Introduced by our very own Andreas Munk Holm, this EUVC Live at GoWest series spotlights the thought leadership of policymakers, institutional investors, GPs, corporates, and public capital leaders around one defining question:
How does Europe mobilise its own capital to secure its technological future?
Across the sessions, one theme emerges repeatedly:
Europe does not lack talent.
It does not lack innovation.
It does not lack savings.
It lacks coordination.
Europe Has Savings. It Lacks Capital Formation.
In The Case for a United European LP Strategy, Philippe Tibi (The Tibi Initiative, French Ministry for the Economy, Finance and Recovery; Professor at École Polytechnique Paris) lays out the macroeconomic argument.
Europe holds over €35 trillion in household assets.
Yet European champions too often scale under foreign ownership with foreign upside.
The issue is not capital scarcity.
It is capital allocation.
Tibi’s prescription is direct:
Mobilise pension funds and insurers to treat venture and technology as core asset classes, not alternatives, but necessities.
For returns.
And for sovereignty.
From Diagnosis to Mobilisation
In The Path to a United European LP Strategy, Chris Elphick (BVCA) and Philippe Tibi discuss how this mobilisation is playing out in practice.
The obstacles are structural:
regulatory conservatism
fragmented mandates
cultural risk aversion
limited cross-border coordination
Institutional allocations to venture remain near zero in many jurisdictions.
Reform is not optional.
If Europe wants to capture more of the value it creates, institutional capital must move.
Venture Through the Allocator Lens
Succeeding in Venture as a Long-Term Capital Investor shifts from policy to portfolio construction.
Christina Brinck (Volvo Group VC), Daniel Keiper-Knorr (Speedinvest), and Joe Schorge (Isomer) explore how to underwrite European venture in a fragmented but maturing ecosystem.
Recurring themes include:
diversification across cycles
power-law return dynamics
patience as a structural advantage
strategic alignment with industrial direction
From pension capital to corporate balance sheets, venture is positioned not as optional exposure.
But as essential infrastructure for participating in technological transformation.
Public Capital as Market Completion
The conversation then turns to public capital as ecosystem infrastructure. In The Role of Public Capital in European Venture Outcomes, Michiel Scheffer (European Innovation Council) explains how the EIC has funded hundreds of deep-tech companies and attracted private capital at scale.
The EIC has funded hundreds of deep-tech companies and attracted private capital at scale.
Public capital, he argues, is not distortion.
It is market completion.
Especially in:
deep tech
underserved geographies
growth-stage financing gaps
When private markets hesitate, public capital can anchor.
Not to replace the market.
But to enable it.
EIF: Anchor, Catalyst or Dependency?
In Catalyst or Competitor? Why the European Investment Fund Exists and How It Shapes Venture, Adem Yakisirer outlines how EIF has backed more than 1,600 fund managers and built a financing continuum from pre-seed to pre-IPO.
EIF operates as:
anchor investor
countercyclical stabiliser
ecosystem architect
In the following fireside Q&A, in which Adem is joined by Mia Grosen (Venture Partner in Catalyst or Competitor, Superseed) and Andreas Munk Holm, the tone becomes candid.
Questions surface:
Is Europe becoming too dependent on public anchors?
Does institutional backing signal quality — or create complacency?
How should sovereignty, defence, and deep tech priorities shape private capital behaviour?
EIF strengthens the ecosystem.
But it also becomes its gravitational centre.
The Core Takeaway
Across all sessions, the conclusion converges.
Europe’s constraint is not innovation.
It is capital coordination.
From LP mobilisation to cross-border collaboration.
From private portfolio construction to public market-building.
If Europe wants technological sovereignty and long-term competitiveness, capital must move:
With intent.
With alignment.
With scale.
