E598 | Florian Schweitzer, b2venture: Building Angel-Led VC That Actually Works

EUVC

Welcome back to another episode of the EUVC Podcast, your trusted inside track on the people, deals, and dynamics shaping European venture.

This week, Andreas is joined by Florian Schweitzer, Founding Partner at b2venture, one of Europe’s longest-running VC funds — and one of the only firms to scale a structured angel investing model alongside institutional capital.

They unpack how Florian built an active, deeply interlinked community of 350 angels, the philosophy behind their 90/10 investment model, and why chasing unicorns is the wrong game. The conversation also dives into trust-building with LPs, culture as a strategy, and what it takes to build trillion-euro thinking into Europe’s founder psyche.

Whether you’re an emerging manager trying to scale responsibly, or an LP wondering what durable early-stage outperformance actually looks like — this one’s for you.

Here’s what’s covered:

• 01:00 | The impossible alignment: angels vs. institutions

• 02:30 | Treating angels as partners — not a sourcing channel

• 03:30 | The founder–angel–VC triangle

• 04:00 | Winning institutional support: data, not just story

• 05:40 | Why most firms abandon the angel model — and how btov didn’t

• 06:00 | Culture, rules, and the “honourable merchant”

• 08:00 | The numbers: 350 angels, 80 core collaborators

• 09:00 | The unicorns: how every single one came via angels

• 10:30 | When angels lead and VCs co-lead

• 12:30 | Why chasing unicorns is “silly” — and what to do instead

• 14:00 | Building trillion-euro aspirations into early diligence

• 15:00 | 90/10: The case for a dual investment strategy

• 17:00 | DPI lessons from Fund 1 & 2 — and what they forgot in 3 & 4