EU-Startups Podcast

• Episode 144: Andreas Idl: Co-Founder and CEO of Cropster – The Software Behind Your Favorite Coffee

  If your coffee tastes the same delicious every morning, there’s a good chance Cropster is involved. In this episode of the EU-Startups Podcast, Marcin Lewandowski sits down with Andreas Idl, Co-Founder & CEO of Cropster, the quiet tech force behind the global specialty coffee boom. Founded after Andreas spent time in Colombia and saw how hard it was for small farmers and roasters to access the global market on fair terms, Cropster builds software that helps producers and roasters hit specialty-grade quality, roast after roast—while sending more value back down the supply chain. Today, Cropster works with hundreds of roasters and cafés worldwide, including every winner of the World Coffee Roasting Championship. Their tools help map the entire journey from cherry to cup, capture and analyze roasting data, and keep quality consistent from one batch—and one location—to the next. With the recent acquisition of FireScope, Cropster is also deepening its footprint in Asia, one of the fastest-growing coffee markets in the world. We talk about: – What specialty coffee actually is—and why it’s exploding globally – Where quality is won or lost along the coffee production chain – The frictions that keep smallholders and emerging roasters out of premium markets – What Cropster’s software actually shows on-screen—and how it changes tomorrow’s roast – Why World Coffee Roasting Champions trust Cropster, and what any roaster can copy – The thinking behind the FireScope acquisition and expansion in Asia – How data can help farmers and roasters get fairer pricing and longer relationships – Where Cropster is going next: product roadmap, more M&A, and opening specialty to more roasters Takeaways: – Specialty coffee is won or lost at multiple steps—from cherry to cup. – Small roasters are often blocked by outdated trading systems and lack of data. – Cropster turns roasting into a measurable, repeatable process, not guesswork. – The FireScope acquisition accelerates Cropster’s growth in Asia’s fast-growing coffee market. – Great coffee is about balance—of flavor, process, and consistent quality. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction to Cropster and Andreas Idl 06:30 Understanding Specialty Coffee 09:03 The Coffee Production Process 12:19 Challenges for Small Holders and Emerging Roasters 19:48 Cropster's Role in the Coffee Industry 30:02 Acquisition of FireScope and Market Expansion 37:50 Future Plans for Cropster 38:35 Rapid Fire Questions with Andreas Idl If you haven't already.... Subscribe to the EU-Startups Podcast on YouTube! Or follow along on your other favorite podcast platforms... Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4QU85dN... / Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/ee/podcast... Follow EU-Startups on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/eu-startups-menlo-media/ Visit our Website: https://www.eu-startups.com/ Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://www.eu-startups.com/newsletter/ #coffee #business #technology

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• Episode 143: Rebecka Löthman Rydå: General Partner at Norrsken Evolve – Building Resilient And Sustainable Europe

  This week on the EU-Startups Podcast, Marcin Lewandowski sits down with Rebecka Löthman Rydå, General Partner at Norrsken Evolve. Rebecka calls herself a nerd at heart passionate about supporting early stage founders building transformative companies that tackle meaningful problems. She's an investor in over 30 companies like Truecaller, through Zenith (IPO $2b), Funnel (series C $66m), TrusTrace (series B $25m), Formulate (exit to Relex) and Zound Industries (now Marshall exit at $1b). Norrsken Evolve is a new €57M oversubscribed pre-seed fund backing founders building Europe’s resilient and sustainable future. It’s an evolution of Norrsken Accelerator—since 2021 they’ve backed 80 startups—now doubling down with €250k upfront + follow-on, a world-class in-person sprint, and a top-tier advisory network. We dig into: • Europe’s “defining moment” and the courage founders need now • What Evolve looks for at pre-seed (problem-obsession, resilience, honesty) • Why storytelling + direct feedback beat vanity metrics at day-zero • Hiring truths (why a Founder’s Associate / Chief of Staff early can 10x output) • How “resilience” gets real across energy, logistics, cities, food, health & society Takeaways: – Pre-seed is courage + clarity: narratives matter more than noisy metrics. – Back problem-obsession, not just credentials. – Resilience = real-world stress-tests, not buzzwords. – Hiring a Founder’s Associate early saves the CEO from context collapse. – Direct, fast feedback compounds founder learning. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction to Evolve & AI Bubble Discussion 03:08 How Evolve Works 06:04 Courage in European Innovation 08:58 Founder Traits: Problem-Obsession & Grit 12:02 Hiring & Early Team Dynamics 15:06 Fundraising & Metrics at Pre-Seed 17:56 Radical Candor: Feedback & Transparency 20:58 Resilience & Sustainability in Practice 23:03 Sector Impact & What’s Next 24:02 Final Thoughts & Rapid Fire If you haven't already.... Subscribe to the EU-Startups Podcast on YouTube! Or follow along on your other favorite podcast platforms... Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4QU85dN... / Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/ee/podcast... Follow EU-Startups on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/eu-startups-menlo-media/ Visit our Website: https://www.eu-startups.com/ Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://www.eu-startups.com/newsletter/ #startup #funding #sustainability #business #technology

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• Episode 142: Julio Martinez: Co-Founder and CEO of Abacum on Modern FP&A – Excel Is Fine… Until It Isn’t

  Abacum is the all-in-one FP&A platform helping CFOs forecast revenue, plan headcount, and model financial scenarios—so finance can drive efficient growth in tough markets. With 100+ employees across Barcelona, New York, and London, Abacum is used by hundreds of mid-market companies in 31 countries—trusted by Strava, Trilogy, Abridge, JG Wentworth, Mastercam, and more. The company recently closed a $60M Series B led by Scale Venture Partners (total funding $105M) with investors including Y Combinator, Cathay Innovation, Atomico, Creandum, and K Fund. In this episode of the EU-Startups Podcast, Marcin Lewandowski sits down with Julio Martinez, Co-Founder and CEO of Abacum. Julio shares how Abacum turns spreadsheet-heavy workflows into real-time, collaborative planning. We cover how finance teams adopt Abacum in practice, Spain’s tech rise, and why the company is doubling down on U.S. expansion. We also dive into Julio’s personal operating system—Vipassana, Stoicism (Epictetus), journaling, family-first—and yes, his near-career as a paella cook (although he didn't say his last word about it yet) and much more. Takeaways: – Excel works… until scale, collaboration, and cadence break it. – One live model for revenue, headcount, and OPEX = forecasts you can defend. – Headcount discipline (role → timing → ramp → ROI) beats top-down totals. – AI enhances productivity; decisions stay human. – EU vs U.S.: EU optimizes for control; U.S. for speed—Abacum serves both. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction to Abacum and Julio Martinez 03:00 Identifying Pain Points in Finance 05:55 The Spreadsheet Dilemma 08:52 Hiring and Business Growth Traps 11:56 The Role of AI in Finance 14:59 Cultural Differences: EU vs US Finance 18:12 Raising Capital and Business Foundations 20:59 Personal Habits and Leadership 23:49 Rapid Fire Questions If you haven't already.... Subscribe to the EU-Startups Podcast on YouTube! Or follow along on your other favorite podcast platforms... Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4QU85dN... / Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/ee/podcast... Follow EU-Startups on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/eu-startups-menlo-media/ Visit our Website: https://www.eu-startups.com/ Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://www.eu-startups.com/newsletter/ #startup #finance #business

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• Episode 141: Vidya Peters: CEO of DataSnipper – How Traceable AI Is Automating Audit & Finance

  This week on the EU-Startups Podcast, Marcin Lewandowski sits down with Vidya Peters, CEO of DataSnipper—the Dutch unicorn automating document-heavy audit and finance with enterprise-grade, traceable AI. Founded in 2017, DataSnipper is used by 600,000+ professionals across 2,000+ customers in 175 countries—including the Big Four (Deloitte, EY, KPMG, PwC) and enterprises like Volkswagen, Morgan Stanley, Paramount, Siemens, Baker Tilly. In 2024, DataSnipper raised a $100M Series B led by Index Ventures at a $1B valuation, was the #1 fastest-growing company in the Netherlands for two years, and completed its first acquisition (UpLink). With multi-language support and industry-specific automation, DataSnipper focuses on what auditors actually need: speed with a regulator-ready audit trail. In this exciting conversation, Vidya shares her background, the importance of auditors in society, and how DataSnipper is transforming the auditing landscape by automating tedious tasks and enhancing efficiency. The conversation delves into the future of auditing with AI, the significance of trust in the auditing process, and the impact of partnerships, particularly with Microsoft. Vidya also engages in a rapid-fire segment, sharing personal insights and thoughts on the evolving role of AI technology in people's lives. We go deep on: – What “traceable AI” looks like for regulators (step-by-step breadcrumbs) – The one process that makes auditors smile by Friday – Where agents should own work this quarter—and where humans stay in the loop – How partnerships (incl. Microsoft ecosystem) make Monday mornings effortless – The moment auditors say, “I’ll never go back” Takeaways: – Traceable AI = evidence, not guesses: every extraction, match, and check leaves a breadcrumb. – Automate reality, not theory: start with evidence collection & tie-outs (fastest “auditors smile by Friday” win). – Agents own the repetitive; humans own the judgment: let agents prep, reconcile, and validate; keep materiality & risk with people. – Trust beats speed when it’s close: preserve human sign-off where stakes are high. – Platform vision: industry-specific automation + partners + app ecosystem → repeatable outcomes at scale. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction to DataSnipper and Its Impact 02:30 The Role of Auditors in Society 06:01 Transforming Auditing with Technology 09:33 The Future of Auditing: AI and Automation 12:33 The Importance of Human Auditors 14:25 Partnerships and Effortless Workflows 15:56 Milestones and Future Vision 17:29 Rapid Fire Questions and Personal Insights If you haven't already.... Subscribe to the EU-Startups Podcast on YouTube! Or follow along on your other favorite podcast platforms... Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4QU85dN... / Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/ee/podcast... Follow EU-Startups on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/eu-startups-menlo-media/ Visit our Website: https://www.eu-startups.com/ Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://www.eu-startups.com/newsletter/ #startup #ai #technology #data #audit

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• Episode 140: Start Building Now: OpenAI’s Laura Modiano on Apps in ChatGPT, AgentKit, Sora 2 & GPT-5-pro

  This is the best time to build a startup ever. To young people thinking whether to build something: Start Now. This week on the EU-Startups Podcast, Marcin Lewandowski sits down with Laura Modiano (Startups EMEA at OpenAI) to turn her “love letter to European founders” into a build-now playbook. We break down OpenAI’s latest platform updates—Apps in ChatGPT + Apps SDK (a brand-new distribution channel), AgentKit (agents that actually do), Codex (GA) for developer speed, Sora 2 / Sora 2 Pro via API for high-ROI video, and GPT-5-pro for higher-stakes reasoning—into concrete steps founders can run today. You’ll learn: – The fastest path from idea → prototype using OpenAI’s stack (weekend-level speed) – Apps in ChatGPT: how discovery + monetization change—and what founders should prep before day one – Where AgentKit beats basic API calls (state, tools, guardrails → outcomes) – How to fold Codex (GA) into your PR flow without slowing teams – Sora 2: responsible, high-ROI uses that move real metrics – GPT-5-pro vs. cheaper models: a practical decision rubric (stakes, accuracy, latency, cost) Takeaways: – Speed is a moat: scaffold with GPT-5-pro, then optimize to cheaper models. – Don’t “add AI”—remove steps: redesign the workflow; kill clicks, not add them. – Apps in ChatGPT = new distribution: 800M weekly users; EU/UK—prep your app listing, onboarding, and pricing now. – Agents vs. endpoints: with AgentKit, combine state + tools + guardrails to deliver outcomes, not demos. – Codex (GA) ≠ novelty: pair-programming, repo refactors, doc hygiene—without slowing PR velocity. – Sora 2: use where dynamic video outperforms static—product demos, instructionals, simulations. – Europe’s edge: talent density + research depth; the bottleneck is belief + shipping cadence, not brains. Chapters: 00:00 Building in Europe: A Love Letter to Founders 05:15 Europe’s Competitive Edge 12:16 From Idea to Prototype: Leveraging OpenAI Tools 13:45 Integrating AI: Common Mistakes to Avoid 15:10 Apps in ChatGPT: Discovery, Distribution & Monetization 18:22 AgentKit: Unlocking New Possibilities 19:14 Codex (GA): Enhancing Developer Workflows 21:44 Sora 2 & GPT-5-pro: The Future of AI 25:15 AI & Jobs: A Balanced Perspective 32:01 Best Time to Build: A Call to Action 38:45 Final Thoughts: AI’s Role in Our Lives If you haven't already.... Subscribe to the EU-Startups Podcast on YouTube! Or follow along on your other favorite podcast platforms... Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4QU85dN... / Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/ee/podcast... Follow EU-Startups on LinkedIn: / eu-startups-menlo-media Visit our Website: https://www.eu-startups.com/ Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://www.eu-startups.com/newsletter/ #startup #ai #chatgpt

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