The Invisible Infrastructure of University Venture Capital

Thierry Heles, founder and editor of "The Next Leap", joins Károly Szántó and Thijmen Meijer for a conversation on the state of university venture capital globally. Heles has spent 12 years tracking spinouts, university funds, and the professionals who move between them. In this episode, he shares what that research produces: around 108 university-backed funds active in Europe, around 250 globally, a talent pipeline constrained by compensation structures that cannot compete with the corporate sector, European LP capital that remains nationally siloed, and why multi-university fund models are structurally necessary for any fund that needs a viable pipeline. Topics covered in this episode: How Thierry entered the field and what has kept him in it for 12 years University fund coverage across Europe, Japan, Australia, and the US The talent pipeline into TTOs and UVC funds TTO compensation and why experienced candidates do not enter the field Fund sizes and LP composition across geographies Why European pension funds allocate a fraction of one percent to venture capital The structural case for multi-university fund models Why university funds require external management and legal separation from the institution The Next Leap: http://thenextleap.is UniVCC: univccoalition.org Timecode: 00:00 Welcome and setup 01:04 Origin of the podcast 02:31 Entering university VC 05:24 What makes it fascinating 07:48 Talent and career paths 11:12 Who leads university funds 15:49 Geography and mobility 17:38 Europe fund landscape 21:14 Global count and Japan 24:22 Cross-border ecosystems 28:47 Late-stage funding gap 29:52 Funding Scale Reality 30:15 Investor Geography Bias 31:36 Multi-University Fund Models 33:11 Building a Pipeline 34:25 Audience and Coverage 36:38 Policy Voices on Air 38:03 LPs and Investability 40:40 Pension Funds Risk Gap 41:37 Europe vs US Allocation 44:35 Incentives and Fee Support 46:25 Talent Paths and Pay 51:57 Fund Turnarounds Lessons 54:13 External Management Best Practice 55:34 No One Size Fits All