Our Venture Capital team went to Bits&Pretzels, with a full agenda of meetings with founders, co-investors and LPs, and plenty of conversations in between. We came home with a long list of follow-ups and a clearer picture of where things are moving.
What stood out most was the focus of the conference. A large part of the agenda and the startups we met were in enterprise AI, deep tech, industrial technology, security and resilience. These are the same areas we have been spending most of our time on internally at Alea, so it was good to see that conviction reflected both on stage and in the companies at the meeting tables.
We also had some good conversations with other investors about where the VC role is heading. More and more, it comes down to specialisation, knowing the industry well and being hands-on with founders. That is what we believe at Alea, so it was good to hear it from others and pick up a few ideas along the way.
Some of the most useful talks were about how investors are using automation and AI in their own work. We have been putting a lot of effort into this, and we came back with plenty to try. We expect the companies we back to keep improving how they work, as we’ll keep doing the same.
It also felt like Europe is stepping up. More European founders building ambitious companies from here, more investors willing to back them, and a stronger sense that this kind of technology can and should be built in Europe.
The theme this year was “Human After All”, and it fit. AI came up in almost every conversation, but the best conversations were with those who knew their industry or research field inside out and were focused on solving one real problem. AI was just one of the tools they were using to get there.
And, of course, finishing the week with “liquid networking” at Oktoberfest made it easy to turn meetings into real relationships.
Thank you to every founder, investor and LP who made time for us. Now the real work starts: the follow-ups.