EUROPE BUILDS: Announcing a New Podcast Series by BORRN

Reversing the narrative of Europe’s start-up ecosystem, one founder at a time.

Like anyone active in the European start-up scene, we have often come across a popular global narrative: the European start-up ecosystem is not considered an underdog story, particularly when compared to the dominance of the US and the unstoppable rise of East Asia.

But if you take a deeper look in the market out there, you will realise that this narrative is largely outdated. 

Europe builds, and it actually builds very well. Despite persistent challenges, there is a noticeable growth in the number and diversity of European startups, supported by the increase in EU funding, growing venture capital interest, and most importantly the insatiable drive of European founders.

We believe it is time for a new, bullish narrative to reflect this growth. We also believe that nobody can spearhead this narrative as well as some of Europe’s greatest founders, who often thrived against the odds of the continent’s multilingual, multicultural market. 

🎙️ That is why we are proud to announce that today BORRN is launching a new podcast series called EUROPE BUILDS, dedicated to diving deep into the real stories behind some of Europe’s most impressive startups and highlighting their successes and journeys, one founder at a time. 

As part of this community, we are happy to give you early access to the premiere episode here - a first sneak peek into this new podcast series. 👇

🔨Candid conversations with Europe’s greatest founders

Co-hosted by BORRN’s Co-founder & CEO Mathilda Nathan, who has collected years of experience as an operator for some of Europe’s greatest start-ups, and REBORRN’s Editorial Director Niko Efstathiou, who has worked as an author and journalist for renowned Greek and global media, EUROPE BUILDS will combine technical deep-dives with personal stories. 

Think of it as a peek behind the curtain of European entrepreneurship, led by authenticity and rigor. 

From scaling challenges to funding disparities, and from diverse entrepreneurial culture to the art of storytelling, each episode tackles the hard issues of European entrepreneurship through candid conversations with those who live these realities every day: visionary founders across the continent.

As we already announced when we first launched BORRN, our mission is to help European founders who solve hard problems land their story better. We want to stand alongside founders as their growth partners, helping them get their ventures off the ground or expand their offerings. We believe this podcast series is an important step in this direction. But we also aim to do more than simply showcase Europe’s impressive entrepreneurial stories – we want to inspire more growth, generate more discussions, and create a movement behind Europe’s capacity to build and innovate.

To make this ambitious goal a reality, we believe in an open and extroverted relationship with our audience. Along with listening to our podcast series on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, we invite you to share your thoughts and feedback, ask your own questions, suggest speakers or propose entrepreneurship topics that you would like to be explored. We simply build better when there are more of us, and we invite you to be part of an interactive community that can contribute to the mission of EUROPE BUILDS.

🎙️Our first episode: How Alex Loizou raised six rounds of funding for Trouva

How important is tenacity, stamina, and honesty in the fundraising process? 

On our first episode, premiering today, we are joined by Alex Loizou, a computer scientist turned entrepreneur who founded TROUVA in 2013, a leading platform for discovering and shopping independent boutiques and brands across Europe. Trouva has raised a total funding of $41.1M over 6 rounds. 

We discuss successful and unsuccessful strategies of securing capital, the nuances of fundraising in the US as a European founder, and key decision-making criteria such as when to raise funds, how much to seek, and from whom. 

This episode is a deep dive into the strategic and honest approach to building enduring relationships with investors, an essential step for any startup’s growth, and something Alex knows very well through the multiple fundraising rounds he completed.

We are looking forward to hearing your thoughts, questions, and ideas as we create a new narrative for European startups. Stay tuned for more inspiring episodes where we shine a light on Europe’s most visionary founders.

ℹ️ Additional Information

• To learn more about EUROPE BUILDS, feel free to read the podcast’s manifesto on BORRN’s Substack:

  Does Europe Build Real Innovation?

• For a preview on Alex Loizou’s entrepreneurial story, check out this article detailing how he built an international company - and sold it twice: https://fastforward.com.cy/tech-ecosystem/how-alex-loizou-built-international-company-and-sold-it-twice