Welcome back to the EUVC Podcast, where we bring you the people and perspectives shaping European venture.
Today we’re joined by Lucanus Polagnoli (Founding Partner & CEO) and Stephanie Urbanski (Managing Director) of Calm/Storm — a specialist early-stage fund backing software-only digital health across Europe. Fresh off the close of Fund II, we dive into how they’ve evolved from a solo-GP experiment into a community-powered platform, why they keep the scope digital-only, and how they navigate regulation, AI and the post-COVID reality without losing the plot.
🎯 This Episode’s Themes
Same, same — but sharper: Fund II doubles down on pre-seed/seed, software-only digital health, with bigger checks and higher ownership.
Community as a product: 60+ “supporting partners” and 110+ LPs powering 100+ co-invests — founder-to-founder help on demand.
Specialist by design: Why digital health (no molecules, no hardware) lets a small fund move fast and add tangible value.
Regulation ≠ roadblock: In health, approvals can protect moats — if you have the patience and the cash plan.
AI without the buzzwords: Companion to clinicians, not a replacement; curated, longitudinal data beats generic LLM advice.
Europe’s moment (still): Later-stage money does show up now; e-prescriptions and rails are here; US health is just as complex.
Logo gravity matters: Follow-on quality (Sequoia, Balderton, Creandum et al.) is the strongest portfolio predictor.
⏱️ Here’s what’s covered
00:24 | Names & origins - how to say “Polagnoli” (and why words matter)
01:24 | Fund II - same stage/sector/geo; larger tickets (€400–500k initial), higher ownership, co-lead when conviction is high
03:30 | Supporting partners - 60+ founder-operators + LPs as an on-call help network
05:45 | Why Calm/Storm - the gap they saw in 2019; launching Feb 5, 2020, right before the pandemic wave
08:52 | Post-COVID reality - rails stayed (e-scripts, digital flows), tourists left; real followers now fund B/C rounds in Europe
11:08 | Longevity & prevention - out-of-pocket willingness, AI unlocking insights from dormant data
13:21 | Team split - Stefanie’s operator engine + community execution; Lucanus on strategy and navigation
16:10 | Why digital-only - software speed, small teams, low capex; pass on molecules/hardware for fund construction reasons
22:45 | Regulation as moat - ThinkSono’s 8-year climb on DVT ultrasound automation; Europe vs. US complexity myths
26:44 | AI in health - pattern recognition, prep and triage; risks of generic LLMs for personal diagnosis
31:10 | Adoption & incentives - public vs. private delivery, prevention economics, and Europe’s risk-capital bottleneck
36:26 | Where AI wins first - curated data, longitudinal monitoring, workflow copilots; the missing top-10 health app
42:58 | Community receipts - burnout averted, board-level engagements, LPs turning co-investors
45:27 | Portfolio & follow-ons - Nelly, Lindus, 9am Health; why “who picks you up” predicts outcomes
48:56 | Exit math & fund design - earlier liquidity via M&A/secondaries; co-lead over “winner-takes-all”; stay early-stage by choice
✍️ Show Notes
Fund II: Same Thesis, Sharper Edges
Calm Storm sticks to what works: software-only digital health at pre-seed/seed, now with bigger initial tickets (~€400–500k), willingness to co-lead when conviction is high, and a push for more ownership. The firm evolved from solo GP to a team (Stephanie, Johannes, Ekaterina) — and a platform mindset.
Community as an Operating System
Instead of “venture partners” who just source, Calm Storm built supporting partners — >60 founder-operators and 110+ LPs who’ve joined 100+ co-invests. It’s pragmatic: when a founder hits a wall (regulatory, hiring, fundraising, mental load), there’s a peer who’s already solved it.
Why Digital-Only (and Why That Matters)
A small, early fund needs velocity, iteration, and sane capital cycles. No molecules, no hardware. Software teams can ship MVPs, test hypotheses, and comp to B2B/B2C playbooks (Fintech-for-Health, Marketplaces-for-Health, AI-for-Health) without decade-long burn.
Regulation as a Feature
Health scares generalists; Calm Storm leans in with eyes open. Approvals create moats and raise the bar for copycats — if you underwrite time, cash and grit. Case in point: ThinkSono (automating DVT ultrasound for nurses) navigated studies and approvals over years to become category-leading. Also: US health is not “simpler” — different complexity, not less.
AI: Cut the Hype, Keep the Value
AI is everywhere in decks — but curated data and clinical workflow wins. Expect AI as copilot (triage, prep, highlighting suspicious lesions, synthesizing research) — not as a therapist or a solo diagnostician. Generic LLMs for personal health? Risky. The real upside: longitudinal data, regular labs, privacy-aware models, and tools that give doctors back minutes.
Europe’s Health Tech, Post-COVID
Tourists are gone; rails remain (e-prescriptions, digital processes). Crucially, later-stage capital now follows in Europe, enabling Series B/C at home. You can build big health businesses without a US leap — dentistry in Germany alone is a unicorn-scale market.
Proof in the Follow-Ons
From Nelly, Lindus, 9am Health to brand-name follow-on investors (think Sequoia, Balderton, Creandum), the team argues the best predictor of portfolio strength is who shows up next. Calm Storm optimizes for earlier liquidity (M&A, secondaries) vs. waiting on IPO windows — and keeps its early-stage focus by design.
💡 Investor Takeaway
Calm Storm’s Fund II is a study in discipline over fashion: narrow scope (software-only), platformized help (supporting-partner OS), a realistic AI thesis (copilots, not cowboys), and a European path that doesn’t need the US to be big. If you believe prevention, longitudinal data, and workflow automation are where health value accrues, this is the specialist lens you want on the cap table.
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