Welcome back to the EUVC Podcast where we connect and champion the people building European venture.
In this episode, Andreas Munk Holm sits down with two pillars of Italy’s modern tech ecosystem:
Giovanni Daprà, CEO & co-founder of Moneyfarm, one of Europe’s leading digital wealth management platforms
Paolo Gesess, co-founder & GP at United Ventures, one of Italy’s premier early-stage VC firms
Together, they unpack how Moneyfarm went from a Milan-founded startup to a pan-European fintech player; how Italy’s ecosystem has evolved; how United Ventures backed Giovanni through multiple strategic inflection points; why the shift from Blitzscaling to Default Alive made Moneyfarm stronger; and how European fintech is entering an era of consolidation and acquisition-led expansion.
This is an episode full of concrete frameworks, real founder–VC dynamics, and hard-earned lessons from building across Italy, the UK, and Europe.
Here’s what’s covered:
04:00 | Moneyfarm as a digital wealth manager built to make investing simple, guided + discretionary, now managing £6.5B across Italy & the UK
04:54 | Why United Ventures backed them: early conviction in a massive savings problem, founder clarity from day one, and a mission that remained unchanged for 13 years
06:31 | Building from Italy first: leveraging local regulatory fluency + talent cost advantages while keeping a pan-European vision from day zero
08:59 | Italy today vs. 2012 — more capital, more repeat founders, more international operators returning, and a dramatically deeper talent pool
13:21 | The “tipping point” moments — moments where the board must choose: buy back shares, bring in global investors, widen the model (e.g., B2B2C)
18:37 | Surviving the capital cycle: seeing interest rates spike in real-time, shifting from burn to profitability in 24 months, and reshaping the framework for Europe
19:50 | The Europe playbook: “default alive”: why blitzscaling never fit most of Europe, and how disciplined scaling becomes a competitive advantage
22:25 | Founders vs. VCs on growth vs. profit: debunking the myth: alignment, capital structure, and long-term value trump forcing hypergrowth
23:09 | Managing founder stress & incentives: secondaries, refreshed equity plans, changing founder roles, and adapting governance over a 10-year journey
27:41 | Building European-style VC: United Ventures’ thesis: European standards, European ambition, and preparing founders for international Series B/C investors
30:09 | The next frontier: pan-European expansion, from product expansion → to commercial optimization → to cross-border consolidation
34:13 | Growing into M&A as a founder: Moneyfarm’s three acquisitions, building the muscle, and using M&A as a growth lever when organic slows
36:11 | The M&A playbook about when to build vs. buy, why scale matters, and the founder’s job in orchestrating product-led acquisitions
39:47 | The board’s role and independent perspectives, long-term value thinking, and helping the CEO avoid deal fever or tunnel vision
41:00 | The hard question: exits & fund cycles: how VCs manage tail-end holdings, DPI realities, continuation funds, and why selling is not betrayal
43:48 | DPI explained simply: why some funds need liquidity earlier, and why United didn’t (strong DPI → more patience → no forced exit)
✍️ Show Notes
Moneyfarm at a Glance
Category: Digital wealth management & investment platform
AUM: ~£6.5B across Italy & UK
Model: Advice + discretionary + brokerage + pensions
Vision: Build a pan-European invest-tech platform
Expansion:
Started in Italy (local regulatory fluency + market inefficiencies)
Expanded to UK for scale, capital, and regulatory friendliness
Currently evaluating Europe through M&A + product-led expansion
United Ventures’ Investment Philosophy
Back European-level ambition from Day 1
Encourage founders to think international, even if they start in Italy
Bring European-standard governance to the Italian ecosystem
Support founders through major inflection points:
International expansion
M&A
Profitability pivots
Tail-end liquidity needs
Welcome international co-investors in Series B/C rounds
Long-term supportive: open to continuation vehicles, patient with exits
Italy’s Tech Ecosystem: Then vs Now
2012:
Almost no VC
Very few digital operators
Founders lacked global mindset
Domestic-only ambition common
Today:
Billions in VC dry powder
Government + EU incentives
Major success stories proving it’s possible
Internationally trained talent returning
Founders start with European/global mindset
More M&A, more second-time founders, better boards
Italy is no longer “emerging”. It’s arrived — but still has headroom.
Scaling From Italy → UK → Europe: Lessons for Founders
Start where you know the regulation, but don’t get trapped.
Use big markets to raise big rounds.
Plan for multiple inflection points, not linear growth.
Build with discipline: Europe rarely rewards blitzscaling.
Product expansion often precedes country expansion.
Once profitable, Europe opens up via M&A — not just greenfield markets.
Founder maturity = knowing when to shift gears.
M&A Playbook for Scale-Ups (Moneyfarm’s Examples)
Only after strong PMF
Buy vs Build used strategically (e.g. pensions consolidation)
M&A accelerates scale in regulated spaces
Requires dedicated internal & external resources
Integration planning must not distract from core
Board alignment is essential
In Europe, consolidation is the likely path to pan-European fintech winners
Board & Governance Lessons
Independent board members keep decisions strategic
Founder/VC alignment changes as the company matures
In late-stage:
DPI matters
Liquidity options (continuation funds, partial exits) may emerge
Long-term VCs may choose to stay in great companies
United Ventures’ example:
They don’t need to force an exit because the fund already achieved DPI — allowing the company to grow into its next phase before any liquidity event.
💡 One-Liner Takeaway
Moneyfarm’s story is a snapshot of the new European fintech reality: disciplined growth, international ambition, consolidation-savvy founders, and VCs who build long-term and not spray-and-pray hypergrowth.
