Welcome back to EUVC Live in Malmö, where we bring you unfiltered conversations with the voices shaping Europe’s venture ecosystem.
In this session, Nick de la Forge, Partner at Planet A Ventures, takes the stage to share insights from an eye-opening field trip through China’s climate and hardware startup ecosystem.
Nick’s story begins with a simple question: what if we’re wrong about China’s advantage? — and ends with a humbling realization of just how fast and how efficiently the world’s largest manufacturing ecosystem now moves.
Joined by fellow investors from 2150, Energy Impact Partners, and Compass, Nick toured factories, startups, and hyperscalers like CATL and BYD, witnessing firsthand what “scale” really looks like. The takeaway? Europe’s biggest competitor isn’t just cheaper — it’s faster, leaner, and far more integrated.
🎧 Here’s what’s covered:
00:30 Why China — what sparked the trip, who joined, and how a week-long “Disneyland of hardware” tour changed everything.
01:30 Inside the factory visits — from solid-state batteries to precision fermentation, startups founded just 3–5 years ago already hitting $30–60M in revenue.
02:30 The myth of state subsidy — why cheap labor and government handouts aren’t what’s driving China’s success.
03:00 The real drivers of scale
04:30 Capital efficiency at another level — $20M raised, $40M revenue, full-scale factories operational within 24 months.
05:00 What Europe can learn — humility, realism, and the need to choose its battles wisely.
05:30 Competing with China = playing Djokovic at tennis — pick a different game. Find niches in ultra-high-precision manufacturing and advanced polymers where Europe still leads.
06:30 The founder takeaway — every European hardware founder should go to China, see it, and learn from it firsthand.
07:00 Managing IP risk — why sourcing below component level is the new best practice for protecting innovation.
07:30 The role reversal — 20 years ago, China came to Europe to learn. Today, Europeans visit China in awe.
08:00 Europe’s opportunity — use China’s speed as leverage: source smarter, integrate faster, and turn dependency into advantage.
08:30 Final message — be humble, be smart, and keep perspective: Europe has world-class science and talent — but must learn to play to its strengths.
You can listen to the full session on Apple Podcasts and Spotify 🎧
✍️ Show Notes
About Nick de la Forge & Planet A Ventures
Partner at Planet A Ventures, a climate-focused VC based in Hamburg, backing founders who combine scientific impact assessment with scalable business models.
Core Idea
Europe can’t out-China China — but it can outsmart it. Competing on cost is futile; competing on precision, innovation, and speed of learning is essential.
Key Insights from the Trip
Supply Chain Density: everything built within a 100 km radius.
Buyer Mentality: corporate buyers move at startup speed.
Talent Depth: abundant, disciplined, and technically trained.
Capital Efficiency: $20M in, $50M out — in three years or less.
Europe’s Edge
Advanced manufacturing in ultra-high-precision domains.
Leadership in materials science and advanced polymers.
Science-backed innovation ecosystems and deep academic networks.
The Challenge
Europe’s founders must see China firsthand to understand the benchmark — and policymakers must support strategic scale-up in critical industries.
💡 One-liner takeaway:
Europe won’t beat China on cost or speed — but by playing to its strengths in science, precision, and creativity, it can still win the game that matters.
