EU-Startups Podcast

Paul Bonnet, General Partner at 20VC Key Points The media-first model of 20VC is a real advantage for deal sourcing and building founder relationships. Keeping a small core team is a deliberate choice: it preserves conviction, keeps decision-making fast, and keeps the firm close to founders. As venture firms become publishers and investors break their own news, independent journalists and traditional tech publications still play a role - but it's a changing one. European founders who say the continent lacks funding should look closely at what capital is actually available at each stage and position themselves accordingly.

SDTH Winner (3 Month Challenge) Vaikesh Manimaran, Maelstrom Key Points: Real-time defensive systems force hard trade-offs between speed, accuracy, cost, and reliability - there's no perfect solution, only chosen compromises Working directly with operators and defence experts surfaces problems and constraints that pure lab development would never reveal If the prize funding is being used to accelerate MAELSTROM's development beyond the hackathon prototype

Singapore Defence Tech Hackathon Winner (48hr Challenge) Wayne Lin, NeuroMech Key Points: Hands-free control of unmanned ground vehicles could change how operators manage systems in situations where their hands and attention are needed elsewhere Brain-computer interfaces are notoriously difficult to make reliable, and rapid prototyping under hackathon pressure exposes those weaknesses fast A working prototype is only the first step — the real question is whether a hackathon project can become a viable company Prize funding is being used to push NeuroMech beyond a demo and toward a serious product

Gary Ang, Professor of Practice, Defence Innovation & Applications Key points: Defence technology often struggles to move from R&D into real-world use for reasons that span procurement, culture and organisational incentives - not just technical maturity Genuine dual-use value means a technology works credibly across both civilian and defence markets, not just carrying the label Europe's rising focus on defence innovation and Singapore's long-standing, integrated approach to technology, government and industry create strong opportunities for collaboration European DefenceTech founders should see Singapore as a partner, a market and a gateway to the wider Asian region - each role comes with different expectations Universities are becoming central to defence innovation, and turning research into venture-backed companies requires deliberate investment in talent, capital access and international scaling paths

Helmut Schönenberger, co-founder & CEO, UnternehmerTUM Key points: Turning strong academic research into companies that actually scale requires more than world-class science - it takes a deliberately built university venture ecosystem Munich and Singapore support founders and commercialise deep tech in notably different ways, and each has lessons to offer the other Singapore's model of connecting universities, government, investors and industry offers practices European ecosystems could adopt Europe's strengths in engineering, industrial technology and long-term research are assets that Asian innovation hubs can learn from - the exchange runs both ways Helping European DeepTech companies expand into Asia is a concrete role universities and innovation centres should own, from talent bridges to market access

Prof. Benjamin Tee, Vice President at NUSX Key points: Entrepreneurship teaches lessons that academia can't - insights that only come from trying to turn ideas into companies Deciding whether breakthrough research should stay in the lab or become a real company is a skill in itself, and one that can be learned The journey from lab to market for first-time founders can be structured and supported The biggest opportunities in physical AI sit at the intersection of AI, robotics and the physical world over the next few years Working at the frontier of research on technologies like electronic skin reveals just how long DeepTech really takes to reach the market University spin-outs rarely fail because of weak science - scaling globally requires doing things differently, from ecosystem support to commercial ambition

Babak Parviz, founder of NewDays.ai and former Google X and Amazon executive, discusses his journey from Google Glass to dementia care. He explores AI-powered support for patients and families, scaling clinically validated treatments, and AI’s future role alongside clinicians. The conversation also examines aging populations in Europe and Asia, cultural adaptation, healthcare regulation, and why focused startups can move faster than tech giants.

Dr. Orna Berry, Technical Director, Google Cloud Key points: Working across government, venture capital, large technology companies and national research programmes reveals what truly makes an innovation ecosystem function The biggest bottleneck in AI today often lies not in the models themselves, but in the slower-moving underlying systems of compute, infrastructure, data and talent The "talent supply chain" has weak links, and understanding them is essential for national competitiveness in AI Building specialised expertise in AI, biotech and quantum domestically is only part of the answer — the strongest ecosystems increasingly depend on attracting global talent

Dr. Tan Sian Wee, Senior Vice President (Innovation & Enterprise) at NUS Key points: Success for NUS's innovation and enterprise ambitions goes far beyond the headline billion-dollar goal and A5X vision The biggest gap between university research and real-world impact lies in the journey from lab to market, where most brilliant ideas fail to scale Singapore offers DeepTech founders from Europe and the US strategic advantages as a launchpad into Asia that are often underestimated Nova, NUSX's new full-stack AI platform, aims to transform how universities discover which ideas are worth building companies around For Singapore to become a place where world-leading DeepTech companies are born and built - not just funded - deliberate steps are needed over the next five to ten years

Andreas Flodström, co-founder, Varangians Key Points: • The story behind the Varangians name and its connection between Sweden and Ukraine.. • How building Beetroot shaped Andreas Flodström’s relationship with Ukraine.. • Why Ukraine has become an important centre for DefenceTech innovation.. • The balance between pure DefenceTech and dual-use technologies.. • What Europe can learn from Ukraine about drones, electronic warfare and rapid innovation.. • How investors evaluate technology, teams, governance and risk.. • Whether today’s DefenceTech investment surge marks the beginning of a new European industrial era.