Jordi Romero, Founder and CEO at Factorial: Factorial raised $150m at a $2.5b valuation

Jordi Romero, Founder and CEO at Factorial: Factorial raised $150m at a $2.5b valuation

Factorial just raised $150m from General Catalyst at a $2.5bn valuation as the company enters its next phase as an AI-native business. The new capital will be used to accelerate growth through acquisitions across Europe. Jordi Romero is Founder and CEO of Factorial, which recently turned 10 years old. He believes AI is changing how software companies serve their customers and sees Europe as one of the best places in the world to build a technology company. The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel. Check them out here: https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk Sponsors: Mishcon: https://www.mishcon.com/pop-ups/scaling-europe Chargebee: https://www.chargebee.com/events/beelieve/london/2026 SurrealDB: https://surrealdb.com/ Airwallex: https://www.airwallex.com/uk?utm_source=other&utm_medium=partner_referral&utm_campaign=v01_emea_multi_ib_dg_prtmk_mofu_scalingeurope Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 0:21 - General Catalyst invests $150m in Factorial 1:10 - Why raise capital now? 2:28 - The relationship with General Catalyst 3:55 - How the Customer Value Fund works 5:24 - From HR software to AI-native workforce operations 9:00 - Leading AI transformation inside a company 11:18 - Why Europe is a great place to build 13:16 - Barcelona’s startup ecosystem 15:52 - Lessons from Silicon Valley 18:21 - Building a company for the long term 19:57 - What Factorial looks for when hiring

Oliver Molander, Founding General Partner of Inception Fund: Europe needs to build indispensable technology.

European investors are moving faster, while global funds are becoming increasingly active across the Nordics. As competition for the best founders intensifies, technical talent is attracting more attention than ever at the earliest stages. Oliver Molander is Founding General Partner of Inception Fund, which recently expanded to €30 million. Drawing on his experience as both a founder and investor, he believes technical founders build the biggest outcomes, and that Europe should focus on creating indispensable technologies rather than simply talking about sovereignty. The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel. Check them out here: https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk Sponsors: Mishcon: https://www.mishcon.com/pop-ups/scaling-europe Chargebee: https://www.chargebee.com/events/beelieve/london/2026 SurrealDB: https://surrealdb.com/ Airwallex: https://www.airwallex.com/uk?utm_source=other&utm_medium=partner_referral&utm_campaign=v01_emea_multi_ib_dg_prtmk_mofu_scalingeurope Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 0:18 - Why Inception Fund was created 1:42 - Backing technical founders at inception 2:25 - Why European investors need to move faster 4:17 - The rise of a new generation of European funds 5:25 - Working with Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia and Lightspeed 7:08 - Building the LP base behind Inception Fund 9:31 - Convincing LPs to back a first-time fund manager 12:02 - Why Inception invested in Recursive 15:42 - Stockholm, Finland and the future of Nordic tech 20:52 - EQT and the €5 billion European scale-up fund 22:20 - Why Europe should focus on indispensability, not sovereignty

Alex McCracken, Head of Venture Capital Relationships, EMEA at J.P.Morgan: European AI startups are raising bigger rounds than ever

European AI startups are raising billion-dollar rounds, while defence and deep tech companies are attracting far larger rounds than the market was seeing a few years ago. Alex McCracken is Head of Venture Capital Relationships, EMEA at J.P. Morgan, where he is seeing US investors move into Europe earlier and more technical AI founders raise capital across the market. The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel. Check them out here: https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk Sponsors: Mishcon: https://www.mishcon.com/pop-ups/scaling-europe Chargebee: https://www.chargebee.com/events/beelieve/london/2026 SurrealDB: https://surrealdb.com/ Airwallex: https://www.airwallex.com/uk?utm_source=other&utm_medium=partner_referral&utm_campaign=v01_emea_multi_ib_dg_prtmk_mofu_scalingeurope Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 0:16 - The biggest shifts in European venture 0:48 - Billion-dollar AI seed rounds 2:45 - Why mega rounds are increasing in Europe 3:55 - The impact of large AI rounds 5:37 - Where capital is flowing in deep tech 6:43 - Defence, space and European resilience 8:20 - Why defence investment is accelerating 9:49 - The rise of US investors in Europe 12:25 - How European VCs are adapting 14:43 - Growth at all costs vs sustainable growth 18:24 - New financing structures for deep tech

David Helgason, Co-founder at Transition Ventures: Raising $150m Fund II

Transition VC raised a new $150m fund to back highly technical founders building the next generation of energy, compute and industrial companies. David Helgason, Co-founder at Transition VC, says AI is increasing demand for compute, power and industrial systems at a time when venture is moving beyond traditional software. The new fund will focus on companies building across energy, hardware and industrial infrastructure. The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel. Check them out here: https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk Sponsors: Mishcon: https://www.mishcon.com/pop-ups/scaling-europe Chargebee: https://www.chargebee.com/events/beelieve/london/2026 SurrealDB: https://surrealdb.com/ Airwallex: https://www.airwallex.com/uk?utm_source=other&utm_medium=partner_referral&utm_campaign=v01_emea_multi_ib_dg_prtmk_mofu_scalingeurope Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 0:22 - Transition VC’s new $150m fund 0:58 - Backing founders rebuilding industrial systems 2:01 - Climate tech, AI and resource constraints 3:47 - Raising Fund II 6:09 - Investing in photonics chip company Olix 9:16 - The founders the firm wants to back 10:26 - Nuclear, hardware and industrial innovation 12:47 - Why venture is moving beyond traditional SaaS 14:00 - Europe vs the US for deep tech 15:45 - Building the investment team 18:13 - What makes a great founder

Ashley Paulus, VP of Revenue (UK & EEA) at Checkout.com: Checkout.com reached 78% growth in the UK and 60% in Europe

Checkout.com is one of Europe’s leading payments companies, powering transactions for some of the world’s biggest digital businesses. Ashley Paulus, VP of Revenue (UK & EEA) at Checkout.com, is leading the company’s growth across two of its most important markets after 78% growth in the UK and around 60% growth in Europe last year. As merchants look for better acceptance rates, global coverage and faster access to capital, Checkout.com is becoming a bigger part of how companies grow across borders. The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel. Check them out here: https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk Sponsors: Mishcon: https://www.mishcon.com/pop-ups/scaling-europe Chargebee: https://www.chargebee.com/events/beelieve/london/2026 SurrealDB: https://surrealdb.com/ Airwallex: https://www.airwallex.com/uk?utm_source=other&utm_medium=partner_referral&utm_campaign=v01_emea_multi_ib_dg_prtmk_mofu_scalingeurope Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 0:16 - Checkout.com’s growth in the UK and Europe 1:51 - Why major merchants choose Checkout.com 3:40 - Scaling payments across global markets 5:12 - Growth targets for 2026 7:01 - New merchants and existing customers 8:14 - Europe vs Southeast Asia in payments 10:16 - AI in payments infrastructure 13:50 - Using AI in revenue teams 16:26 - Agentic commerce 18:04 - Stablecoins and faster merchant settlement