E718 | Cameron McLain, Giant Ventures On Why Europe Needs to Own the Stack

For decades, Europe built around efficiency — global supply chains, outsourced infrastructure, and distributed value creation. That model is now breaking down.In this episode, Cameron McLain (Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Giant Ventures) argues that the next era isn’t about startups — it’s about control.Who owns the infrastructure determines who captures the value.We discuss why venture is moving from convenience to systems, why “purpose-driven founders” outperform, and what it actually means to build a European stack across energy, manufacturing, and financial rails.Timestamps00:00 – Introduction: From impact to sovereignty02:00 – Why purpose-driven founders build enduring companies05:00 – Giant Ventures and the transatlantic perspective07:30 – The shift from efficiency to resilience10:00 – Why infrastructure is the new venture frontier12:00 – What the “European stack” actually means15:00 – Can Europe compete with hyperscalers?18:00 – The role of government: builder vs buyer23:00 – Why energy, manufacturing, and financial rails matter30:00 – AI, labour disruption, and the future of work34:00 – Europe’s biggest bottleneck: exits and capital markets

Most corporate venture capital models were built for a world that no longer exists.They were designed for software cycles and optional innovation. Today, venture is shaped by deep tech, supply chains and industrial scale.In this EU CVC episode, Jessica Persson (Scania) joins our hosts Jeppe Høier and Andreas Munk Holm (EUVC Corporate) to explain why corporate venture must evolve from a side activity into a core strategic capability.Scania’s approach reframes venture entirely: not as access to startups, but as a way to position the company inside a changing system.In this episode:00:00 Why most CVC models are outdated04:30 From outsourced to embedded venture12:10 Deep tech changes everything20:45 The cap table as a system28:30 Strategic returns = financial returns35:00 Preparing for multiple futures

Welcome back to Upside, where Dan Bowyer of SuperSeed and Lomax Ward of Outsized Ventures, joined by Harry Destecroix, MBE, of SCVC unpack the forces shaping European venture, deep tech and capital.This week’s conversation reflects a system shifting: Europe is writing bigger checks, physical AI is moving into focus, and the economics of AI are starting to change.The question is no longer where innovation happens.It is where value accrues.The stack isn’t just scaling. It is being contested.What's covered:00:00 Intro and the week’s themes02:00 Europe’s €15B fund-of-funds and the capital gap08:00 Seed vs growth: where Europe is actually underfunded14:00 Bezos’ $100B physical AI strategy20:00 Roll-ups vs rebuilds in the industrial economy25:00 China’s token model and the cost collapse of AI31:00 Security, sovereignty and model choice36:00 Innovate UK and founder-led policy41:00 Capex vs revenue: the emerging imbalance47:00 Predictions and market direction52:00 Deals of the week

Comms isn’t PR anymore. It’s becoming infrastructure and most founders haven’t caught up.In this episode, Cathy White (Founder, CEW Communications) joins our co-founder David Cruz e Silva to break down how the media landscape is changing—and what founders are still getting wrong.From the collapse of traditional gatekeepers to the rise of creators, newsletters, and AI-driven discovery, credibility today is no longer built through one big headline. It’s earned through consistent visibility, clear storytelling, and strong founder presence.They also unpack a key gap in European tech: we’re great at building, but often poor at explaining.Key topics:Why the “one big media hit” no longer worksComms as infrastructure, not a luxuryHow AI is reshaping discoveryWhy storytelling is a competitive advantageHow founders can build distributionTimestamps:00:00 – Intro & why comms = infrastructure 03:00 – Why most AI storytelling is boring 07:00 – The end of media gatekeepers 09:00 – The myth of the “one big hit” 10:00 – Substack vs traditional media 12:00 – Europe vs US media dynamics 16:00 – How journalists actually work today 21:00 – How founders should build visibility 26:00 – Is media biased? (spicy take) 32:00 – AI, search & your company narrative 39:00 – What founders get wrong about comms 42:00 – Final takeaways: Europe’s storytelling gap

Most people think their options are simple: climb the corporate ladder or start something from scratch.But there’s a third way.Together with Will Maunder-Taylor, we’re excited to bring Unsung to life — a podcast exploring one of the most important (and overlooked) opportunities in Europe today: entrepreneurship through acquisition.Instead of starting from zero, what if you could buy and grow a small business that already works?In the first episode, Will sits down with Peppa Wise, sales leader at Multiverse, to unpack what actually drives performance — in startups, scaleups, and the kinds of businesses most people overlook.This episode goes deep on:Why talent and drive often beat experienceHow the best companies build true meritocraciesWhat separates high performers from everyone elseWhy sales is one of the fastest ways to change your trajectoryHow to hire, develop, and scale great teamsPeppa’s story — from leading teams in her early 20s to helping scale one of Europe’s top sales organisations — shows what happens when companies bet on potential, not just CVs.Whether you’re building a startup, thinking about buying a business, or just questioning your path — this episode gives you a practical lens on what actually matters.Follow Unsung for more stories on building through acquisition.Timestamps(00:00) Introduction to Unsung and the guest(03:00) Peppa Wise’s early career & Darktrace(05:00) Talent vs experience(15:00) Hiring frameworks & what actually matters(25:00) Building high-performance sales teams(35:00) Pipeline, metrics & operating cadence(45:00) Advice for founders and early-career operators

Europe’s industrial future will be defined not by ambition, but by execution.In this episode, Marta Sjögren (Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Paebbl) joins Carmel Rafaeli (Founding Partner, The Table) and Andreas Munk Holm to explore what it really takes to build and scale deep tech companies in Europe.Paebbl is turning captured CO₂ into permanent mineral form—replacing emissions-intensive materials like cement while removing carbon from the atmosphere. But as Marta explains, the real challenge isn’t just scientific. It’s aligning capital, timing, and conviction.They discuss:– Why deep tech companies fail (and it’s rarely the tech)– Fundraising as a system of signals, not storytelling– How to evaluate investors beyond capital– Designing capital stacks for industrial scale– Why rounds stall—and how to build real momentum– The role of co-CEO leadership in complex companiesThe conversation also highlights the structural funding gap for women-led climate ventures—and how The Table is working to change it.This episode is part of Leaders Shaping a Resilient Planet, spotlighting founders building Europe’s industrial future with discipline, depth, and long-term conviction.Listen now and follow for more.

This week on Upside, Dan Bowyer and Mads Jensen of SuperSeed and Lomax Ward of Outsized Ventures unpack a moment where AI infrastructure, enterprise adoption and market risk are all moving at once.Nvidia is laying out a path toward a $1 trillion AI market, driven by major advances in inference performance. At the same time, hyperscalers are investing at unprecedented levels — with AI capex increasingly supported by debt rather than free cash flow. But the real shift is happening higher up the stack.The AI race is moving away from pure model performance and toward distribution, enterprise control and monetisation.This episode explores:• Nvidia’s roadmap and the scaling of AI infrastructure• Hyperscaler capex and the return of balance sheet risk• Why the AI battleground is shifting to enterprise• OpenAI’s monetisation challenge and strategic positioning• The growing gap between AI capability and adoption• Where value actually accrues in the AI stack• And how hyperscalers are reshaping startup opportunitiesThis isn’t just another AI cycle.It’s infrastructure, capital and business models being rewritten at the same time.Chapters00:00 Intro02:00 Nvidia GTC and inference leap07:00 The trillion-dollar AI question12:00 Hyperscaler capex and leverage18:00 Models vs distribution23:00 OpenAI’s strategy28:00 Enterprise AI battleground34:00 Market risk and concentration39:00 Capability vs adoption45:00 Where value accrues50:00 Startups vs hyperscalers55:00 Europe policy signalsUpside is a weekly deep dive into the forces shaping European venture, AI, defence and deep tech.Hosted by:Dan Bowyer (SuperSeed)Mads Jensen (SuperSeed)Lomax Ward (Outsized Ventures)About Upside

In this episode of Upside, Dan Bowyer, Mads Jensen of SuperSeed and Lomax Ward of Outsized Ventures unpack a week where geopolitics, AI arms races and Europe’s tech momentum took over the headlines.A new oil shock triggered by tensions around the Strait of Hormuz threatens global energy flows and raises the spectre of another inflation cycle with direct consequences for venture capital and startup funding. At the same time, the economics of modern warfare are shifting rapidly, with cheap drones and fast-iteration defence technology reshaping how conflicts are fought and who builds the tools.Against that backdrop, Europe delivered a surprisingly strong week for tech: France produced the continent’s first $1B seed “Instacorn”, Revolut finally secured its UK banking licence, and new proposals could finally push Europe closer to unified capital markets.Meanwhile in AI, the race for chips, coding platforms and infrastructure continues to accelerate, from Nvidia’s looming announcements at GTC to Meta building its own inference silicon and the meteoric rise of AI coding startup Cursor.This isn’t just a tech news cycle.It’s energy markets, AI infrastructure, and European innovation ecosystems moving at the same time.What’s covered• The Strait of Hormuz oil shock and its ripple effects on venture markets• Ukraine’s emergence as a real-time defence innovation ecosystem• The shifting economics of warfare: cheap drones vs expensive missiles• Europe’s first $1B AI seed round and the rise of frontier labs in Paris• Yann LeCun’s new “world models” bet and the next frontier in AI• Capital markets integration and whether Europe can finally unify funding• Cursor’s $50B trajectory and the future of AI coding platforms• The AI chip war: Meta’s inference silicon vs Nvidia’s dominance• AI layoffs and whether productivity narratives are masking pandemic over-hiring

Healthcare startups rarely fail because of bad technology. They fail because the system won’t let them in.In this episode, Andreas speaks with Helen McShane, who leads the Innovation Lab at Young Lives vs Cancer, and Zoe Peden, Partner at impact venture firm Ananda, about a new experiment in healthcare innovation: a charity investing directly in startups.After more than 60 years supporting children and families affected by cancer, Young Lives vs Cancer has deep insight into where the system works — and where it doesn’t. Through its Innovation Lab, the charity is now deploying mission capital to support startups building solutions for young cancer patients.Their first investment: £30,000 into Little Journey, a platform designed to help children prepare for medical procedures.Helen and Zoe explore how charities can combine institutional knowledge with venture discipline to help startups navigate complex healthcare systems and accelerate adoption where it matters most.In this episode:Why healthcare startups struggle with adoptionWhat “mission capital” means in practiceHow charities can support startup innovationWhy credibility and partnerships often matter more than cheque size

Europe’s climate transition is no longer only about emissions.It is increasingly about sovereignty: control over industrial capacity, critical materials, and resilient supply chains.In this episode of Leaders Shaping a Resilient Planet, Carmel Rafaeli⁠, Founding Partner at ⁠The Table⁠ and our very own ⁠Andreas Munk Holm⁠, are joined by ⁠Dr Lilian Schwich⁠, Co-Founder & Co-CEO ⁠cylib⁠, a company building one of Europe’s most advanced lithium-ion battery recycling platforms.Together they unpack one of the least understood gaps in Europe’s battery value chain: refining metallurgy — the step that converts battery scrap into high-purity critical raw materials that gigafactories can actually use.Dr. Schwich explains why Europe still lags Asia in the battery ecosystem, what it takes to scale an industrial climate company, and why recycling is becoming a foundational capability for Europe’s industrial future.In this episode• Why refining metallurgy is Europe’s missing battery capability• How cylib is closing the loop in the battery value chain• Why battery recycling is a sovereignty issue• How to finance industrial climate companies• What makes corporate partnerships actually work