How to Build a Top European VC Firm? | Oliver Holle, Co-Founder of Speedinvest

What does it take to build one of Europe’s leading VC firms from the ground up? 🙌🏼

In this episode of the VNTR Podcast – Oliver Holle, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Speedinvest, shares the full story about bootstrapping his first startup to managing €1.4B AUM and 400+ investments across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa

We talk exits, team building, LP dynamics, secondary markets, and what makes a winning founder in 2025.

🎧 Key Topics Covered in This Episode:

– How to raise your first fund (when no one believes in you)– Why early exits matter– What’s broken in traditional VC– How Speedinvest wins competitive rounds– The vertical fund model (and why they shut it down)– His advice on M&A, continuation vehicles, and building trust with founders

👇 Watch the full episode now and subscribe for more candid stories from top investors and founders.

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Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

00:55 Welcome Oliver Holle

02:10 Why Oliver Holle Dropped Out of His PhD to Launch a Startup in Vienna

04:38 Building a Startup in Vienna and the Hard Lessons of Choosing Co-Founders

05:59 Lessons from Raising $5M Before the Crash

07:57 How We Turned 8 Years of Struggle into a $60M Exit

09:13 Why Optionality and Timing Define a Successful M&A

13:05 How a Public Company Wasted $1B on Mobile

14:27 Europe vs. Silicon Valley

15:58 Speedinvest Wasn’t Meant to Be a Traditional VC

21:22 Early Liquidity, Small Market Advantage, and the Rise of Speedinvest’s Second Fund

25:10 The Power of Vertical Funds: FinTech, Marketplaces, and Industrial Tech at Speedinvest

27:54 The Internal Economics Behind Speedinvest’s Fund Architecture

30:59 Why the Traditional 10-Year VC Fund Model Is Broken

32:36 The Hidden Value of Community and Trust in Venture

34:02 How Speedinvest Builds Community Across 400+ Startups

37:23 The Most Dramatic Shift Since Mobile: How AI Is Reshaping VC

38:52 Speed, Trust, and Vertical Knowledge: Secrets to Leading Early Rounds

43:09 The Power of Signaling in Early-Stage Fundraising

45:23 Why Founders Still Have a Say

47:08 Speedinvest’s Follow-On Strategy Explained: From Seed to Series B

47:56 The Exit Strategy Playbook

49:43 A Full Infrastructure for Investor Liquidity

52:49 Work-Life Balance in Venture Capital

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Host:

Yuri G. Rabinovich

https://www.linkedin.com/in/byuric/

Guest:

Oliver Holle

https://www.linkedin.com/in/oholle/