Upside #45 - Proxy Wars, Booming IPOs, & Defence Saves Europe
🎙️ Upside 45 Podcast – “Defence, Dirty Deals, and Disruption”
This week
EU defence spend motors - will it save us?European Space Agency military satellites US-China competition - European opportunity?US IPOs up 30% this year, so far, so whatBritish surgical robotics start-up -> sell-out⏱️ [01:13] – Geopolitical Hotspots and Defence
Iran’s global influence and diasporaUkraine’s resistance to Israel-Iran dynamicsCautious optimism about regime change WWIII has begun?⏱️ [03:35] – Oil & Markets
Brent crude spikes (from $70 → $77, possibly $100+) Shipping, inflation, and interest rates affected Bank of England holds rates amid uncertainty⏱️ [05:52] – Impact on Venture?
Founders not immediately impacted, but long-term capital flow risks flaggedDefence tension might dry up funding or shift VC attention⏱️ [06:56] – Defence as a European Economic Engine?
Defence our financial lifeline? But VC exposure to defence is tiny⏱️ [09:35] – Unicorns in EU Defense Tech
3 recent unicorns: Helsing, Tekever, Quantum SystemsHelsing shifts gearVCs rush in - BUT Sales cycles, procurement, regulation⏱️ [12:38] – Helsing’s Capital & The VC Taboo
US firms: Lightspeed, Accel, General Catalyst Homegrown capital is crucial to reducing 10x funding gap with USEIF restricts arms/weapons investmentsHelsing’s value as a “reference company” for LPs⏱️ [18:51] – ESA’s Satellite Plans
EU Space Agency wants €1B+ to build military satellite network.⏱️ [22:15] – Iris vs Starlink Context
Iris <> StarlinkEU must move fast on sovereignty or risk dependence⏱️ [23:59] – NASA Cuts vs ESA Budgets
NASA’s proposed 25% cutEurope’s ESA increasing funding—ironically divergent paths⏱️ [25:52] – China, Trade Wars, and Supply Chains
EU’s dependence on Chinese imports (clean tech, chemicals) Fear of trade dumping post US-China de-coupling Rare earth constraints impacting defence and auto industries⏱️ [29:45] – Tariff Timelines
July 9 tariff decisionPotential EU-US mini deal to avoid Trump’s punitive tariffsPharmaceuticals next⏱️ [32:00] – IPO Boom in the US
Chime, Circle, CoreWeave IPOs—massive post-IPO pops Klarna leads EU pipeline⏱️ [34:04] – IPO vs Private Capital
Bill Gurley’s hatred of bankersPrivate markets still offering better valuationsSPACs are back!⏱️ [36:25] – Surgical Robots and CMR Surgical
CMR (Cambridge Medical Robotics)Raised $1B, now eyeing $4B exitPremature exitCMR’s potential lostScale homegrown tech more aggressively⏱️ [44:45] – Deed of the Week
Daniel Ek’s €600M into HelsingParis-based Nabla raises $70M Series CScale AI deal closes in one weekFastest capital deployment of its kind; no FTC review needed⏱️ [49:05] – Founders in Government
Alex Depledge named UK entrepreneurship advisorPraise for founders like Matt Clifford shaping UK tech policy⏱️ [51:10] – Meta’s AI Talent War
Meta’s aggressive poaching of OpenAI talentAI job market likened to football transfer seasonPay off or backfire?
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: 53
- Latest episode: 2025-07-26
- Business Entrepreneurship
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