EUVC

Today we have a special episode, brought to you by Latitude 59, the flagship startup and tech event of the world’s first digital society taking place in Tallinn, Estonia, from the 24th to the 26th of May. Latitude59, in collaboration with a syndicate by Estonian Business Angels Network and TeraVC, is looking for bold and promising startups that are shifting paradigms and changing the world for the better, to compete for €1 million in 2023. The application deadline is April 9th. Make sure not to miss it!And on that note, we are happy to welcome Andrus, Founding Partner of Tera VC, and Martin, Head of Business Development at TEHNOPOL, member of EstBAN and co-lead of the 1M€ investment during Latitude59 conference.In this episode you’ll learn:– Why you should consider having Latitude59 on your event plan this year– Why Andrus and Martin have committed to the 1m€ prize pot for the Latitude59 Pitch competition– A look behind the scenes of the process, deliberations and decision criteria behind the 1m€ prize pot – A discussion of the Estonian venture scene and how it’s positioned in relation to the New Nordics and Baltics

If you are a EUVC regular listener you know we've had a few of Seedcamp's stars on the show, but this will be a whole new ride. This is the first of a two-part special episode. Today we are happy to welcome Miguel, head of technology at Seedcamp, he works on internal and public-facing projects ensuring they leverage the right tool suite to continue to identify, invest and support the most exciting companies out there.In this episode you will learn:- Miguel’s journey to becoming one of Europe’s leading voices on the VC Tech stack & the path to being a truly data-driven VC- How Seedcamp’s journey with tech took Miguel from a Fireman-phase, through a Gandalf-phase, then MacGiver-phase to finally arrive at the Architect-phase- Why simple and unsexy things like Password managers are things VC managers need to think about when building their tech stack and why- Why, how and when VCs should think about hiring a head of tech- Why FOMO might be a good thing in venture, but a terrible thing in building the VC tech stack - and pervasive in the industry nonetheless

Today we are happy to welcome Bryan Duarte and Keyona Meeks, the CoFounder and Managing Partner and the General Partner of BlackTech Capital, a Toronto based pre-seed fund that invests in Black and other Underrepresented Founders focused on CleanTech, leveraging partnerships with top organizations, universities & accelerators and the managers’ expertise, networks and track record in growing several companies to 9x valuation increases.In this episode you'll learn:- The story about how BlackTech Capital’s founders decided to build their firm together without ever having met in person- Why there’s a true need for funds focused on minorities and how doing so can give an edge to your fund- How fighting consumerism and fast fashion presents a venture investment opportunity- A discussion of how we can collaborate across the pond to promote CleanTech founders from diverse backgrounds

Luca is the Managing Partner and co-founder of Una Terra, a €200M Venture Capital fund to accelerate European scale-ups fostering solutions to climate change and biodiversity loss, and targeting the removal of 2 Gtons of CO2 and 1Mtons of plastic waste per year from the environment by 2030. In this episode you’ll learn:- The value that the WEF network and Una Terra’s involvement in the Uplink challenge for Innovative Funds For Our Future- Why Una Terra have tied their carry to impact metrics, how they’ve thought about it and implemented it- Why Luca has dedicated himself not only to VC but also to advising the world’s leading PE funds- The importance of governance in the Climate Tech sector and how Luca and Una Terra have built their setup to protect against greenwashing

This is a special episode, recorded on the snowy mountains of Villars-sur-Ollon during the WEF's Uplink & Villars Institute Summit, where we had the pleasure to talk to Rokas Peciulaitis, Founder & Managing Partner of Contrarian Ventures, a Seed stage VC mobilising resources for climate action in Europe & Israel with a founders-first approach, and Christian Jølck, Co-founder and Partner of 2150 VC, a venture capital firm investing in technology companies that seek to sustainably reimagine and reshape the urban environment.What you will learn in this episode: - The role of venture capital in shaping and saving the future and why impact will give birth to Venture 2.0- Reflections on the application of the VC & Startup creation playbook and it's applicability for the challenges of the future- Why the military is incredibly important for climate investing & why the next trillionaire will be made in climate- Exactly what Climate50 is and how you can get involved as a VC or LP

Today we are happy to welcome Isabelle O'Keeffe, partner at Sure Valley Ventures, an AI-focused VC firm which helps early-stage software entrepreneurs in the UK and Ireland grow and scale. Isabelle joined SVV in 2018 and was involved in building out the fund as well as relationships with founding teams innovating in immersive tech, e-sports, Metaverse, Enterprise AI and cybersecurity.In this episode you’ll learn:- Raising fund 3 in the current market- LP environment in Europe, where it’s evolving to and the growing collaboration- How to think about balancing two funds with similar mandates but different geos- Dry powder turning wet and the timing of a new fund in today’s market

Today we are happy to welcome Eleanor Kaye, Executive Director at Newton Venture Program, a joint venture of LocalGlobe and London Business School. Newton trains aspiring and practising venture capital professionals with an explicit mission to diversify the VC Ecosystem. Previously, Eleanor worked at Palantir Technologies across multiple operational roles during Palantir’s period of hyper-growth before Direct Listing. A passionate hiker, mother and now, gardener, Eleanor also dedicates time to mentor, encourage local impact initiatives, and supporting those in need. In this episode you’ll learn:- Why & how LSE & Local Globe are involved in the Newton Venture Program- How blind recruiting and evaluation leads to more diversity in VC- The impact of the Newton Venture Program and who it’s for- Why Eleanor believes VC could do with a little less naïvety amongst emerging managers- There’s no right way to do venture, so how does the Newton Venture Program teach?- Reflections on role models and who to learn from

Today's episode is one for the geeks! 🤓 We are happy to welcome Dmitry, General Partner at Runa Capital in Berlin. He invests in cloud infrastructure, deeptech and quantum computing. He has a PhD in physics, was a visiting researcher at the University of Ulm and Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, Germany. Come and join us as he discover what the hell photonics are.What you will learn in this episode: The importance of patience and why your career path in VC must tie closely to your expertise and backgroundHow deep tech thesis can evolve over time to incorporate new topics and technologies as they emergeWhy the majority of VC investments in quantum computing go to creating more powerful machines, but applications remain important to keep an eye on

Today we are happy to welcome Thomas Otter, General Partner at Acadian Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm that helps founders around the world build enduring companies. Recent European investments include Techwolf, Fifty, and Figures. Thomas has an operator background in HR Tech and the Future of Work, having been a Research VP at Gartner, and led Product at SuccessFactors.In this episode you’ll learn:- A deep dive on The Future of Work vertical and why it’s vertical special to its own- Why there’s a need for a specialised VC like Acadian for Future of Work- How Acadian wins as a global, but small investor

Today we are happy to welcome Matthias Engel and Sven Heiligtag, Managing Partner and Partner of Vireo Ventures, an early-stage VC investing in seed and pre-seed highly scalable start-ups that drive electrification, in the energy, mobility and smart city space. Matthias has served 5 years as Managing Director of innogy’s corporate venture capital activities building and managing an investment team and portfolio with a dedicated investment volume of €130m with investment activities in Europe, Israel and North America. And Sven has been 20 years with McKinsey & Company in the Electric Power & Natural Gas practice, leading practices in Germany and Japan.In this episode you’ll learn:- How the Vireo team think about the energy vertical and why electrification plays such a big role- The Vireo team’s take on the energy crisis and it’s affect on the startup and LP landscape- How big firms don’t always follow through as you would expect