"You have to know how to invest outside the AI ​​bubble"

In a panel featuring Filip Dames, founding partner at Cherry Ventures; Luise Gruner, Managing Director at Axel Springer Digital Ventures; Eveline Steinberger, CEO, The Blue Minds Company; Venture Partner, JVP; Shark on Austria’s SharkTank; Alexander Kudlich, general partner at 468 Capital; and Daniel Shinar, CEO of ClalTech and head of technology investments in Israel at Access Industries, moderated by Yarden Rozanski of Calcalist, the participants agreed that the race for AI is currently led by the United States and China, but that there remains significant opportunity in developing AI-based applications.

You were a founder and now you are an investor. How does that change the way you identify a company that is truly disruptive today?

Filip Dames: “When we started the fund, our idea was to build the kind of fund we, as entrepreneurs, would have wanted to receive money from. I’ve been on both sides, as an investor and an entrepreneur. I understand how entrepreneurs feel, how everything looks shiny from the outside even when the company is struggling to get off the ground, build a product, and keep going. Intuition is a significant part of our due diligence, especially in understanding people and committing to them for the long run. Not everyone is built to be an entrepreneur, and identifying those who are is essential.”

As a corporate venture capital (CVC) arm, you must balance strategy and returns. Do you ever invest in something that could disrupt your parent company?

Luise Gruner: “Our focus is on media companies that could even hurt us. We invested in a company that aggregates news and could disrupt media companies. Media companies are under constant threat because fewer users are being referred directly to our sites, and there is always tension between strategic and financial considerations.”

As an investor focused on growth, how do you determine whether a company can become a global leader?

Alexander Kudlich: “For investors, this period is very confusing. A decade ago in Germany, investing in the internet sector felt predictable. Today there are countless fields, space, quantum, robotics, and more. Growth looks different for each one, and many companies operate with very long timelines and varying financial needs. The key is understanding how a company can become a leader in its category, even in areas that may not seem the most exciting.

“The allocation of capital also varies based on a company’s trajectory. When we spent too long on due diligence, we sometimes made worse investments, though occasionally better ones. The big question is what you are really looking for when investing, especially in companies only weeks or months old, and which of them can mature and scale.”

Climate Tech has become an “unsexy” topic, is that true?

Eveline Steinberger: “I’m not sure it’s less sexy. Issues like transportation, pollution, and waste must be solved for the next generation. In Europe it’s central because of regulation, and there is significant DeepTech and scientific research behind it. Investors, including those from Israel, are very active in Climate Tech, especially when connected to AI. The field needs access to researchers and to the industrial ecosystem influencing Climate Tech. I see AI as the operating system for everything, from security to climate.”

Daniel Shinar: “Our industry is driven by a fear of missing out. Whenever a trend appears, everyone wants to invest. AI is quickly becoming a bubble, and people are skipping steps in the investment process.”

Money is expensive now. How has Cherry Ventures changed its valuation and due diligence process to ensure early-stage companies can survive in this environment?

Dames: “A lot is becoming automated and we can cover much more ground, but nothing replaces people evaluating people. Technology can’t change that. The team remains the most important factor. And we all need to stay alert to what’s happening in AI, and outside the AI bubble.”

Following your recent exit, how do you plan to redeploy capital and maintain momentum in 2026?

Shinar: “Will we invest more aggressively? We sold a company in a very unsexy but critical infrastructure field. It’s becoming harder for investors to succeed. There’s a bubble and it’s unclear where we stand within it. We look for companies that can survive for the next 20 years despite the bubble. We search for real advantages, at the intersection of media and tech, technologies that will reshape advertising, commerce, and the future meeting point between media and technology.”

ASDV bridges traditional media and digital technology. How is CVC changing the way we consume and distribute news?

Gruner: “Consumers increasingly consume media through LLMs, and it’s a major challenge to direct traffic back to our sites. Referrals have dropped significantly because users receive summaries that don’t link back to us.”

Watch the full exchange in the video above.