Upside #40 - Pension Cash *Will* Unlock UK VC - But when, how & so what?
🎙️ Upside #40 Podcast — For The Real Stories Behind The European Venture Headlines
If you're into startups, VC investing, European Venture, or anything startup-ecosystem and business - this podcast is for you.
Host: Dan Bowyer (SuperSeed)
Guests: Lomax (Outsized), Mads (SuperSeed), Chris Elphick (BVCA)00:00 — Introduction
Dan welcomes listeners to Upside, introducing co-hosts Lomax and Mads. Special guest Chris Elphick, Head of Venture Capital at the British Venture Capital Association (BVCA), joins to unpack the European venture scene.🏛️ BVCA, Government, and the Venture Landscape
00:41 — Chris Elphick: Inside the BVCA
Chris shares BVCA’s role as the voice of UK VC, its upcoming conference, and engagement with government and industry leaders like Peter Kyle (UK Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology).01:30 — AI, MPs, and Government Tools
Discussion on the use of AI in government, freedom of information requests, and whether MPs should be criticised or encouraged for experimenting with tools like ChatGPT.⚙️ Politics, Elections & Economic Backdrop
05:00 — UK Local Elections & Reform’s Rise
Chris and the team unpack local election results, the rise of Reform UK, and parallels with Trump-era political trends.06:50 — US-China Trade War & Global Impact
Mads breaks down the effect of US-China tariffs on global trade, the likelihood of recession, and inflationary pressures.✈️ Aerospace & European Tech Ecosystem
10:00 — Heart Aerospace Moves to the US
The team explores why Swedish startup Heart Aerospace is relocating to LA, touching on the US-Europe funding gap and the challenges of raising large growth rounds in Europe.13:00 — UK VC Fundraising Trends
Chris shares new BVCA data: venture fundraising doubled from £2.3B (2023) to £4B (2024), with notable increases in US LP participation, but highlights the persistent absence of UK pension capital.💰 Pension Reform & the Scale-Up Gap
25:00 — EIS, VCT, & British Business Bank Programmes
Explaining the importance of Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS), Venture Capital Trusts (VCT), and the British Business Bank in seeding UK funds.35:00 — Mansion House Compact & Pensions
Charge cap changesLTAFs (Long-Term Asset Funds) are hereThe Nova initiative (inspired by France’s Tibi scheme)Challenges: fees, liquidity, education, performance
Deep dive into the push to unlock UK pension capital for VC:🌍 European Comparisons
56:00 — Who’s Doing Pension Release Well?
Discussion of successful pension-backed VC models in Sweden, the Netherlands, France (Tibi), and lessons for the UK.🤖 AI Corner & Deal of the Week
58:00 — AI: Changing the Game
Mads highlights that ~30% of Microsoft and Google code is now AI-generated; Cursor hits 1B lines/day.59:00 — Defence & Geopolitics
Lomax points to a Series A defence deal led by Index Ventures. Mads reviews the U.S.-Ukraine minerals deal as geopolitical chess.
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 - [email protected]
- No. of episodes: 42
- Latest episode: 2025-05-10
- Business Entrepreneurship
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