Welcome to a new episode of the EUVC podcast, where our good friends Dan Bowyer and Mads Jensen from SuperSeed in a discussion with Andrew J. Scott, Founding Partner at 7percent Ventures and Lomax Ward, General Partner at Outsized Ventures, 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.
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✍️ Show notes
Reviving the Markets: IPOs and Major M&A Moves
Markets are heating up again, with major deals and IPOs signaling a renewed energy after a slow exit period. Klarna is filing for a US IPO amid market turbulence, aiming for a roughly $15 billion valuation and over $1 billion in funds raised. At the same time, CoreWeave is gearing up to go public—albeit at a smaller scale than originally expected—and is showing impressive growth by providing data centers and GPU services to AI developers. On the M&A front, high-profile deals are back on the agenda, highlighted by CoreWeave’s acquisition of the MLOps platform Weights and Biases and the notable $3 billion Moveworks exit.
In an even bigger move, Google’s acquisition of Wiz is making headlines as one of the largest tech deals ever. Wiz, an Israeli cybersecurity firm known for its “agentless” cloud security and digital twin technology, exited at a record $32 billion—setting a new benchmark for VC-backed companies. This deal not only marks Google’s largest acquisition, but also underscores a broader trend of vigorous deal-making that’s revitalizing venture liquidity. Despite some market jitters and regulatory hurdles, investors like Index and Sequoia are already seeing the rewards, proving that even in choppy conditions, big moves can create big paydays.
Foodome Sequencing: A Fresh Look at Health and Longevity
Bryan Johnson, a leading figure in the "Don't Die" movement, is shaking things up by proposing to sequence food much like we’ve mapped the human genome. His idea focuses on decoding the 20% of food that makes up 80% of the American diet—a bold attempt to tackle the tough challenge of eating clean in a country where over 70% of food is ultra-processed. With diet-related issues like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease on the rise, Johnson’s initiative raises questions about whether technology can truly change our eating habits, or if simpler solutions—like eating more greens and cutting back on sugary, processed foods, possibly aided by policies such as sugar taxes—might be the real answer.
Beyond the food, this initiative ties into a broader conversation on longevity. While many believe that genetics and good sleep are the real keys to a longer, healthier life, recent scientific advances—from clearing “zombie” cells to using rapamycin and CRISPR for gene repair—offer a glimpse of what might be possible in the future. However, even with exciting lab results in mice, the challenge remains in proving these breakthroughs in human trials. Whether Foodome Sequencing will revolutionize health or simply add another tool to the longevity toolkit is still up for debate, but it certainly sparks an engaging discussion on where startups and policy might best focus their efforts.
AI Corner: NVIDIA’s Bold Moves and the Rise of AI Infrastructure
At the recent NVIDIA GTC, “AI Jesus” Jensen Huang delivered a dynamic two-hour keynote unveiling a fresh lineup of chips—the Blackwell Ultra arriving in late 2025, followed by Vera Rubin in 2026 and Feynman in 2028. He highlighted that the scale of computation needed is growing fast, even estimating that each reasoning request might need up to 100 times more tokens than expected just last year. Alongside the chip announcements, NVIDIA is ramping up its data center plans with the new Stargate project, which will eventually pack up to 400,000 GPUs—four times the launch capacity of Colossus—marking a major leap in AI hardware infrastructure.
On the infrastructure front, the competition is heating up as Elon Musk’s xAI teams up with Microsoft, Blackrock, and other investors for a $30 billion data center project under the new AI Infrastructure Partnership (AIP), with ambitions to eventually exceed $100 billion. This collaborative move, coming on the heels of Microsoft’s $13 billion investment in OpenAI, underscores the intense AI arms race, even as partnerships shift and new players join the fray. Meanwhile, Europe is not sitting idle, with significant investments in AI tech fueling rapid planning and execution, especially highlighted by major French initiatives—demonstrating that the global push for AI dominance is well and truly underway.
Startup Espionage: When Rivalry Crosses the Line
This week, the spotlight is on startup espionage with high-profile lawsuits making headlines. Rippling is suing Deel, and Flexport is taking legal action against two former employees accused of stealing source code to launch a rival venture. While these public cases grab attention, they’re just the tip of the iceberg—espionage and underhanded tactics are happening all around, from national levels to the startup scene. Even giants like Tesla, Samsung, and LG have been tangled in controversies, highlighting that corporate spying and internal conflicts are more common than you might think.
These incidents echo infamous past cases, such as Waymo’s co-founder Anthony Levandowski, who was caught with confidential documents and faced jail time after stealing company secrets. Stories of physical altercations at trade shows and allegations of fraud, bribery, and cash theft further underscore the cutthroat nature of the business world. As Andy Grove famously said, “Only the paranoid survive,” reminding us that in the fierce arena of startups, vigilance is not just a virtue—it’s a necessity.
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💬 Community event | GP AMA with Carlos Eduardo Espinal
Get ready for our first-ever exclusive GP AMA with Carlos Eduardo Espinal, Managing Partner at Seedcamp—the powerhouse behind over 300 startups, including Transferwise, UiPath, and Revolut.
Carlos is a leading voice in Europe’s early-stage scene, the author of The Fundraising Field Guide, and a Forbes Midas List honoree.
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⏰ April 8 | Tuesday | 💻 Online
💬 Community event | LP AMA with Herve Cuviliez
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⏰ April 23 | Tuesday | 💻 Online | Available for Members Only
Our 2025 is already packed with events and unique experiences, and we want you to join us. Here is what’s coming next from EUVC! Exclusive retreats, adventure getaways, and deep-dive industry events are designed to connect, challenge, and inspire.
Roundtable on Choosing the Right Fund Admin
A solid fund admin partner isn’t just a back-office thing; it’s a compliance shield and time-saver if done right. This roundtable brings together Rebecca Roberts (7percent), Raoul Lehtonen (OpenOcean), Camille Hamon (Elaia), and Edwin Chan (Carta) to discuss key selection criteria, regulatory navigation, and tech innovations in fund admin.
Whether you’re launching Fund I or scaling Fund IV, outsourcing or keeping it in-house, this session will help you avoid admin nightmares and focus on investing. Don’t DIY your fund admin; learn from the pros.
⏰ March 26 | Wednesday | 💻 Online
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