Startup Europe — The Sifted Podcast

Dinika Mahtani is a partner at Cherry Ventures, specializing in UK investments and formerly with Uber and Barclays. She discusses the resurgence of deeptech and why Europe is becoming a budding tech hub. Dinika shares her unique journey from a general manager to an investor, revealing her strategies for making partner in just three years. She also highlights the challenges faced by European entrepreneurs and the importance of mentorship in navigating her career. Plus, she opens up about her aspirations related to supporting IVF patients globally.

On this episode of Startup Europe — The Sifted Podcast, Amy sits down with Tom Leathes, CEO and cofounder of used car marketplace Motorway. The company, founded in 2017, has helped more than half a million people sell their cars, and has raised $273m from investors like Index, Iconiq, LocalGlobe and BMW i Ventures.Tom and his two cofounders have launched four startups before Motorway, with three resulting in successful exits, and one having to shut its doors. Tom and Amy discuss what he's learnt from that one failure, and what's now going right at Motorway, as the company takes on the formidable challenge of disrupting a huge and slow-changing automotive industry. This podcast is brought to you by Vanta. Vanta is the fast, frictionless way for growing companies to get compliant, stay secure, and earn and maintain the trust of vendors and customers.  Head to Vanta.com/sifted to learn more. 

Tomas Okmanas, Founder and co-CEO of Nord Security, is a powerhouse in the tech industry with over 15 million users marveling at his innovations. In this chat, he opens up about launching his new venture, Nexos.ai, geared toward simplifying AI for enterprises. He shares insights on navigating the competitive AI landscape, the importance of hands-on involvement in startups, and why Lithuania is an emerging hub for innovation. Plus, he reflects on the significance of personal connections in leadership and mental health in the entrepreneurial journey.

To kick off 2025, we're talking "business angels": the people who take big bets investing their personal wealth into startups at their earliest stages, and without whom most companies would never get off the ground.So, how do you actually become an angel investor? How much money do you need to commit? How many investments should you be making? And how can the UK and Europe lay the groundwork for a more representative next generation of investors?Amy poses these questions to Jenny Tooth, a veteran angel who's also executive chair of the UK Business Angels Association, representing over 15k investors nationwide. Jenny shares insights from her work on Innovate UK’s emerging tech steering board and her new initiative, WomenInvestEU, aimed at creating a more inclusive early-stage investment landscape.

On 2024's last episode of the Sifted Podcast, Amy is joined by an entrepreneur on a very big mission. Munich-based startup Proxima Fusion is developing a nuclear fusion reactor — a technology which many hope could help solve the climate crisis by producing clean, cheap and abundant energy that could replace a lot of fossil fuel power.But the technical challenges are considerable.Nuclear fusion reactors need to remain stable at incredibly high temperatures, while confining volatile plasma with powerful and sensitive magnets. Proxima Fusion is targeting raising a billion euros to build its technology, with support from European governments and international investors.The company’s founder Francesco Sciortino sat down to discuss how his team plans to change the world with its technology, the milestones it needs to hit, by when, and to reflect on the challenges of scaling up ambitious hardware-based deeptech companies from Europe.

Podcast host and Sifted editor Amy Lewin sits down with Petteri Lahtela, founder of smart wearable company Oura Ring, to discuss how the business has grown to making $500m in revenue, hitting profitability and selling more than 2.5m devices in the process.They discuss the big idea behind Oura, how Petteri has turned down multiple offers from buyers and how the company is well poised to pounce on the AI boom with the data it holds.

This month we’re joined by Jeannette zu Fürstenberg, managing director at global VC firm General Catalyst and cofounder of La Famiglia VC — a Berlin-based early-stage investor which merged with General Catalyst last year.Jeannette’s investments include companies like HR platform Deel, logistics startup Forto, HR tech unicorn Personio, defence unicorn Helsing and AI unicorn Mistral. She also sits on Helsing and Mistral’s boards, giving her a front seat at two of Europe’s most closely-watched and exciting companies. She sat down with Sifted editor Amy Lewin to discuss how to fund ambitious deep tech ideas, how Europe can make the most out of AI to improve productivity and how that merger between two VC firms has been working out.

Avid Larizadeh Duggan, senior managing director at Ontario-HQed growth-stage investor Teachers’ Venture Growth, is one of Europe’s first operator-turned-VCs.Her career in tech began with stints as a product manager at places like eBay and Skype, and has switched between operational and investing roles ever since. In 2021 she joined TVG, which is part of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, one of the world’s biggest pension funds.Its investments include German AI translation company DeepL, German battery startup Instagrid, Swedish healthtech unicorn Kry, British chip scaleup Graphcore and French health insurance unicorn Alan. She sat down with Sifted editor Amy Lewin to discuss what’s top of tech companies’ minds at the moment, and why investors and board members without operational experience don’t always quite “get it”.

This month we’re joined by Ilan Gur, CEO of the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency (or ARIA), a government body set up last year to fund ambitious, breakthrough innovations.Before joining Aria, Gur was a programme director at ARPA-E, the US government’s Advanced Research Projects Agency, which was established to develop new cutting-edge technologies to generate, store and use energy. He’s also been a founder — starting two companies in Silicon ValleyWe discuss what technologies he’s most excited about today, covering topics from neuroscience to “programmable plants” to fight climate change.

Heidi Lindvall, one of the co-founders of the early-stage climate tech fund Pale Blue Dot, discusses the evolving landscape of climate tech in Europe. She highlights the saturation of carbon markets and the need for innovation among existing tools. Lindvall delves into how regulations like the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism can drive genuine decarbonization. The conversation also touches on balancing venture capital with the demands of motherhood, emphasizing the importance of supportive environments for entrepreneurs in this field.