Upside
This week's happenings in startup and investing land. Getting underneath VC, and discussing how to better support the European startup eco-system.
Every week we share what's been on our mind and get under the skin of VC, investing, startups and founder psychology.
From the team behind SuperSeed who invest in technical teams solving difficult business problems.
The network is run on LinkedIn so join me there - https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbowyer/
With full interview audio and video uploaded to all major outlets.
Love to hear from you - dan@superseed.com
Upside
Why $800m Mistral? - Who’s Boycotting Palantir? - When CoreWeave Crushed Poolside
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Every week we look behind the headlines affecting European venture, startups and investing.
This week it's with Lomax from Outsized Ventures, Andrew from 7 Percent, and myself, your host Dan Bowyer from Superseed.
00:00 – Dan declares himself sexy for the first time ever. The physical AI / reshoring zeitgeist has finally caught up with what SuperSeed's been doing for a decade. Lomax gently reminds him that being in vogue doesn't actually fix anything.
06:01 – Quick-fire news roundup: Artemis II launches, Apple turns 50, software stocks crater, SpaceX files for what might be the largest IPO in human history. Andrew reminds us the stock market is mostly vibes anyway.
11:06 – Mistral raises $830M in debt to build Nvidia-powered AI data centres in Europe. Lomax points out everything Mistral does is roughly 1% of the US equivalent. Andrew thinks it's a safe bet. Dan wonders if the French government will end up owning it.
12:17 – NHS staff boycott Palantir. Andrew says this is the tip of the iceberg when you outsource critical infrastructure to a company whose chairman publicly slagged off the NHS. Lomax reveals New York is also dumping Palantir. The hunt for a European alternative begins. Lomax conveniently has an Italian pre-seed for this.
31:13 – UK defence tech brain drain. Founders relocating to the Bay Area because MoD procurement takes longer than most startups survive. Lomax drops a monologue about Anduril's $20B contract while UK founders can't even get framework agreements cashed up. Andrew notes the MoD has capped software procurement at three years, which is still absurd.
41:56 – Poolside loses its CoreWeave compute deal, tanking a $2B raise at $12B valuation. The lesson: if you're going full-stack, hire people who've actually built data centres.
47:21 – Dan predicts local models will handle 95% of knowledge work within 18 months. Andrew remains wonderfully unconvinced.
48:42 – Deals of the week: Starcloud ($170M, fastest YC unicorn ever), Fractile ($200M AI chip talks, Oxford spinout), and Manna Air Delivery ($50M Series B, drones from Dublin).
