European AI startups were 'spiritually Bay Area' — that's why US investors funded them
matt_slotnick · x · 2026-11-05
endowmenteddie listed European-rooted AI companies — ElevenLabs, Legora, Lovable, Mistral, Black Forest, Synthesia, Higgsfield, Poolside, Isomorphic — asking how much geography weighed on early-round cap tables, noting US-headquartered firms cleaned up.
Matt Slotnick argues earlier European "misses" stemmed mostly from US investor skepticism, which demanded more proof of ambition; the speed/ambition gap has now closed, and most companies on the list are "physically EU but spiritually Bay Area."
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