The European VC (EUVC)

E643 | Sebastian Peck, KOMPAS VC: Europe’s Industrial Tech Moment: Decarbonisation, AI & the Risk Appetite Gap

The European VC (EUVC)

•October 30, 2025•49 min

The European VC (EUVC)•Oct 30, 2025

Key Takeaways

•Decarbonisation, productivity, resilience define Europe's industrial tech.
•Europe favors pragmatic short‑term energy mix, long‑term net‑zero goal.
•Data consolidation remains biggest barrier to AI adoption in industry.
•Agentic AI and multi‑agent orchestration attract most VC funding now.
•Robotics focus on incremental automation, not full humanoid replacement.

Pulse Analysis

The episode opens by framing Europe’s industrial tech opportunity around three pillars: decarbonising heavy processes, boosting productivity, and strengthening resilience against cyber, supply‑chain, and geopolitical shocks. Sebastian Peck stresses that Europe must balance immediate energy needs with a clear, long‑term net‑zero trajectory, leveraging a pragmatic mix of renewables, nuclear revival, and transitional fuels. This strategic stance differentiates the continent from the United States, where policy swings create uncertainty, and positions Europe as a potential hub for climate‑focused manufacturers seeking stable regulatory support.

A large portion of the conversation pivots to digital transformation. While artificial intelligence is hailed as a game‑changer, the panel identifies data fragmentation as the primary obstacle for industrial firms. Consolidating proprietary datasets, cleaning them, and making them AI‑ready demand significant investment and cultural shift. Start‑ups that can bridge this gap—particularly those building agentic AI platforms that orchestrate multiple autonomous agents—are attracting the bulk of venture capital. These solutions promise incremental process automation, predictive maintenance, and real‑time optimisation, but only if companies overcome the data‑access bottleneck.

Robotics receives a nuanced treatment. Peck notes that modern factories already employ highly specialised robots, yet the next wave lies in adding limited agency rather than deploying fully autonomous humanoids. Capital‑intensive CapEx cycles and the need for proven ROI slow wholesale robot replacement, especially in legacy manufacturers like automotive giants. Instead, firms are looking for modular upgrades that enable continuous improvement without overhauling entire production lines. This pragmatic outlook reflects broader European investment patterns: VCs back technologies that deliver measurable efficiency gains while aligning with policy‑driven decarbonisation goals, ensuring the continent’s industrial base remains competitive in a fragmented global landscape.

Episode Description

This week on the EUVC Podcast, Andreas Munk Holm sits down with Sebastian Peck, Partner at KOMPAS VC, Europe’s leading specialist in industrial tech and the decarbonisation of manufacturing and the built world.

KOMPAS VC is an early- and growth-stage venture capital firm backed by leading corporates, focused on transforming how the world builds, moves, and powers itself. With offices in London, Amsterdam, and Copenhagen, KOMPAS partners with startups and industrial leaders driving efficiency, automation, and decarbonisation across sectors like manufacturing, construction, energy, and mobility.

With the firm gearing up for major announcements, Sebastian unpacks why industrial tech is finally having its moment in European VC — and why resilience, regulation, and risk appetite will determine whether Europe leads or lags.

Here’s what’s covered:

00:20 Defining Industrial Tech - Decarbonisation, productivity, and resilience: the three pillars driving transformation in Europe’s industrial base.

03:30 The Energy Debate: Transition vs pragmatism, nuclear’s comeback, and Europe vs US vs China

09:14 Fragmented Corporate Commitments: Nordics doubling down, US ambivalence, China scaling renewables fast

11:21 AI in Industrial Tech: From power-hungry models to agentic AI: where real productivity gains are emerging and what’s still hype.

16:02 Robotics: Hype vs. reality: Why humanoid robots won’t take over factories (yet) — and where automation truly moves the needle.

21:57 Adoption Hurdles: Why industrial tech moves slower than SaaS, and how smart VCs help bridge the gap between pilots and production.

24:37 AI & Jobs: Creative destruction or just destruction? How Europe, the US, and China are charting radically different paths.

33:18 Regulation: Europe’s protective instinct: how the EU’s AI Act balances innovation with oversight - for better and for worse.

40:27 Startups × Corporates: Why pilots fail, and how KOMPAS VC brokers real commercial traction

44:48 KOMPAS VC Fund II: New bets, Makersite’s standout Series B, and how the firm is deepening its industrial tech thesis.

45:54 Specialist vs Generalist VCs: Why Europe needs deep domain VCs working alongside generalist syndicates to build lasting industry platforms.

48:52 Magic Wand Policy: Pension capital reform and risk appetite as Europe’s bottlenecks

51:09 It’s Not Founders, it’s the Ecosystem: Employees, customers, regulators, and LPs — everyone needs to lean in if Europe is to lead.

Show Notes

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