Welcome to a new episode of the EUVC Podcast, where our good friends Dan Bowyer and Mads Jensen from SuperSeed are joined by Ben Prade, investor & operator at Bullhound Capital (the investment arm of GP Bullhound), for an unfiltered look at Europe’s venture reality: fundraising pain, secondaries-as-a-service, AI’s power hunger, China’s “dark factories,” and how Europe unlocks the capital to compete.
Ben focuses on deep tech, AI, quantum, and space, and he brings a clear-eyed view on how liquidity, secondaries, and structural headwinds are reshaping the market.
🎧 Here’s what’s covered
02:35 Fundraising reality: fewer funds, flight to brands
Why ~25% of new VC money goes to the top 10 brands; what that means for emerging managers; and why DPI is king again.05:26 Sovereign LPs & strings attached
When government money shapes mandates: the upside (more capital) and the risk (policy over performance).06:45 Chinks of light: Klarna & liquidity
How high-profile exits (and lock-ups ending) can recycle cash back into European VC.09:37 Goldman buys Industry Ventures
Why a Wall Street giant wants secondary data + wealth distribution — and how that can unclog LP portfolios.13:08 Nobel Prize & growth mechanics
Creative destruction (Aghion–Howitt) meets realpolitik: state de-risking, catch-up industrialization, and China’s “build both infra and innovation” model.21:24 AI’s “everything app” moment
OpenAI’s ~30 GW compute plan (> $1T decade CapEx), Google’s ad-cash advantage, and the looming pricing showdown.25:09 Circularity vs. reality
Vendor-financing analogies in AI, but remember: revenue expectations — not loops — pop bubbles.28:03 Unit economics: AI ≠ SaaS
Negative gross margins down the stack; LLMs climbing into apps; why vertical data + UX decide winners.32:02 China’s dark factories
Execs return “shaken”: robotized plants, BYD’s surge, and how physical AI (motors, batteries, autonomy) changes competitiveness.39:29 Unleashing Europe’s capital
JP Morgan’s $1.5T initiative vs. European pensions stuck in gov bonds; rewiring incentives to fund productive risk.45:00 Deal of the Week: ecoRobotix
€90M Series D (Highland Europe, McWin). Precision AI spraying that cuts herbicides/pesticides by up to 95% across 20+ countries.
✍️ Show Notes
DPI or Die
Mark-ups don’t raise new funds — distributions do. 2025 is about returning cash, not just writing memos. Expect more secondaries, continuation vehicles, and selective asset sales.
Goldman x Industry Ventures = Liquidity Rail
Secondary pricing intel across ~700 funds and ~10k companies plus Goldman’s private-bank distribution = a cleaner exit route for stuck LP positions.
Innovation Economics (with caveats)
Creative destruction drives growth, sure — but Europe ignores state de-risking at its peril. We need public procurement and mission-driven R&D to crowd-in private capital.
AI’s CapEx Supercycle
OpenAI’s power draw nears half the UK’s annual consumption. Google can bankroll price wars via ads; OpenAI counters with alliances, agents, and ad ambitions. The endgame hinges on unit economics and trust.
Vertical > Horizontal
As frontier labs move into applications, the moat shifts to proprietary data, workflow depth, and UX. Vertical AI that embeds into regulated or mission-critical ops wins.
China’s Physical AI Advantage
Full-stack robotics + batteries + motors married to open-source AI — deployed at factory scale. Europe must accelerate automation, power, and manufacturing sovereignty.
Unlocking EU Capital
Pensions are over-indexed to low-yield sovereigns. Fix the incentive stack: prudent allocation to venture/growth, clearer rules for secondaries, and outcomes-based public co-investment.
Physical AI with ROI
ecoRobotix showcases climate-meets-margin: real-time vision models reduce chemicals ~95% while preserving yields — the kind of “hard tech” Europe can lead.
💡 One-liner takeaway
Liquidity fuels resilience. Get DPI flowing, back vertical AI with real unit economics, automate the physical world — and Europe can play offense again.
🤗 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.
