At this year’s EUVC Summit, Oliver Holle from Speedinvest delivered a powerful call to arms. In a room filled with the ecosystem’s builders, he laid out a bold vision for European venture: one that embraces our values, recognizes our untapped capital strength, and demands we shift from fragmentation to scale. His words weren’t just timely—they captured a moment of reckoning for European VC. The message? The opportunity is ours to lose, and the only thing standing in the way is us.
Something strange has happened lately—I’ve never felt more proud to be European.
Not in a jingoistic way. But in the sense that Europe’s values—modesty, facts over noise, democratic principles, and consensus-building—are becoming a competitive advantage. At a time when reliability and trust are global currencies, Europe’s soft power has quietly gained weight.
But soft power alone isn’t enough.
Let’s Talk Capital
We love to talk about how small the European VC industry is. But let’s look at the numbers:
Total AUM in European VC: ~€426B
Share of pension + insurance capital: <2%
Meanwhile, in the US:
VC share of pension & insurance capital: ~10.3%
AUM: ~€3.3T
If we just match the US in allocation %, Europe’s VC industry could 10x—easily.
This isn’t pie-in-the-sky dreaming. The capital is there. The population is there. The macro tailwinds (diversification, geopolitics, time zone alignment with Africa, GCC, and Asia) are aligning.
So what’s missing?
Us.
There’s one bottleneck left—and it’s us.
If we’re serious about 10x-ing this industry, we can’t keep running lifestyle firms.
That doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with them (some of my closest friends do it, and do it well). But we need to build firms with scale in mind. That means:
Reinvesting fees in people and platform.
Expanding, not contracting.
Thinking in decades, not fund cycles.
And—yes—it means consolidation. We simply don’t need thousands of tiny seed funds in Europe. What’s stopping us? One word: ego. Let’s get over ourselves.
Let’s Act Like Our Founders
We ask founders to dream big, build big, take risks, team up with others—and push past comfort.
Maybe it’s time we took a page from their playbook.
We’re at a unique moment. The capital’s there. The global appetite for European reliability is there. All that’s missing is execution.
So let’s build.
Together.
🤗 Join the EUVC Community
Looking for niche, high-quality experiences that prioritize depth over breadth? Consider joining our community focused on delivering content tailored to the experienced VC. Here’s what you can look forward to as a member:
Exclusive Access & Discounts: Priority access to masterclasses with leading GPs & LPs, available on a first-come, first-served basis.
On-Demand Content: A platform with sessions you can access anytime, anywhere, complete with presentations, templates, and other resources.
Interactive AMAs: Engage directly with top GPs and LPs in exclusive small group sessions — entirely free for community members.
Share this post