E678 | Giovanni Daprà & Paolo Gesess: Moneyfarm’s Journey, United Ventures’ Playbook & How Europe’s Fintech Winners Scale
Welcome back to the EUVC Podcast where we connect and champion the people building European venture.In this episode, Andreas Munk Holm sits down with two pillars of Italy’s modern tech ecosystem:Giovanni Daprà, CEO & co-founder of Moneyfarm, one of Europe’s leading digital wealth management platformsPaolo Gesess, co-founder & GP at United Ventures, one of Italy’s premier early-stage VC firmsTogether, they unpack how Moneyfarm went from a Milan-founded startup to a pan-European fintech player; how Italy’s ecosystem has evolved; how United Ventures backed Giovanni through multiple strategic inflection points; why the shift from Blitzscaling to Default Alive made Moneyfarm stronger; and how European fintech is entering an era of consolidation and acquisition-led expansion.This is an episode full of concrete frameworks, real founder–VC dynamics, and hard-earned lessons from building across Italy, the UK, and Europe.Here’s what’s covered:04:00 | Moneyfarm as a digital wealth manager built to make investing simple, guided + discretionary, now managing £6.5B across Italy & the UK04:54 | Why United Ventures backed them: early conviction in a massive savings problem, founder clarity from day one, and a mission that remained unchanged for 13 years06:31 | Building from Italy first: leveraging local regulatory fluency + talent cost advantages while keeping a pan-European vision from day zero08:59 | Italy today vs. 2012 — more capital, more repeat founders, more international operators returning, and a dramatically deeper talent pool13:21 | The “tipping point” moments — moments where the board must choose: buy back shares, bring in global investors, widen the model (e.g., B2B2C)17:45 | Where Moneyfarm is now — strong in Italy + UK, product expansion complete (brokerage + pensions), and preparing for the next geographic phase18:37 | Surviving the capital cycle: seeing interest rates spike in real-time, shifting from burn to profitability in 24 months, and reshaping the framework for Europe19:50 | The Europe playbook: “default alive” — why blitzscaling never fit most of Europe, and how disciplined scaling becomes a competitive advantage22:25 | Founders vs. VCs on growth vs. profit — debunking the myth: alignment, capital structure, and long-term value trump forcing hypergrowth23:09 | Managing founder stress & incentives — secondaries, refreshed equity plans, changing founder roles, and adapting governance over a 10-year journey25:41 | The cap table reality — Moneyfarm with VCs, PEs, and industrials: why no one could force a “burn it all” strategy even if they wanted to27:41 | Building European-style VC — United Ventures’ thesis: European standards, European ambition, and preparing founders for international Series B/C investors30:09 | The next frontier: pan-European expansion, from product expansion → to commercial optimization → to cross-border consolidation34:13 | Growing into M&A as a founder — Moneyfarm’s three acquisitions, building the muscle, and using M&A as a growth lever when organic slows36:11 | The M&A playbook — when to build vs. buy, why scale matters, and the founder’s job in orchestrating product-led acquisitions37:40 | What founders often underestimate — M&A is expensive, cognitively draining, and requires dedicated people so you don’t destroy core execution39:47 | The board’s role — independent perspectives, long-term value thinking, and helping the CEO avoid deal fever or tunnel vision41:00 | The hard question: exits & fund cycles — how VCs manage tail-end holdings, DPI realities, continuation funds, and why selling is not betrayal43:48 | DPI explained simply — why some funds need liquidity earlier, and why United didn’t (strong DPI → more patience → no forced exit)
