Startup Europe — The Sifted Podcast

It’s pretty fun being the frontman of the world’s fastest-growing company, says Anton Osika. But being swarmed by enthusiastic users, opportunistic investors and beady-eyed journalists can occasionally have its downsides. It’s no surprise everyone wants a piece of Lovable founder and CEO Anton. Last month, just eight months after its launch, Lovable was crowned Europe’s newest unicorn when it raised $200m at a $1.8bn valuation, and hit $100m ARR.  On this week’s episode of the podcast, Anton sits down with host Amy to discuss the company's push into enterprise, hiring mistakes he’s made and the challenges of building Europe’s startup du jour in public. ———————— Want a new pair of headphones? Tell us what you think of the podcast and enter our prize draw, here: https://form.typeform.com/to/WbVxsSv7 [https://form.typeform.com/to/WbVxsSv7] This episode was brought to you by HSBC Innovation Banking, connecting you with what's next.

If you work at a tech startup, AI is a boon and a bane, empowering tiny teams to build at scale while wiping out entry-level jobs and flooding LinkedIn with “AI slop.” In this week's episode of the Sifted podcast, Amy is joined by senior reporter Miriam Partington, to discuss how founders and operators at Europe's fastest-growing companies are using AI. She shares what she's hearing about how the technology is hurting trust in brands, how engineering teams are being totally re-shaped and about why we're going from "an era of specialism to an era of generalism" in the talent market. Tell us what you think of the podcast: https://form.typeform.com/to/WbVxsSv7

Germany-based defence tech Quantum Systems is one of Europe's leading makers of military drones, having completed thousands of missions in Ukraine and signed contracts with governments around the world. The company raised a €160m Series C in May 2025, hitting unicorn status, and is seeing its revenue double year on year. On this week's episode of the Sifted Podcast, host Amy sits down with Quantum Systems’ CEO Florian Seibel to hear about what peace in Ukraine will mean for the growing defence tech industry, what the future holds for unmanned vehicles and why he thinks Europe could take a leaf out of China's book when it comes to long-term planning. Seibel, not one to mince his words, calls out the people and investors jumping on the defence tech hype, and explains how working in a war zone and competing against enemy Russian drones has been the ultimate motivator for innovation.

You might be forgiven for thinking Europe had just two big drone makers — Germany’s Helsing and Quantum Systems — given how many headlines both attract. But there’s a third defence tech unicorn on the continent: Lisbon-based surveillance drones maker Tekever. Its drones are used all over the world — by the European Maritime Safety Agency to survey the coastline around Europe and by the UK Home Office to keep an eye on the English Channel, by the Spanish police and Brazilian Navy and — unsurprisingly — in Ukraine. Tekever was founded way back in 2001 and bootstrapped for its first 21 years, but in May this year raised €70m in a round led by Baillie Gifford and the Nato Innovation Fund. It also announced plans to invest £400m to build drones in the UK alongside the country’s Royal Air Force — and create thousands of jobs. On this episode of the Sifted Podcast, host Amy Lewin and senior reporter Freya Pratty discuss why Tekever’s investors are so bullish on the company, how it compares to competitors and what else is on its roadmap.

Barcelona-based Factorial has come a long way since its early days as a software startup offering free HR services. The business management platform is now used by more than 13k companies for everything from expense tracking to project management. It’s also scaling fast, with more than 1,300 employees and €110m in fresh funding from General Catalyst under its belt, which it raised in March.  That means CEO and founder Jordi Romero has a job on his hands finding ways to keep momentum up. He’s also just onboarded 300 people in six months. What does he look for in those new hires? A “willingness to work”. What doesn’t impress him? “Logos and CVs”. In this week’s episode of the Sifted podcast, host Amy asks Jordi where AI is helping (and where it’s not), how the “unusual” General Catalyst deal came about and whether an IPO is on the horizon. This episode was brought to you by HSBC Innovation Banking, connecting you with what's next.