Welcome back to another episode of Upside at the EUVC Podcast, where Dan Bowyer, Mads Jensen of SuperSeed and Lomax from Outsized Ventures unpack what’s happening in European tech and venture capital.
This week: The UK lands $150B of US pledges and 120,000 Nvidia GPUs—can London turn its AI hype into substance? NATO on edge after Russian incursions across Poland and Denmark. Are we witnessing an AI bubble, or just the infrastructure wave of the century? Plus: cyber risk after JLR’s ransomware hit, Trump’s $100K H-1B visa fee, and the week’s billion-dollar deals.
🎧 Here’s what’s covered:
01:59 The UK Economy: stalled housing, digital ID hopes, and why Gatwick beats Heathrow.
08:02 Macro Context: UK at 1% growth vs US 3.8%, but Revolut and AI unicorns offer upside.
11:23 Trump’s UK State Visit: $150B in pledges, Nvidia’s mega GPU cluster, and hidden strings.
17:34 Pageantry vs Reality: Andrew on IMF forecasts and why the UK still outpaces France & Germany.
20:41 Pensions & Equity Gap: Why Europe lags the US in growth capital.
25:17 Are We in an AI Bubble? Big tech’s circular bets, Nvidia’s chokehold, and history repeating.
35:12 Cybersecurity & AI: JLR hack fallout, ransomware surge, and a $500B market by 2030.
43:21 NATO on Edge: Russian drones in allied airspace, Trump’s hawkish rhetoric, and Europe’s defense unicorns.
53:28 The H-1B Shock: Trump’s $100K fee and whether Europe can seize the talent opportunity.
59:44 Deal of the Week: N-Scale’s $1.1B data center raise and Oura Ring’s $875M round.
🎧 Listen on Apple or Spotify — or queue it for later with chapters ready to go.
✍️ Show Notes
UK’s Big AI & Capital Moment
Trump’s visit delivered $150B of investment pledges—much of it recycled, but still multiples above usual inflows.
Nvidia announced 120,000 Blackwell GPUs for the UK by 2026, cementing London as a global AI cluster.
Optimism with Revolut (70M users, $10B run rate) and AI unicorns like ElevenLabs & Synthesia.
But the economy drags: 1% growth, inflation sticky, housing starts collapsed.
AI Bubble or Infrastructure Boom?
Nvidia’s profits exploded from $250M to $25B in two years.
Big tech’s web: Amazon, Google, Microsoft recycling cash into Anthropic, OpenAI, and each other.
CapEx: Amazon at $100B, Meta at $70B—bigger than all of European VC combined.
Is it paddle courts of compute—or the foundation for a decade of productivity gains?
Cyber & AI Risks
Jaguar Land Rover hack: plants offline for 3+ weeks, cascading supply chain issues.
UK exits: Darktrace ($7B) and Wiz ($34B).
Market projected to double to $500B by 2030.
Cyber is now a non-discretionary spend.
Defense & NATO Tensions
Russian drones breached Poland & Denmark airspace; Article 4 invoked.
NATO: 3.5% GDP on defense + 1.5% on cyber/infrastructure.
VC side: €2.5B raised since 2022 with unicorns Helsing, Quantum Systems, Tove.
Talent shifts: engineers no longer avoiding defense—defense tech is hot.
Visa Shock: Europe’s Chance?
Trump slapped $100K fees on H-1B visas (up from $1.5K).
The UK and Europe could benefit—if policy moves fast.
But wage gaps and political realities may keep talent flows muted.
Deals of the Week
N-Scale: UK AI data center startup raises $1.1B at $3B valuation.
Oura Ring: $875M Series E at an $11B valuation.
💡 One-liner takeaway
Europe faces a paradox: record AI investment and defense urgency, but fragile growth and cyber shocks test its resilience.
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