Upside #49 - The United States of Europe

UPSIDE - For the week's *real news* behind the headlines affecting European venture.If curious about startups, investing, venture capital, innovation, AI, and all things going on in and around Europe - that's what this weekly roundup is all about.Hosts: Lomax from Outsized Ventures with Mads and myself from SuperSeed VCOn this week's show:04:02 – Shout out for EU Inc and The 28th RegimeLegal fragmentation in Europe increases friction and costs for pre-seed and seed funding. Comparison to US (Delaware + SAFE) vs. Europe’s notary-heavy systems.Potential savings of €350–500M annually by reducing legal overhead. ESOP (employee share options) complexity highlighted as a major barrier.09:55 – The United States of EuropeEU Inc. could be a “small first step” toward a unified European market post-Brexit. Lobbying from notaries and national interests creates significant resistance. Watered down is as good as not at all.15:14 – AI Corner: Huge AI news this weekMira Murati’s new startup raises $2B from A16Z, Nvidia, AMD. China’s Moonshot AI (Kimi 2) - 1T parameter open-source LLM outperforming Anthropic’s Opus 4 on coding tasks. Europe is trailing the US and China in foundational AI, but vertical AI and apps offer big opportunities.25:28 – The Application Layer BoomLovable Raised $200M at $1.8B valuation** with 75M ARR in 8 months.AI application companies like Tandem Health and Legora are scaling rapidly.31:51 – Apple Rumoured to Acquire Mistral?$15B acquisition? Would be the largest European AI exit, but raises sovereignty concerns in France.36:12 – UK Government ReformsRachel Reeves’ speeches: Streamlined reporting, pushing pension funds into riskier assets, and supporting LSE listings - symbolic or game-changing?42:21 – Crypto Week in the USBitcoin hits $120K as three major US crypto acts debated: Clarity Act, Genius Act, Anti-CBDC Act. Europe already has MiCA regulations but lacks a cohesive narrative. But should we have our own Crypto week?48:19 – European VC at 10-Year Low2025 projections: $10B VC capital raised. Solutions: Unlock pension capital, simplify retail VC access, and recycle returns from big exits like Mistral.54:28 – Deal of the Week: NumanMen’s D2C health startup: Raised $57M (30M equity + 27M debt). Pivoted to GLP-1-based weight-loss products, doubling revenue to $90M in 2024.56:16 – Closing Thoughts.