Episode
How Europe can Win in Tech
- Podcast
- EU-Startups Podcast
- Published
- Jul 29, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2445
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://eu-startups.podigee.io/180-new-episode-atomico
Actions
POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/eu-startups-podcast-987009/episodes/how-europe-can-win-in-tech/transcription-requests
Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/eu-startups-podcast-987009/how-europe-can-win-in-tech.md
Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.
Summary
For today's podcast we sit down with Tom Wehmeier, Partner and Head of Intelligence at Atomico, to discuss European technology, the firm’s investment philosophy, and the influential State of European Tech report. Tom reflects on his unconventional route into venture capital. Before joining Atomico, he worked in telecommunications, witnessing shifts such as the emergence of 3G and internet-based calling. This taught him to recognise hype cycles, adopt a patient long-term view, and understand why established companies often struggle to respond to disruption. He explains that breakthrough technologies are frequently underestimated. Early forecasts predicted a market of only around one million mobile phones, yet the technology eventually reached billions of users. For Tom, this shows the importance of recognising innovations that can fundamentally change behaviour. The conversation explores the origins of Atomico’s State of European Tech report. What began as a PowerPoint presentation became a major annual platform covering investment, talent, liquidity, regulation, and entrepreneurship. It was created to address the lack of shared, evidence-based information about Europe’s technology ecosystem. Tom previews themes expected in the next edition, including progress in funding innovation, reducing regulatory friction, empowering talent, and encouraging greater risk tolerance. The report will also examine technological sovereignty and resilience across energy, computing, and defence. He argues that Europe suffers from a “commitment gap”. Policymakers and industry leaders may support initiatives such as EU Inc. and greater institutional investment in technology, but implementation is often slowed by political deadlock. Progress therefore requires decisive leadership at national…