Hi friends,
EUVC is growing and we’re hiring across operations, growth and partnerships to expand our platform as the trusted voice of European venture capital.
If you have a builder mindset, are curious about venture and European tech, and are comfortable with ambiguity, or know someone who is, we’d love to connect.
Alongside that, this week we share insights from Chris Preston, CEO of Zeren, who argues that the real question is not whether leadership teams know what AI is, but whether they have rebuilt how they operate around it.
We also bring you an EUVC podcast episode with Andy Leaver, CEO of Arqit and Operating Partner at Notion Capital, on why AI isn’t the real disruption yet and how the convergence with quantum changes everything.
We have more conversations with some of the top voices in the industry lined up. Subscribe to our podcast if you haven’t already to catch what’s next.
And if you’re the kind who plans ahead, secure your super early bird ticket to the EUVC Summit & Awards Show (April 2027) before this limited release ends.
We hope you enjoy this edition.
with 💖
David & Andreas
Table of Contents
Insights of the Week
Podcasts of the Week
EUVC Career Opportunities
Events and Community Gatherings
Insights of the Week
“The question is not whether your leadership team knows what AI is. It is whether they have rebuilt how they work because of it.”
In an opinion piece for EUVC, Chris Preston, CEO of Zeren, argues that European startups are overestimating their AI readiness while operating with leadership teams built for a different era.
He highlights a widening gap between what roles now demand and what leaders are equipped to deliver, urging founders and boards to reassess talent with urgency as AI reshapes how companies operate.
Also, Zeren and EUVC have produced The European VC Leadership Playbook, a practical guide to building the leadership teams that scale, from seed to exit. You can download it here.
Podcasts of the Week
The real unlocked moment in technology is when AI and quantum come together, shifting from generating possibilities to identifying the best outcomes across complex problem spaces.
This is the view Andy Leaver, CEO of Arqit and Operating Partner at Notion Capital, shared with Andreas Munk Holm in the latest EUVC podcast episode, covering AI–quantum convergence, Europe’s scaling gap and slower-than-expected enterprise AI adoption.
Key highlights
Why most startups fail scaling from €10M to €30M
AI is impressive, but not yet world-changing
Enterprises are slow to adopt AI despite the hype
Quantum could break current encryption
The real breakthrough is AI + quantum combined
AI demand is surging, but infrastructure is the constraint, with memory now the key bottleneck.
In this episode of This Week in European Tech, Dan Bowyer and Mads Jensen of SuperSeed cover AI constraints, Big Tech earnings, monetisation, geopolitics, Europe’s position and what capital flowing into AI labs and SpaceX signals about what comes next.
Key highlights
AI growth is constrained by memory and infrastructure
Monetisation is accelerating as models use more tokens and cost more
AI is a geopolitical battleground, with control over talent and IP
Europe shows momentum, but regulation could hold companies back
Performance gains are increasingly driven by application scaffolding
EUVC Career Opportunities
We’re hiring across operations, growth and partnerships at EUVC. This is a unique opportunity to help build the operating system behind one of Europe’s fastest-growing venture platforms, gain exposure to top investors and founders, and see your impact in real time.
We’re also looking for freelance content creators for a short-term project (minimum two weeks) in Lisbon. View details and apply.
LP AMA with Dominic Maier, AVP | May 19, Online
Mont Blanc Retreat 2026 | May 7–10, Piedmont and Chamonix
EUVC Corporate Summit 2026 | September 10, London
EUVC Summit & Awards Show 2027 | April 21, London
