Europe’s place in the global tech sector, Michelle Robson, Odyssey Ventures

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Technology, Entrepreneur, Tech, Business, Hr, Sales, Uktech, Investing, Funding, Entrepreneurship, Marketing

5 • 6 Ratings

🗓️ 28 July 2025

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Michelle Robson, founding partner at Odyssey Ventures, discusses her journey from chemical engineering grad to launching a venture capital firm, the qualities she looks for in a founder seeking investment and Europe’s place in a tech landscape dominated by Silicon Valley.

Odyssey Ventures is a venture capital group based in London and San Francisco with a particular focus on early-stage European founders. Among the VC’s primary targets are startups developing solutions in climate tech, sustainability and decarbonisation.

Transcript

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0:00.0	As I was investing, what became clear to me was that it's a really challenging model to get
0:14.1	right within venture.
0:15.6	And at times, potentially we can all be guilty within the climate space of looking at technologies
0:23.6	rather than looking to solve problems. To date, Europe has really struggled to be able to
0:31.2	provide the amount of capital that European businesses need. And so what's ended up happening
0:37.1	is that the businesses that have succeeded have been those
0:41.3	that have been successful in raising capital from outside of Europe.
0:45.3	We as investors need to do is we need to check our bias.
0:50.3	We do need to be, continue to be really critical of ourselves, making sure that we
0:55.8	aren't inadvertently biasing female founders in terms of the expectations that we have, the
1:01.9	kinds of questions that we have, the way we engage with them. From the first time founders to the
1:09.2	funds that back them, innovation needs different.
1:12.6	Our episode partner, HSBC Innovation Banking, is proud to accelerate growth for tech and life science businesses,
1:19.6	creating meaningful connections and opening up a world of opportunity for entrepreneurs and investors alike.
1:26.6	Discover more at www.hbc Innovationbanking.com
1:31.5	slash EM-GB. Hello and welcome to the UKTN podcast, a weekly chat with the movers and
1:40.8	shakers of the UK tech industry and the destination for all things UK tech
1:45.2	related. I'm your host, Jane Wakefield, and today I'm joined by Michelle Robson, founding partner
1:50.9	at Odyssey Ventures, a new VC fund operating out of London and San Francisco. Welcome, Michelle.
1:57.9	Thank you. Thanks, Jane, for having me. Now, I'm absolutely fascinated by what you've done
2:02.6	because on this podcast, we often have a lot of founders and we have a lot of very established VC funds
2:08.5	and lots of other people in the ecosystem. And do you know what has never occurred to me that,
	...

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