In late November, leaders from across Europe gathered in Berlin for the first European edition of the CVC Open Innovation Summit. What emerged was not another debate about whether innovation matters, but a far more urgent question: is Europe actually set up to execute?In Part 1 of this special two-part Inside CVC series, host Steve Schmith takes listeners inside the Berlin summit to explore why this moment feels different. Corporate investors, policymakers, founders, and ecosystem leaders speak candidly about capital gaps, risk tolerance, regulation, and the growing pressure to move from ambition to action.Across conversations with summit co-host Philipp Willigmann, German Bundestag Financial Policy Spokesperson Katharina Beck, venture investor Tanja Emmerling, PwC’s Florian Noell, SAP’s Florian Kunzke, Roche’s Caroline Creven-Fourier, and former Inside CVC guest Martin Hüllen, a clear pattern emerges. Europe does not lack ideas or talent. What it struggles with is execution at scale.This episode explores:Why access to capital alone is not enoughHow regulation and policy must keep pace with innovationThe growing tension between risk-taking and hesitationWhat execution actually looks like inside corporationsWhy human capital, culture, and trust are central to innovationAnd why alignment, not awareness, is now Europe’s binding constraintBerlin did not produce easy answers. Instead, it surfaced the hard work still ahead.In Part 2, the conversation turns forward—into AI, sovereignty, policy alignment, and what real collaboration must become if insight is going to turn into action.Support the showCatch up on all episodes of Inside CVC at www.u-path.com/podcast.

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