Venture Europe

Daria Saharova Founding partner at WorldFund.

Worldfund is a 300M Eur leading European Climate tech fund investing in startups that decarbonise the global economy.

They support startups from early to growth stage, focusing on Energy, Food and Agriculture, Manufacturing, Buildings, and Mobility.

During this episode we discuss how Climate change isn't theoretical—it's already disrupting supply chains, insurance markets, and infrastructure and The cost of inaction is becoming far greater than the cost of investing in solutions, we also discuss how they asses the decarbonization potential of different technologies through the CCP - climate performance potential to combine the climate crisis with the venture capital model.

Enjoy!

Christian Rebernik - co-founder and CEO of Tomorrow University.

Tomorrow university is the first ed-tech scaleup to receive accreditation in Europe that offers bachelors, masters and MBA programs reimagining education starting from first principles.

Previously, Christian was the CTO of several multibillion Euro companies like N26, Scout24 and Awin Global.

During this episode we discuss about the advantages and disadvantages of building in regulated environments, how brand and positioning are paramount in education and the failed startup on meeting transcriptions that he never added on LinkedIn.

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Anna Brandt has close to 20 years experience in talent acquisition at some of the most iconic tech companies of our generation like Uber, Zalando, Mollie and N26 to name a few.

She is the co-founder of Invested a consulting and investment firm and she is a Venture Partner with EQT Ventures, Insight Partners and Fidelity.

During this episode we discuss about the importance of marrying business strategy with organisational design, why hiring A-players without context doesn't really work, and the tradeoff between speed, quality and cost when recruiting.

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Winston Churchill's 1931 essay, "Fifty Years Hence," contemplates the rapid acceleration of human progress driven by science and technology. 

He notes the vast improvements in living standards and the potential for future scientific breakthroughs, particularly in energy. 

However, Churchill cautions that humanity's moral and spiritual development has not kept pace with its material advancements. 

He expresses concern about the immense power that future societies will wield and the potential for both utopian advancements and dystopian outcomes, including the manipulation of human nature.

Ultimately, the essay questions whether material progress alone can fulfil humanity's fundamental needs and emphasises the crucial role of virtue and spiritual understanding in navigating the future.

Tatiana Shalalvand - Venture Investor at Kinnevik and leads the Nordic early-stage strategy.

Kinnevik is a multi-billion-dollar investment firm writing checks from 5M to a 100M Euro, from early-stage to post-IPO, and even into the public markets. They invested in the likes of TravelPerk, Spring Health, Pleo, and Zalando to name a few.

During this episode we discuss about Kinnevik's capabilities to invest from the early stages to post IPO, why a money is not enough for a VC to impress a founder and the importance of  remaining curious and open minded as an investor.

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Pär-Jörgen Pärson - general partner at NorthZone, a 1B Eur multi-stage venture capital fund partnering with founders from Seed to Growth. Across Europe and the US.

With more than 20 years of VC experience, PJ is a legend in the VC industry and has led the investments in some of the greatest startups coming out of Europe like Spotify, now listed on the NYSE and valued at $123B, the online classifieds giant Avito, sold to Naspers for $ 2.7 billion and the payments company iZettle, sold to PayPal for $ 2.2 billion among many other tech companies coming from Europe and as of lately New York.

During this episode we discuss the common traits of category defining entrepreneurs like Daniel Ek, why we need to change the narrative for tech Europe and keep the talent here and what heavy metal can teach you about management.

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Vadim Fedotov, co-founder and CEO of Bioniq.

Having raised a total amount of over $30M with backers like HV Capital and Cristiano Ronaldo - Bioniq is changing the world of personalized health with a data-driven wellness platform that’s redefining how we approach our health.

From playing professional basketball to leading one of the fastest-growing e-commerce giants, Groupon, across 48 countries, Vadim has never shied away from a challenge.

In this episode, we’re going to explore Vadim’s journey—from the discipline of sports to the high-stakes world of business, his leadership philosophy, and how he’s leveraging technology to change the future of health optimization.

Get ready for an inspiring conversation packed with insights, resilience, and a glimpse into the future of wellness.

Enjoy!

Dario Amodei is the CEO of Anthropic.

Valued at $60B, the company focuses on AI research and products that put safety at the frontier and it is the company behind Claude.

Dario Amodei's essay, "Machines of Loving Grace," explores the potential positive impacts of advanced AI, despite the risks. 

He believes AI's upside is vastly underestimated and details how it could revolutionize biology, neuroscience, economic development, peace, and the nature of work. 

Amodei anticipates AI accelerating progress in healthcare, mental health, poverty reduction, and governance while improving the baseline of human experience. 

He acknowledges challenges like inequality, societal constraints, and the potential displacement of human labor, but maintains a hopeful outlook. 

The author envisions a future where AI could lead to unprecedented economic growth, the prevention of most diseases, and a strengthening of liberal democracy. 

He advocates for proactive efforts to ensure AI benefits are widely accessible.

Link to essay: https://darioamodei.com/machines-of-loving-grace

Max Junestrand - CEO and co-founder of Legora.

They recently raised $35M from investors including Benchmark and Redpoint to empower exceptional lawyers everywhere through collaborative AI.

With a team of engineers and lawyers from Google, Microsoft, McKinsey, and top law firms, Legora curently serves several thousands users across 200 clients in 15 countries, including some of the world's largest and most prestigious law firms.

The team has scaled from 10 to 60 in 9 months – and they have opened up new offices in London and NYC to complement the HQ in Stockholm.

During this episode we discuss how they initially got rejected by YC and how they made their way back to get accepted, how they cleverly mapped the pain points and potential aha moments for specific roles of their customer segment and why they chose Benchmark as a lead investor.

Enjoy!