Startup Europe — The Sifted Podcast

• Nothing founder Carl Pei: ‘If you’re serious about hardware, you should spend time in China’

  Few founders have the know-how — or the guts — to take on Apple. But Carl Pei, founder and CEO of London-based startup Nothing, is one of them. Nothing makes smartphones and earphones at a fraction of Apple’s price, has shipped millions of units, raised $200m in September at a $1.3bn price tag — and is now exploring AI-native devices and apps.In this episode, host Amy Lewin sits down with Carl to explore how Nothing is approaching prototyping new devices, why Europe has struggled to produce globally successful hardware startups and what a future of personalised phones might actually look like.Carl also shares how spending time in China taught him the hardware ecosystem’s secrets, why India represents one of the biggest opportunities of our lifetime and which early-stage founder he has on his radar.

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• The State of European Tech 2025: Top talent, failing better and scaling faster

  It’s that time of year again: Atomico’s State of European Tech report has landed.In case you don't have the time to wade through its mammoth 183 charts, this week host Amy Lewin is joined by senior reporter Miriam Partington to bring you the report’s most surprising findings, with a focus on talent.And it paints a rosy picture: respondents say it’s getting easier to recruit and retain top-tier talent in Europe, and the continent’s pool of senior tech tech employees has grown faster than the US over the last decade.But do founders actually feel that shift on the ground? And how much appetite is there to finally fix Europe’s long-lamented market fragmentation? And why, a decade on, is the gender funding gap showing no signs of closing?Read Atomico’s report, here: https://www.stateofeuropeantech.com/Read our top highlights, here: https://sifted.eu/articles/state-european-tech-report-2025Read about the Mistral and SAP partnerships, here: https://sifted.eu/articles/france-germany-partnership-mistral-sapRead about why VCs are ditching the boardroom for operator life, here: https://sifted.eu/articles/vcs-becoming-operatorsIf you would like to sponsor the podcast, please email [email protected]

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• How to stop the UK startup exodus, with entrepreneur and government advisor Alex Depledge

  This week it's another special episode from the Sifted Summit, with senior reporter Kai Nicol-Schwarz sitting down with serial entrepreneur Alex Depledge — founder of Resi and Hassle.com, and now entrepreneurship advisor to UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves.Alex shares her experience of navigating government and trying to make changes for the UK's tech sector, and discusses how to tackle the exodus of startup talent from the country. Her and Kai get into how to unlock more late stage capital for high-growth companies, how pension funds can play a bigger role and how the UK government is bringing in business experience to help guide policy.Want to sponsor the podcast? Email [email protected] to express your interest.PLUS: Take our listener survey here: https://form.typeform.com/to/WbVxsSv7 (T&Cs apply)

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• Can Europe build AI champions?

  This week, Daphné Leprince-Ringuet is joined by head of research Jonathan Sinclair and senior reporter Kai Nicol-Schwarz to unpack the state of AI in Europe.Funding for European AI-native companies has nearly doubled to €8.9bn this year, and acquisitions hit a record high of 18 last month — all while valuations continue to climb. But do the numbers tell the full story?The trio digs into insights from Sifted’s inaugural AI ranking, alongside recent reporting, to explore questions like: Should France still be considered Europe’s AI hub? Why do 95% of GenAI pilots fail at big corporations? And when is the AI bubble going to burst?Read the report here: https://sifted.eu/rankings/ai-100-2025Want to sponsor the podcast? Email [email protected] take our listener survey here: https://form.typeform.com/to/WbVxsSv7

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• Erin Platts on SVB collapse and new role at Octopus Ventures: ‘There will always be churn’

  This week host Amy Lewin sits down with Erin Platts, CEO of Octopus Ventures. Erin joined Octopus at the beginning of this year after a two decade stint at Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), where she oversaw UK operations throughout its dramatic collapse in 2023.Erin walks Amy through the climactic weekend that SVB went under, revealing what really happened behind the scenes as industry partners scrambled to keep startups’ cash safe.The pair also dig into the state of venture in the UK, including the ups and downs faced by Octopus Titan, the £1.4bn listed fund that’s shed almost £600m in value since 2021 — and how Erin plans to steady the ship.They also discuss her views on the Mansion House Accord, her role on the UK government’s industry taskforce and why Octopus Ventures has experienced such high churn in recent years.Want to sponsor the podcast? Email [email protected] out listener survey here: https://form.typeform.com/to/WbVxsSv7 (T&Cs apply)

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