flows in the CEE region. Your insights will help the ecosystem better understand the opportunities and challenges facing this market. All responses are kept strictly confidential.
Additionally, you can get early access to key findings and exclusive invitations to wealth and investment portfolio management events within the region.
Ready to make your voice heard?
Click the survey link below and share your perspective.
🎙Podcast | This Week in European Tech with Dan Bowyer, Mads Jensen, Lomax Ward and Andrew J. Scott
Why it matters: The exit drought’s cracking open—Klarna’s chasing a $15B IPO, CoreWeave is hitting the public markets (and scooping up Weights & Biases), while Google’s $32B buyout of Wiz rewrites the M&A playbook for VC-backed startups. LPs, liquidity’s not just a rumor anymore.
Meanwhile, AI infra is going thermonuclear: NVIDIA’s GTC keynote dropped next-gen chips and 400k-GPU data centers, while Musk’s xAI joins Microsoft and Blackrock on a $30B+ infra blitz. Europe’s not sleeping either—France is ramping hard. Welcome to the AI Cold War.
On the healthtech front, Bryan Johnson’s now trying to sequence America’s diet to outlive death while reminding us the longevity game still needs proof, not protein bars. Finally, startup espionage is going full Succession: Rippling is suing Deel, Flexport’s code is allegedly walking out the door, and the industry’s learning (again) that paranoia isn’t a bug—it’s a survival trait.
📝 Article | The future of AI: 23 industry leaders on what's next in AI for startups
Why it matters: AI agents are going from cool tools to creepy coworkers—startups are leading the charge with emotional intelligence, ambient monitoring, and multimodal inputs via Google’s Gemini stack.
Infra matters more than ever: modularity, observability, and orchestration are the new flex for production-scale AI. VCs are zooming in on real-world applications + sticky products with defensible moats—LLM wrappers, beware. If your AI can’t plug into workflows, solve a niche, and scale efficiently, it’s getting left behind.
Why it matters: Cerity Partners’ merger with OCIO firm Agility blends institutional rigor with UHNW reach—now overseeing $100B+ and aiming to bring private markets to the wealth crowd with scale and customization.
For GPs, this means a fast-maturing channel with growing expectations: due diligence, education, and differentiated access are table stakes. TL;DR: If you’re not building with the wealth channel in mind, you're missing the next trillion-dollar door.
💬 Survey | Who do you think are the best early-stage VCs in Europe?
There are more than 4,000 VCs in Europe ... but are they all equal?
We want to know which early-stage VCs are the cream of the crop and why.
Take our short, anonymous survey and make your voice heard!
We’ll reveal the most interesting findings in the coming weeks.
📝 Article | Patisserie Coin De Rue: Tragedy & Triumph in the Pursuit of Perfection
Why it matters: Marvin Liao shares his reflections on a Japanese bakery film that hits harder than most board meetings. A love letter to craft, obsession, and the personal toll of chasing excellence—reminding founders (and VCs) that greatness often demands sacrifice. TL;DR: Build with purpose, but don’t lose the plot.
Your life's masterpiece shouldn't come at the cost of the people who matter most.
📝 Article | How a shifting market and turbulent politics created a perfect storm for climate tech founders
Why it matters: 63% of climate tech founders now report poor mental health—up 10% YoY—amid rising geopolitical chaos and a brutal capital pullback. Trump’s return, ESG backlash, and Ukraine-linked inflation have crushed optimism and killed deals, with 46% of founders eyeing the exit. Despite being 2024’s top-funded vertical, climate tech saw H2 funding drop 47% vs. H1.
Passion is burning bright—but so are the founders. For VCs and LPs, this is a wake-up call: deploy with empathy, not just capital.
💬 Survey | Are you investing in European startups or scale-ups? Your voice matters!
Benoit Vandevivere from EU/acc is gathering investor insights on how to streamline corporate formalities (e.g., online filing, faster registrations, and optional notaries) and reduce bureaucracy across Europe. Your feedback will help shape policy discussions with the European Commission and institutions. Join the effort to modernize Europe’s business environment and improve its competitiveness!
Please take 2 minutes to complete the “Accelerating Europe” survey.
📝 Article | Unpacking Hinge Health’s S-1 filing
Why it matters: Hinge Health’s S-1 shows AI isn’t just buzz in MSK care—it’s boosting gross margins from 66% to 77%. With $1.3T in total MSK burden (US) and $733 in revenue per member, the scale is clear, but so is the challenge: low penetration, high marketing spend (43% of rev in 2024), and delayed public health traction.
Enter Flok Health—UK’s AI-native physio clinic designed for NHS scale. As VCs chase healthtech with actual margins and systemic fit, this marks the divide: corporate AI health tools vs. public-native AI disruptors.
📝 Article | How to disrupt mining's 40.000 years old industry - New playbooks when bad customers make great competitors
Why it matters: Mining's a $2.2T dinosaur with sky-high risks and tech adoption slower than molasses. Startups are done begging BHP to pick up the phone—Earth AI and KoBold Metals are flipping the script by using AI to become the miner, not just sell to one.
Earth AI slashed exploration costs by 80% and hit a 75% discovery rate (!), while KoBold is valued at $3B with major finds like Zambia’s Mingomba copper deposit. VCs take note: in legacy industries, tech is nothing without a business model power-up. SaaS won't cut it—on the stack or get stacked.
💬 Community event | GP AMA with Carlos Eduardo Espinal
Get ready for our first-ever exclusive GP AMA with Carlos Eduardo Espinal, Managing Partner at Seedcamp—the powerhouse behind over 300 startups, including Transferwise, UiPath, and Revolut.
Carlos is a leading voice in Europe’s early-stage scene, the author of The Fundraising Field Guide, and a Forbes Midas List honoree.
Why attend?
Perfect for VCs on the fundraising trail
Ask all the questions you’ve been afraid to ask
Build connections you can use in your continued fundraising efforts
⏰ March 25 | Tuesday | 💻 Online | Available for Members Only
✍🏻 EUVC Masterclass | The Secondaries Market: Key Insights, Strategies, and Applications
Get access to the full potential of the secondary market. Join our exclusive 2-hour online masterclass and get expert insights on liquidity strategies, valuation techniques, and successful selling tactics.
Why attend?
Demystify the fundamentals of the secondary market
Understand the differences between direct and fund secondaries
Gain actionable insights on valuation, pricing, and sale preparation
⏰ April 8 | Tuesday | 💻 Online
💬 Community event | LP AMA with Herve Cuviliez
Ready to gain insider insights from a seasoned VC leader?
Join our exclusive AMA with Hervé Cuviliez, co-founder of ID4 Ventures, in a small-group, interactive setting where you can ask real questions and get real answers.
Why attend?
Get direct insights from a seasoned investor with 20 years of experience
Learn practical tips and strategies to elevate your fundraising game
Build connections with fellow VCs and LPs in an intimate setting
⏰ April 23 | Tuesday | 💻 Online | Available for Members Only
Our 2025 is already packed with events and unique experiences, and we want you to join us. Here is what’s coming next from EUVC! Exclusive retreats, adventure getaways, and deep-dive industry events are designed to connect, challenge, and inspire.
Roundtable on Choosing the Right Fund Admin
A solid fund admin partner isn’t just a back-office thing; it’s a compliance shield and time-saver if done right. This roundtable brings together Rebecca Roberts (7percent), Raoul Lehtonen (OpenOcean), Camille Hamon (Elaia), and Edwin Chan (Carta) to discuss key selection criteria, regulatory navigation, and tech innovations in fund admin.
Whether you’re launching Fund I or scaling Fund IV, outsourcing or keeping it in-house, this session will help you avoid admin nightmares and focus on investing. Don’t DIY your fund admin; learn from the pros.
⏰ March 26 | Wednesday | 💻 Online
Join us at the EUVC Summit & Awards Show
Spend a day with the best VCs and LPs of European venture at a summit with just one purpose: Chart the path to European progress & crown the winners of this year's EUVC Awards 🏆. Tickets are on sale now, and EUVC community members receive a 50% discount.
Adventures and Deep Connection Await 💞
Step beyond the ordinary into a retreat that challenges and transforms you—as a partner and as an individual. Ten couples will embark on an adventure of reflection, connection, and shared resilience, guided by nature and a like-minded community. Traverse mountains, navigate the sea, and embrace stillness under the Corsican sky. This is not an escape—it’s a chance to be fully present, together, in adventure & in life.
