Oliver Schmäschke, T.Capital: 3 Principles to Prevent CVC Failure

AI is impressive, but not yet world-changing. The real shift comes next with quantum computing.In this EUVC episode, ⁠Andreas Munk Holm⁠ speaks with ⁠Andy Leaver⁠, CEO of ⁠Arqit⁠ and Operating Partner at ⁠Notion Capital⁠. They discuss why many European startups struggle to scale beyond €10 million to €30 million, why enterprise AI adoption remains experimental rather than immediate, and how quantum computing is set to redefine security and infrastructure. The conversation also covers data sovereignty and the growing risk of “harvest now, decrypt later”.Key highlightsMost startups fail scaling from €10M to €30MAI is impressive, but not yet world-changingEnterprises are slow to adopt AI despite the hypeQuantum could break current encryptionThe real breakthrough is AI + quantum combinedTimestamps(00:00) Intro and Andy Leaver’s background(05:30) Scaling lessons and the €10M to €30M challenge(08:45) AI and SaaS: are the rules really changing?(11:30) Enterprise AI adoption and experimental phase(14:00) Shadow AI and enterprise risk(17:00) Security, data sovereignty, and quantum threats(26:30) AI today vs AI + quantum future(35:30) Investing in quantum and the one-person billion-dollar company ideaSubscribe to EUVC, the home of European tech, for more insights: ⁠⁠https://www.eu.vc/subscribe⁠

Models are converging. Chinese open source models are catching up. Applications are becoming the moat.In this episode of This Week in European Tech, Dan Bowyer and Mads Jensen of SuperSeed examine the shifts shaping AI, markets and Europe’s role.From DeepSeek’s progress to the EU AI Act, the focus is on where the real competitive edge is forming, alongside cyber incidents, the race between frontier labs, and why coding is central to how AI systems improve and are used, before closing on pressure in private credit and what it could mean for SaaS.Key highlightsChinese open-source AI is rapidly closing the gap with US leadersThe EU is considering revisions to its AI Act, including scope and timeline changesCyber incidents reveal systemic data management failuresFrontier labs are moving up the stack into applications, with coding central to progressPrivate credit exposure to SaaS could lead to repricingTimestamps(00:00) Intro and overview of key topics(05:45) DeepSeek V4 and model competition(11:30) EU AI Act discussions(16:45) Cyber breaches and data governance issues(21:30) Digital ID systems and Estonia’s model(26:30) Sergey Brin, DeepMind and AI coding race(32:00) SpaceX, Cursor and AI distribution strategy(39:30) Private credit, space sovereignty, predictions and week aheadSubscribe to EUVC, the home of European tech, for more insights: ⁠https://www.eu.vc/subscribe

In climate hardware, the capital stack shapes everything. This is according to Jarna Hyvönen, Co-Founder and CEO of Volare.She joins Andreas Munk Holm and co-host Carmel Rafaeli, Founding Partner at The Table, in this episode of Leaders Shaping a Resilient Planet to break down what it takes to finance and scale industrial climate companies.Volare is building a circular platform using black soldier flies to turn food industry side streams into protein, oils and fertilisers. Jarna explains how they structured a mix of equity, debt, mezzanine and grants to fund their first industrial facility, and what it takes to align these instruments in practice.Key topicsMulti-instrument funding from day oneInterdependent capital and fundraising complexityThe importance of early financial capabilityDe-risking through proven systemsWhen unit economics become visible at scaleTimestamps(00:00) Climate tech funding gap(03:00) From research to industrial scale(06:00) Inside the mixed capital stack(10:00) Interdependent financing(14:00) Financial strategy and CFO role(18:00) De-risking and innovation(22:00) Market shift to viability(26:00) Scaling and unit economicsSubscribe to EUVC, the home of European tech, for more insights: https://www.eu.vc/subscribe

Anthropic is moving beyond models and into building full products.In this episode of This Week in European Tech, Dan Bowyer and Mads Jensen from SuperSeed cover the key forces shaping European tech right now, from political shifts and capital flows to AI competition, small high-output teams and rising compute demand.Key HighlightsHungary’s leadership change and potential EU funding unlocksAnthropic expanding beyond models into product and applicationsMythos vs GPT Cyber and what different benchmarks actually measureThe rise of very small teams building large businesses with AICompute demand continuing to accelerate across the marketTimestamps(00:00) Intro(01:00) Hungary and EU implications(08:30) Anthropic strategy shift(13:30) AI model comparison(20:30) Small teams and AI businesses(26:30) Compute scarcity(31:30) Musk’s Terafab(36:30) Predictions, deals, closingSubscribe to EUVC, the home of European tech: https://www.eu.vc/subscribe

Deep tech is not about complexity. It is about compounding R&D that builds defensibility and demands a different approach to investing. This is the lens Sasha Vidiborskiy, Partner at Atomico, applies to backing frontier technologies.In this episode, Andreas Munk Holm speaks with Sasha, a quantum physicist turned VC investing in complex products and deep tech.They explore what defines deep tech, how to assess founders, and how Atomico underwrites and invests in technically complex companies, from diligence to timelines and risk.Key highlightsWhy deep tech is driven by compounding R&D, not complexityWhy timelines are hard to predict, especially in areas like quantum computingWhat sets great deep tech founders apartHow Atomico evaluates and underwrites deep tech opportunitiesWhy Europe is gaining ground in deep techWhy deep tech requires a different investment approachTimestamps(00:00) Intro & Sasha’s background(03:00) From quantum physics to venture capital(07:30) Quantum computing timelines(12:00) What defines deep tech(18:30) Founder traits(26:00) Evaluating deep tech investments(34:00) Atomico’s investment framework(42:00) Europe’s deep tech momentSubscribe to eu.vc, the home of European tech, covering the people, capital, and companies building Europe: https://www.eu.vc/subscribe

Why do most corporate venture arms fail within four years, and what are the three principles that make them last?In this episode, Andreas Munk Holm and Jeppe Høier speak with Oliver Schmäschke, Managing Partner at T.Capital, the €2.3 billion investment arm of Deutsche Telekom.Oliver shares practical insights on what actually works in corporate venture capital, built around three core principles that shape how corporates invest, operate and create long-term impact.Key highlightsStrategic vs financial investingAccess and value creation as competitive edgeGovernance and decision-making speedWhy most CVCs failHiring and retaining top talentTimestamps(00:00) Introduction and guest background(02:00) Oliver’s journey and T.Capital overview(04:00) Strategic vs financial investing(07:00) Core principles of CVC(12:00) Talent and hiring in CVC(16:00) Corporate edge vs traditional VCs(23:00) Structuring a CVC and value creation(29:00) State of CVC in Europe and closingFor more European VC thought leadership, visit our website. Learn more about T.Capital here.

Anthropic has overtaken OpenAI in revenue and Europe is emerging as a key AI battleground.In this episode of This Week in European Tech, Dan Bowyer (SuperSeed) and Lomax Ward (Outsized Ventures) break down a week shaped by AI momentum, capital concentration and macro uncertainty. They cover Anthropic’s rise, its enterprise focus and latest model, and whether current growth can justify the scale of AI investment.They also explore the coming wave of mega IPOs and what it means for liquidity, alongside JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon’s shareholder letter on inflation, interest rates and private credit. The episode closes with climate investing’s shift towards energy security and the move to faster, software-led defence systems.Key topicsAnthropic vs OpenAI: revenue growth, enterprise dominance and Europe expansionMega IPO wave: SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic and capital market strainJamie Dimon’s warning: inflation, rates and private credit risksClimate investing shift: from ESG to energy security and resilienceDefence transformation: from legacy procurement to agile, software-led warfareTimestamps(00:00) Intro and macro setup(05:00) Anthropic growth, Mythos and AI competition(12:30) Positioning, ethics and enterprise adoption in AI(22:00) Jamie Dimon letter: inflation and private credit(29:00) IPO pipeline and capital constraints(36:00) Climate and energy security shift(42:00) Germany defence spend and modern warfare(46:30) OpenAI moves, predictions and deals

Has crypto quietly crossed the line from hype to real financial infrastructure?Tune into this episode of the EUVC podcast, hosted by Andreas Munk Holm, as he is joined by Simone Maini, CEO of Elliptic, and Jay Wilson, Partner at AlbionVC, to unpack crypto’s next phase.They break down the shift from uncertainty to quantifiable risk, how institutions assess on-chain transactions and why supporting infrastructure is now critical to the venture case, alongside stablecoins and global regulatory momentum.Key highlights:The shift from uncertainty to quantifiable riskHow institutions assess risk in on-chain transactionsWhy infrastructure is critical to the venture caseStablecoins enabling faster, cheaper global paymentsRegulatory clarity across Europe, the US, Singapore and the UAETimestamps:(00:00) Crypto meets traditional finance(01:00) What Elliptic does in digital assets(02:00) The venture case for crypto(04:00) Where global crypto activity is shifting(07:00) Regulation, risk and market maturity(10:00) Europe, MiCA and the race to lead(18:00) Founder–investor dynamics in volatile markets(33:00) Stablecoins and the future of payments(37:00) AI, agentic transactions and what’s next(42:00) Final thoughts on crypto’s second actExplore more on European tech thought leadership at: https://eu.vc

We can’t reach 1.5°C with emissions cuts alone. Carbon removal must scale alongside decarbonisation.In this episode, Andreas and co-host Carmel Rafaeli, Founding Partner at The Table, sit down with Henrietta Moon, Founder & CEO of Carboculture to unpack what it actually takes to build carbon removal infrastructure.Carbo Culture is scaling biochar into industrial systems that lock carbon away for centuries — while generating revenue across agriculture, energy, and materials.We cover:• How biochar works and why it’s scalable• Why carbon removal alone isn’t a business• The shift to regulated carbon markets• Financing capital-intensive climate infrastructure• Scaling from innovation to repetitionTimestamps:(00:00) Intro & funding gap(02:00) Biochar explained(03:00) EU regulation(05:00) Business model(08:00) Revenue strategy(17:00) Offtake & demand(22:00) Project finance(36:00) Founder journey

Europe wants to lead in AI, defence, and infrastructure. The question is whether it can actually execute.In this episode of Upside, Dan Bowyer (SuperSeed) and Lomax Ward (Outsized Ventures), joined by Andrew J Scott (7percent Ventures), unpack a week where ambition and reality are starting to diverge.Mistral raises $830M to build sovereign AI infrastructure. Poolside’s $2B round collapses after losing compute access. And UK defence tech founders are leaving—not for lack of ideas, but for lack of contracts.Across all of this, one pattern emerges:Europe isn’t short on capability. It’s short on systems that work.Key topics:Why Europe’s capital problem starts earlier than growthMistral’s infrastructure bet and what it signalsPoolside, CoreWeave, and the fragility of compute accessThe UK defence tech bottleneck: funding vs procurementPalantir, trust, and the case for sovereign softwareIf you’re building in AI, defence, or deep tech, this is where the constraints actually are.Timestamps00:00 Intro and the week’s themes03:00 News roundup: space, IPOs and market signals08:00 Mistral’s $830M raise and sovereign AI infrastructure15:00 Poolside, CoreWeave and compute dependency risk23:00 Palantir, the NHS and the trust gap31:00 UK defence tech and founder flight40:00 Procurement vs capital: where companies stall42:00 Predictions: local AI vs hyperscalers50:00 Deals of the week