Ro Gupta, Woven Capital: How Toyota uses corporate venture to win in AI and robotics

What happens when AI agents become customers?

What changes when AI agents can transact on their own? Andreas Munk Holm [https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreas-euvc/?locale=en] speaks with Viggo Stenseth [https://www.linkedin.com/in/viggos/], CEO and Co-Founder of SolvaPay [https://solvapay.com/], alongside Redstone [https://redstone.vc/] General Partners Samuli Sirén [https://www.linkedin.com/in/samulisiren/] and Mickaël Bellaïche [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mickael-bellaiche/], about building payment infrastructure for the agentic economy. The conversation explores agent-to-agent transactions, usage-based billing, protocol interoperability, regulatory moats and why existing payment rails may not be designed for AI-native commerce. Key highlights * Why AI agents need payment infrastructure built for agentic commerce * How businesses can monetise APIs, datasets and digital services used by agents * Why SolvaPay plugs into existing financial rails rather than bypassing them * The “battle of protocols” across agent marketplaces and ecosystems * Why regulation, licensing and identity matter in agentic payments Timestamps * (00:00) Why payments are blocking the agentic economy * (02:00) What SolvaPay is building * (05:10) Why customers already want agent-to-agent transactions * (06:30) Existing financial rails versus crypto-native approaches * (08:10) The “battle of protocols” and AI marketplaces * (12:00) Redstone on why agentic payments are real * (17:20) Why Redstone invested before traction existed * (27:00) Can SolvaPay become the Stripe for AI agents? * (32:00) Why incumbents may struggle to adapt * (36:10) Building long term versus building for exit * (41:00) Does the world need an agentic bank? Subscribe to EUVC, the home of European tech, for more insights: https://www.eu.vc/subscribe

Ro Gupta, Woven Capital: How Toyota uses corporate venture to win in AI and robotics

Most corporates struggle to move fast enough for AI and robotics. Toyota’s answer is corporate venture. In this episode, Andreas Munk Holm [https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreas-euvc/?locale=en] and Jeppe Høier [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeppehoier/?skipRedirect=true] speak with Ro Gupta [https://www.linkedin.com/in/guptaro/], CEO and Managing Director of Woven Capital [https://woven.vc/], Toyota’s growth-stage venture fund focused on mobility, AI, automation and climate technology. They discuss how Toyota uses CVC to identify frontier technologies, work with startups and think decades ahead. Ro shares how Woven Capital functions as agile “speedboats” around Toyota’s industrial “supertanker”, scanning for strategic opportunities across AI, robotics, mobility, manufacturing and infrastructure. Highlights * Why Toyota invests through both “inside-out” and “outside-in” models * How Woven evaluates AI, robotics and the future of labour * Why strategic engagement matters more than passive investing * How Toyota balances long-term thinking with venture-speed execution * Why Europe is becoming increasingly important for Toyota’s innovation strategy Timestamps (00:00) Ro Gupta’s founder background and move into Toyota (04:00) Startup operators vs corporate insiders in CVC (10:00) Toyota’s multi-fund venture strategy (15:00) The “supertanker and speedboats” framework (18:00) AI hype cycles and long-term industrial strategy (23:00) AI, robotics and advanced manufacturing themes (27:00) What Woven Capital looks for in startups (30:00) What founders expect from CVC investors (33:00) How Woven collaborates with traditional VCs (35:00) Europe’s role in Toyota’s future strategy (39:00) Toyota’s next 100-year opportunity (44:00) The “build, move and connect” framework Subscribe to EUVC, the home of European tech, for more insights: https://www.eu.vc/subscribe [https://www.eu.vc/subscribe]

Episode #1: Consumer Tech Napkin | Fundraising & Benchmarks in Consumer Tech

What actually gets a consumer company funded in Europe? Fewer things than most founders think. This is one of the questions the first episode of Consumer Tech Napkin explores, with Andreas Munk Holm [https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreas-euvc/?locale=en] joined by Sameer Singh [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sameer-singh-1ba0177/] (Partner with Speedinvest [https://www.speedinvest.com/]'s Marketplaces and Consumer team), Susan Lin [https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanravelin/] (Partner and Investor at Felix Capital) [https://www.felixcap.com/] and Joe Seager-Dupuy [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jsdxyz/] (Director, Investment at True [https://www.true.global/]). The conversation covers engagement as the real leading indicator, why a decade of cheap capital let weak products hide behind paid acquisition, what behavioural signals actually move investors and why AI is not the defensibility play most founders assume it is. If you're building consumer, this one's worth your time. Key highlights * Engagement is the strongest signal in consumer software, not monetisation * Growth can hide weak businesses when retention and organic acquisition are missing * AI alone is not a moat and thin wrappers are easy to replicate * Consumer is underfunded in Europe despite producing many of its biggest outcomes * Blitzscaling only works when companies already have defensibility Timestamps * (00:00)⁠ What actually gets a consumer company funded in Europe?⁠ * (02:40)⁠ Why AI is not a platform shift * ⁠(04:15)⁠ Thin AI wrappers and defensibility in consumer software * ⁠(07:30) AI-enabled consumer opportunities in health, therapy and financial services * ⁠(10:00)⁠ What investors actually look for in consumer startups * ⁠(11:20)⁠ Why engagement is the strongest signal that something is working * ⁠(15:10)⁠ Why behaviour matters more than surveys or narratives * ⁠(19:00)⁠ Why consumer remains underweight in European venture * ⁠(27:00)⁠ Marginal costs, pricing power and scalable business models * ⁠(34:30)⁠ Why blitzscaling only works when companies already have a moat * ⁠(39:00)⁠ Paid acquisition, defensibility and sustainable growth * ⁠(41:30)⁠ Felix Capital’s consumer investing scorecard Subscribe to EUVC, the home of European tech, for more insights: https://www.eu.vc/subscribe [https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbUVrclVLblcwRmVkUV9LZzdubThfQjE2NnBQd3xBQ3Jtc0ttNWNHRWVtczhGdlNKRUlqUWZMY3QxTXZHUlZKMHZnZDRwV2RRMjdIQk1yR0lvN2dJYnU4SmI5SnFMZTJuUTRzZEVGQVlYZlNSYTRNZkJZa1ZCV0dMbm55eUt5YWY1QW13SjJBRndOdjAtMmlkeGdEdw&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eu.vc%2Fsubscribe&v=Wb0wvZWwH0Y]

This Week in European Tech: Anthropic’s rise, China’s AI push and Europe’s tech dilemma

This week on This Week in European Tech, Mads Jensen [https://www.linkedin.com/in/madsjensen/] of SuperSeed [https://www.superseed.com/], Lomax Ward [https://pt.linkedin.com/in/lomax-ward] of Outsized Ventures [https://www.outsizedventures.com/] and Andrew J Scott [https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewjscott/] of 7percent Ventures [https://www.7pc.vc/] discuss Arm’s AI pivot, Spotify earnings and Anthropic’s explosive growth. The conversation also covers the EU’s clash with Meta, ASML’s semiconductor moat, UK fusion ambitions and SAP’s €1 billion acquisition of Prior Labs. Key highlights * Why AI may be shifting demand back towards CPUs * Anthropic’s explosive growth, cloud spending and IPO speculation * The debate around AI safety, regulation and national security * ASML’s semiconductor dominance and China’s AI workarounds * Why energy infrastructure and industrial policy matter for AI Timestamps * (00:00) Intro and this week’s themes * (02:00) Arm and Spotify earnings reactions * (05:00) Arm’s shift from licensing to AI CPUs * (09:00) Agentic AI and rising CPU demand * (11:00) Anthropic growth, cloud spending and valuation speculation * (16:00) Enterprise AI implementation and PE-backed AI services * (23:00) AI safety, regulation and national security debates * (31:00) The EU’s clash with Meta over AI access in WhatsApp * (39:00) ASML, semiconductor infrastructure and China’s catch-up efforts * (46:00) UK fusion ambitions and strategic industrial policy * (55:00) SAP acquires Prior Labs for €1 billion Subscribe to EUVC, the home of European tech, for more insights: https://www.eu.vc/subscribe [https://www.eu.vc/subscribe]

Julien Fredonie, Honda Xcelerator Ventures: Europe isn’t fragmented. It’s a deep tech circuit board.

Europe isn’t a collection of isolated hubs. It’s an interconnected system where talent, capital and industry come together to build deep tech. That's the perspective Julien Fredonie⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/fredoniejulien/details/experience/], Program Lead for Europe and Africa at ⁠Honda Xcelerator Ventures⁠ [https://xcelerator.hondainnovations.com/], shared on our latest episode hosted by Andreas Munk Holm [https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreas-euvc/?locale=en] and Jeppe Høier [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeppehoier/]. They spoke about why Europe’s deep tech moment is real, how the pipeline of founders is improving and why corporates are key to scaling hardware innovation. They also explore the rise of specialised investors and where CVCs still get team evaluation wrong. Key highlights * Europe’s deep tech moment is structural, not hype * Global investors have shifted from doubt to active allocation * Founder quality is rising through education and support systems * CVCs are critical to scaling deep tech companies * CVCs miss critical signals when evaluating deep tech teams Timestamps (00:00) Europe as a deep tech “mesh”, not fragmented (04:00) Julien’s role and investment scope at Honda Xcelerator Ventures (08:00) Why Europe’s deep tech moment is happening now (12:00) Education strength and rise of deep tech founders (16:00) Team composition: diversity and complementarity (20:00) New generation of deep tech GPs and hardware expertise (26:00) The role of CVCs in scaling deep tech (34:00) Team blind spots and founder evolution over 10+ years Subscribe to EUVC, the home of European tech, for more insights: https://www.eu.vc/subscribe [https://www.eu.vc/subscribe]