Ventures

This is my first conversation with Mike Grace, co-founder and CEO of Longshot. Longshot is building giant space guns. Timestamps: (00:00:00) Technological inertia (00:02:07) Why rockets won (00:04:36) The V3 cannon (00:07:48) Von Braun and the space race (00:09:53) Why a better rocket isn't enough (00:16:48) Survive until you're lucky (00:18:21) Making a dent in history (00:20:10) A thousand new A...

This is my first conversation with Laurence Allen, co-founder and CEO of Terranova. Terranova builds robots that raise land by autonomously injecting wood chips underground. The company is preparing to expand its facility to 26,000 square feet and put its machines in the hands of construction contractors. The ambition is to protect cities from flooding and expand entire countries' coastlines....

This is my first conversation with Akhil Voorakkara, co-founder and CEO of Ulysses. Ulysses is building the ocean company. Timestamps (00:00:00) An engineering family (00:04:58) Independent thinking (00:10:03) Ruthless prioritisation (00:13:27) Put the fries in the bag (00:23:09) Scaling speed and ownership (00:31:25) Building the ocean company (00:32:36) True vertical Integration (00:36:12) Be yo...

This is my first conversation with Robin Renz, co-founder and CEO of Hyperdrives. Hyperdrives is manufacturing super-efficient, highly power-dense, low-cost electric motors by solving their cooling problem. Their new engineering facility enables the company to iterate on the production line for the first time, in pursuit of manufacturing millions of motors. Timestamps: (00:00:00) Hyperdrives (00:0...

This is my first conversation with Mollie Claypool, co-founder and CEO of AUAR. AUAR builds and operates microfactories that produce timber panels for homebuilding. The team is preparing its first V3 deployments from its 11,000-square-foot facility in London, working toward deploying 1,000 microfactories by 2030. Timestamps: (00:00:00) Why the West has a housing shortage (00:03:55) Timber and micr...

My first conversation with Julian Rothenbuchner, co-founder and CEO of Tumbleweed. In June 2026, Tumbleweed became the first Austrian commercial satellite, building and launching Oasis Alpha in under nine months, as they scale to industrialising microgravity. Timestamps (00:00:00) The anti-gravity machine (00:02:49) Enduring pain and complexity for simplicity (00:08:41) Building a satellite in nin...

My first conversation with Marnix Meersman, co-founder and CEO of Arqus Aerospace. Arqus is developing lasers to dazzle and destroy spacecraft Timestamps (00:00:00) Modern warfare's evolution (00:05:35) Becoming an aerospace company (00:06:45) Lindbergh (00:09:31) Using anger to move faster (00:10:55) How satellites are attacked (00:18:48) A 1% hit rate is enough (00:23:09) Why blind drones ca...

My First Conversation with Ali Mitchell, Odyssey Ventures Timestamps 00:00:00 Work is life 00:02:23 Building the Ninian oil platform 00:09:10 The big red bus theory 00:11:47 Learning human clock speed at dunnhumby 00:16:22 Betting everything on Huddle.com 00:20:21 Mortgaging the house for Flow 00:23:01 Garrett Lord’s extreme grit 00:25:46 Slaughtering sacred cows 00:35:08 Booting up Silicon Rounda...

My First Conversation with Mark Stokes, Co-founder & CEO of Magdrive Timestamps 00:00:00 Studying classics 00:02:14 Meeting Dr Thomas Clayson 00:05:07 Why satellite propulsion stopped evolving 00:07:01 Turning metal into plasma with pulsed power 00:11:28 The Battle of Salamis 00:13:27 Building the shipping company for space 00:16:08 Building gas stations at Lagrange points 00:18:00 Science fic...

My first conversation with co-founders Fran Infante Aguirre & Tom Hubregtsen of Voltrac. Timestamps 00:00:00 The Farming Labour Crisis 00:01:49 Farming as a Service 00:03:27 Leaving the family business 00:04:57 Building the first chassis in the family shed 00:08:02 Hardware at software speed 00:13:25 Rebuilding the tractor from first principles 00:16:47 Building Thor in ten months 00:19:56 Rai...

This is my first conversation with Josh Vernon, founder of Earnd/Stream and now CEO of Gigaton. Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 01:28 Learning to work from his father 06:59 Dropping out of mechatronic engineering 09:06 The instinct behind life-changing decisions 12:10 Early mentors and stumbling into Earnd 15:25 Persuasion, credibility and the craft of selling 22:31 Winning Adani Cement 24:33 Founding Ear...

Fresh off a massive $20M Series A, Mikkel, a repeat founder who sold his last company at age 26, breaks down how at spektr they are completely automating compliance for tier-one banks, and why building an AI company is both vastly more complex and wildly more fun.

Fred Soneya of Haatch talks about how they scaled from a small angel group to a powerhouse firm. This is a masterclass in B2B SaaS and the "operator-led" fund model. We discuss the mechanics of pre-seed investing, why "boring" industries are goldmines, and how they run the firm 24/7.

Berhan is a serial founder who practically invented the on-chain lending vertical with ARV and is now tackling the $4 trillion "trapped cash" problem in global finance. This is a masterclass in the invisible plumbing that powers the world economy and a rare look into the future of programmable money. We break down the evolution of Keyrails, the strategic power of the "Genius Act,&qu...

From teenage horse trading to managing a $107M fund, Camilla Dolan’s runs a masterclass in the "obsession" required to build category-defining brands. This conversation pulls back the curtain on how she and the Eka Ventures team are deploying their second fund to reshape the future of consumer health and sustainability. We discuss the launch of Eka Fund II, the evolution of consumer beha...

It's Thursday 16th April & today on VENTURES we have a stellar slate. On the show today: Stephen Johnson: Investor, Mercia Ventures Camilla Dolan: General Partner, Eka Ventures Berhan Kongel: Co-Founder and CEO, Keyrails Mikkel Skarnager, Co-Founder and CEO, spektr Rishabh Kaul: Venture Partner, Hoxton Ventures Fred Soneya: Co-Founder and General Partner, Haatch Ollie Bone: Vice President,...

Jarek Pilarczyk went from building and selling multi-million dollar companies in Poland to funding the next generation of European “tech sovereignty.” He reveals why hardware is now a safer bet than software and how Poland’s education system accidentally created a global hub for math genius. We dive into the “energy bottleneck” of AI, the future of drones with Balnord, and why selling to Scandinav...

Mio Fagerhäll is the co-founder of eve, an AI matchmaker that’s removing the swipe entirely and is now Sweden’s fastest-growing dating app. We dive deep into why 80% of users are burnt out on swiping and how AI is finally fixing the "endless choice" paradox. Timestamps: 0:00 - From Pokemon expert to AI matchmaker 2:27 - The 12-year stagnation of dating app innovation 4:35 - Decoding the...

Boris Paskalev is the co-founder of Logicstar AI and the former founder of Deep Code, which was successfully acquired by snyk. A x5 serial entrepreneur, he is currently building predictive maintenance to fix the "leaky bucket" of modern software applications. Timestamps 00:00 - Introduction to Boris Paskalev and Logicstar AI 02:21 - Building ML for code in the pre-GPT era 03:40 - The &qu...

Andrea Gennarini is the Co-Founder and GP of 2100Ventures, a €30M micro-VC proving that Italy is the place to build. This conversation dives into why the world’s 8th largest economy is currently the biggest untapped opportunity in the European tech ecosystem. Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction to Andrea and the launch of 2100 Ventures 2:12 - Why Micro VCs are better for early-stage alignment 4:04 - B...

George Darrah, partner at Systemiq capital and a biologist by training, is revolutionizing how we invest in the intersection of nature and technology. We discuss the future of AI-driven biotech, the cost curves of genomic sequencing, and the portfolio companies transforming everything from soybeans to lab-grown fat. Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction and George’s roots in industrial farming. 0:51 - T...

Jon Coker has built a reputation for spotting consumer giants early, and this deep dive follows the massive news of Eka Ventures closing their $107M second fund. In this episode, we discuss the evolution of early-stage investing, the proprietary tech stack powering their deal flow, and why the most valuable consumer users are often found in the "back of the churn curve." Timestmaps 0:00...

11:30 Jon Coker : Founding Partner, Eka Ventures 12:00 George Darrah : General Partner, Systemiq Capital 12:30 Andrea Gennarini : Co-Founder and Managing Partner, 2100 Ventures 13:00 Boris Paskalev : Co-Founder and CEO, LogicStar AI 13:30 Mio Fagerhäll : CEO, eve 14:00 Jarek Pilarczyk : Partner, Balnord

Timestamps: 0:00 - Raising $110M and the "Most Expensive Sofa Ever" 1:01 - The 80s Gaming Era: Writing code for Nintendo at 13 2:53 - The shift to Manna: Why drone delivery became an obvious bet in 2018 4:34 - Identifying "Regulatory Unlock" as the ultimate market signal 6:53 - Hacking the first prototype: From back gardens to aviation grade 9:15 - Breaking the "Travelling...

Timestamps: 0:00 - The impact of morning sunlight on Vitamin D and mood 1:17 - Introduction to Maxime and the mission of Lucy 2:36 - The context problem: Why 100+ biomarkers need a lifestyle questionnaire 3:51 - Building the recommendation engine: AI vs. Doctor supervision 5:34 - Partnering with local labs: The logistics of the "Nurse at the Corner" 6:42 - Why you can’t have coffee befor...