EU-Startups Podcast

Join us for a conversation with Karin Fleck, the CEO and Founder of Vienna Textile Lab, an innovator in sustainable textile dyeing through biotechnology.

With a decade of experience in the oil and energy sector, Karin transitioned her expertise to address one of the fashion industry’s most pressing challenges: the environmental and human cost of synthetic dyes.

In this interview, she shares her journey from managing large-scale industrial projects to founding a company dedicated to creating bio-based, eco-friendly dyes derived from microorganisms. Discover how Vienna Textile Lab is transforming the textile industry by offering a commercially viable, safe, and sustainable alternative to traditional synthetic dyes.

The conversation also touches on the role of Women TechEU in supporting deep-tech startups and the importance of fostering a collaborative ecosystem to drive meaningful change in the industry.

Join us for an interview with Angela Ivanova, the co-founder and CEO of LAM’ON Compostable Films, a Bulgarian company at the forefront of sustainable packaging solutions.

Angela shares her journey of addressing one of the most pressing environmental challenges: the 1.2 million metric tons of laminated paper wasted annually. LAM’ON has developed bio-based, compostable laminating films and packaging foils that seamlessly integrate with paper recycling, offering a circular economy solution without compromising quality.

In this discussion, Angela dives into the challenges of building LAM’ON from the ground up. She reflects on the gender gap in entrepreneurship, the moments that led her to focus on biodegradable materials, and the hurdles of product development, industry adoption, and scaling a startup in Bulgaria.

The conversation also explores the real-world impact of LAM’ON’s innovations. Angela discusses how companies are transitioning to their compostable films, the barriers to widespread adoption, and whether customers are driven by genuine environmental consciousness or regulatory pressures.

With a sharp focus on the future of sustainable materials, she examines the role of technology, infrastructure, and consumer behavior in making compostable packaging mainstream within the next five years.

In this exclusive interview, we sit down with Nikita Miller, Chief Product Officer at Perk, formerly TravelPerk, to discuss the company’s evolution into an AI-native travel and spend management platform and its global ambitions.

Nikita joined Perk in September 2025 as the Barcelona-founded scale-up was expanding beyond travel into spend and expense management, integrating acquisitions such as Yokoy, and accelerating its growth in the US.

Central to Perk’s strategy is eliminating what Nikita calls “shadow work”: repetitive tasks such as reconciling receipts, managing invoices, booking travel and navigating company policies. By automating these processes, Perk aims to give employees more time for higher-value work.

Nikita argues that the debate around AI should go beyond whether it replaces jobs. While AI can handle repetitive tasks and improve reporting, strategic judgement, decision-making and understanding why a company should pursue a particular direction remain fundamentally human.

The conversation also explores how AI is changing hiring and company structures. Rather than simply reducing headcount, Nikita believes AI is creating demand for new skill sets, particularly systems thinking as businesses develop increasingly interconnected AI-driven products.

Perk is already moving towards a more agentic future, connecting travel, spend, invoices and events while investing in personalisation. Its years of travel and spending data allow it to improve recommendations for travellers and give CFOs and administrators greater visibility over policies, approvals and costs.

Nikita also discusses Perk’s expansion into the US, arguing that its experience operating across complex European markets has prepared it well for localisation abroad. The company’s recent €300 million credit facility is supporting investment across AI, product development, invoicing, corporate cards and new products.

Looking ahead, Nikita describes Perk’s ambition to build a “100-year company” focused on removing administrative complexity and helping people use their time more meaningfully.

Key Points

• Perk’s evolution from TravelPerk into an AI-native travel and spend management platform.
• Eliminating “shadow work” by automating repetitive travel, expense and invoicing tasks.
• Why AI should be judged by the higher-value work it enables, not only its impact on headcount.
• How AI and personalisation are improving recommendations, approvals, reporting and spend visibility.
• Perk’s US expansion and long-term ambition to build a global “100-year company”.

For today’s podcast, produced in association with the Women TechEU scheme, we sit down with Jekaterina Romanova, CEO and co-founder of Latvian biotech startup PrintyMed, to discuss biomimetic spider silk, its medical potential, and the challenges of scaling deep-tech innovation in Europe.

The Women TechEU scheme is an EU-funded project supporting women leading deep tech startup companies from Europe. As part of the consortium team implementing the programme, our mission is to foster inclusive innovation by supporting women-led startups, including under-represented deep tech sectors and European regions. 

We believe that diversity drives innovation, and we are here to provide women in deep tech with more opportunities, resources, and support in order to build market-shaping companies at global level.

Between 2026-2028, the current project consortium will run a continuous open call with 4 cut-off dates. Following a rigorous evaluation process, 160 total beneficiaries will be selected. Each beneficiary will receive €75k grants (non-dilutive finance), as well as a tailored package of mentorship, training, expert guidance, matchmaking and networking opportunities, and support in bridging the gap to other EIC funding and support schemes.

EU-Startups is a proud member of the consortium implementing the Women TechEU Programme from 2026 to 2028.

In this podcast, Jekaterina reflects on her unconventional path into biotechnology. After studying economics and working in banking, she entered entrepreneurship at 18 through a posture-correction clothing startup. She later founded a company developing 3D-printed bone grafts, gaining experience in medical regulation, funding, and commercialisation.

At PrintyMed, Jekaterina leads grants, investment, partnerships, and strategy, while scientists and doctors oversee laboratory research. The company’s biomimetic spider silk technology originated at the Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis and replicates aspects of how spiders naturally produce silk.

PrintyMed’s long-term ambition is to support artificial organs and biological scaffolds. It has developed an artificial heart-valve prototype and is exploring artificial nerves, wound dressings, and regenerative medicine.

Its first commercial focus is membranes for organ-on-a-chip systems, which help pharmaceutical companies and researchers test drugs while reducing animal testing. PrintyMed is already running pilot projects, although products intended for patients will require several more years of certification.

Jekaterina also discusses the importance of European funding. PrintyMed has secured about €2 million in grants, including €75,000 from Women TechEU and roughly €700,000 through a European Innovation Council programme. This support strengthened the company’s expertise in regulation, intellectual property, scaling, and fundraising.

The conversation also covers expansion beyond Europe. PrintyMed is building relationships in Saudi Arabia, where government-backed biotechnology initiatives, research partnerships, and certification opportunities could support international growth.

Jekaterina argues that Europe’s medical-device regulations can slow innovation and calls for controlled fast-track testing environments. She also highlights spider silk’s potential in cosmetics and skincare, following discussions with Chanel about a regenerative cosmetic glove.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

For today's podcast we sit down with Tom Wehmeier, Partner and Head of Intelligence at Atomico, to discuss European technology, the firm’s investment philosophy, and the influential State of European Tech report.

Tom reflects on his unconventional route into venture capital. Before joining Atomico, he worked in telecommunications, witnessing shifts such as the emergence of 3G and internet-based calling. This taught him to recognise hype cycles, adopt a patient long-term view, and understand why established companies often struggle to respond to disruption.

He explains that breakthrough technologies are frequently underestimated. Early forecasts predicted a market of only around one million mobile phones, yet the technology eventually reached billions of users. For Tom, this shows the importance of recognising innovations that can fundamentally change behaviour.

The conversation explores the origins of Atomico’s State of European Tech report. What began as a PowerPoint presentation became a major annual platform covering investment, talent, liquidity, regulation, and entrepreneurship. It was created to address the lack of shared, evidence-based information about Europe’s technology ecosystem.

Tom previews themes expected in the next edition, including progress in funding innovation, reducing regulatory friction, empowering talent, and encouraging greater risk tolerance. The report will also examine technological sovereignty and resilience across energy, computing, and defence.

He argues that Europe suffers from a “commitment gap”. Policymakers and industry leaders may support initiatives such as EU Inc. and greater institutional investment in technology, but implementation is often slowed by political deadlock. Progress therefore requires decisive leadership at national and European levels.

Tom also explains how the report serves different audiences. Investors may focus on funding and liquidity, while policymakers are more interested in regulation and ecosystem sentiment. By making its data downloadable, Atomico enables journalists, founders, investors, and researchers to develop their own interpretations.

The report has become a year-round initiative involving research partnerships, newsletters, roundtables, and wider industry engagement. Atomico also experiments with new formats, including synthetic audience tools, interactive question-and-answer features, and video content.

The interview concludes by reflecting on Atomico’s 20-year history. When the firm was founded, the idea that Europe could produce globally significant technology companies and establish venture capital as a major asset class was far from certain. Tom believes the ecosystem has since exceeded expectations, while Atomico has helped place European entrepreneurship on the global map.

Key Points

• Tom’s telecommunications background shaped his analytical, long-term approach to venture capital and disruption.
• Breakthrough innovations are often underestimated before reaching mass adoption.
• The State of European Tech report provides a shared, evidence-based view of Europe’s technology ecosystem.
• The next report will examine funding, regulation, talent, risk tolerance, sovereignty, and resilience.
• Europe must close the gap between political commitments and implementation through stronger leadership.
• Atomico’s belief in European technology has been validated by the ecosystem’s growth and global relevance.