Bunq, the Dutch challenger bank which targets tech-savvy customers who live and work in multiple countries, has been granted a US broker-dealer licence, as it expands into the US. The licence will mean that Bunq, which has more than 20 million users in Europe, can bring its US stock trading offering, including ETFs, to US users. The licence was granted by the US watchdog, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Bunq says a US broker-dealer application will be an initial step towards the challenger bank trying to secure a US banking licence. On applying for a full US banking licence, Bunq said: “We do aim to file as soon as we can and will make sure US regulators have everything they need from us as quickly as possible." Last year, Bunq withdrew its application for a US banking licence, citing problems between the Dutch regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Bunq, which has an EU banking licence, is also applying for a UK EMI licence as part of its international expansion. Ali Niknam, founder and CEO of Bunq, said: "Our users roam the world – they live, work, and travel across borders. For many, the US is an important part of their lives. That’s why we’re excited to bring Bunq Stateside and make life easy for Americans and anyone who calls it home.” Earlier this year, Bunq was hit with a €2.6 million fine for “serious deficiencies” in its anti-money laundering controls by the Dutch central bank (DNB). Bunq targets so-called "digital nomads", who it describes as tech-savvy customers who live and work in multiple countries.

UK-Qatar health tech startup Rhazes AI has launched a first-of-its-kind pilot at Al Hamshari Hospital in southern Lebanon, bringing advanced clinical AI tools into one of the most under-resourced medical environments in the region.  The initiative is part of a controlled trial to evaluate how AI can ease the administrative burden on frontline doctors working under extreme pressure.  The pilot is funded by Rhazes AI, conducted in partnership with the Palestine Red Crescent Society, which runs the hospital, as part of a joint effort to strengthen frontline care in one of the region’s most underserved hospital systems. Rhazes AI develops generative AI technology for the healthcare sector, focusing on clinician productivity and administrative tasks. The company provides an assistant that transcribes consultations, generates medical documents, suggests diagnoses, and automates billing processes, ensuring compliance with data protection regulations.  I spoke to Dr Zaid Al-fagih, co-founder and CEO of Rhazes AI to learn more about it.  A lifeline for Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp. AI Hamshari, operated by the Palestine Red Crescent Society, is located near Ein el Hilweh, Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp. Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are excluded from the national healthcare system, leaving hospitals like Al Hamshari to carry the full burden of care with limited international support. The hospital has 80 beds, 56 doctors, and 31 nurses, yet serves over 4,000 patients each month and frequently performs more than 400 surgeries during times of crisis. It remains the only facility with a working dialysis unit serving the southern camps. Under the new partnership, Rhazes is deploying an AI clinical assistant across the hospital’s outpatient and emergency departments. The agentic platform adapts to low-resource environments without requiring extensive hospital infrastructure AI that adapts to low-resource environments According to Dr Al-fagih, in a lot of the hospitals the startup works with, especially the super low-resource providers, they don’t really have electronic health records.  “Sometimes there’s literally one computer for many doctors. They also don’t have access to cutting-edge medical knowledge, since a lot of guideline services are subscription-only. Generally speaking, these hospitals are very low-resource. But that also means the potential impact can actually be much greater than in high-resource environments, where the big marginal gains have already been achieved.” The Rhazes AI platform is highly adaptable and can be tailored to a doctor’s specific workflow and environment. It supports multiple languages for both input and output, and provides doctors with access to the latest up-to-date medical guidelines. “So, in a way,” shared Dr Al-fagih, “we’re enabling hospitals that previously had very limited digital capabilities to access tools they would never have had before — things like digital note-taking, clinical guidance, and management plans. An AI assistant that thinks like a clinician Specifically, Rhazes AI supports doctors end-to-end by transcribing consultations in real time.  But it also goes further — it generates a tailored management plan for the specific patient. “For example, if someone needs antibiotics but is allergic to penicillin, it knows to recommend clarithromycin instead. It tailors recommendations based on medical guidelines and the individual patient’s characteristics,” shared Dr Al-fagih. The tool also automates documentation processes, helping doctors to create structured summaries, admission notes, billing codes, and insights from the patient record. This reduces administrative burden and enables more efficient care. According to Dr Al-fagih, “We can also integrate third-party tools and customise everything. It even supports ICD and CPT coding — the systems used for recordkeeping and billing. So, it’s much more than a transcription tool. It’s an adaptable clinical assistant.” Empowering overstretched Doctors Image: Al Hamshari Hospital. The Al Hamshari Hospital is staffed primarily by Palestinian doctors who, due to the absence of referral pathways or tertiary hospitals, must act as generalists, specialists, and emergency physicians all at once.  Many see upwards of 60 patients per day. The burden of clinical documentation is immense and often falls on the shoulders of already overstretched teams. Dr Al-fagih shared that while doctors in high resource setting like the UK are highly specialised, typically focusing on a narrow speciality once they reach consultant level, in many less developed countries — and particularly in under-resourced public hospitals — doctors have to be generalists. “They cover a broad range of cases, far beyond their core speciality. That’s a huge source of potential medical error. So one of the biggest areas of impact for Rhazes AI is in clinical management support. A doctor can speak with a patient, and our platform writes down everything that’s said. They can add existing patient information, and the system will suggest what that patient needs — the right diagnostic tests, treatment plans, and referrals.” He contends that having that level of decision support is basically unprecedented in these places. It’s not that doctors are less competent — they’re just spread very thin across disciplines.  “As an internal medicine physician, for instance, I would never have to deal with a surgical problem in the UK. But in many of these hospitals, you do. So, we’re giving them the tools to safely expand their scope.” Leap from medicine to macro-level change Around four years ago, Dr Al-fagih did a Master’s in Public Policy, and experiencing the world outside medicine for the second time made him think, “I want to solve the challenges that doctors face at a macro level.” He asserts that understanding these problems from a policymaker’s perspective, rather than as an operator, was a really enlightening experience.  “Coming out of that, I had a choice: go back into medicine and practice as a doctor at the front lines again, or try to reimagine how doctors work — to make it more efficient, more effective, and more human. At the time, I had just completed my research on an unrelated AI project, which coincided with the AI boom around 2023. That’s when the idea for Rhazes AI came into fruition." The startup raised its first check in November 2023. Fighting diagnostic error at scale Further, Dr Al-fagih sees AI tools are a critical means to help doctors to tackle diagnostic error, which occurs in 1 in 14 general medical hospital patients. In the United States, around 800,000 people each year die or are permanently disabled due to misdiagnosis across care settings. Decades of post-mortem research also indicate that diagnostic errors contribute to approximately 10 per cent of patient deaths. These are solvable failures of systems and support, not of clinician intent. He asserts that doctors urgently need tools to automate documentation, easing the workload on stressed clinicians, whilst also providing a second, unbiased ‘set of eyes’ to help doctors avoid missed illnesses in one or two visits, let alone three. A smartphone-powered leap forward Back in Lebanon, for many doctors, who’ve never used an electronic health record, Rhazes AI provides a massive jump in capability.  “Some are genuinely blown away,” shared Dr Al-Fagih.  Crucially, the platform is mobile-friendly — health professionals can use it on smartphones, even print directly from their phone. So, in hospitals with only a couple of computers, it still fits seamlessly into their workflow. For Dr-Al Fagih, it's been interesting seeing the contrast between different sites.  “For example, in some hospitals, there are literally two computers for the entire staff. That’s been a major challenge. We’re also running this as a study, so ideally, we’d have lots of granular data. But that kind of infrastructure just isn’t there — not from negligence, but simply because priorities are elsewhere, and budgets are tight. That said, doctors can still use our platform entirely from their smartphones. The hospitals are in cities, so there’s at least some cellular coverage. They can write up notes and even print directly from their phones.” Innovation shouldn’t wait for perfect conditions Rhazes AI’s approach challenges the idea of when to innovate: “Advanced tools don’t need to wait for perfect conditions; they should start where the need is greatest,” asserts Dr Al-Fagih. "In an age where AI too often deepens inequality, this is an example of what it looks like to close that gap. It’s time for innovation to meet people where they are.” "Doctors here carry entire communities” Rola Soboh, a Rhazes AI associate implementing the pilot, said: “I have supported multiple research and humanitarian projects focused on refugee health and wellbeing in Lebanon, and this project is deeply personal. This hospital isn’t just a building, it’s a lifeline. “Doctors here don’t just treat patients, they carry entire communities. So, when we talk about easing their load, it’s not just administrative, it’s emotional, physical, everything. To see cutting-edge technology actually serve people like this, in a place that’s so often forgotten, gives me a sense of real hope.” Rhazes Ai is also working with several hospital systems in the Gulf region to deploy at scale.  “They’re quite advanced digitally, so it’s an exciting partnership,” shared Dr Al-Fagih.  One area Rhazes is now exploring is creating a lightweight, cloud-based electronic health record (EHR) that’s AI-native — accessible via smartphone and usable by all doctors within a hospital. “That could be a game-changer for places without any EHR infrastructure. There are entire countries where not a single hospital has an electronic health record system. Digitalisation, built with AI from the start, could actually give them an advantage over richer countries that are stuck with legacy systems. They can leapfrog the missteps that others made — starting fresh with modern infrastructure.” The pilot will run as a non-randomised, controlled implementation trial from August to November 2025, to assess its effect on documentation time, decision confidence, and patient flow. Lead image: Palestine Red Crescent Society. 

Last week, we tracked more than 70 tech funding deals worth over €1.3 billion, and over 10 exits, M&A transactions, rumours, and related news stories across Europe. ? The top three industries that raised the most were cleantech (€791.6 million), healthtech (€151.5 million), and software (€66.8 million). Regionally, companies from ?? Germany secured €726.3 million, followed by the ?? UK (€262.5 million) and ?? Sweden (€57.1 million). ❗ Let's get you up to speed on everything that happened last week, including your handy.csv file, allowing for an even more in-depth analysis. Have a great week! Funding deals by amount GERMANY: Enpal secures €700M ABS facility with M&G for residential solar and heating loans UK: Non-drill brain monitoring startup CoMind raises over $100M AUSTRIA: Refurbed closes £44M round as it targets UK expansion UK: Chemify raises €43M to digitise molecule creation using AI UK: SheMed raises €43M to advance personalised women’s healthcare in the UK DENMARK: MATR Foods closes €40M funding SWEDEN: Cleantech company Meva Energy raises €40M LITHUANIA: nexos.ai secures €30M to tackle the enterprise AI adoption challenge FRANCE: Hublo raises €20M via Bpifrance NETHERLANDS: TRACT lands €18.6M to help agrifood businesses build smarter, more resilient supply chains UK: Immaterial secures €15.4M to advance monolithic MOF industrial decarbonisation systems NORWAY: Riff secures $16M Series A led by Northzone for business-ready vibe coding UK: Y Combinator–backed Saturn raises $15M to make financial advice affordable for all UK: Finster AI, an artificial intelligence platform for finance professionals, raises $15M IRELAND: Bronto raises $14M in seed funding UK: Mondra raises £10M to accelerate European expansion ROMANIA: .lumen expands its AI vision into urban robotics with €11M grant UK: AI film studio Wonder lands £9M investment GERMANY: roclub lands $11.7M to scale solutions for medtech staffing shortages SPAIN: Acoru secures €10M to disrupt money mule activity and predict financial scams ITALY: WSense raises €10M to scale subsea Wi-Fi and expand underwater IoT tech FRANCE: Female-led Lisaqua nets €9M to grow its sustainable, land-based shrimp farms across Europe SWEDEN: Magma Math raises $10M to expand AI-powered classroom platform UK: General Index raises €8.6M to redefine global commodity and energy pricing GERMANY: etalytics extends Series A to €16M with new investment from Microsoft’s M12 ITALY: Sizable Energy raises $8M to launch ocean-based energy storage UK: Milvus Advanced closes $6.9M seed funding UK: Cyclana Bio raises £5M for endometriosis drug discovery SWEDEN: Zparq’s electric drivetrains steer marine transport toward zero emissions with €5.5M FRANCE: Volta raises €5M led by RTP Global to revolutionize B2B commerce with AI FRANCE: Blaise Matuidi raises €5M with his new startup Playse SPAIN: Docline raises €4.6M in funding GERMANY: With €4M in funding, insuretech developer Enzo looks to tackle water damage with their novel sensor ESTONIA: Yaga raises €4M to scale its sustainable fashion marketplace ITALY: DMAT secures €3.8M to transform the construction sector FRANCE: Kotcha powers up with €3.5M to scale AI coaching for runners DENMARK: Scaleup Finance raises £3M to launch Nume, an AI CFO for startups and SMEs SWEDEN: Cytely raises €3M as labs report 75% faster analysis using its smart microscopy platform NETHERLANDS: Hydryx raises €2.5M to turn trash into clean power NETHERLANDS: Watertech startup HULO secures €2.3M SWITZERLAND: Chipmind exits with $2.5M to launch AI agents for faster chip design UK: Rightcharge raises £1.6M to power EV charging payments for Europe’s fleets UK: Astut lands €1.8M round for transparent reasoning-based AI IRELAND: Paygentic nets $2M pre-seed to power payments for AI-native firms UK: Elbow Beach inks £1.5M into UPP to automate broccoli waste-to-protein tech SPAIN: Drone developer Fuvex raises €1.7M to fly high across Europe’s inspection skies GERMANY: 1000 Satellites secures €1.6M investment GERMANY: Hi inov and the EIC Fund are investing €1.5M in Xelera SPAIN: Aunoa raises €1.5M to scale its conversational AI agents across Europe UK: HotGreen Solutions raises £1.2M for ultra-efficient heat pumps ESTONIA: eID Easy raised €1.3M to develop its e-signature platform IRELAND: Lette AI raises $1.4M in pre-seed funding BELGIUM: nxgsat raises €1.2M to advance next-generation 5G satellite connectivity GERMANY: Every Health raises €1.1M to build Europe’s first LGBTQ+ virtual clinic FRANCE: Certificall raises €1M seed to strengthen its position in the European market AUSTRIA: 2ndCycle recieves €1M investment SPAIN: SHINEPHI raises €1M in funding round SPAIN: Virtest Technologies closes €800,000 round ESTONIA: AI energy startup MarkeDroid raises €300,000 to expand distributed energy platform SWITZERLAND: TALPA Inspection secures $100,000 to accelerate structural non-contact sensor technology AUSTRIA: Wirtschaftsservice (aws) is investing a six-figure sum in revitalyze UK: PEEQUAL raises funding to scale its squat-and-go, sustainable women's urinal GERMANY: reverse.fashion secures a six-figure sum investment UK: Real Fun Group secures six-figure funding deal GERMANY: in.hub closes seven-figure round to deepen industrial digitalisation offering across Europe SWITZERLAND: Anevo secures pre-seed funding UK: Quantum Fabrix (QFX) secures €2.2M led by YC’s Paul Graham SWITZERLAND: Exnaton raises Series A to power Europe’s digital energy transition AUSTRIA: SteadySense secured a seven-figure sum investment NETHERLANDS: Aluvia Photonic secures funding from PhotonDelta GERMANY: Galakto receives a €4 million investment Exits and M&A activity FRANCE: Ipsen expands oncology portfolio with €1B acquisition of French biotech ImCheck Therapeutics UK: Allica Bank snaps up UK embedded finance startup Kriya FRANCE: Lyon-based startup Y-Brush taken over by Biotech Dental after being placed in receivership SWEDEN: TrueLayer to acquire open banking rival Zimpler NETHERLANDS: Dutch truck-services platform TRAVIS acquired by Germany’s Knorr-Bremse FRANCE: Sportway acquires Amsterdam’s Eyecons and Paris-based Sportall UK: Sales engagement platform lemlist acquires fellow French AI platform Claap to transform sales with AI technology GERMANY: The Munich-based fleet management company Carsync and the Münster-based startup motum are merging GERMANY: Munich-based defense tech company Quantum Systems is acquiring the AI ​​company Spleenlab NETHERLANDS: Amsterdam’s female-founded legal AI firm Uncover gets acquired GERMANY: Manual buys Formula Skin UK: Elucidat got acquired by Learning Pool UK: bexio acquires fintech startup Kontera

Stockholm-based Cellcolabs, a Swedish biotech focused on industrial-scale production of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), has secured $12 million in primary funding from Titian Capital via its life sciences platform, Titian Life Sciences, bringing total funding to $37 million. Founded in 2021, Cellcolabs manufactures GMP-certified MSCs using a production protocol refined over more than 20 years at the Karolinska Institutet. Its cells are supplied to university hospitals worldwide and to private clients, including professional athletes and public figures. The company operates a GMP-certified facility in Stockholm and an industrial-scale platform for allogeneic MSCs used in both research and clinical contexts. Through collaborations with academic institutions and contract research programs, Cellcolabs supports projects from preclinical studies to late-stage clinical trials. While it does not provide patient treatments, its subsidiary sponsors international studies in areas such as cardiovascular prevention, musculoskeletal repair, and age-related frailty, using the same Sweden-produced MSCs. The company aims to reduce the cost of MSCs by 90 per cent by 2035 to lower barriers to research and therapeutic applications. According to Dr. Mattias Bernow, CEO of Cellcolabs, the field is approaching an inflection point as scientific evidence grows and regulatory pathways clarify, driving unprecedented demand for stem cells. With this investment, Cellcolabs plans to advance technical development and expand internationally, reinforcing its objective to increase the accessibility and affordability of high-quality MSCs for research and therapeutic use.

This week, we tracked more than 70 tech funding deals worth over €1.3 billion, and over 10 exits, M&A transactions, rumours, and related news stories across Europe.  In addition to this week's top financials, we've also indexed the most important/industry-related news items you need to know about. If email is more your thing, you can always subscribe to our newsletter and receive a more robust version of this round-up delivered to your inbox. Either way, let's get you up to speed. ? Notable and big funding rounds ?? Enpal secures €700M ABS facility with M&G for residential solar and heating loans ?? Non-drill brain monitoring startup CoMind raises over $100M ?? Refurbed closes £44M round as it targets UK expansion ??‍?? Noteworthy acquisitions and mergers ?? Ipsen expands oncology portfolio with €1B acquisition of French biotech ImCheck Therapeutics ?? Allica Bank snaps up UK embedded finance startup Kriya ?? Munich-based defense tech company Quantum Systems is acquiring the AI ​​company Spleenlab ?? Dutch truck-services platform TRAVIS acquired by Germany’s Knorr-Bremse ? Interesting moves from investors ? Iris Ventures closes €100M round for new consumer tech fund ? Lakestar calls time on generalist venture funds ?? From Seed to sovereignty: HV Capital’s expanding mandate across Europe ?️ In other (important) news ? A global AWS outage exposes fragile digital foundations ?The biggest European cleantech deals in H1 2025 ☀️ Energy unicorn 1KOMMA5° takes on Germany’s gas plan with EU complaint ? OpenAI offers UK data storage, as says UK customer numbers quadrupled in 12 months ? Recommended reads and listens ?? Lithuania’s tech ecosystem: Founders and executives discuss its evolution ? 15% of Slush alumni become founders — a launchpad unlike any other in Europe ?? Meet AI-BOB: the Swedish startup bringing AI-powered compliance to the construction industry ? European tech startups to watch  ??  Paygentic nets $2M pre-seed to power payments for AI-native firms ??  Rightcharge raises £1.6M to power EV charging payments for Europe’s fleets ??  Aunoa raises €1.5M to scale its conversational AI agents across Europe ??  HotGreen Solutions raises £1.2M for ultra-efficient heat pumps ??  Every Health raises €1.1M to build Europe’s first LGBTQ+ virtual clinic ??  Certificall raises €1M seed to strengthen its position in the European market

Spanish company Aunoa has raised €1.5 million for its AI agent solutions for the automation of complex customer management tasks.  Aunoa designs and implements advanced conversational AI “agents” for enterprise clients. They combine generative and proprietary AI models to automate customer engagement across multiple channels (WhatsApp, web chat, social messaging, voice) and integrate with existing systems, such as CRM/ticketing, to support functions such as lead capture, customer service, and scheduling.  With an emphasis on data governance, regulatory compliance, and scalable automation of high-volume interactions, they target sectors such as retail, finance, telecom and logistics.  Aunoa has had strong traction in 2025, with 2M€ recurring turnover and a team of 35 employees. Its international commercial development already spans 10 countries and works with leading companies across critical sectors such as banking and logistics.  Eoniq and Faraday led the round, which was supported by GoHub Ventures, Aurorial and Alea. According to Tom Horsey, eoniq managing partner: “Aunoa represents the type of company we love to support. It has solid technology, powerful equipment and international vision. This investment reinforces our confidence in their leadership in the field of conversational agents.” Lead image: freepik.

This week, research reveals that Slush alumni are at the core of building the future of European tech, as 15 per cent (68 out of a total of 459) of the team go on to become founders, according to data released by Slush in collaboration with Dealroom and Accel.  Held annually in November, Slush is a world-leading startup event and the largest gathering of venture capital firms. It brings together  13,000 attendees, including 6,000 startups and 3,500 investors.  The investors represent a total of $4T+ in assets under management.  I spoke with Aino Bergius, CEO of Slush, and Mikko Mäntylä, former Slush President and now co-founder and CEO of Realm, to learn more, Building the Finnish founder pipeline According to Mäntylä, Slush is absolutely central to the Finnish startup ecosystem.  “It’s responsible, in large part, for creating the kind of vibrant founder community we have today. From the beginning, it’s been a student-run event, which means a lot of Finnish students — either while still at university or right after — join the organisation, gain experience, learn about the startup world, and then go on to found companies themselves.” The 15 per  cent figure is more than double compared to the percentage of young people aged  18–24 founding businesses in Finland (GEM 2021). In total, almost 70 former Slushers have gone on to found their own companies after their time working for the world-renowned startup event.  “We want to be the best Founder Factory in Europe, by opening doors to the startup world and giving young people the tools and confidence to build world-changing companies” says Bergius, aged 26.  Inside Slush’s startup mindset: ownership from day one According to Bergius, while the Main Event focuses on supporting existing founders, everything Slush does year-round is about creating more of them. It starts with hiring: “We look for people who get excited about building and solving hard problems, instead of optimising the existing. Or similarly, we don’t want someone who can just do the job well, we want people who can redefine what’s possible in that role.” Crucially, Slush embodies the startup mindset through its agility and structure: the average team member is 23, and half of the team changes every year, including leadership.  This means the team can’t rely on what’s been done in the past; they must intentionally start from scratch.  According to Bergius, “at the beginning of each year, we invest heavily in learning about the startup ecosystem, and about how we want to work together.  “That shared learning sets the foundation for ownership. Because people join the Slush team to learn and build, we default to trust. From day one, each person is expected to act like the founder of their own domain, making decisions, setting direction, and shipping fast. That operational freedom, combined with support, feedback, and high standards, is what keeps Slush evolving, and what makes it work. Team members are given responsibility that usually comes years into a career.  "Responsibility comes early here, way earlier than in most workplaces. You’re leading teams, owning external partnerships, and making budget decisions. You’re also building something from scratch under real pressure, on a real deadline. That’s startup life in disguise,” shared Bergius. The approach is designed to accelerate growth fast — combining hands-on experience with direct exposure to the ecosystem. Every other week, teams take part in open Q&A sessions with prominent founders and investors, gaining insights that might otherwise take years to learn. This creates a constant loop of learning and reimagining what a startup career can look like — making founding a company feel as normal as starting any project that matters. Bergius asserts that if you combine that kind of talent with ownership, trust, and the space to learn fast, companies become a natural byproduct.  Building a company becomes doable When asked which aspects of Slush’s culture best prepare people to become founders, Bergius points to three in particular: ownership, standards, and feedback.  “At Slush, you’re trusted with outcomes, not just tasks — there’s no micromanagement,” she explained. “You’re held to a global benchmark, not a student one. And you learn in public: documenting everything, giving feedback early, and talking openly about failure.” All of this happens within a one-year cycle — a complete loop of building, shipping, and reflecting — which, she said, is “a huge accelerator for founder readiness.” “Once you've shipped an experience for 13,000 people with a team of your peers, building a company doesn’t feel like a far-off dream anymore, it feels quite doable." “You run out of excuses not to build something”: Out of the 15 per cent of Slush alumni who have gone on to become entrepreneurs, one of the most famous examples is Miki Kuusi, co-founder and former CEO of Wolt and Head of DoorDash International. After spending four years as the CEO of Slush, he founded Wolt in 2014, which in 2022 joined forces with US-based S&P 500  DoorDash.  Other former Slushers forming their own companies include: Eerika Savolainen, co-founder & CEO of Clair (2025); Elmo Pakkanen  and Tommi Bergström founded Ambio in 2023;  Niilo Pirttijärvi, co-founder & CEO of Inven (2022); Andreas Saari, co-founder & co-CEO of Paebbl (2021). Mäntylä co-founded Realm in 2023 with two other Slush alumni. Half the company’s current team also worked at Slush, which says a lot about the organisation’s impact and network. Mäntylä joined Slush in 2019 as a second-year student who knew very little about the startup ecosystem.  “What was supposed to be a few months turned into four transformative years of my life,” he shared. “By the end, I had become President, leading the external-facing side of Slush — things like the stage program, relationships with our core audience and partners, and the overall experience. That journey made me realise I couldn’t imagine a life where I didn’t try to build something of my own.” How founders are made I was curious if there was something specific during his time at Slush that made you think, I can actually be a founder — that sense of “I can create impact beyond running events”? Mäntylä admits, “First, when you join Slush, you’re surrounded by people who are dreaming of solving really hard problems by starting companies. That’s incredibly inspiring — it normalises ambition. You realise that people your age, with a similar background, are taking on these huge challenges.” Second, being part of Slush means meeting some of the most iconic entrepreneurs on the planet — “and sometimes even getting to know them a bit.” “And you realise they’re just people. They were also students once, just figuring things out. They didn’t know much more about the world than you do, but they went on to build companies that changed it. That’s very empowering. You realise startups are one of the most democratised opportunities in the world — anyone can start one, and anyone can have a real chance at success. Once that sinks in, you sort of run out of excuses for why you couldn’t do it yourself.” He contends that Slush condenses five years of classroom learning into a single year of hands-on company building. “We’ve lived it, and that’s why we know how to value it in the people we hire”, Mäntylä explains.  How a Slush problem became a startup idea The idea for Realm came from Slush. According to Mäntylä,” the first time we ever wrote down something resembling the idea for Realm, it came from reflecting on problems we’d had at Slush.” Because the team changes so often, so institutional knowledge gets lost.  “We’d all document things constantly, but there was no good way to go back, access it, and make use of it. That was the missing piece. With AI, we can now build systems that actually understand and organise that kind of internal knowledge.” Since then, Realm has narrowed its focus to customer-facing roles — sales, success, partnerships — but the fundamental idea remains the same. Specifically, Realm is building an AI-powered knowledge platform helping sales, customer success, and pre-sales professionals instantly find and use information scattered across company tools. By connecting to CRMs, document hubs, and communication platforms, Realm creates intelligent AI agents that can answer questions, generate responses to RFPs or security questionnaires, and surface the right context in seconds in a secure environment. And the team is the most enthusiastic users of its own product.   “That’s one of the best parts of building a startup — creating something you rely on every day yourself,” shared Mäntylä.  However, it's not easy to build what’s effectively a plug-and-play AI layer, that's both universal and deeply adaptable. According to Mäntylä, the key is combining the reasoning capabilities of large language models with each company’s private data in a secure and intelligent way.  “That means building lots of integrations, designing advanced search to retrieve only the most relevant documents, and packaging everything into workflows that fit naturally into someone’s day. It’s a mix of heavy engineering and thoughtful product design. But so far, the reception has been great. Our users say it genuinely changes how they work — and that’s the best validation we could ask for.” “Slush lets you practice those founder muscles first” Mäntylä believes the experience provides vital transferable skills that few other environments can match: “If you’re 23, 25, 27 — there aren’t many places in the world that will let you manage a team or run a complex operation. Slush gives you that experience early. You learn how to lead, how to make decisions, how to balance ambition with responsibility — all before your own company is on the line." He asserts that crucially, Slush provides a training ground for startup management teams, contending that if the first time you’re managing people is when you’re already a founder, you’re setting yourself up for a lot of pain. “Slush lets you practice those muscles first. “You learn how to recruit exceptional people, handle operational complexity, keep culture intact through hyper-growth, and deliver under huge pressure. There are endless spreadsheets, tight deadlines, and thousands of moving parts. It’s operationally intense — and that’s very similar to running a company.” And as for Realm, the small team is growing fast. While most customers are currently in Finland and the Nordics, it also has clients across Europe and North America, and just signed its first one in Australia. “Expansion is the focus: hiring exceptional people and reaching more markets,” shared Mäntylä. The Slush experience is highly regarded by investors Lifeline Ventures is a Finnish early-stage VC firm that  has invested in multiple startups founded by former Slushers. Some of these companies include Realm, Ambio,  Flow AI and Inven. According to Timo Ahopelto, serial entrepreneur and founding partner of Lifeline Venture:  “Slush is a human accelerator. It gives young people ambition, the opportunity for exponential growth and ownership from day one. These are all things that lay the groundwork for becoming successful founders.  Sonali De Rycker, Partner at Accel, states:  "Since its founding in 2008, Slush has evolved into one of the world’s premier startup events — the beating heart of the Nordic tech ecosystem and a launchpad for entrepreneurial talent. From unicorns like Wolt to emerging companies such as Paebbl and Realm, as well as  venture firms like Wave, Slush has consistently fostered the ambition and determination that drives future  founders.”  Slush offers founders an unfair advantage Mäntylä asserts that if you’re 22 or 23 and can even imagine yourself founding a company someday, there’s no better place to spend the next couple of years than Slush. He contends that it’s not just about experience — it’s about connections.  “The startup world is open and welcoming, but it’s also relational. Spend two years at Slush, and by the time you’re ready to start your own company, you’ll already have those relationships — sometimes literally in your WhatsApp. That’s one of the unfair advantages you can give yourself: access to investors, mentors, and peers who already know and trust you.” Scalable lessons from Slush for Europe often talks about needing more “repeat founders.” When asked about what lessons from the Slush experience could other ecosystems, universities, or accelerators adopt,  Bergius asserts: "Let people take on slightly too much responsibility before they feel ready. Give them real ownership, real stakes, and support them with feedback. Skills can be taught, but drive and willingness to learn come from character, and that shows up fast when responsibility is real. And failure can’t be a taboo. At Slush, failure is visible, fast, and shared. That’s how people learn to bounce back, and build confidence to try again." Lead image: Slush volunteers 2024. Photo: Riikka Vaahtera.

Lithuania’s tech ecosystem is one of the fastest-growing in Central and Eastern Europe, fuelled by the can-do attitude of startups, innovation, and government support. While unicorns Vinted and Nord Security might grab the headlines, Lithuania boasts startups across varying sectors based in the capital Vilnius and emerging hubs like Kaunas. In total, Lithuania, with a population of less than three million, is home to more than 1,100 startups employing around 20,000 people. According to the Tech.eu 2024 Annual report, Lithuanian tech companies raised nearly €600 million in 2024, with major deals including Vinted (€340 million) and Green Genius (€100 million). Meanwhile, a Lithuanian Startup Ecosystem 2024 report highlights that the ecosystem’s valuation has surpassed €16 billion— 39x growth in just a decade— establishing Lithuania as a regional leader. Vilnius, according to Dealroom, is the fastest-growing tech city in the European Union in 2025 and the 13th fastest in the world. Tech.eu spoke to several Lithuanian startups and trade bodies, to gauge the upsides and challenges of the Lithuanian tech ecosystem and how it’s evolved. Nord Security Nord Security, a Lithuanian heavyweight along with the country's other unicorns, Vinted and Baltic Classifieds Group, was founded in 2012 and hit unicorn status in 2022. Boasting over 15m users globally, the 1,700-strong startup is best known for its “bread and butter” VPN service, NordVPN, but has also expanded to other cyber services. Bootstrapped until 2022, it also has offices in Germany and Poland and the $3bn valued startup is backed by Warburg Pincus, the US private equity firm, German VC Burda Principal Investments and US VC General Catalyst. Sigita Jurkynaitė, information security manager, Nord Security, who returned to Lithuania after living abroad for 15 years, said: “Many people are surprised Nord comes from Lithuania. "People are surprised how such a big company came out of such a small country. Basically, from the very get-go, the founders had the big idea of becoming the biggest cyber company offering these products worldwide.” On Lithuania’s evolving tech landscape, Jurkynaitė said it had changed “immensely” over the years. She added: “In Lithuania, our main resource is people, really highly educated people. Another thing that we notice in terms of talent is that we don’t really have such as big brain drain. People are coming back, like myself.” Payabl Fintech Payabl operates a key hub in Vilnius, as it looks to expand across the Nordics and Baltics. The payments and business account provider employs around 10 people in Lithuania. Fintech is a growing part of the country’s ecosystem, home to 282 fintech companies serving more than 30 million customers and employing nearly 8,000 professionals — double the number from just five years ago. Heading up its Lithuanian hub is Esfira Zaka, who is also Payabl’s chief marketing officer. Zaka, who is originally from Latvia, said: “We chose Lithuania first and foremost because of the talent pool. I think success stories like Nord and Vinted etc gives an idea of the readiness of the market for a bit of a more global scale." The hub is located in a co-working space, which, Zaka says, means the staff don’t have to think about making coffee and cleaning. “It is vibes”, she adds. Exacaster Exacaster, founded in 2011, is a data analytics and predictive AI firm, which offers clients consulting, tech and managed services across three business lines: data, AI and Customer Value Management. It has clients across 16 countries across telecoms and seven other industries.  Egidijus Pilypas, Exacaster, co-founder, said the talent density is “quite good” in Lithuania but not like in India or US, where you can quickly pull in 1,000 engineers. Pilypas, who has lived in Vilnius for 20 years, said the ecosystem has changed dramatically over the years, but that one of its key attributes is the work/life balance it offers, given the city is very concentrated. Neurotechnology Neurotechnology was founded in 1990 in Vilnius, with the idea of using neural networks for applications such as biometric person identification, computer vision, robotics and artificial intelligence. Over 90 per cent of its products now relate to biometrics, such as for border controls, and national IDs. It currently has over 3,000 partners and employs over 125 people. It also has offices in India and Sri Lanka, as well as other Lithuanian cities. Neurotechnology says it could expand to the UK and the US in future but has no immediate plans. On the upsides of being located in Vilnius, Neurotechnology cited close connections with the “quite strong” universities, working together on research projects. But one thing the company would like to see change is the introduction of an AI factory in Lithuania. Startup Lithuania Startup Lithuania is the government-backed body which acts as the facilitator between startups, VC funds, accelerators and the government. It helps early-stage startups combat challenges, such as networking. Karolina Urbonaitė, head of Startup Lithuania, said: “We try to help startups as much as possible because we saw that the gap in the startup ecosystem is in the early stage, where they maybe have an idea, to pre-accelerate and then accelerate them and help them find international partners.” Urbonaitė also pointed to the positive impact the so-called Vinted and Nord mafia have had on the ecosystem, with alumni from the two startups founding nearly 30 Lithuanian startups. She also said Kaunas, Lithuania’s second biggest city, had its own “very tight” ecosystem, with plenty of meetups and accelerators. Unicorns Lithuania Unicorns Lithuania is the biggest startup association in Lithuania, looking to “mobilise and encourage startups and the public to build the future of Lithuania". The trade body encompasses 225 members and is focused on “ecosystem growth” and “promoting change”. Gintarė Verbickaitė, CEO of Unicorns Lithuania, said: “Lithuania has built a remarkably dynamic and resilient tech ecosystem for its size. “What makes Lithuania’s tech scene stand out is its deep expertise in fintech, cybersecurity, e-commerce, and deeptech – along with the ability to reach consumers globally from day one. “A small domestic market naturally pushes founders to think internationally, and most Lithuanian startups earn the majority of their revenue abroad – from the US, the UK, EU markets, and beyond. Another unique trait of our ecosystem is that many of our success stories are bootstrapped. “Companies like Nord Security, Hostinger, Kilo Health, Omnisend, and CarVertical reached international scale without venture capital. It shows how far ambition, product excellence, and a global mindset can take you.”

Iris Ventures, a Barcelona-based growth investor focused on purpose-led consumer brands, has announced the first close of its second fund, IRIS Fund II, securing €100 million toward a total target of €200 million. The new fund will back companies in the beauty, wellness, nutrition, longevity and conscious living sectors. Founded in 2021 by Montse Suarez, Iris Ventures aims to support brands that combine commercial success with a strong sense of purpose. The firm’s first €100 million fund invested in companies such as Olistic, VICIO, Essentialist, Superlativa, Maurten, Healf and Artemest. Suarez said Iris Ventures was created on the belief that innovation does not only come from technology, but also from how people live, consume and care for themselves and the planet. Her goal has been to “champion founders who build with purpose: entrepreneurs determined to grow responsibly and shape a more inclusive, regenerative economy.” The firm takes a partnership-focused approach, working closely with founders on scaling, brand strategy and international growth. Its investor base includes European family offices with deep roots in consumer industries, providing both financial backing and sector expertise. The launch of IRIS Fund II comes at a time when investors are increasingly seeking opportunities in purpose-driven consumer brands as customers prioritise ethical production, transparency and wellbeing. While Europe has traditionally lagged behind the United States in scaling lifestyle and wellness companies, Iris Ventures is positioning itself as a bridge between the two markets. With IRIS Fund II, the firm plans to invest between €5 million and €20 million per company, supporting 12 to 15 scale-ups over the next four years. Around 80 per cent of the capital will go to European startups, with the remainder backing US ventures aligned with its mission. Unlike traditional private equity funds, Iris Ventures operates with a partnership model that involves close collaboration on scaling, brand strategy and international growth. Its investor base includes influential European family offices with deep roots in consumer industries, allowing the firm to combine patient capital with operational expertise. This approach has helped Iris carve out a strong position in Europe’s increasingly competitive consumer growth investment space.

The Barcelona Deep Tech Summit (BDTS), promoted by Barcelona Activa, will hold its fourth edition from November 4 to 6 with a clear theme: ‘Deep tech for a better future’. The event aims to become the benchmark congress for the sector in Southern Europe, positioning Deep Tech as a tool to address humanity’s future challenges. This edition will reinforce its mission to promote science and Technology based entrepreneurship by connecting emerging projects with investors, researchers, companies, and institutions. BDTS will host over 600 startups—including 100 exhibitors—180 investors, more than 275 corporations, 180 researchers, and over 250 university representatives. Deep tech ecosystems from countries such as Canada, Sweden, Portugal, France, and Italy will also actively participate, positioning the event as a global platform for the sector. The congress is going to cover a total of 1,300 m² at Fira de Barcelona Gran Via and is expected to welcome more than 2,500 visitors. Internationally renowned speakers To explore technological potential and upcoming challenges, the event will bring together more than 70 top-level international speakers, including futurist health expert Zayna Khayat from the University of Toronto; venture capital investor Michael Jackson; sustainability consultant and founder of Volans, and father of the concept of ‘corporate sustainability’, John Elkington; Libelium CEO Alicia Asín; Profoundo founder and CEO and media reference in the startup ecosystem, Robin Wauters; and OXOLife founder and CEO, Agnès Arbat. BDTS will feature an exhibition area with over 100 startups and demos, a pitch corner for project presentations, a one-to-one space to connect entrepreneurship and research with corporations and investors and an auditorium with a capacity for 200 people to follow the main sessions. To ensure a program aligned with European objectives and capable of showcasing Barcelona’s potential, BDTS has relied on an advisory board composed of 14 representatives from the fields of investment, technology transfer, tech-based entrepreneurship, and leading institutions from Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, United Kingdom and European Commission. The Deep Tech aim: a better future Deep tech startups and spin-offs develop solutions based on scientific discoveries and disruptive innovations to address major social challenges. This mission has led to the definition of three thematic axes aligned with the goals of showcasing Deep Tech’s capacity to solve global challenges and achieve strategic autonomy in Europe: LIFE & PLANET: Explore how Deep Tech is revolutionizing health and sustainability with life-saving innovations. Cross-cutting sessions dive into investment and real-world implementation. COMPUTING & TECH SOVEREIGNTY: Explore key frontiers in digital sovereignty and advanced computing, with investment opportunities in strategic technologies. Cross-cutting sessions reveal funding trends and venture capital strategies. FROM LAB TO MARKET: Bridges innovative research with real-world impact through tech transfer, Deep Tech talent, and startup creation. Cross-cutting sessions explore how to accelerate scientific entrepreneurship. Deep Tech requires highly specialized talent and a financing ecosystem that understands the need for time and capital to achieve returns. Moreover, they carry higher risk due to their disruptive nature. In this context, public administrations and sector stakeholders have the mission of connecting potential investment with the individuals who have the initiatives and can develop them. BDTS is the place for the interaction between entrepreneurship, companies, venture capital, and the public sector that Deep Tech needs to discover disruptive ideas and transfer knowledge to society to help transform it through research and technology. Barcelona as a generator of opportunities for Deep Tech In a context of geopolitical change, open autonomy has become a priority. The European Union has expressed the need to reduce dependence on critical technologies such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum computing, and biotechnology to ensure the continent’s competitiveness, resilience, and innovation capacity. In this scenario, Deep Tech emerges as a strategic sector with high global transformation potential, and Barcelona offers a privileged environment with some of the strongest ecosystems in Europe. It includes five top-tier universities—UPC, UAB, UB, UPF, and UOC—and research centers such as the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (comprising seven research centers), the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, the Alba Synchrotron, the National Center for Genomic Analysis, the Barcelona Science Park, and more than 340 Deep Tech startups that raised €544 million between 2019 and 2024, positioning the city as the leading European hub for funding in this sector.

France-based startup Kotcha, an AI-powered running coaching app, has raised €3.5 million to make high-quality coaching accessible to all runners. The round was led by Racine² (operated by Serena and makesense), with participation from TrueGlobal, Motier Ventures, and other consumer, health, running, and sports investors. Kotcha uses AI to recreate the athlete–coach relationship, delivering adaptive, personalised training guidance at scale. Race demand is rising rapidly, with the London Marathon receiving more than 1.1 million entries for 2026, which is twice as many as in 2024. Despite this growing interest, access to personalised coaching remains limited. Many runners still choose between generic apps that cost around €20 per month and human coaches who charge about €100 per month. Kotcha aims to close this gap by offering an AI coaching team that adapts in real time to each runner’s needs. Founded by marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge, Ben Dupont (CEO), Michel-André Chirita (CTO), Dimitri Dor (CMO), and the NN Running Team, Kotcha is built on the belief that running is a team sport and no one should run alone. The three tech founders worked closely with Kipchoge and his team to embed that philosophy in the product. Running is a team sport. Without my coaches and teammates, I would never have pushed human limits. With Kotcha, we wanted to share not just the training structure but the full support system that made it possible, says Eliud Kipchoge. Most running apps restrict athletes to fixed 12 or 16-week training plans. Kotcha takes a different approach by recreating the experience of a real coaching staff with four AI coaches: a Head Coach, Nutritionist, Data Analyst, and Personal Trainer, each trained in NN Running Team methods. Tested with more than 300 runners, Kotcha provides a reliable and adaptive experience for athletes of all levels. AI often lacks the context to meet runners’ expectations. Kotcha is designed to understand each runner’s goals, training load, and patterns, so guidance feels like it comes from a coach who truly knows you, shares Ben Dupont. The vision shows up in everyday features. Each Sunday, Kotcha reviews recent data and feedback to plan the week ahead, automatically adjusting for missed sessions. Before and after each run, it provides briefings and debriefs. Runners can ask questions about training, nutrition, or recovery at any time and get immediate answers. This pre-seed round will support Kotcha’s launch and help bring its vision to life in Europe and beyond.

London-based Mondra, an AI-powered platform delivering product-level intelligence for supply chain resilience, has closed its Series A funding round, raising £10 million from investors including AlbionVC, Planet A, Swisscom, PeakBridge, Ponderosa Ventures, and Green Circle Foodtech Ventures. Volatile supply chains and rising climate risks are reshaping the global food industry, influencing both affordability and availability. At the same time, increasing pressure to measure and manage Scope 3 emissions is driving food companies to balance supply resilience with progress toward climate goals. Mondra addresses these challenges by using digital twin technology to map complex, previously hard-to-trace supply chains and establish a framework for managing product-level performance from farm to fork. The platform provides real-time tracking of carbon and broader environmental impacts, climate-related supply risks, and price volatility across dynamic networks, integrating these insights into the systems used by major retailers, food companies, and their suppliers. This enables food companies to assess the environmental impact of each product, evaluate potential revenue risks related to climate disruption, generate audit-ready ESG data, analyse sourcing risks and alternatives, and collaborate with suppliers using credible insights and tools. With this intelligence, companies can prioritise actions to reduce emissions, maintain profitability, and strengthen sourcing resilience. The fundraise builds on Mondra’s Pre-Series A round last year, during which the company also introduced Sherpa, its AI-powered assistant integrated into the platform. Sherpa acts as a co-pilot for business stakeholders, supporting complex decision-making across the supply chain, from climate and social resilience to risk management and financial performance, to help improve environmental outcomes across the food sector. The new investment will accelerate Mondra’s expansion into key European markets, including the Netherlands, Germany, and France, and support the development of new product capabilities, extending the platform’s focus beyond emissions management to include supply chain disruption and climate risk management.

A prominent European VC firm, which has backed Revolut and Spotify, says it will not raise any new generalist VC funds, undertaking a “strategy shift” which will instead see it focus on raising returns from its portfolio companies such as Helsing and Neko Health. In a letter posted on its website, Lakestar founder and chairman Klaus Hommels explained the rationale behind the move, saying that the European VC market was undergoing a “profound transformation”, citing structural challenges that demand new strategies. Hommels said: "Capturing and delivering exceptional returns to our Limited Partners is a task I want to give my undivided attention. Therefore, going forward both Lakestar’s and my focus will be on maximising the potential of the existing portfolio and we will not raise any new generalist venture funds as we have in the past. "We will focus on the development of targeted new investment products to help our portfolio companies grow, and seize other emerging opportunities. Lakestar’s future investments will be larger, more concentrated, and made with own capital, allowing greater agility and freedom to pursue the big, visionary bets that have always defined our work." In the letter, Hommels said that Lakestar's priorities lay in helping portfolio firms reach their full potential, naming Revolut, Helsing, Isar Aerospace, and Neko Health as examples. He also said he would back "promising ventures" started by the Lakestar team as they "embark on their own entrepreneurial journeys". Lakestar, which has offices in Berlin, London and Zurich, has raised more than €2bn over the past 12 years, according to the FT. Hommels added: "We are on track to have raised close to $500 million by year end through our newest vintage of funds."

Every Health, Europe's first virtual clinic dedicated to LGBTQ+ healthcare, has closed a €1.1 million Seed round. The platform offers digital care pathways, including testing, consultations, prescriptions, and medication delivery, serving queer communities and anyone seeking stigma-free health care. While digital health companies like FOLX and Nurx have gained significant traction in the US market, Europe remains largely underserved. LGBTQ+ individuals represent 9 per cent of the world population with €150 billion in collective annual healthcare spending in Europe, yet face systematic barriers: 46 per cent avoid disclosing their sexual orientation or gender identity to healthcare providers due to fear of discrimination, according to the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights. Gay men face 23 times higher HIV risk than the general population globally, according to UNAIDS data. "Health is a human right, not a privilege. For LGBTQ+ people, that right has been systematically denied for far too long," said Dimitri Bilyarchyk, co-founder of Every Health. "We've heard countless stories: gay men travelling hundreds of kilometres every few months to get their PrEP, trans individuals waiting months for affirming care appointments, queer people avoiding doctors due to discrimination. Every Health exists because we refuse to accept this reality." Beyond LGBTQ+-specific care pathways, Every Health addresses the broader challenges of sexual health access, a category that affects millions but remains plagued by stigma, shame, and accessibility barriers in traditional healthcare settings.  The platform's digital-first model removes these friction points, offering discreet testing, consultations, prescriptions, prevention, treatment, and medication delivery designed for both queer communities and anyone seeking judgment-free sexual health services.   The company's approach tackles systemic barriers, including discrimination in healthcare settings, lack of cultural competency among providers, stigma around sexual health, and limited geographic access to specialised care. Czech Founders VC led the funding, with participation from Atlantic Labs, Nation 1 VC, Ultra Ventures, ZAS Ventures, and Taimi, one of the world's largest LGBTQ+ dating apps. "Our investment in Every Health was driven by the opportunity to solve a massive, underserved healthcare need affecting tens of millions of Europeans," shared Ivan Kristel, General Partner at Czech Founders VC.  "Dima and his team are exceptional executors who have proven they can build trust in a market that's been historically stigmatised and often ignored in healthcare. Every Health is defining an entirely new category in European healthcare. One that provides safety and access to millions who've lacked both." Taimi's strategic investment marks the dating app's first major move into verticals beyond its core platform, reflecting a broader trend of LGBTQ+ platforms expanding into holistic wellbeing services. "Investing in Every Health is a natural extension of our mission," said Alex Pasykov, founder of Taimi. "We've always believed that supporting the LGBTQ+ community means going beyond romantic connection. Access to inclusive healthcare is a huge part of that, and Every Health is building something essential." The round positions Every Health to build out the European LGBTQ+ digital health category, with plans to expand service offerings throughout the region where healthcare systems have been slow to address community-specific needs and sexual health access. The funding will enable Every Health to expand its care offerings with new remote diagnostics and treatment pathways addressing both LGBTQ+-specific healthcare needs and broader sexual health services. The startup has built a network of partner doctors, pharmacies, and labs serving thousands of users across Germany in its first year of operation. Lead image: Dimitri Bilyarchyk and Alexander Petrov, co-founders of Every Health. Photo: uncredited

Paygentic, an all-in-one billing and payments platform for AI-native and agent-driven products, has completed a $2 million pre-seed round led by MiddleGame Ventures, with participation from Anamcara Capital, Aperture, Alan Morgan (Chairman at Adfisco), Angel Invest, and others. Founded by Susan O’Neill and SamuelAlarco Cantos, Paygentic addresses a core challenge for AI-native companies: highly variable compute costs paired with billing systems that default to fixed monthly SaaS fees, constraining upside and increasing exposure to downside risk. The platform provides tooling and infrastructure for hybrid pricing, including subscriptions, usage-based, and outcome-based models, helping companies align revenue with actual consumption and results. Built for the speed and complexity of modern AI, Paygentic converts agent activity (prompts, outcomes, and usage events) into revenue, unifying billing, payments, and pricing in a single agent-focused stack that is quick to launch and easy to scale. Operating in stealth since its founding earlier this year, Paygentic has been working with a select group of early adopters. The investment will support team growth and faster product development, with a focus on advancing agentic billing capabilities and strengthening the payments infrastructure to serve a growing customer base.

OpenAI is offering UK customers, including the government and businesses, the option of storing their data in the UK for the first time, as it unveils an extension of its partnership with the UK government. The move comes as the ChatGPT developer says the number of people using it products in the UK has quadrupled in the past year, though it did not disclose specific numbers.The government today announced a further roll-out of its deal with the $500bn-valued OpenAI, aimed at helping Ministry of Justice civil servants benefit from ChatGPT. It supports the department’s plans to provide its employees access to OpenAI's business offering, ChatGPT Enterprise, aimed at boosting productivity.As part of the deal, UK retail customers, businesses, developers and government departments will be able to store their data in the UK for the first time. The move is designed to boost security and safety amid a rise in cyber attacks as well as meeting data protection requirements. The Ministry of Justice will be given the first option on data storage. The move comes as OpenAI looks to drive up enterprise usage of its products. The government's current use of OpenAI tech, includes civil servants using Humphrey, the Whitehall AI assistant, to boost productivity.Meanwhile, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the number of people using OpenAI products in the UK had increased fourfold in the past year. Altman said: "It's exciting to see them using AI to save time, increase productivity, and get more done. Civil servants are using ChatGPT to improve public services and established firms are reimagining operations. We're proud to continue supporting the UK and the Government's AI plan.”  Deputy prime minister David Lammy said:  “Our partnership with OpenAI places Britain firmly in the driving seat of the global tech revolution – leading the world in innovation and using technology to deliver fairness and opportunity for every corner of the United Kingdom.”

Europe’s cleantech sector attracted €1.1 billion in funding across 112 deals in H1 2025. While this represents a small share of the €33.7 billion raised across 1,941 European tech deals overall, the scale and ambition of recent cleantech rounds highlight the sector’s growing strategic importance in Europe’s transition to net zero. The largest funding rounds spanned clean mobility, renewable energy, circular materials, and green industrial innovation. Investment activity remained strong across the continent, with Germany (21 deals), the UK (18), Switzerland (13), Spain (10), and the Netherlands (9) emerging as key hubs of climate innovation. From waste-to-hydrogen pioneers to smart-energy leaders, European founders are turning deep-tech solutions into scalable climate impact, cementing cleantech as one of the continent’s most dynamic and promising investment frontiers. The following are the ten largest funding rounds in the European cleantech industry during the first half of 2025. Amount raised in H1 2025: €118M Aegis Energy is a UK-based clean mobility infrastructure company accelerating the decarbonisation of commercial transport. It develops and operates multi-energy refuelling hubs designed for van and truck fleets, combining high-speed electric charging with hydrogen, HVO and bio-CNG fuels. Backed by major institutional investment, Aegis is building a nationwide network of sustainable transport hubs offering bookable charging, driver amenities and fleet-friendly logistics solutions, supporting businesses in their transition to net-zero operations. In January, Aegis Energy secured €118 million in funding to develop clean energy hubs across the UK and drive the decarbonisation of commercial transport. Amount raised in H1 2025: €110M Enpal is a renewable energy company dedicated to making green, affordable energy accessible to homeowners. Enpal offers a complete “all-in-one” solution that includes rooftop solar panels, battery storage, an EV wall box and a smart app for monitoring, and gives customers the flexibility to either rent or buy the system, typically without upfront payments. By integrating installation, financing, maintenance and energy management under one roof, Enpal aims to reduce dependency on conventional utilities and accelerate the transition to decentralised, clean energy. In April, the company received €110 million in investment. Amount raised in H1 2025: £62M Pulpex is a sustainable packaging technology company that pioneers fibre-based bottles, replacing glass and plastic. It's patented, single-mould paper bottle is made from FSC-certified, responsibly sourced wood pulp and is designed to be widely recyclable in the paper stream. Pulpex licenses its technology and works with a global partner network to manufacture at an industrial scale, enabling brands to cut single-use plastics without sacrificing distinctive shapes or on-pack branding. Pulpex’s mission is simple: deliver sustainability at scale through renewable packaging and help shape a plastic-free future. Pulpex secured £62 million in February, which will be used to construct its first commercial-scale manufacturing facility near Glasgow. Amount raised in H1 2025: €71.2M Fastned is a charging company building a European network of ultra-fast charging stations powered by 100 per cent renewable energy. Founded in 2012, Fastned designs, builds, and operates architecturally distinctive, people-centric stations along high-traffic routes to make long-distance electric travel easy and reliable. The company’s mission is to accelerate the transition to electric mobility by delivering the most convenient, joyful charging experience in Europe. The company raised a total of €71.2 million through two separate bond issuances in February and in June. Amount raised in H1 2025: €60M GravitHy is an industrial startup focused on decarbonising the iron and steel sector. The company aims to replace traditional coal-based iron production by using renewable or low-carbon hydrogen to produce Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) and Hot Briquetted Iron (HBI). By enabling low-CO₂ iron feedstock, GravitHy helps meet rising demand for greener steel in construction, automotive, wind power and other sectors, while aligning with Europe’s industrial decarbonisation goals. In March, GravitHy secured €60 million to advance low-carbon iron production and steel decarbonisation Amount raised in H1 2025: €51.5M FAIRMAT is a deep-tech materials company that turns carbon-fibre waste into high-performance, recyclable composites. Using proprietary robotic processes, FAIRMAT transforms end-of-life CFRP into the “Fairmat Chip,” the building block for laminates, panels, and parts used across sports, energy, mobility, and electronics. The company operates an end-to-end, closed-loop ecosystem, from waste recovery to manufacturing, powered by in-house software, AI-driven layouts, and quality control. In April, Fairmat secured €51.5 million to close the loop on material recycling. Amount raised in H1 2025: €30M tado° is a German smart-home technology company that specialises in intelligent climate-control solutions for residential buildings, offering smart thermostats, radiator controls, heat-pump optimisers and associated cloud-based services. tado°’s systems use geolocation of residents, weather forecasting, and building-characteristic data to reduce energy consumption while maintaining comfort. The company reports having saved approximately 2.5 million tons of CO₂ to date. By combining hardware (thermostats) and software intelligence (app control, analytics), tado° enables homeowners to automate climate control, integrate dynamic electricity tariffs, and optimise energy use, thereby contributing to lower bills and lower emissions. In March, tado° secured €30 million to transform the way heating and cooling systems operate in buildings. Amount raised in H1 2025: €29.5M Plagazi is a cleantech company turning non-recyclable waste into circular, fuel-cell-grade hydrogen. Its patented Plagazi Process® uses high-temperature plasma gasification to convert municipal and hazardous waste, capturing CO₂ and yielding hydrogen plus recyclable by-products, offering an alternative to landfill and incineration. Plagazi develops turnkey plants, handling engineering, permitting, commercial set-up, and operations, and is scaling through flagship projects such as Gävle Circular Park, designed for carbon-negative hydrogen production. In May, Plagazi officially secured a €29.5 million grant from the EU Innovation Fund to support its flagship project, Gävle Circular Park (GCP). Amount raised in H1 2025: €28M Gradyent is a company that powers the decarbonisation of district- and industrial-heating systems through its real-time Digital Twin Platform. The technology creates a virtual replica of heating, cooling, steam and CO₂ grids by fusing geospatial, weather, sensor and physics-based data to enable operators to optimise performance, cut CO₂ emissions by up to 10 per cent, reduce operational costs and lower CapEx by up to 20 per cent. Gradyent’s mission is to enable energy-operators to optimise, decarbonise and grow their systems, delivering reliable, flexible and sustainable grid operations and contributing to the broader transition toward integrated, low-carbon energy systems. In April, Gradyent secured a €28 million funding round to accelerate platform development and global expansion. Amount raised in H1 2025: $32M BeZero Carbon is a global carbon-credit ratings agency for the voluntary carbon market. Built by a team that blends environmental science, geospatial analysis, and capital-markets expertise, BeZero’s platform combines project ratings, market data, and research to guide credible climate decisions. The company also publishes tools and insights, including portfolio ratings, a market risk report, and a policy tool, to give users structured visibility on quality, exposure, and regulatory context across project types and geographies. BeZero Carbon raised $32 million in January to expand global carbon ratings services.

Oslo-based Riff (formerly Databutton), the platform operators use to build and launch high-impact applications, has raised $16 million in Series A funding, bringing their total raised to $21 million. The round is led by Northzone, with backing from existing investors Skyfall Ventures, Maki.vc, Sondo Capital, Global Founders Capital, and new investor Illusian.  Riff focuses on practitioners at all levels within organisations, enabling them to create AI applications and agents to improve productivity and output. The company aims to solve a widespread challenge in AI app development, where the rapid growth of AI tools has not been matched by real business impact, and many initiatives still fall short of success. Riff’s platform extends beyond typical vibe coding tools by providing native data connections and integration with secure, production-grade infrastructure. Users can also draw on starter apps, templates, and guidance from Riff’s team. This approach allows users to build applications that combine complexity, real data, and security to solve practical business problems. In turn, this supports higher customer satisfaction and retention, and better project completion rates. Riff reports adoption across industries such as financial services, logistics, healthcare, manufacturing, and consumer goods. The Series A funding will be used to expand Riff’s reach, enabling the company to empower thousands more professionals to build and deploy impactful AI solutions.

London-based Rightcharge, the startup that simplifies fleet EV charging payments, has raised £1.6 million in seed funding. The round was led by Soulmates Ventures, with participation from Blackwood Ventures, UnrulyCapital and Purple Ventures. In the UK, businesses purchase more than half of all EVs, but public charging remains fragmented and reimbursing employees for home charging is often slow and error-prone. Many fleet managers still use spreadsheets and driver-submitted paperwork, which increases the risk of inaccuracies. Existing payment systems, built for conventional fuel expenses, are not set up to handle EV home charging. Consequently, some companies rely more on public charging, which can be up to ten times more expensive than charging at home. These gaps in process and infrastructure are delaying fleet electrification at a time when adoption needs to accelerate. Rightcharge removes this barrier by automating reimbursements for home charging. The platform links directly to a driver’s energy account, allowing payments to be credited to their electricity bill instead of their bank account. This approach maintains accuracy even when energy tariffs change, minimises the risk of fraud, and provides a transparent audit trail for tax compliance, all while preventing drivers from being left out of pocket. Fleet vehicles can be connected as well, with AI-driven validation and anomaly detection to reduce fraud and improve accuracy. A paired public charge card gives drivers access to over 70 per cent of UK public chargers, while all costs are consolidated into a single HMRC-compliant monthly bill. Fleets using Rightcharge can reduce charging costs by up to 90 per cent and cut carbon emissions by roughly 30 per cent, while reducing administrative work for managers and giving drivers confidence that reimbursements will be accurate and fair. The Automobile Association (AA) and other major UK fleets already use Rightcharge’s technology to manage both home and public charging. Customers in sectors such as construction, healthcare, and government are adopting the service to cut administrative work, support drivers, and accelerate their EV transition. Rightcharge will use the funding to accelerate its expansion across Europe, supported by a new partnership with Octopus Electroverse.

Estonian startup MarkeDroid has raised €300,000 in bridge funding to scale its AI-based distributed energy orchestration platform across Europe. The round includes a €175,000 syndicate investment from the Estonian Business Angels Network (EstBAN), led by Jana Budkovskaja and David Clark. To support its expansion, MarkeDroid has appointed Kätri Kübar as Chief Operating Officer. Kübar previously served as Chief Product Officer at Funderbeam and held leadership roles at Wise and Bolt. MarkeDroid is developing an AI-powered orchestration layer that connects residential, commercial, and grid-level flexibility. Its technology coordinates distributed energy resources such as solar panels, batteries, EV chargers, and heat pumps by analysing real-time electricity prices, weather forecasts, and usage data. The platform enables homes and businesses to decide when to store, use, or sell electricity, helping reduce costs and improve grid stability. “Grid operators are suddenly dealing with millions of solar panels on rooftops that weren't designed to communicate with each other,” said Toomas Teesaar, co-founder and CEO of MarkeDroid. “MarkeDroid’s stands out not just for its technology but for its momentum, demonstrating clear product-market fit,” said David Clark, lead investor at EstBAN. The company plans to expand beyond residential energy management into energy retailer orchestration in partnership with Enefit, and into microgrid flexibility projects with national transmission operators.