🚫 OTAs Suck ✅ Building a Book Direct, Decentralized, Open-OTA ➜ 🚀 Operators Get Direct Bookings ✈️ Travelers Get Rewards for Booking Direct 💰 Anyone Who Refers Travelers Owns Them & the Revenue Stream They Generate.

🐥 I'm a startup founder, launching a direct booking travel platform for the AI agent era.

Why? Today, Online Travel Agent (OTA) commissions are draining 10's of billions of dollars out of the travel ecosystem. They enrich "Big Tech" and "Big Travel", at the expense of everyone else. I know because I helped them do it. For years I was a super-affiliate of Expedia and other big OTAs. I fed $100m+ in hotel bookings to the OTAs, generating $10m in commissions, but adding little of value to the ecosystem.

Now, I'm building a new travel distribution platform and protocol that enables travelers and their AI agents bypass the OTA middlemen and book direct.

👇 Want to be notified when we launch? Leave a comment in the featured post below titled "AI-powered community", or reach out and connect! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Previously...

🐣 I co-founded a venture studio. We launched 3 notable ventures:
 
1️⃣ 3Genius International. Network of travel booking websites. $100M+ in bookings and $10M+ in gross profit.

2️⃣ Moola.com. Multiplayer game. Grew virally to 450k community members, $7.6M economy. PCWorld's “Best Places to Waste Time on the Web”.
 
3️⃣ Locationary. Local data and community platform. Rewarded users for crowdsourcing local business data (eg. like for Apple Maps). $4.5M in funding. Acquired by Apple.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

🧠 Current Interests: AI, community, machine learning, travel, fintech, loyalty rewards, web3 / tokens / blockchain, creator & influencer economy, social commerce, marketplaces, network effects.

Arlen Ritchie

EUVC 

Founder

Founded and built Hack & Hustle, a small fundraising support firm and venture builder. Ceased operations as it was re-branded/merged into EUVC.

Co-Founder

Silicon Roundabout Ventures

Investor/LP

Isomer Capital

As a Venture Partner at Isomer, I collaborate. with the team on finding Europe's best emerging managers.

Venture Partner

World Economic Forum

Global Shaper

Expert in Entrepreneurship, Private Investors and Institutional Investors, Sovereign Funds.

Member of the Expert Network

Seedcamp

Speedinvest

Harvard Business Review

Member of HBR Advisory Council

Satgana

very early Ventures

First Momentum Ventures

I’m the founder of eu.vc – Europe’s Venture Community, where I build through content, access, and capital to reshape venture for the long term. I believe venture isn’t just about capital—it’s about access. Who gets to invest? Who gets the knowledge? Who gets the opportunities? I’m here to expand that circle and make venture more open, transparent, and connected.

Through media, education, and structured communities, I bring together investors, emerging managers, and ecosystem builders, helping shape the next generation of venture leaders.

Along the way, I back top-tier European early-stage funds and their breakout companies as an operator-turned angel LP, lead an angel syndicate, host the EUVC Podcast, and serve as a Venture Partner with Isomer Capital and Global Shaper for the World Economic Forum.

👨‍👩‍👧 Dad-in-the-Making, Sometimes 🐺 Pack Leader.
🏄‍♂️ Windsurfer when time allows, obsessive about good deals always.


💬 Want to Connect? Here’s How We Can Work Together:

📌 Investing & LP Access 💰 → Co-invest in top-tier deals, join my syndicate & navigate LP allocations

📌 Education & Access to Venture 🎓 → Masterclasses, workshops & exclusive content on venture, wealth allocation & breaking into VC

📌 Advisory & Strategy 🏛️ → Helping LPs, funds & founders navigate venture strategy, fundraising & investment structuring

📌 Speaking & Teaching 🎤 → Keynotes, panels & training sessions on venture capital, investing, and Europe’s role in global tech.

📌 Brand Partnerships & Media 📢 → Leverage eu.vc & our expanding platforms (events, media, global initiatives) to reach the venture & investor community.

📌 Something else? Let’s talk. 🤷‍♂️


More About Me (For the Curious Minds 🤯)

🌍 Born in 🇺🇸, raised in 🇵🇹, committed to 🇪🇺 – a global citizen at heart.
📚 Education = Social mobility | Literacy = Power – Why I write, invest & educate.
🎸 Wannabe guitar player, windsurf addict, craft beer brewer.
💡 Started as a startup operator, leading BizDev across Europe → Fell in love with fundraising.
🚀 Founded Hack & Hustle, helped raise €11M+ in early-stage capital.
🛠 Dove into innovation & corp-startup partnerships before shifting fully to VC.
🎯 Helped set up an early-stage VC fund, leading LP fundraising, fund modeling & ops.
📈 Secured 9-digit funding for emerging managers in VC.
🎙 Founder of EUVC & Host of The European VC Podcast.
💰 Angel LP & Syndicate Lead, investing in European VC funds & their breakout companies.
📢 Frequent speaker on venture, ecosystem building & Europe’s competitive positioning.

❤️ Still loving the ride…

David Cruz e Silva 🎙

🚨 We’re hiring in Lisbon! 🇵🇹
(Junior Content — Full Time, On-Site / Lisbon-Based)

We’re opening a new Junior Content role at EUVC — and if you’re early in your career, hungry to learn, and want to work at the heart of Europe’s venture ecosystem… this is a pretty great opportunity.

You’ll be working directly with our incoming Content Lead and with me, helping us ship the daily content that powers EUVC:
🎙 podcasts
📰 newsletters
📣 social assets
🛠 workflows & QA
⚡ distribution

It’s a very hands-on role — perfect for someone who wants to build real craft in content, media, VC storytelling and operations inside a small, scrappy, fast-moving team.

Requirements:
• You must be based in Lisbon (or willing to relocate) — this role requires being in the room with us regularly.
• Early-career profile, curious, fast learner, strong writing/English, and comfortable with tools.
• Passion for tech, startups, or media is a plus — but attitude matters most.

If this sounds like you (or someone you know), drop me a DM or comment below and I’ll share the details.

Let’s build the future of European tech media together ✊

#euvc #hiring #lisbonjobs #contentjobs #venturecapital

Founder @ EUVC | Angel-LP | Advising LPs, GPs & Founders on navigating European venture and accessing global off-market late-stage opportunities | 👨‍👩‍👧 Girl Dad & 🐺 Pack Leader

Just compiled a database of 250 LPs across Europe.

Comment ‘VC’ and I’ll…

(No, I won’t send you the list.
I’ll tell you how to build your own and actually learn something.)

Inspired by my chats with founders at Web Summit, here’s a list of 347 investors I painstakingly compiled so you don’t have to:
	1.	People who actually reply to founders.
	2.	(End of list.)

🎥 Ever wondered what the EUVC Academy actually is?

In one of our AMAs, I found myself explaining it — and realized it perfectly captured what we’re building. So we clipped it for you.

👉 But to be clear:
The AMA itself is never recorded.
Never shared.
Never will be.

That’s part of the magic — you have to be there.
(We even stopped the recording right after this bit… top-secret VC intel 😅)

The Academy is where fund managers, investors, and angels go deep into the craft of venture — learning directly from those actually doing it. No theory. No fluff. Just practitioners teaching practitioners.

If that sounds like your tribe, check the first link in comments 👇

This cohort is going to be a game-changer.

We’ve taken everything we’ve learned from hundreds of fund models and built a hands-on program that actually works. No theory, no fluff — just the frameworks and feedback you need to build a model that fits your strategy and can stand up to real LP scrutiny.

Whether you’re raising Fund I or optimizing Fund III, this cohort will sharpen how you think about assumptions, portfolio construction, and fund math. It’s not about memorizing formulas — it’s about learning to see your fund like an investor would.

Spots are limited (and yes, people are already signing up).

Join the Fund Modelling Cohort — and get free access to the EUVC Academy while it lasts. Link in comments.

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