Once upon a time, Mistral was Europe’s buzziest tech company — raising a huge €105m seed round in 2023 to build GenAI models and compete with the likes of OpenAI.But as the sector's matured, and we’ve seen application-focused AI startups like app maker Lovable and defence tech Helsing rise to the top of the hype pile, how is the Paris-based startup living up to its early promise?The company has won some big clients, announced partnerships with giants like Nvidia and grown substantial annual revenues, but do they justify its $6bn valuation?On this episode of Startup Europe — the Sifted Podcast, senior reporter and French tech correspondent Daphné Leprince-Ringuet tells host Amy Lewin what the company is focused on today and whether she thinks it’s moving fast enough against ever-increasing competition.
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The days of making easy money from coding are over, says former Stripe UK CTO turned founder Emma Burrows
If you work in tech, you’re likely in one of two camps: thinking about using AI agents, or already deploying tens of them.That’s why Emma Burrows cofounded Portia AI, a platform which helps businesses build and use AI agents securely, in-house — and which secured £4.4m in a seed round led by General Catalyst back in April.Emma's no stranger to a breakneck sector: before founding Portia, she was UK chief technology officer at payments giant Stripe, and previously built out the ecommerce stack at Charlotte Tilbury.In this week’s episode of the Sifted podcast, Emma joins editor Amy Lewin to talk about what AI agents can and cannot do, the very real risks they pose to junior engineering jobs — and why she doesn’t feel ‘mum guilt’.Key moments:0.00: Intro and about Portia AI3.00: How companies are using AI agents9.00: Impact of AI agents on junior engineers15.07: What AI Emma uses to code16.00: Transition from Stripe to founding a company19.15: Being a female founder in AI22.40: On 996 and hustle culture24.30: Emma's angel investing25.40: General Catalyst relationship27.30: The AI Act33.00: Quick fire questions and outro
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Helsing: Challenges ahead for the defence tech unicorn
Defence tech unicorn Helsing — which raised a whopping €600m in June at a €12bn valuation — has swiftly become one of Europe's most intriguing and closely-watched startups. Defence is top of the agenda for many policymakers and investors at the moment, and four-year-old Helsing has been crowned the poster child for the rising European defence tech wave. But, despite all that, the Munich-based company is remarkably secret about what it actually does. On this episode of the Sifted podcast, defence tech and VC reporter Anne Sraders and editor Amy Lewin share what they know of the rather mysterious company's products and clients, what murmurings they've heard from defence experts and investors and discuss what they think Helsing will do with all that money in the bank.Key moments: 00:00: Intro to Helsing02:47: What does Helsing actually do?06:02: Shifting attitudes to defence tech08:49: Challenges and criticisms facing Helsing12:06: What will Helsing do with €600m?
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Tackling financial fraud with AI: Qonto CEO Alexandre Prot
French fintech Qonto is a rare beast in startup land: it's actually profitable. Founded in 2016, the company provides banking and other financial services to 500,000 small businesses customers across eight European markets, helping them do everything from banking to accountancy, lending, savings, and as of recently, payment terminals.And being in the black gives it plenty of opportunities to expand further, via new product development, acquisitions — and by becoming a fully-licensed bank.In this episode of the Sifted podcast, CEO Alexandre Prot joins Amy to talk about how soon Qonto might apply for a banking licence, how it's using AI to tackle fraud and what lies ahead on the path to an IPO.Key moments:02:30 Acquisition strategy 14:05 Becoming a ban19:24 Secondaries and fundraising plans22:57 IPO?25:37 Challenges ahead 28:14 Fraud and AI35:45 What Alex would do differently building Qonto again
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Vinted CEO Thomas Plantenga: ‘Vinted is not a company that’s going to exit’
Secondhand marketplace Vinted needs little introduction, with tens of millions registered users around the world who use its app to sell everything from clothes to furniture to even lava lamps.But the (profitable) company is swiftly becoming far more than a marketplace: it also has its own shipping infrastructure, a payments business and — as of recently — a venture arm.Despite that, CEO Thomas Plantenga is far from complacent: “If we really want to make secondhand first choice, then everything that we have needs to be a lot better.”“The only thing that protects you is if you consistently improve what you have, because if you don’t, somebody’s going to see an opportunity to do things better than you do. And if somebody else is delivering more value to users than you, then you don’t deserve the position you’re in.”In this week’s episode of the Sifted podcast, host Amy asks Thomas what’s next for Vinted, how does it plan to stay three steps ahead of the pack and what are its exit plans.Key moments: 2:53 - Vinted's key businesses4.00 - Vinted's userbase7.30 - Secondhand market globally 9.00 - How can Vinted improve?13.00 - About the logistics business18.14 - About the payments business25.06 - Thomas' stance on competition27.30 - About Vinted Ventures31.03 - M&A strategy 33.26 - What does Vinted Ventures wants to invest in?35.24 - What could go wrong at Vinted?38.18 - Advice for CEOs41.09 - Vinted's exit
Get to know the brightest and boldest names in European tech with Sifted’s weekly podcast, hosted by Amy Lewin. She interviews the founders, operators and investors building Europe’s most exciting startups and, in conversation with Sifted’s expert journalists, pulls back the curtain on the most intriguing companies they’ve been reporting on.
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