EU-Startups Podcast

In this episode of the EU-Startups Podcast, recorded during Leonard’s 2026 Launch Day in Paris, we speak with Dag Wirdenius, CEO & Founder of SiteAssist, one of the startups supported by Leonard, the innovation and foresight platform of the VINCI Group.

Together with Leonard, we spotlighted selected startups from its incubation and acceleration programmes, showcasing solutions tackling real-world challenges in construction, infrastructure, energy, and mobility.

In this conversation, Dag explains how Site Assist improves day-to-day support on construction sites, focusing on efficiency, safety, and practical operational needs. We discuss the realities of innovating in complex on-site environments.

This interview is part of a five-episode Leonard series, recorded live during Launch Day, with new episodes released weekly.

Key topics discussed in this episode:
- The challenge Site Assist is addressing on construction sites
- How the platform supports on-site teams and operations
- Why construction remains a difficult sector to innovate in
- Lessons from deploying solutions in real construction environments

In this special episode of the EU-Startups Podcast, we continue our five-part interview series in partnership with Leonard, the innovation and foresight platform of the VINCI Group, recorded during their Launch Day in Paris

Leonard supports startups and internal projects shaping the future of construction, infrastructure, energy, and mobility, and during Launch Day we sat down with five companies from its 2026 cohort for in-depth conversations.

This episode features Julien Bec, CEO of Cold Pad, an engineering company delivering patented, cold-installed composite bonding and fastening solutions. Cold Pad enables structural repairs and reinforcements without drilling, welding, or hot works, even during live operations. Its technology improves safety, reduces downtime, and allows maintenance to be integrated directly into an asset’s normal operation - particularly in harsh or high-risk environments.

We discuss why maintenance and repair are often overlooked compared to new builds, the hidden safety trade-offs of traditional repair methods, and how cold-installed solutions can extend asset life while minimising operational disruption.

This episode is part of our Leonard Launch Day series, with one interview released each day this week (Monday to Friday).

Key points in this episode:

- Why “no drilling, no welding, no hot works” matters in live environments
- How cold-installed composite repairs improve safety and reduce downtime
- Real-world use cases where shutting down infrastructure is not an option
- The role of maintenance in extending asset lifespan and sustainability
- Why deep engineering solutions still matter in a software-heavy ConTech market

In this special episode of the EU-Startups Podcast, we continue our five-part interview series recorded during Leonard Launch Day in Paris, in partnership with Leonard, the innovation and foresight platform of the VINCI Group.

Leonard supports startups and internal projects shaping the future of construction, infrastructure, energy, and mobility, and during Launch Day we sat down with five companies from its 2026 cohort for in-depth conversations.

This episode features Philippe Rival, CEO of Enlaye, a ConTech company building an AI-native Risk Lifecycle Management platform. Enlaye helps builders, developers, and infrastructure owners identify, compare, and manage risks across the entire project lifecycle - from bid to delivery - reducing cost overruns, claims, and delays.

We discuss how risk is often underestimated or ignored in early project stages, where AI can surface hidden liabilities humans miss, and why better risk management can change how teams collaborate when things go wrong.

This episode is part of our Leonard Launch Day series, with one interview released each day this week (Monday to Friday).

Key points in this episode:
- What “Risk Lifecycle Management” means in practice
- How AI helps surface construction risks earlier and more accurately
- Why risks are often visible long before projects break down
- The challenge of managing risk across multiple stakeholders
- How better risk data changes accountability and decision-making

In this special episode of the EU-Startups Podcast, we kick off a five-part interview series recorded during Leonard Launch Day in Paris, in partnership with Leonard, the innovation and foresight platform of the VINCI Group.

Leonard supports startups and internal projects shaping the future of construction, infrastructure, energy, and mobility, and during their Launch Day we sat down with five companies from its 2026 cohort for in-depth conversations.

The first interview in the series features Ryan Luke Johns, CEO of Gravis Robotics, a Swiss ConTech company enabling autonomy in heavy machinery. Gravis retrofits existing excavators and loaders with advanced robotics and software, transforming them into remote-controlled, semi-autonomous, or fully autonomous machines.

We discuss why autonomy is becoming critical in construction, the challenges of deploying robotics in unpredictable environments, and why retrofitting existing equipment is key to real-world adoption.

This is episode one of five, with one interview released each day this week (Monday to Friday).

Key points in this episode:

- Why autonomy in heavy machinery is becoming a necessity, not a luxury
- The safety benefits of removing humans from high-risk machine operations
- Retrofitting existing equipment versus building autonomous machines from scratch
- The realities of deploying robotics on live construction sites
- How human operators’ roles are evolving alongside autonomous systems

In this episode of the EU-Startups Podcast, host David Cendon Garcia sits down with Friedrich Schwandt - founder of Statista and CEO of ECDB - to unpack nearly two decades of building one of the world’s most trusted data platforms, and why he decided to step back as CEO to start again.

Friedrich founded Statista in Hamburg in 2007 with a simple idea: make reliable data accessible. Seventeen years later, it had become a global data and business intelligence platform with over 1,400 employees, millions of users, and customers ranging from media giants to global enterprises. In 2024, he moved into a chairman role and turned his focus to ECDB, a company built to bring clarity to the fast-moving world of eCommerce data.

We talk about:
• The early problem Statista was really trying to solve
• The hardest moments of scaling that never make it into success stories
• What corporate life at Deutsche Telekom and BCG prepared him for - and what it didn’t
• Letting go of control as a founder, and knowing when it’s time
• What young SaaS and data founders get wrong
• How AI is changing the way data companies are built
• And our shared connection to Ireland (and his fondness of card games)

This episode is about data, yes - but also about leadership, timing, and the long game of building something that lasts.