Startup Europe — The Sifted Podcast

Last week, the resignation of Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon catapulted the discussion over AI safety into the mainstream. A thread he posted on X quickly garnered millions of views. “The consensus is that the next year or two is crunch time for humanity,” Coxon later told tech publication Wired. “From [my former colleagues’] perspective, this is when Anthropic and its competitors decide the fate of humanity.” How is this debate materialising in Europe, where no AI company is pushing the frontier? What are startups’ take on safety and security? And what do investors make of it? Joining host Freya Pratty on this episode of the Sifted podcast is senior reporter Daphné Leprince-Ringuet. The pair also dig into Europe’s rising wave of defensive startups, as well as everyone’s favourite topic: the EU AI Act. Sign up to Daphné’s AI newsletter here: https://sifted.eu/newsletters Are agents moving faster than Europe can regulate them? Read here: https://sifted.eu/articles/ai-agents-anthropic-openai-eu-uk-laws This podcast was brought to you by Stripe.

There's been talk all summer about who would fund Mistral's next round. This week it was confirmed: €3bn at a €21bn valuation, co-led by Samsung, the EU's Scaleup Europe Fund and US growth firm PSG Equity. A year ago Mistral was worth €11.7bn. Mistral has always pitched itself as Europe's sovereign alternative to US AI giants like OpenAI and Anthropic. With few European investors capable of meeting its huge capital needs,many were watching closely who the French scaleup would seek money from — and whether the round would preserve the company’s independence. With this trio of co-leads, has Mistral succeeded? What is the significance of bringing on a sizable strategic investor like Samsung, which makes the memory components Mistral's AI runs on? In this episode of the Sifted podcast, host Freya Pratty is joined by senior reporter Daphné Leprince-Ringuet. They discuss who joined Mistral’s round and why Samsung led it and how long Mistral can keep up this fundraising rhythm. They also look at Daphné's scoop on the company's robotics chief raising €200m for his own startup. This podcast was brought to you by HSBC Innovation Banking. Sign up to Sifted's newsletters here: https://sifted.eu/newsletters Check out Sifted Summit here: https://summit.sifted.eu/

Legora has had a busy year. The Swedish legal AI firm raised $550m in March, led by Accel, and has made five acquisitions since January. The company is often pitted against its US rival Harvey. But while the two are comparable in many ways, they diverge on some key things, including whether to build their own AI models. Harvey has launched one ; while Legora says training a frontier model doesn't make business sense. This episode of the Sifted podcast comes live from TechBBQ in Copenhagen, Denmark. Host Freya Pratty is joined by Legora CTO Jacob Lauritzen to discuss why Legora is steering clear of the model game, plus how the company is organising its engineering and product teams, what it looks for when it buys a company, and why Stockholm — not Copenhagen — is having a moment. The two also chat about why Legora has switched some tiers to consumption-based pricing — and why the technical team loves the move — as well as Legora’s recent integration with Google. Sign up to Sifted's newsletters here: https://sifted.eu/newsletters Check out Sifted Summit here: https://summit.sifted.eu/

There’s a lot of talk at the moment about the momentum in the Nordic tech scene. Companies like legal AI firm Legora and vibe coding startup Lovable continue to bring in megarounds. But is the momentum spread across the region, or just confined to Stockholm? The Swedish capital has brought in the majority of funding in the region, thanks to Legora and Lovable, among others. This episode of the Sifted podcast comes live from TechBBQ in Copenhagen, Denmark. Host Freya Pratty is joined by Europe editor Mimi Billing to discuss the wider funding landscape across the Nordics, how Denmark compares to Sweden and what Stockholm is doing that other cities aren’t. Sign to Sifted's newsletters here: https://sifted.eu/newsletters Check out Sifted Summit here: https://summit.sifted.eu/

This week on the podcast, host John Thornhill is joined by Uljan Sharka, the founder and CEO of Italian AI unicorn Domyn. Uljan migrated from his home country Albania to Italy back in 2008 — without knowing a word of Italian. He soon developed a fascination with tech, later working for Apple in Silicon Valley. In 2016, he launched Milan-based Domyn, a company developing AI models and agents for enterprise use cases, as well as AI gigafactories. The pair discuss the virtues of small language models, what Europe can hope to gain from the EU's Europa frontier model consortium — which Domyn is leading — and what founders can learn from Revolut’s Nik Storonsky. Sign to Sifted's newsletters here: https://sifted.eu/newsletters Check out Sifted Summit here: https://summit.sifted.eu/

Sifted's fintech reporter Damisola Sulaiman makes her first Sifted podcast appearance to discuss her recent reporting on the culture at Danish fintech Pleo. Interviews with seven former employees revealed a company transformed by the leadership overhaul. They described a tougher management culture, internal friction among executives and growing internal concerns that Pleo’s product is losing ground to rivals. Pleo cofounder and CEO Jeppe Rindom told Sifted: "As anyone who has scaled a business knows, this growth inevitably brings with it changes in structure, culture and approach which sometimes require tough decisions," he said. "We will always be a people-focused business, and we are incredibly proud of the talent and commitment of our high-performing team." Dami also talks host Freya Pratty through her reporting on the culture at UK fintech Cleo, and reflects on the broader question of culture at Europe's fintechs. Read our Pleo investigation here: https://sifted.eu/articles/pleo-culture-crisis Read our Cleo investigation here: https://sifted.eu/articles/cleo-fintech-startup-toxic-workplace-allegations Sign up to our free newsletters here: https://sifted.eu/newsletters

VCs taking on interim roles at their portfolio companies is something that’s happened for a long time — as is VCs making the permanent switch to the operator side. But a new trend seems to be gaining steam in Europe: VCs adding a CEO or operator title alongside their investor role, and doing both at the same time. Judith Dada, general partner at Visionaries, for example, has made that move this month, taking a role as co-CEO at AI startup Langdock, while Carmen Alfonso Rico, who founded UK-based angel investment firm Cocoa, announced she’s joining her portfolio company, British chip startup Fractile, as VP of business operations. Both are retaining investment roles at their firms. Joining host Freya Pratty to discuss the trend is senior reporter Anne Sraders. The pair chat about why these moves are happening now and whether they could bring up issues for the firms further down the line. They also discuss further changes at Visionaries, as a number of partners transition from their full-time investment positions to entrepreneurial roles. Sign up to Sifted's weekly newsletter about VC here: https://sifted.eu/newsletters This episode was brought to you by HSBC Innovation Banking.

Mistral’s latest fundraise has got the ecosystem chattering. The French AI darling is reportedly raising a €3bn Series D round at a valuation of around €20bn. Last week, Sifted broke the news that the EU’s €5bn Scaleup Fund, managed by EQT, is in talks to lead or co-lead the round. This week on the podcast, senior reporter Daphné Leprince-Ringuet joins host Freya Pratty to discuss the EU Scaleup Fund’s potential involvement and who else might get in on the deal. And, as Mistral increasingly positions itself more like Europe’s answer to Palantir, Freya and Daphné discuss how the new positioning will play into the pricing of its latest round. Read our reporting on the round here: https://sifted.eu/articles/e5bn-scaleup-fund-mistral-eqt Sign up to our free daily newsletter here: https://sifted.eu/newsletters

Last Friday, Europe’s tech ecosystem was abuzz with the news AI godfather Yann LeCun was launching an AI VC firm. Then, hours later, he quit. This week on the podcast, reporter Maya Dharampal-Hornby joins host Freya Pratty to discuss the curious tale of Yann LeCun’s shortly-lived firm, Extelligence Invest. The pair chat about where Extelligence was going to invest, who was involved and why Yann might have left the fund. The former Meta chief AI scientist still has a lot on his plate. Earlier this year, he raised $1bn for his Paris-based world models startup AMI Labs, after targeting $500m. He also advises London and Luxembourg-based VC firm Hiro Capital. Read our reporting on Extelligence here: https://sifted.eu/articles/yann-lecun-new-vc-firm Sign up to our daily newsletter here: https://sifted.eu/newsletters

Liz Kendall was appointed as the UK's Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology just under a year ago. But will she keep her role under the country's new prime minister? There is one area her views diverge from those of Andy Burnham, widely tipped to be the country's new leader: autonomous vehicles. While Burnham's team is reported to have reservations about the technology, Kendall has thrown her support behind the British companies building it. "We should be backing British companies in this technology, because if we don't, we'll end up reliant on US companies," she tells host John Thornhill on this week's episode of the Sifted podcast. The pair also discuss whether the brief of AI and online safety minister Kanishka Narayan is too big, the challenge of unlocking more growth capital for British tech companies — and why she'd "love to stay" in her role. Sign up to Sifted free daily newsletter here: https://sifted.eu/newsletters

The UK is home to the third-highest number of unicorn startups in the world. Does it make sense to lock it out of the EU's new Scaleup Fund? The €5bn fund, which is yet to deploy a cent of capital, has already been through a hotly contested race to find a manager (Swedish firm EQT came out on top), and now it's caught up in a political tussle over whether the UK — which famously left the bloc back in 2016 — will get a look-in. This week Sifted reported that France is pushing to block UK participation in the superfund, casting doubt on hopes that British startups could tap into the bloc's flagship late-stage investment vehicle. On this episode of the podcast, host Freya Pratty is joined by news editor Martin Coulter to unpack France’s move to block the UK, ask whether it was “the MOST French move imaginable” and break down the quota system being discussed by EU officials as a compromise. Read this week’s reporting here: https://sifted.eu/articles/eu-scaleup-fund-uk-france-blocked-eqt-british-business-bank https://sifted.eu/articles/eu-scaleup-europe-fund-uk-france-block-reaction https://sifted.eu/articles/scaleup-e5bn-uk-france Sign up to Sifted free daily newsletter here: https://sifted.eu/newsletters

While the UK's tech scene booms, political uncertainty looms. In this week's episode of the Sifted podcast, John Thornhill is joined by serial entrepreneur and investor Brent Hoberman. Brent, who cofounded Lastminute.com in 1998, is one of the UK’s most experienced and best-connected operators. Today, he runs the early-stage VC firm Firstminute Capital and Founders Forum, a global community of entrepreneurs that co-hosts London Tech Week. John and Brent discuss Keir Starmer's resignation as UK prime minister — less than two years after Labour's landslide 2024 election victory — and whether Andy Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester who looks set to collect the keys to 10 Downing Street in the coming weeks, is likely to bring a new era of socialist politics to the country. Brent also shares how he's changed his mind on "LLM wrapper" companies, the rising scale of ambition on show at London Tech Week and what it is actually like taking a business public. Disclaimer: Brent is a personal shareholder in Sifted. Sign up to our Daily and Deeptech newsletters here: https://sifted.eu/newsletters

Late last week, the European tech ecosystem got a glimpse of a future many had worried about. US AI giant Anthropic announced it had been ordered by the US government to suspend access to its most advanced AI models for foreign nationals. In response, Anthropic cut access to all customers, including those in the US, to ensure compliance. The move is the first example of the US activating a so-called digital “kill switch” with the potential to disrupt or turn off access to technologies that European organisations heavily depend on to run critical services. The restrictions may prove temporary but they’ve caused a big reaction in Europe. On this week’s episode of the Sifted podcast, host Freya Pratty chats to senior reporter Daphné Leprince-Ringuet about what happened, why it matters and what Europe should do next. Read our reporting on the ban here: https://sifted.eu/articles/anthropic-kill-switch-european-sovereignty Sign up to Sifted's free newsletter here: https://sifted.eu/newsletters

This week on the Sifted Podcast, host John Thornhill is joined by Anu Adebajo, former Atomico partner and, as of February this year, CEO of the Newton Venture Program. Launched in 2020 by VC firm Phoenix Court and London Business School, the educational programme aims to train new generations of VC talent — whether they are experienced investors or simply exploring new career paths. Anu began her career in Sheffield in 2012, where she joined a fund and later went into the British Business Bank. After nearly five years, she moved to the LP side, where she personally deployed over £365m into funds, before moving to Atomico where she led its fund of funds strategy. The pair discuss what LPs want from Europe’s VCs now, how far away a Newton Venture’s fund might be and the dangers of Europe’s re-emerging “boys’ club mentality”. Sign up to Sifted’s daily newsletter here: https://sifted.eu/newsletters Read John’s article about the needs for reinventing VC: https://sifted.eu/articles/vc-needs-to-reinvent-itself Find out more about Newton Venture Program here: https://newtonprogram.vc/ This podcast was brought to you by HSBC Innovation Banking.

It’s been a curious fortnight in European tech. There was a fresh bout of anxiety after US AI giant Anthropic announced its latest funding round — which, at $65bn, is nearing the amount raised by the entire European ecosystem last year. But there’s also growing pushback against the doom and gloom. This week, VC firm Balderton launched its “Built in Europe” campaign, aimed at celebrating the continent’s successes and reshaping the way the ecosystem portrays itself. On this week’s episode of the Sifted podcast, host Freya Pratty chats to senior reporter Daphné Leprince-Ringuet and news editor Martin Coulter about whether European tech is finally shaking off its inferiority complex and if a new, more confident narrative can help the ecosystem better compete on the global stage. Sign up to our daily newsletter here: https://sifted.eu/newsletters

In this episode of the Sifted podcast, host John Thornhill sits down with Carissa Véliz, AI ethicist, philosopher and associate professor at Oxford University to explore how algorithms and data are reshaping our lives and workplaces. Carissa's latest book, Prophecy: Prediction, Power, and the Fight for the Future , describes how ancient oracles, medieval soothsayers and modern-day AIs all tend to tell the powerful what they want to hear. What does that mean, for example, when we apply AIs to hiring and firing decisions at our companies or VCs? John and Carissa also explore whether tech giants are capable of meaningful self-regulation and what it would look like to build AIs that work for people rather than surveil them. Sign up to Sifted's Daily and Deeptech newsletters here: https://sifted.eu/newsletters

The competition that captivated European VC has concluded. Earlier this week, the EU chose Swedish investment firm EQT to manage its new €5bn Scaleup Europe Fund after a closely-watched race among the region’s top firms like the UK’s Atomico and France’s Eurazeo. On this week’s — somewhat emergency — episode of the Sifted podcast, host Freya Pratty chats to senior reporter Anne Sraders about the selection process to run the fund, when it will begin deploying and which lucky companies might be backed. Fresh off an interview with EQT investors, the pair also dig into how the firm wants to manage the fund, their reaction upon hearing the news — and whether there could be a second scale-up fund on its way soon. Sign up to our daily newsletter here: https://sifted.eu/newsletters

This week on the Sifted Podcast, host John Thornhill is joined by James Wise, partner at Balderton Capital. Since joining the firm in 2012, James has led investments in second-hand shopping platform Depop, AI agent maker Convergence and bank payment fintech GoCardless — as well as AI frontier lab Prior Labs, which was acquired by German software giant SAP earlier this month. James discusses how the acquisition came about, including his meeting with the cofounders before the company even existed. James also shares about his new gig as chair of the Sovereign AI Unit, a £500m initiative launched by the UK government earlier this year. He talks through its investments to date — which include Isomorphic Labs, Ineffable Intelligence and Callosum — and responds to the backlash it has received. The pair also discuss AI's public perception problem, James's biggest investment miss and whether Europe is ready to seize the moment in the race for AGI. For quarterly updates of the Sovereign AI Unit’s progress, check out James’ blog: https://www.jameswise.com/author/james-wise/ Sign up to the Sifted Daily Newsletter here: https://sifted.eu/newsletters

On this episode of the Sifted podcast, associate editor Freya Pratty sits down with news editor Martin Coulter, to unpack how Silicon Valley giant Anthropic is making big waves in European tech. The LLM builder and OpenAI rival has released new products that go head-to-head with some of Europe's buzziest AI companies like Loveable and Legora, raising questions about the defensibility of businesses built on top of third-party models. Freya and Martin also discuss how Europe's fintechs are scrambling for access to Anthropic's new model Mythos and a possible deal with chip maker Fractile, an Oxford spinout that's winning support from the UK government. Sign up to Sifted's Daily and Deeptech newsletters here: https://sifted.eu/newsletters

With over 700k women in the UK waiting for gynecological care, why is half the population still so underserved by its health system? Yes, women have historically been left out of clinical trials, but there are logistical reasons as to why, Hertility CEO Helen O’Neill tells host Amy Lewin. “ Collecting data from women on the third day of their menstrual cycle at scale is actually feasibly and technically very difficult to do.” Helen is more familiar with these difficulties than most: Hertility has built a diagnostic testing system to support women through their fertility journeys, and provides onward clinical care — from telemedicine gynecological appointments and ultrasounds to IVF and egg freezing. The result? Hertility, Helen says, can diagnose endometriosis with 98-99% confidence in eight days — the same condition which takes on average nine years to diagnose via the UK's National Health Service (NHS). In this episode of the Sifted podcast, Helen shares how she’s building a foundational model for women’s health, why Hertility “started off trying to be a baguette and has twisted itself into a pretzel for every investor” and why it’s important to demystify the “homogeneous idea of women’s health”.