Welcome to a new episode of the EUVC podcast, where our good friends Dan Bowyer and Mads Jensen from SuperSeed have a discussion with Ben Prade, Partner at GP Bullhound, to cover recent news and movements in the European tech landscape. 💬
Watch it here or add it to your episodes on Apple or Spotify 🎧 chapters for easy navigation available on the Spotify/Apple episode.
Conquer Corsica alongside Ben Saunders
Join us for a partners retreat packed with awe-inspiring treks, thrilling canyoning and river rafting, and inspiring sessions balanced with moments of reflection and exceptional dining. Be inspired by world record-breaking polar explorer Ben Saunders, challenged by our ex-SAS commander, and discover how to connect in an introductory deep work session with GOAT-investor Fred Destin.
✍️ Show notes
State of European fundraising for VC
Over the past decade, European VC fundraising has shifted dramatically. In the heady days of 2019/20, plentiful capital, low interest rates, and buoyant public markets made fundraising easier and led to high valuations. However, as tech revaluations set in and public markets cooled, many funds have struggled to return cash to LPs. This shift has made VC as an asset class more challenging, with traditional investors—such as U.S. pension funds—scaling back their exposure, leaving funds scrambling for new sources of capital. Source:
Now, governments are emerging as the biggest LPs, fundamentally altering industry dynamics. These state-backed funds are filling the void left by traditional investors and are increasingly influencing investment strategies, sometimes causing the LP tail to wag the dog. This change pushes VCs to build robust ecosystems that emphasize deep sector expertise and strategic partnerships. As government money plays a larger role, it brings both support and new challenges, potentially steering the future of European venture investments.
The European Opportunity for LPs, VCs, and startups
European venture capital is increasingly attractive to LPs and VCs alike, following a decade of impressive growth. Despite inflated caution around the global investment landscape, key data point to Europe’s thriving market. With European VC yielding a net internal rate of return (IRR) of 20.8%, beating the U.S. at 18.2%, and outpacing public markets with an average annual return of 23%, the region has cemented itself as an effective alternative.
Recent shifts show Europe capturing nearly 20% of global VC funding by 2023, up from only 5% two decades ago. The increasing investment in sectors like defense and AI provides an additional boost for the coming years. The European opportunity is far from a gloomy forecast; in fact, players in the space are poised for growth. Increasing momentum in fintech, with rising stars like Klarna and Revolut, coupled with broader, strategic government deregulation and support, suggests that Europe is well-positioned to leverage these opportunities. The U.S. AI bubble is facing challenges, providing European startups fresh pathways to thrive. Together, these factors place European VC in a strong position for sustained success, increasing its role as a key player on the global investment stage.
Quantum Corner: Breakthroughs and Skepticism
Quantum computing is rapidly evolving, with new breakthroughs that promise profound impacts across multiple fields. Microsoft’s latest release, the Majorana 1 chip, is touted as a paradigm-shifting advancement using topological qubits with built-in error correction. While this could significantly reduce the resources needed for reliable quantum computations, the field still faces major challenges.
Quantum states are extremely delicate, and error correction requires thousands of quantum bits to process a single logical bit accurately. Nonetheless, the Majorana 1 chip may pave the way for more stable qubits, potentially heralding commercial quantum computing by the late 2020s or early 2030s. Cryptographically destructive quantum machines may be within reach by the mid-2030s, making current cryptographic standards obsolete.
AI Corner: Grok 3 and Evo2 Revolutionize the AI Landscape
Grok 3, a new AI released by Elon Musk's company xAI marks a significant leap in chatbot performance. Trained on Colossus with 100,000 GPUs in just three months, it boasts record-breaking speed and top benchmark scores—especially in news analysis—positioning it at the forefront of the chatbot arena. While Grok 3 excels as a working tool, it still lags in handling file and project work, with competitors like Claude offering a more refined experience. This rapid development underscores the intense pace in the field, with anticipated releases such as OpenAI’s GPT-4.5 possibly arriving next week and GPT-5 as early as May, intensifying competition even further.
Alongside Grok 3, the AI space also welcomes Evo2—a massive open-source biological foundation model with 40 billion parameters trained on data from over 128,000 genomes. Evo2 functions like a “biological GPT,” providing predictive insights on DNA and supporting applications like cancer research by evaluating how mutations affect gene function. Together, these innovations highlight the ultra-fast advancement of AI technology, offering groundbreaking contributions for companies with extensive data and application-layer players, while also pushing the boundaries of what AI can achieve across diverse domains.
Fusion Corner: Breaking New Ground Towards Limitless Clean Energy
Recent breakthroughs in fusion energy are renewing hopes for a future of unlimited, clean power. Fusion holds the promise that a single gram of hydrogen isotopes can yield the energy equivalent of 11 tonnes of coal—a transformative prospect for global energy. For decades, fusion has been labeled "40 years away" due to the immense challenge of keeping plasma stable at temperatures between 100 and 150 million °C without damaging the reactor. However, recent milestones—17 minutes of continuous fusion by Chinese researchers in January and a new record of 22 minutes achieved by a French team at the CEA’s WEST Tokamak reactor—demonstrate significant progress in overcoming these hurdles.
To bring fusion energy into the commercial realm, key challenges must be addressed: achieving continuous net energy gain, scaling operations from mere minutes to days or even longer, developing materials that withstand extreme conditions over decades, and resolving fuel cycle issues with deuterium and tritium. The roadmap outlines a short-term phase (2025–2030) focused on refining experimental designs and reaching new operational milestones; a medium-term phase (2030–2040) that involves building and testing DEMO reactors with sustained energy gains; and a long-term outlook (2040–2050+) where commercial rollout could finally become a reality. If these steps succeed, limitless, clean energy could be within our grasp in the next 15–20 years.
VC Buzz: Competing Theories on Startup Funding in the Age of AI
Peter Walker at Carta outlines two competing theories on VC-backed startups in today’s AI-driven landscape. The first theory suggests that AI is making it cheaper to build a company—startups need less cash than ever, echoing Sam Altman’s solo unicorn founder vision. Conversely, the second theory argues that while AI lowers initial barriers, it also intensifies competition, meaning that as startups scale, having a cash advantage becomes crucial. In this view, even though companies can launch with less capital, ultimately dominating a market will demand significantly more funding.
Data over the past five years shows that median round sizes (adjusted for inflation) are smaller across most stages, except for notable outliers at pre-seed and seed levels. This raises the question: is “seed the new Series A”? Buzzwords like “venture-lite” and “seed-strapping” capture this shift, where larger seed rounds are pursued to avoid subsequent fundraises. For growth investors, the challenge is timing—waiting until companies hit $10M+ in revenue can mean facing sky-high valuations. Additionally, the tech revaluation in 2022-23 has shifted focus from “growth-at-all-costs” to profitability, further reshaping investment strategies in a fiercely competitive environment.
Some things are made for platforms - music, cabs & pizzas. But fund solutions aren’t one of them. Their individual client focus and regulation-first approach is your guarantee for flexible solutions accommodative to a broad range of deal and client specifics. The kicker? Prices that match any of the shelf-products in the market.
🤗 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.
✍🏻 Masterclass | VC Fund Finance: Essential Tools, Strategies and Applications
Join us for an in-depth session on VC Fund Finance: Essential Tools, Strategies and Applications. Fund finance has become an essential consideration for fund managers navigating the complexities of venture capital. Offering tools such as Subscription Lines (also called Capital Call lines), NAV financing, and GP Support/Co-invest financing, fund finance provides structured solutions to manage liquidity, bridge capital needs, and align investment strategies with long-term goals.
This masterclass provides a comprehensive overview of fund finance, its origins, and its application across the lifecycle of a fund. Designed for fund managers at varying stages, the session balances conceptual frameworks with actionable insights, making it particularly valuable for second-time or larger fund GPs, while also addressing the needs of emerging managers exploring fund finance for the first time.
⏰ Feb. 26 | 💻 Online | Trusted and praised by industry leaders and fund managers. Here’s what some of them had to say about working with James.
💬 Community event | LP AMA with Ertan Can
Join us for an exclusive AMA session with Ertan Can, Founder & Managing Partner at Multiple Capital.
Ertan Can is the Founder & Managing Partner of Multiple Capital, Europe’s first tech-focused fund of micro funds. With over 20 years of experience in asset management, VC, and fund of funds investing, he has backed 31+ early-stage VC funds and built a portfolio of 500+ companies. His mission is to democratize access to early-stage tech funds across Europe and the US.
This AMA is part of our ongoing series of small-group sessions designed to foster deep, meaningful discussions within the VC community. Participation is free for members of our community, but spots are limited. Reserve your spot now to ensure you don’t miss this opportunity.
⏰ March 13 | 💻 Online | THIS EVENT IS FOR EUVC COMMUNITY MEMBERS ONLY.
✍🏻 EUVC Masterclass | Marketing Foundations for Fund Managers
Join us for an engaging workshop tailored for fund managers looking to institutionalise their marketing approach and craft a category-defining investment brand.
This masterclass is designed to go beyond traditional marketing advice on tactics to help you create lasting brand equity, ensuring your fund stands out in a competitive landscape.
This session will provide actionable insights into fund positioning, LP communications, and crafting compelling narratives - all while maximising time for Q&A to address your specific challenges.
⏰ March 13 | 💻 Online |
✍🏻 EUVC Masterclass | Setting up and Structuring a VC Fund
Emerging fund managers face countless challenges when setting up and structuring their first VC fund. The process is complex, daunting, and full of pitfalls, from navigating legal frameworks to engaging with the right service providers, the foundations you lay now will shape your growth trajectory.
That’s why we’re planning an exclusive 3-hour masterclass designed to equip emerging managers with the insights, strategies, and tools needed to tackle these challenges head-on.
⏰ Jun. 02 | 🇩🇪 Berlin | This masterclass is a side-event taking place during SuperVenture & SuperReturn.
🗓️ The VC Conferences You Can’t Miss
There are some events that just have to be on the calendar. Here’s our list, hit us up if you’re going, we’d love to meet!
0100 Europe 2025 | 📆 02 - 04 April 2025 | 🇳🇱 Amsterdam, The Netherlands
0100 Emerging Europe 2025 | 📆 14-16 May 2025 | 🇭🇺 Budapest, Hungary
GITEX Europe 2025 | 📆 23 - 25 May 2025 | 🇩🇪 Berlin, Germany
Share this post