In this episode, we sit down with Yoni Assia, the co-founder and CEO of eToro, one of the world's best-known retail trading and investing platforms. Founded in 2007 with his brother Ronen, eToro was built around the idea of social trading — letting everyday investors follow and copy the trades of people they trust — and has since grown into a network of around 40 million registered users trading some 12,000 assets across more than 70 countries. In May 2025, eToro listed on the Nasdaq in an upsized $620 million IPO that valued the company at more than $4 billion, making it one of the first fintechs to go public since 2021.

With Yoni, we discuss why he always intended to take the company public, the judgment call to price and launch into a volatile backdrop, why he chose to list in the US, what 183 investor meetings taught him about the surprising similarities between institutional and retail investors, the allocation mechanics, and where he sees market innovation heading — from retail participation and IPO-price derivatives to tokenized equities and capital markets moving on-chain.

Disclaimer: The discussion in this episode is not financial advice, nor an investment recommendation, nor a solicitation to buy or sell any financial instruments or an offer for financial services or any other transaction. The information contained in the recording has no contractual value and is intended for informational purposes only. Amundsen Investment Management and the participants in this podcast may have holdings in the companies being discussed. Any views expressed are those of the guests only, and not of Amundsen Investment Management.

In this episode, we sit down with Mathieu Lefebvre, the co-founder and CEO of Waga Energy, a French clean energy company that listed on Euronext Paris in October 2021 in a €126 million IPO. Only six years after founding the company, Mathieu and his co-founders chose the public markets to fund Waga's international expansion. Mathieu and his team led the company through volatile markets, higher inflation, a difficult €55 million follow-on capital raise in 2024, and ultimately to a take-private by EQT, announced in June 2025.

Waga Energy has developed a unique technology, the Wagabox, that converts landfill gas into renewable natural gas, turning a major source of greenhouse gas emissions into a usable energy source that is injected directly into the local gas grid. The business is capital intensive but with high visibility: Waga invests in, owns and operates its units under 15 to 20 year contracts with landfill operators and gas utilities. From a French startup, the company has grown into a global player with 55 projects today across seven countries in Europe, North America and Latin America.

With Mathieu, we discuss why a young company chose to list so early, the realities of being a small cap in a turbulent equity market — including a forced exit from the MSCI small and mid cap index that triggered a sharp share price correction just before the 2024 capital raise, and ultimately the strategic decision to return to private ownership with EQT.

Disclaimer: The discussion in this episode is not financial advice, nor an investment recommendation, nor a solicitation to buy or sell any financial instruments or an offer for financial services or any other transaction. The information contained in the recording has no contractual value and is intended for informational purposes only. Amundsen Investment Management and the participants in this podcast may have holdings in the companies being discussed. Any views expressed are those of the guests only, and not of Amundsen Investment Management.

In this episode of IPO Stories, we speak with Susanne Wiegand and Christian Schulz, former CEO and CFO of RENK, one of Europe’s most important defense suppliers. RENK, a 150-year-old German industrial company specializing in high-performance transmissions for tanks and naval vessels, listed in Germany in February 2024 and is now valued at over €6 billion, with shares up more than 300% since the IPO. The listing came at a moment when Europe’s security environment — and investor perception of defense — was undergoing a profound shift.

Susanne and Christian describe how geopolitics fundamentally reshaped RENK’s strategy, investor base, and capital structure. Defense was no longer a niche or cyclical business, but a long-term structural growth market. Independence mattered. Speed mattered. And access to public equity became essential to scale capacity, invest ahead of demand, and remain a neutral supplier to all major primes. The episode offers a rare inside view into how leadership teams must sometimes move faster — and think more clearly — than both advisers and markets.

Beyond the transaction itself, this conversation is about judgment under pressure. How do you educate investors when sentiment lags reality? How do you build conviction in a misunderstood sector? And what does it really take — culturally, operationally, and personally — to lead a company into public markets when history is moving faster than capital markets? This is an episode about leadership, credibility, and why Europe’s defense industry is entering a fundamentally new chapter.

Disclaimer: The discussion in this episode is not financial advice, nor an investment recommendation, nor a solicitation to buy or sell any financial instruments or an offer for financial services or any other transaction. The information contained in the recording has no contractual value and is intended for informational purposes only. Amundsen Investment Management and the participants in this podcast may have holdings in the companies being discussed. Any views expressed are those of the guests only, and not of Amundsen Investment Management.