Welcome back to another EUVC Podcast, where we gather Europe’s venture family to share the stories, insights, and lessons that drive our ecosystem forward.
Today, we dive into the announcement of Ventech’s Fund VI, which has closed at €175M — the firm’s largest fund yet, with an impressive 95% LP re-up rate. To unpack it all, Andreas Munk Holm sits down with Stephan Wirries, General Partner at Ventech.
From AI and industrial software to European sovereignty and late-stage capital markets, Stephan shares how Ventech is positioning itself for the next decade — and why Europe still has structural gaps to fix if it wants to scale globally.
🎧 Here’s what’s covered:
01:00 Announcing Fund VI: €175M close, Ventech’s largest ever, with 95% LP re-up.
03:00 What LPs are telling us: trust in the model and appetite for AI.
04:00 Ventech’s pan-European footprint: Paris, Munich, Berlin, Helsinki, Stockholm.
06:00 Why 50% of capital is aimed at AI, with cross-pollination into health, cyber, and industry.
08:00 AI inside VC itself: sourcing, diligence, and portfolio support.
09:30 Sovereignty & cybersecurity as Fund VI’s core theme.
12:00 Industrial software & robotics: Europe’s edge in automation and “physical AI.”
15:00 Lessons from the dot-com crash to today’s AI wave.
18:00 Why Ventech avoids foundational LLMs but backs applied AI.
20:00 Strategic European bets: Mistral, ASML, and deep tech leadership.
22:00 The road ahead: growth capital, IPO markets, and pension reform.
🎧 Listen on Apple or Spotify — or queue it for later with chapters ready to go.
✍️ Show Notes
Fund VI Announcement & LP Trust
€175M close — Ventech’s largest ever, with 95% of LPs returning.
A testament to longstanding relationships across banks, insurers, family offices, and founders.
Context matters: Stephan frames today’s “crisis” as geopolitical rather than VC/tech ecosystem, with sovereignty now a core investment theme
Pan-European Presence
Ventech is no longer “just a French firm” — offices in Paris, Munich, Berlin, Helsinki, and Stockholm.
Local GPs and principals embed Ventech in the language and culture of each hub, building trust where it matters most at seed and Series A.
Ticket sizes €1–5M, with vertical expertise by partner track record, not by geography.
AI Focus (Inside & Outside)
Half of Fund VI capital will flow into AI-driven opportunities.
Ventech is applying AI internally too — Stephan uses AI agents for meeting prep, deck summaries, and workflow automation, freeing up partners from associate legwork.
Investment lens: applied AI, not foundational LLMs. Ventech avoids cap-intensive infra bets, focusing instead on deep stack applications in health, industry, and sovereignty.
Acknowledges Mistral as Europe’s exceptional LLM story, with ASML’s backing as a signal of geostrategic strength.
Sovereignty & Cybersecurity
Geopolitics is shaping investment theses: resilient infrastructure, data centers, inference hosting, and dual-use tech.
Portfolio example: Prewave, building supply chain resilience for both corporates and governments.
Europe’s independence from US big tech hosting is a major opportunity for founders.
Industrial Software & Robotics
Focus on industrial robotics and automation, not consumer robots.
“Physical AI”: training robots in simulated environments to tackle complex manual work.
Europe’s incumbents (SAP, robotics leaders) create natural adoption channels.
Hubs like Munich play a critical role by anchoring startups near industrial giants.
Cycle-Tested Strategy
Ventech was founded on the eve of the dot-com crash — and has lived through every cycle since.
Multi-generational GP team debates what’s truly different this time.
Strategy: closer to value creation, deeper in the stack, avoiding hype-driven GTM plays.
Stephan compares AI’s potential to the internet moment, while staying cautious on valuations.
Europe’s Missing Pieces
IPO markets: Europe’s biggest structural weakness. Fragmented across Paris, Frankfurt, and the Nordics — Stephan calls for consolidation and depth.
M&A: more cyclical than structural; corporates will return once capital costs ease.
Growth capital & pensions: unlocking pension fund allocations into VC could be a game-changer for late-stage liquidity.
💡 One-liner Takeaway
Ventech’s €175M Fund VI cements its pan-European strategy: betting big on applied AI, industrial software, and sovereignty, while calling out the structural reforms Europe needs to compete globally.
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