Andreessen Horowitz is turning its gaze eastward, stepping up efforts to spot Europe’s next breakout startup before it crosses the Atlantic. Partner Gabriel Vasquez has been shuttling between New York and Stockholm — nine round trips in a single year — as the firm backs earlier and more often on the continent, including a recent $2.3 million pre-seed in Swedish dental AI startup Dentio. The move, modest by mega-fund standards, is a signal flare: a16z is searching aggressively for Europe’s next unicorn without waiting to open local offices.
The firm’s war chest — fresh funds totaling $15 billion — enables small checks to function as beachheads for deeper partnerships. The strategy echoes a broader shift among U.S. venture firms: go where the founders are, move early, and stay close as they scale across borders.
Why Stockholm Is on the Itinerary for a16z’s Search
Stockholm has long punched above its weight. The city is frequently cited as a global leader in unicorns per capita, and Sweden’s founder bench keeps replenishing thanks to repeat entrepreneurs and strong university pipelines. a16z’s own history intersects with Swedish talent — from early exposure to Skype’s cofounder Niklas Zennström to today’s wave of AI-first startups.
Dentio is emblematic of the new crop. Built by three classmates who reconnected at the Stockholm School of Economics and KTH Royal Institute of Technology, the company started with a pain point straight from a founder’s family: dentistry burdened by admin work. Its first product is an AI recorder that drafts clinical notes for dentists, with a roadmap aimed at automating a wider slice of back-office tasks across practices.
The competitive field is forming. Fellow Swedish player Tandem Health raised a $50 million Series A to support clinicians across multiple specialties; Dentio is narrowing in on dentistry, betting that deep focus plus rapid expansion can still deliver venture-scale outcomes. The company’s “Made in Sweden” and EU-compliant data residency, spanning Sweden and Finland, speak directly to privacy-conscious buyers — and to investors who know data localization can be a commercial moat in regulated sectors.
It’s no accident that many of Stockholm’s fastest risers trace back to SSE Labs and KTH-linked programs. Alumni like Klarna, Voi, and newer legal AI entrants have turned the incubator network into a durable founder factory. That matters to foreign funds trying to source earlier: if you map the corridors where talent clusters, you arrive sooner.
Small Checks, Big Signals in a16z’s European Strategy
For a firm of a16z’s scale, a $2.3 million pre-seed is not about capital intensity; it’s about information edge. Planting flags in promising ecosystems gives the firm an option to double down later while helping founders hire, localize, and expand. It also creates a pipeline long before traditional growth investors pay attention.
Rather than build a network from scratch on the ground, a16z is leaning on founder-scouts who know the scene. In Sweden, that includes respected operators like Fredrik Hjelm of Voi and Johannes Schildt of Kry. The approach compresses diligence cycles and helps the firm track talent that might otherwise stay under the radar until a bigger round.
The European AI Opportunity and a16z’s Expansion Plans
Even after the market reset, Europe’s tech engine is resilient. Atomico’s State of European Tech reported that investment fell from 2021’s peak to roughly half that in 2023, but the composition improved: more repeat founders, stronger technical depth, and a growing share of AI-first startups. Europe now trails only the U.S. on total venture dollars and is building world-class clusters in AI, climate, fintech, and deep tech.
Healthcare is particularly ripe. While systems are fragmented country by country, workflows are similar enough for software to travel with the right product, language, and compliance layers. That’s the bet behind Dentio’s plan to unify admin for dentists across Europe. Win locally with great note-taking and scheduling; expand with billing, coding, and insurance connectivity; layer in data network effects from millions of structured clinical interactions.
Regulation, often seen as a headwind, can actually harden defensibility. The EU’s focus on AI governance and data protection raises the bar for entrants but rewards teams building with privacy-by-design. In categories where trust and accreditation matter, vendors who start EU-compliant can scale faster across borders than rivals trying to retrofit.
Global Eyes on Local Winners Across Europe’s Tech
a16z’s pattern isn’t limited to the Nordics. The firm tracks emergent leaders like Black Forest Labs in Germany and has watched Asia’s AI scene produce assets such as Manus, recently acquired by Meta. Vasquez, raised in El Salvador and spending time in São Paulo, argues that in the AI era geography is less destiny: top-tier models and tooling are broadly accessible, narrowing the infrastructure gap for ambitious teams outside the Bay Area.
But Europe is uniquely positioned right now. Years of scale-up experience at companies like Spotify, Adyen, Klarna, and UiPath have seeded thousands of alumni who understand go-to-market mechanics, compliance hurdles, and cross-border hiring. That “founder flywheel” is exactly what mega-funds crave when they look for the next $10 billion outcome.
What to Watch Next in a16z’s European Startup Push
Expect more transatlantic pre-seeds and seeds from U.S. megafunds, especially in AI applications with clear unit economics and regulated data advantages. For companies like Dentio, the telltales will be retention in early clinics, the pace of multi-country rollouts, and whether automation extends beyond note-taking into revenue cycle and practice ops — the real margin drivers.
For founders, the lesson is straightforward: Europe’s best markets are now just one warm intro away from Sand Hill capital. For a16z, the mission is equally clear: keep flying, keep scouting, and catch the next European unicorn while it’s still hiding in plain sight on a co-working floor in Stockholm.
