Turning Europe’s misalignments into opportunity
Entrepreneurship through acquisition, funding deep tech and why comms is now infrastructure
Hi friends,
We’re delighted to introduce Unsung, a new podcast we’ve launched with Will Maunder-Taylor. It explores entrepreneurship through acquisition: buying and growing existing businesses instead of building from zero.
In the first episode, Will sits down with Peppa Wise (Multiverse) to unpack what actually drives performance — across startups, scaleups, and often-overlooked small businesses.
The core insight: the real edge comes from spotting where talent and opportunity are mispriced — and acting on it.
That same misalignment shows up elsewhere too.
In deep tech, companies rarely fail on technology. They fail when capital, timing and conviction fall out of sync. As Marta Sjögren (Paebbl) shares in Leaders Shaping a Resilient Planet, building industrial climate companies is as much about aligning the right stakeholders as it is about scientific breakthroughs. Fundraising isn’t a volume game, it’s a signalling game.
And in European tech media, a similar shift is underway. As Cathy White (CEW Communications) explains on the latest EUVC episode, credibility is no longer won through a single headline. In a fragmented landscape shaped by creators, newsletters and AI, storytelling has become core infrastructure. Founders who treat it as such build a lasting advantage.
Across all three conversations, one theme stands out: success comes less from following the default path, and more from understanding the systems you operate in and where they break.
Hope you enjoy,
with 💖
David & Andreas
Virtual | Wednesday, April 1 | 02:00 PM - 04:00 PM GMT
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In this 2-hour workshop on VC Fund Terms & KPIs, we’ll cover what to measure (TVPI, DPI, IRR, MoIC), when to measure it and what LPs truly care about. You’ll also learn how GPs track performance internally and how to build a clear, practical dashboard for fund and portfolio monitoring.
Designed for both emerging and experienced investors, with a strong focus on real-world application and decision-making.
Table of Contents
Podcasts of the Week
Peppa Wise, Multiverse on Meritocracy in Action: How Great Sales Leaders Are Made
Marta Sjögren, Paebbl on Scaling Carbon-Storing Materials Through Capital and Industrial Alignment
Cathy White, CEW Communications on European Tech’s Next Advantage
This Week in European Tech with Dan Bowyer, Lomax Ward & Harry Destecroix
Events and Community Gatherings
Podcasts of the Week
Peppa Wise, Multiverse on Meritocracy in Action: How Great Sales Leaders Are Made
The default career paths are clear: climb the ladder or start from zero.
But there’s a third way most people don’t consider.
In the first episode of Unsung, Will Maunder-Taylor sits down with Peppa Wise (Senior Vice President, GTM UK&I at Multiverse) to explore what actually drives performance — across startups, scaleups and the kinds of businesses often overlooked.
Unsung focuses on entrepreneurship through acquisition: buying and growing existing small businesses instead of building from scratch.
Because whether you’re scaling a startup or taking over a business, the fundamentals are the same.
The underlying idea? Talent and opportunity are often mispriced and the best environments know how to unlock both.
Key ideas:
Why talent and drive often beat experience
How the best companies build true meritocracies
What separates high performers from everyone else
Why sales can be one of the fastest ways to change your trajectory
How to hire, develop and scale great teams
Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or queue it up with chapter markers ready to go. Follow Unsung for more.
Marta Sjögren, Paebbl on Scaling Carbon-Storing Materials Through Capital and Industrial Alignment
Deep tech companies rarely fail on technology. They fail when capital, timing and conviction do not align.
In the latest episode of Leaders Shaping a Resilient Planet, Marta Sjögren (Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Paebbl), joins Carmel Rafaeli (Founding Partner at The Table), and our very own Andreas Munk Holm to unpack what it actually takes to fund and scale industrial climate companies.
Paebbl manufactures construction materials that permanently store carbon. It takes captured CO₂ and reacts it with abundant minerals, locking the carbon into a stable solid form. The result is a supplementary cementitious material that can replace part of traditional cement, directly addressing one of the largest sources of industrial emissions.
The model delivers two outcomes at once: storing carbon and reducing emissions in construction.
The challenge is not only technical but also financial and systemic. Fundraising in deep tech is not a pipeline game. It is a signalling game, where investor behaviour reveals real intent and momentum comes from alignment, not volume.
Key insights:
• Fundraising is driven by investor behaviour, not pipeline size
• Deep tech requires layered capital stacks beyond equity
• Momentum comes from the right stakeholders, not more conversations
Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or queue it up with chapter markers ready to go.
Cathy White, CEW Communications on Why Comms is now infrastructure in European tech
The biggest mistake European founders make? Treating comms like PR.
In the latest EUVC episode, our own David Cruz e Silva speaks with Cathy White (Founder and CEO of CEW Communications) about how the European tech media landscape is shifting and why most founders are still operating with an outdated playbook.
As traditional gatekeepers fade and a fragmented mix of journalists, creators, newsletters and AI takes over, credibility is no longer built through a single headline. Instead, it’s earned over time through consistent visibility, clear storytelling and strong founder presence.
The underlying issue? European tech is great at building but often struggles to explain what it’s building.
Key ideas:
Why the “one big media hit” no longer works
Why comms is becoming core infrastructure
How AI is reshaping discovery
Why storytelling is now a competitive advantage
How founders can build their own distribution
Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or queue it up with chapter markers ready to go.
This Week in European Tech with Dan Bowyer, Lomax Ward & Harry Destecroix
In this episode of Upside, Dan Bowyer of SuperSeed and Lomax Ward of Outsized Ventures, joined by Harry Destecroix, MBE, of SCVC, unpack a week where capital, industry, and AI economics are beginning to shift simultaneously.
Europe moves to close its growth-stage funding gap with a €15 billion fund-of-funds, while deeper structural issues in capital formation remain unresolved. At the same time, Bezos signals a new phase of physical AI, targeting the industrial economy at scale, and China pushes AI toward commodity pricing through collapsing inference costs.
Across all of this, one tension stands out: infrastructure is scaling faster than monetisation.
Key insights:
• Europe’s capital problem is structural, not just scale
• Physical AI is emerging as the next major battleground
• AI economics are shifting toward cost and commoditisation
• Public funding cannot replace private capital formation
• Capex is accelerating ahead of real revenue adoption
Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or queue it up with chapter markers ready to go.
Events and Community Gatherings
The EUVC Summit & Awards Show 2026 | April 22, London
Private Offsite for Corporate Venture Leaders | May 11–14, Piedmont
SuperReturn | June 8-10, Berlin
The ultimate LP/VC networking universe is brought to life at SuperReturn Venture - back at the Hotel Palace Berlin from 8-10 June, 2026.
Connect with leaders in venture capital: 1,000+ senior industry players. 500+ VCs. 350+ LPs. 50+ countries worldwide.