In this episode of 0100 Impact Talks, host Laura Iriarte sits down with Francesco Perticarari, the solo GP behind Silicon Roundabout Ventures—a £5M microfund investing in Europe's most unfashionable frontier tech startups. A computer scientist turned VC, Francesco shares his journey from building Europe’s largest deep tech meetup to launching a contrarian fund that backs photonics, quantum, climate infrastructure, and defense startups before anyone else will.
With sharp critiques of “hype-driven” venture capital, government overreach, and Europe’s overreliance on public LPs, Francesco calls for a bold reset: more solo GPs, more private capital, and more fund managers willing to bet on the weird and the hard. He also opens up about his personal shift from peace activist to defense tech investor, spurred by the war in Ukraine and a new understanding of deterrence as a path to peace.
This episode is a candid, deeply thought-provoking conversation on why microfunds matter—and how conviction-driven investing could redefine the future of European innovation.
As private equity adapts to a prolonged high-cost environment, investors are being forced to rethink how they source deals, create value, and deploy capital. Ahead of her appearance at 0100 Europe (April 21–23), we spoke with Geraldine O’Keeffe, Partner at EQT Healthcare Growth, about how one of Europe’s leading investment platforms is transiting today’s market dynamics—across healthcare, technology, and beyond.
