Episode Details

Europe used to build strong local companies. Now founders are building global winners from day one, with a much higher ceiling than before.

Filip Dames, Founding Partner at Cherry Ventures, says ambition across Europe has shifted, early stage funds are staying focused even as rounds get bigger, and more companies are being built in deep tech as Europe moves into harder problems.

The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel - check them out here:

https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk

Sponsors:

SurrealDB: The multi-model database for AI agents. Check them out here: https://surrealdb.com/

Omni: The AI analytics platform trusted by fast-growing companies like Perplexity, Synthesia, and dbt Labs. Check them out here: https://omni.co/

Venture Comet: The platform that gives startups and scale-ups real-time equity tracking, daily business insights and automated management information. Check them out here: https://venturecomet.com/

Timestamps:

0:00 - Introduction to the Scaling Europe show

0:32 - Filip Dames on how Europe’s startup ecosystem has changed

2:46 - Why Cherry raised a $500M fund and kept its early-stage focus

5:04 - Why Cherry does not want a billion-dollar early-stage fund

6:00 - Competing with US firms for Europe’s best founders

7:22 - How Cherry has adapted to founders moving to the US earlier

10:40 - Berlin, Munich and the state of the German startup ecosystem

13:03 - Why Europe is seeing a deep tech renaissance

16:32 - How Cherry evaluates deep tech companies like Proxima Fusion

20:00 - What Cherry looks for in deep tech founders

23:41 - Where Europe is still underfunded compared to the US

25:42 - How Cherry’s LP base and fundraising have evolved

28:21 - How Filip’s founder and operator background shapes how he invests