Podcast · 68 episodes
Startup Europe — The Sifted Podcast
by Sifted · English
Get to know the brightest and boldest names in European tech with Sifted’s weekly podcast, hosted by John Thornhill and Freya Pratty. John interviews the founders, operators and investors building Europe’s most exciting startups and Freya, in conversation with Sifted’s expert journalists, pulls back the curtain on the most intriguing companies they’ve been reporting on.
Latest episodes
Is New York warming to European tech?Anne Sraders reports on whether New York/US investors are warming to European tech, using her return trip to the Primary VC Summit and interviews with US VCs.23 Sep 2026 · 18 min
Does Europe have a voice in AI safety?Whether Europe has a meaningful voice in AI safety amid “crunch time” warnings from frontier AI labs, and how European actors respond via regulation, application-layer safety, and cybersecurity.15 Sep 2026 · 19 min
Is Mistral's monster fundraise a win for European sovereignty?Sifted podcast episode discusses Mistral AI’s confirmed €3bn Series D, valuing it at €21bn, and whether it’s a win for European AI sovereignty.11 Sep 2026 · 21 min
All episodes
Is New York warming to European tech?Anne Sraders reports on whether New York/US investors are warming to European tech, using her return trip to the Primary VC Summit and interviews with US VCs.23 Sep 2026 · 18 min · 8 chapters
Does Europe have a voice in AI safety?Whether Europe has a meaningful voice in AI safety amid “crunch time” warnings from frontier AI labs, and how European actors respond via regulation, application-layer safety, and cybersecurity.15 Sep 2026 · 19 min · 9 chapters
Is Mistral's monster fundraise a win for European sovereignty?Sifted podcast episode discusses Mistral AI’s confirmed €3bn Series D, valuing it at €21bn, and whether it’s a win for European AI sovereignty.11 Sep 2026 · 21 min · 10 chapters
Why Legora isn't building its own modelLagora (legal AI) explains why it isn’t training its own frontier model, how it organizes engineering/product around AI agents, and recent business updates (Google Gemini integration, acquisitions,…3 Sep 2026 · 18 min · 6 chapters
Are the Nordics really on fire?Whether “the Nordics are on fire,” with a focus on Sweden vs Denmark, plus Europe’s energy/battery electrification push and how policy, capital structure, and branding affect startup momentum.28 Aug 2026 · 18 min · 10 chapters
Domyn CEO Uljan Sharka: ‘We're a few quarters away from $1bn ARR’Domin CEO Uljan Sharka argues for “AI sovereignty” and enterprise control: customers should own AI models and data (no remote switch, no dependency on Domin).19 Aug 2026 · 41 min · 24 chapters
European fintech has a culture problemEuropean fintech culture problems, using Pleo as the main case study, plus a comparison to Clio.14 Aug 2026 · 19 min · 12 chapters
VCs are taking on operator roles. Why?A Europe-focused trend where venture capitalists take on operator roles (CEO/VP) while still investing, driven by the need to be hands-on in AI’s transformation and to create a “feeding loop” into…30 Jul 2026 · 12 min · 4 chapters
Inside Mistral’s monster fundraise and Palantir-like repositioningMistral’s reported €3bn Series D (≈€20bn valuation) and whether the EU’s Scale-Up Europe Fund (managed by EQT) will lead or co-lead, framed as “digital sovereignty” amid US “digital kill switch”…21 Jul 2026 · 22 min · 13 chapters
Yann LeCun launched a new VC fund — then quit. What happened?Sifted reports on AI researcher Yann LeCun (Jan LeCun) launching VC fund Xtelligence Invest, then withdrawing and the fund being discontinued within hours after publication.15 Jul 2026 · 11 min · 3 chapters
Liz Kendall: ‘I’d love to stay as UK tech secretary’Liz Kendall, UK Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary (since 2025), argues the UK should “seize and shape” AI for economic growth and national security, and discusses DSIT’s AI funding,…7 Jul 2026 · 34 min · 14 chapters
Should the EU block the UK from its €5bn superfund?The EU’s €5bn Scale Up Europe Fund—run by EQT and backed by EU member states—has not invested yet, but is politically contested over whether the UK (post-Brexit) can participate.2 Jul 2026 · 12 min · 5 chapters
Brent Hoberman on UK tech post-Starmer: 'Are we going to tax everyone to high hell?'Brent Hoberman reacts to UK political instability after Keir Starmer’s resignation, arguing entrepreneurs need stable, pro-growth policy rather than “tax everyone to high hell” cycles.25 Jun 2026 · 44 min · 22 chapters
What the Anthropic shutdown means for EuropeAnthropic’s US export-control order to suspend access to its top AI models for non-US citizens, and what it signals for Europe’s “tech sovereignty” and dependency risk.16 Jun 2026 · 16 min · 10 chapters
Newton Venture Program CEO Anu Adebajo on Europe’s ‘zombie funds’Anu Adebajo, CEO of the Newton Venture Programme, discusses Europe’s “zombie funds,” why LPs now prioritize DPI, and how venture capital may need to reinvent its risk-taking, incentives, and fund…11 Jun 2026 · 45 min · 17 chapters
‘Built in Europe’: Can Balderton’s new campaign spark Europe’s vibe shift?European tech’s “Euromaxing” pushback against US-scale dominance, sparked by Anthropic’s $65B funding/IPO filing, and reinforced by Balderton’s “Built in Europe” campaign plus country-level…4 Jun 2026 · 16 min · 10 chapters
Carissa Véliz on the dangers of predictive AIHow predictive AI can enable social control, political manipulation, and unfair decisions; why “prediction” about people differs from scientific prediction about things; limits of correlation-based…28 May 2026 · 33 min · 22 chapters
EQT has won the EU's €5bn superfund. Now what?The episode explains that the European Commission has selected Swedish investment firm EQT to manage the EU’s €5bn Scale-Up Europe Fund, Europe’s largest growth-stage vehicle.19 May 2026 · 9 min · 5 chapters
James Wise on why the Sovereign AI Unit criticism is wrong – and the one company he wishes he’d backedJames Wise (Balderton/Storrid VC) explains why he thinks criticism of the UK government’s £500m Sovereign AI Unit is misguided, and outlines what the unit is trying to do beyond just writing checks.14 May 2026 · 39 min · 22 chapters
Anthropic vs European AIHow Anthropic (US) is pressuring European AI startups and industries via product “challenger” moves, UK expansion, and security/regulatory concerns; whether this is real disruption or just AI hype.7 May 2026 · 16 min · 11 chapters
Hertility CEO Helen O’Neill on building a foundational model for women’s healthHertility CEO Helen O’Neill explains how Hertility builds a “foundational model” for women’s health using remote hormone testing, health assessments, and ultrasound data to reduce time to diagnosis…30 Apr 2026 · 33 min · 20 chapters
Wolt CEO and Slush chair Marianne Vikkula on building a superapp, leadership lessons and Slush’s secret sauceWolt’s “superapp” strategy under CEO Marianne Vikkula, focusing on expanding from restaurant delivery into local commerce tools, subscriptions, financing, and logistics autonomy (robots/drones), plus…23 Apr 2026 · 23 min · 11 chapters
Could Europe become a world leader in robotics?Whether Europe can become a world leader in robotics, amid a surge in investment and rapid AI-enabled progress, but with gaps in dexterity, world understanding, and hardware scale.16 Apr 2026 · 24 min · 12 chapters
Project Europe CEO Kitty Mayo: ‘Harry Stebbings is like our head of state and I’m prime minister’Kitty Mayo, CEO of Project Europe, discusses backing founders under 25 across Europe, why “naive bravery” and customer-driven progress matter, how the program became a movement via city…8 Apr 2026 · 40 min · 14 chapters