E590 | EUVC Summit 2025 | Achievement of the Year Award: Tom Wehmeier, Atomico

0:00Progress is driven by those who dare to challenge the status quo, introducing initiatives that redefine our industry and propel us forward. This award honors the groundbreaking projects and contributions that have not only elevated European venture capital, but have also set new benchmarks for excellence. Atomico's State of European Tech report, the investment compact for venture capital and growth equity, EU Inc. These initiatives have reshaped our landscape, ensuring that European venture capital not only competes, but leads on the world stage. Tonight, we celebrate their monumental achievements.

0:46This is a strange award in the sense that it could be to a person, it could be to a company, it could be to a fund, it could be a firm. But it's someone who's done something original, has executed brilliantly, and it has been beneficial for the whole ecosystem. So the way I think about this award is this is the People of Ventures Award. This is the award that all of you are giving. And I now invite Cathy from CEW Communications to say a word from the sponsor.

1:33I'm just a little bit shorter than Chris. Hi everyone. it's been a fantastic day before I say a little bit about us I just want to do a shout out to the EUVC team I've had the pleasure of working with you for numerous years now and I just want to say I'm really proud of you guys this has been awesome so well done on bringing everyone together

1:57so hi everyone I'm Kathy I'm the founder and CEO of CEW Communications we are storytellers at heart. We have a range of services to tell the greatest, best stories from across the tech landscape, whether it's founders, whether it's firms, whether it's initiatives, whether it's people. That's where we come in to help you tell your story in the best possible way. Before we hand over back to Chris to announce the winner, I just want to also thank my team because behind the scenes, they've been helping out with EUVC. One of them is sadly already gone because he's got another arrangement, birthday party tonight.

2:32You'll recognise his voice, though, because he's done all of the voiceover for every single video that you've seen this evening. So that's Dan Taylor, our Director of Content. Geraldine, who is also here and now earning and deserving a very nice glass of wine, or two, three, I don't mind. Go for it. Thank you for everything that you've done as well. We're delighted to support this award. There are some incredible initiatives and wonderful stories to tell, and I'll hand it back to Chris. Thank you.

3:06Mic, Chris. Microphone. The notes say, bring it out of the envelope slowly. So what I want you to do is imagine there's a big envelope here, and I'm going to bring it out slowly. And this is, I am so excited about this award.

3:31because I believe almost all of you have hugely benefited from the thing that we're going to be celebrating. The thing. That doesn't sound good, does it? Let me get to it. The achievement of the year is Atomico's State of the European Tech report. APPLAUSE Come up, come up, come up. Tom, please come up.

4:06We'll keep it going.

4:11She's officially giving you this mythical award. Congratulations. I mean, how many times have we said, here's why Europe's great. Here's what's happening in Europe. Here's what's evolving in Europe. How many times have we sent it to LPs? How many of we discussed it about the investment thesis? It has been, I think, not an exaggeration to say a bedrock of the last 10 years of European venture. So thank you, Tom. Thank you, Atomico. And we'd love you to say a few words and Kathy and I will disappear. Thank you. Wow. Well, thank you. Thank you, Chris. Thank you, Kathy. actually before I say if you were I would also first just like to acknowledge Andreas, Kerry Mansion House Compact and EU Inc because those are two just like absolutely profoundly important initiatives that are already starting to see an impact and will continue to do so for many years to come so yeah 10 years ago State of European Tech was born out of frustration super frustrated with how European Tech was misrepresented misunderstood, being missold.

5:27So we kind of wanted to find a way to champion everything that we could see already back then that was happening, not with hype, but with data. And I guess like sometimes it's the right thing at the right time. And I would love to say we had this grand plan, but that would not be true. And then since that first launch back at Slush in 2015, we always just set for ourselves a bar of, okay, like how do we elevate the impact of this year on year. And so that's kind of the backdrop to it. Obviously, it's been a huge team effort. I have Sarah and Hannah Steiner who've been along for the ride for many years to help make it happen.

6:06Lots of data partners along the way. The Slush crew, obviously, who've been with it from Inception and Auric and HSBC, Innovation Banking, AWS and many, many others. And I guess I should say sorry to you because I know that we've pestered you and spammed you over the years to contribute to our survey. But, you know, it's been massively important to have the voice of tens of thousands of people shared and elevated. And, you know, it wouldn't be the same without that. So, yeah, I think we're all here today because we believe Europe needs to tell its story in a positive way. And, you know, the need was great then.

6:42The need is even greater today. And so, yeah, thank you very much. Before you go, I just want to give a massive shout out to the partners who made the EUVC Summit and awards possible. So please do not tune out. We're partnering with these firms because they're great people with offerings that we know from our friends in the ecosystem are truly world class. First up, I want to give a big thanks to HSBC Innovation Banking. They helped us incept the awards in the very beginning. And truly, they are the leading bank for anyone in European venture. There's a reason why everyone knows them. Google Cloud, they were our venue, hosted the summit.

7:18What a team, what a big effort they put on to help us. We're hugely grateful. Make sure to reach out to Arabella or Oksana at the Google Cloud team to hear how they can help you as well as your portfolio. Massive credits goes to them. Ace Alternatives, we have so many friends in the Berlin ecosystem partnered with these guys. Just the best fund ops team around. And as with any good restaurant, where the locals are is also where you get the best service. And now they're expanding across Europe, so they're definitely someone to talk to. Hainspoon, they're longtime partners of ours in both our own legal work.

7:53They're great supporters of us here at EUEC, and I definitely think that they are one of the go-to legal teams to have in your corner. CW Communications, our dear friends who helped us secure CNBC, Bloomberg, Financial Times, and many more for this summer. It's a joy working with Dan and Kathy and the team. the Fundcraft, Digital Native, Full Suite, Lux Headquarter, and a great partner as you grow your firm out of Luxembourg. Definitely a fund admin to consider in your stack. I can only say that the team are incredible to work with. I'm very thankful that I've gotten to know them. I think they're one of the up and coming fund admins that you want to be thinking about.

8:31Portfolio IQ by Synaptic. You may know them for the Discover tool, which is branded on a Synaptic, But PortfolioIQ is absolutely a product you should know because there's no one that understands intelligence better than this team. And finally, Goodwin. They are a truly world-class legal partner you can trust. They're hands-on, business-oriented, and expert in everything and anything transatlantic. So those were our partners for the summit and awards. I know this might have been a bit long and boring, but really, if you have these guys on your side, I don't think your firm could be in any better hands.

9:05and also they're helping us do what we're doing every day for you.