EU-Startups Podcast

In this interview, we speak with Philipp Heltewig, Chief AI Officer at NiCE and General Manager of NiCE Cognigy, about the journey of building Cognigy from a startup in 2016 to a $1 billion acquisition by NiCE Ltd. in 2025.

Philipp reflects on the early frustrations that inspired the company, the rapid evolution of enterprise AI adoption, and how customer service is shifting from chatbots to agentic AI systems capable of acting autonomously within enterprise workflows.

Cognigy was founded in 2016 by Philipp Heltewig, Sascha Poggemann, and Benjamin Mayr with the goal of transforming how enterprises engage with customers.

In the conversation, Philipp looks back at Cognigy’s early years and the key milestones along the way, including the ~€36 million Series B in 2021, the €93 million Series C in 2024, and the strategic acquisition by NiCE in 2025.

A major theme of the discussion is the rise of agentic AI — systems that can understand intent, take actions across enterprise systems, and orchestrate complex customer interactions. Philipp breaks down how these AI agents differ from traditional chatbots and why enterprises are increasingly adopting them to automate routine tasks while allowing human agents to focus on higher-value interactions.

The conversation also explores the limits of current AI systems and the situations where human support is still essential, particularly when empathy, complex judgement, or sensitive decision-making is required.

Key Points
- Cognigy was founded in 2016 and acquired by NiCE Ltd. for $1 billion in September 2025.
- Philipp explains the shift from basic chatbots to agentic AI, capable of acting autonomously within enterprise systems.
- Enterprises increasingly use AI to augment human agents, handling routine interactions while humans focus on complex cases.
- The interview explores how the founder role evolves after a major acquisition, and how AI strategy is shaped within a larger global company.

In this interview, Enrico Giacomelli, Founder and Chairman of Namirial, reflects on building one of Europe’s leading Digital Transaction Management and Qualified Trust Service Provider (QTSP) groups - from a small Italian software house founded in 1991 to a pan-European digital trust leader valued at approximately €1.1 billion.

Founded in 2000 in Senigallia, Namirial now operates in 90+ countries, employs over 1,300 people, and serves enterprises, SMEs and public administrations across Europe, Latin America and Asia.

In 2020, Ambienta acquired a majority stake, accelerating international expansion. In July 2025, Bain Capital acquired a majority stake. Later that year, Namirial merged with Signaturit (backed by PSG Equity), creating a leading pan-European QTSP with strong positions in Italy, Spain, France and Germany.

We discuss regulation as both constraint and catalyst, what “AI-first” means in a highly regulated environment, scaling through M&A, and the future of European digital identity.

Key Points:
- How Enrico identified the original problem in 1991 - and why it still matters
- Building a global tech leader from outside Europe’s main startup hubs
- Regulation as both constraint and competitive advantage
- What “AI-first” means in a trust-heavy, compliance-driven sector
- Practical advice for founders making their first steps
- Avoiding the AI hype cycle while building long-term value

In this episode, we speak with Davide Dattoli, Founder and Executive Chairman of Talent Garden, about building one of Europe’s largest digital skills and EdTech platforms — from its launch in 2011 as a coworking experiment in Italy to a pan-European education group operating across 12 markets in Europe, Brazil, and Singapore.

Today, Talent Garden trains 25,000 professionals and students annually, connects 4,500 startups and tech professionals, and attracts more than 500,000 campus visitors each year.

We also discuss Davide’s role as Venture Founder at Italian Founders Fund, Italy’s founder-backed VC supporting pre-seed and seed startups, as well as his broader involvement in the European tech ecosystem.

The conversation explores how the EdTech sector is evolving amid growing AI-driven learning investment (with roughly €52.7 million disclosed in European digital-skills funding rounds in 2025–2026), why physical learning communities still matter, and what “future-proof” skills really mean beyond the buzzwords.

In this episode, we sit down with Fridtjof Berge, co-founder and Chief Business Officer at Antler, one of the world’s most active early-stage venture capital firms. Since launching in 2017, Antler has backed more than 1,650 startups globally and, according to recent data, has now made over 1,800 investments across six continents, supporting founders from day zero.

Fridtjof shares his journey from McKinsey and Harvard Business School to building a global VC platform operating in 27 cities, from San Francisco and New York to Berlin, Singapore, Tokyo and Sydney. We explore how Antler scaled from deploying €5.4 million across 44 startups in 2019 to launching a €30 million Nordic fund in 2021 and a €150 million Nordic fund in 2023.

We also dive into Antler’s latest report, “The Anatomy of Greatness”, analysing a decade of unicorn creation from 2014 to 2024. The data reveals a dramatic acceleration in billion-dollar company formation, the rise of AI, shifting founder demographics, and the globalisation of innovation far beyond Silicon Valley.

From backing breakout companies like Airalo and Lovable, to shaping one of the most distributed early-stage investment models in the world, Fridtjof offers his view on what truly sets exceptional founders apart today.

Key Points:
- Antler has made over 1,800 global investments and backed more than 1,650 companies since 2018, operating in 27 cities worldwide
- Unicorn creation has surged from around 4 per year a decade ago to 148 per year, driven largely by AI
AI startups now reach unicorn status in just 4.7 years on average, faster than any other sector
- The average AI-unicorn founder age has fallen to 29 in 2024, even as overall founder age trends slightly upward
- Unicorns have expanded from 30 cities in 8 countries to 300+ cities across 45 countries, reflecting a globalisation of tech entrepreneurship

In this interview, we sit down with Tessa Clarke, co-founder and CEO of Olio, a community-powered platform built to redistribute surplus food and household items at scale.

Growing up on a dairy farm in Yorkshire, Tessa developed an early understanding of the effort behind food production and a deep aversion to waste. That mindset later collided with a very common problem: moving house with a fridge full of perfectly good food. Knocking on neighbours’ doors with a newborn and toddler in tow, she realised there had to be a better way to share surplus – and Olio was born.

Since launching in 2015, Olio has grown from a 12-person WhatsApp experiment into a global platform with over 9 million users, 135 million meals redistributed, 15 million household items rehomed, and around 300,000 tonnes of CO₂e prevented. To date, Olio has raised around €45 million in funding.

Alongside neighbour-to-neighbour sharing, Olio now works with major partners including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Pret and Compass Group to safely redistribute surplus food at scale.

In the conversation, Tessa reflects on moving from senior corporate roles at Dyson and Wonga to building a purpose-led startup, the power of volunteer-driven models, and why household food waste – which accounts for around half of global waste – remains one of the hardest challenges to solve.

Key Points
- How growing up on a dairy farm shaped Tessa Clarke’s views on food, work and waste
- The moment that sparked Olio – and how a few sweet potatoes led to a global platform
- Lessons from scaling a purpose-led startup from a WhatsApp group to millions of users
- Why household food waste is harder to tackle than supply-chain waste
- The role of community, volunteers and trust in making circular models work at scale
- Where Olio’s peer-to-peer model fits within the wider European FoodTech ecosystem