Startup Europe — The Sifted Podcast How to build a $100bn company in Europe, with Sequoia's Luciana Lixandru
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Oct 23, 2025 Luciana Lixandru, a partner at Sequoia Capital and architect of its European expansion, shares her insights on building $100bn companies in Europe. She discusses the exciting potential of startups like Trade Republic and Revolut in fintech and AI. Luciana emphasizes the need for strong founder-market fit and agility in execution while navigating high valuations. She highlights London's emergence as a central hub for AI and fintech, and warns about Europe's market fragmentation being a significant challenge that startups must overcome.
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Europe's Act Two: Build Generational Firms
- Europe is entering an "Act Two" focused on building generational $100bn companies rather than just unicorns or decacorns.
- Luciana believes AI is a core driver of this next phase and that creating long-term compound businesses is now inevitable.
Examples: Trade Republic, Revolut, Penny Lane
- Luciana highlights Trade Republic and Revolut as examples of European fintech reaching massive scale.
- She also cites Penny Lane as a seed-stage team building a multi-decade AI accounting platform for SMEs.
Back Founders Solving Hard Problems
- Invest in founders solving hard problems because those build durable moats and are harder for competitors to copy.
- Prioritise teams that demonstrate long-term commitment and product depth over quick wins.