At the latest edition of Private Market Perspectives in Paris, KAPITAL hosted a fireside chat with Renaud Visage, Co-founder of Slate VC, and Augustin Sayer, Managing Partner of OVNI Capital. The discussion explored how Europe’s venture ecosystem is maturing, where U.S. and European models still diverge, and how both founders and investors can build durable value across cycles.
Europe’s venture evolution
Over the past decade, European venture capital has grown from a fragmented, underfunded landscape to a thriving ecosystem of operators, repeat founders, and globally minded investors. “In 2011, Paris had only a few co-working spaces and limited risk capital,” Renaud recalled. “Today, we have Station F, global funds deploying billions, and a real talent pool of CPOs, CMOs, and CTOs ready to join startups.”
Augustin echoed this shift. “When I moved to France in 2017, most founders focused on winning their home market before expanding abroad,” he said. “That approach doesn’t work anymore. If you start in Europe, you need to think global from day one.”
OVNI’s model is built on this conviction. “Our best-performing portfolio companies split their operations strategically,” Augustin explained. “They keep R&D in Europe, move product, sales, and leadership to the U.S. early, and come back stronger.”
Different philosophies, same ambition
The panel also drew clear contrasts between U.S. and European venture cultures. “Americans fund the vision,” Renaud said. “Europeans still fund the spreadsheet.” While U.S. funds often provide deep operational support through embedded experts, Europe’s ecosystem remains leaner and more capital-efficient. London hosts a few U.S.-style firms, but the model is still maturing on the continent.
Scaling across borders
Both speakers agreed that international expansion remains Europe’s biggest challenge. “If you delay your move to the U.S., you limit your exit options,” Augustin said. “Most acquisitions above 300 million are made by U.S. buyers. If they don’t know you, they won’t buy you.”
Renaud added that successful expansion requires cultural adaptation. “You can’t sell in the U.S. the same way you sell in France,” he noted. “You need local leadership, local product fit, and time to build relationships. At Eventbrite, we learned that the hard way—launching fast without full localization cost us time and traction.”
Building sustainable value
Slate VC focuses on climate and sustainable innovation. Renaud explained that investor attention has recently shifted toward AI, but that the underlying opportunity in climate remains intact. “AI is fast and visible, but climate innovation is deep and lasting,” he said. “The investors who stay focused through the cycle will own the best companies when sentiment normalizes.”
Augustin described OVNI’s strategy as “pre-consensus.” “We like to invest before everyone agrees an idea makes sense,” he said. “We were early in quantum, when most people thought it would take 15 years. The best returns come from backing conviction, not fashion.”
The changing face of capital
Family offices and private wealth now play a major role in European venture. “When we started OVNI, institutions told us to come back with Fund III,” Augustin shared. “So we turned to entrepreneurs and family offices who had built companies themselves and wanted to reinvest in the ecosystem.”
Renaud noted that even for established firms, the investor base is shifting. “Venture is a long game,” he said. “Managers need LPs who understand that liquidity can take a decade. The mix of entrepreneurial and institutional investors is becoming key to a resilient fund model.”
Europe’s edge in climate and deep tech
With U.S. incentives for climate tech fluctuating, both speakers see opportunity for Europe. “Europe can become the home of sustainable innovation,” Renaud said. “We have strong industrial infrastructure, deep technical talent, and growing policy support. If we pair that with capital discipline, we can lead the next wave.”
Looking ahead
Both speakers believe the next generation of European venture will be defined by specialization and scale. “We’ll see more operator-led funds, more solo GPs with sharp theses, and more billion-euro platforms,” Augustin predicted. “If Europe wants to compete with the U.S., it needs both sharper focus and larger funds.”
The outlook is clear: European venture has entered a new phase. Founders think global, investors think long-term, and capital is becoming more sophisticated. The challenge now is to maintain that momentum—and to make private market access simpler for a broader base of investors.
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KAPITAL's role in support venture
KAPITAL supports asset and wealth managers as the back office behind their private market deals by making them bankable, scalable, and accessible. This includes:
- Issuing ISIN-coded products that integrate seamlessly into custodian banks.
- Designing feeder vehicles and SPVs that open opportunities to investors who would otherwise be excluded.
- Helping fund managers unlock access to a broader investor base by structuring vehicles that meet the needs of wealth managers and family offices, while keeping products fully bankable.
We thank our speakers, Renaud Visage and Augustin Sayer, for sharing their insights on the evolution of European venture and its intersection with U.S. capital.
This article was written as part of KAPITAL’s Private Market Perspectives series.
To learn more about KAPITAL or our upcoming sessions in Paris and Geneva, please contact Elisabeth Sünder at elisabeth@kapital.inc.
