Medicud, a medical device company focused on improving wound healing, has raised over €1.3M in seed funding. The company has raised €2.5M since its inception. The round includes new investors such as CHMBR Partners, 50 Partners Capital Health, Business Angels des Grandes Écoles (BADGE), and other investors. The funds will be used to initiate the regulatory process for DRYUM, an incisional negative pressure wound therapy system. DRYUM is designed to provide constant negative pressure to surgical incisions, aiming to reduce complications and speed up recovery. The single-use, portable device is non-electronic, increasing its affordability and reducing training time for healthcare professionals. The first clinical trial of DRYUM will target orthopedic surgery, specifically focusing on Total Hip Arthroplasty (THA) and Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA) at Ospedale Pietro e Michele Ferrero in Piedmont, Italy. The trial, led by Prof. Marco Schiraldi, will involve 59 patients. Antonio Nunzio d’Angelo, CEO and co-founder of Medicud, expressed pride in the company's progress: “I am proud of what we have accomplished at Medicud. The team worked tirelessly to develop the DRYUM device and make it work in the shortest time possible. Clinicians need a new standard of care for wound healing, both cost-effective and efficient in reducing surgical complications, and more sustainable.” He continued, “The support and recognition we received from this syndicate of international investors will help accelerate our clinical development and bring us closer to providing clinicians and patients worldwide with a new and innovative solution to post-operative wound healing. Our Series A funding, expected in H1, 2026, will be pivotal for the commercialization of our device.” “We invest in promising companies in sports and health in three areas: biotech, medtech, and consumer-facing technologies. Medicud falls squarely within these boundaries. We are delighted to have invested in this company, whose first product demonstrates a high level of expertise and offers a strong added value with its simplicity, reliability, and modest cost compared to the competition," said Charles Hirschler, Managing Member of CHMBR Partners. Medicud will target four common surgical procedures in the EU and US: cesarean section, Total Hip Arthroplasty (THA), Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA), and breast reconstruction after mastectomy.  “Medicud is tackling a critical yet often overlooked issue in surgical care: the prevention of post-operative complications through effective wound management,” said Sandrine Egron, Investment Director at 50 Partners Capital Health. “Its innovative approach to portable negative pressure therapy combines medical-grade efficacy with unprecedented usability and affordability. We were impressed by their deep clinical insight, strong execution capabilities, and the positive traction they have built with surgeons.” The company plans to expand its team and recruit a commercial director to prepare for its Series A funding round, which is expected in early 2026. This will support the commercialisation of DRYUM and its expansion into global markets.

Ryft, a Manchester-based fintech offering embedded payment solutions for digital platforms and marketplaces, has raised £5.7M in Series A funding to advance its technology and offer acquiring banks and merchants an alternative to dominant payment providers like Stripe Connect and Adyen. The round brings Ryft’s total investment to £7.4M. The investment round, which was led by EdenBase, saw participation from GPOS Investments, British Business Bank, Pembroke VCT, Sidebyside, and Ingenii VC. Strategic angel investors, including executives at PayPal, also joined the round. Ryft plans to use the new funding to support its international expansion and grow its team. Founded by Sadra Hosseini and Alex Mackenzie, Ryft aims to address a gap in the market for compliant and efficient payment solutions designed for the needs of marketplaces and platforms. The company's technology enables acquiring banks, such as Clearhaus, to split payments and process payouts at a much lower cost than alternatives like Stripe and Adyen. Ryft's solution is designed to cater to the growing complexity of online marketplaces, where transactions often involve multiple parties, and payments need to be split according to various conditions. The company’s platform also allows for features like delayed payments, where funds can be held in escrow until specific conditions are met. According to Ryft, businesses that have switched from Stripe report savings of up to 62 percent on payment fees. "We’ve created a system that allows businesses to handle payments seamlessly, ensuring compliance and efficiency at scale,” said Sadra Hosseini, CEO and co-founder of Ryft. "Acquiring banks and most businesses were built for the one-to-one transactions of Commerce 1.0. However, in the era of Commerce 2.0, where transactions within a single marketplace involve numerous parties, financial institutions are struggling to deliver payment operations that meet the evolving needs of their customers." "Ryft is solving a critical challenge in the payments space with a highly scalable solution," said Jason Druker, Chief Commercial Officer at SFC Capital. "We continue to be impressed by the team’s execution and vision, and we’re excited to keep supporting them as they scale." "Sadra and Alex are tried and tested entrepreneurs with first-hand experience of the headaches that finding a payment partner brings," said Eric Van der Kleij, General Partner at EdenBase. "They have created a unique solution that allows business owners to focus on growth, secure in the knowledge that their payments are being handled in a compliant, quick and cost-effective way." 

A survey of over 120 founders in  Antler’s European portfolio shared insights into what it really takes to be a tech founder, with 72 per cent saying it was easily the hardest thing they have ever done.  A March 2025, a survey of 128 founders building tech startups from pre-seed to Series A stages across the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland revealed they are routinely working 80 hour weeks and they sacrifice salary and work-life balance to have a chance of success, according to a new study conducted by Antler, the most active early-stage VC firm in the world.  Goodbye work-life balance  The notion that European startups have a better work life balance compared to their North American counterparts is under question.  Respondents’ biggest sacrifices include managing a work-life balance that allows for time with their families (61 per cent) and salary reductions (36 per cent).  75 per cent of the founders involved in the study reported working 60+ hours a week, with 19 per cent routinely clocking more than 80 hours a week.  German founders lead Europe in long work hours German founders work the hardest in Europe, with 94 per cent working more than 60 hours a week, and 38 per cent working more than 80 hours. They are closely followed by Swedish founders, where 80 per cent of founders do more than 60 hours, and a third (33 per cent) do more than 80 hours.  Whilst 77 per cent of founders in the UK clock more than 60 hours, only 10 per cent do more than 80 hours - the lowest in all of Europe.  What keeps founders up at night?  According to survey respondents, their biggest concerns are: Not executing quickly enough (40 per cent). Not attracting and retaining customers (24 per cent)  Financial runway (18 per cent). In fact, 62 per cent of founders said their families had expressed concern and confusion about their decision to leave successful careers to build their own companies.  Mira Gleisbery, co-founder of RespIQ spoke about the isolation of being a founder:  "You carry the weight of decisions that impact not only your business but also your team and partners.  I’ve sacrificed mental peace, time away from my family and friends, sleepless nights worrying about cash flow, and the constant pressure to deliver and I have even sacrificed my health at times This forced me to reevaluate how I approach work and self-care which is now much more balanced." Fortunately startups love what they do However, despite these challenges and the impact on their lives, a staggering 98 per cent of founders said they love doing what they do and felt rewarded by their career choice.  Giving an insight into the ‘outlier mindset’ required to build category-defining tech companies, only 4 per cent of founders said they were motivated by financial reward. Instead, creating real innovation (27 per cent), having a positive impact on the world (22 per cent) and proving they can do something challenging (19 per cent) were the biggest drivers and motivators for European founders.  Georgina Robinson, co-founder of Gladys shared the challen get of stepping away from a career with established milestones, status, and financial security was a tough decision. "My family, particularly my parents, initially thought it was a terrible decision to leave a stable and reputable career. And yes, there have been moments of doubt. But the beauty of the journey is that eventually, people start to see the vision and believe in it when they see it come to fruition. Those challenges and sacrifices are all part of what makes the journey rewarding. I am so grateful for the opportunity to learn and grow, and it’s been amazing to see everything fall into place." Daria Stepanova, co-founder of AIRMO shared that “the sense that what we’re building matters” is what drives the company. “That if we get this right — if we can truly make methane emissions visible and actionable — we move the needle on climate in a real, measurable way. That’s what gets me up. “ Teo Ortega, co-founder of Family.cards stresses:  "We’re building technology for people who have been left behind — especially the elderly, who can’t use smartphones or computers. What drives me is knowing we’re helping them access services that improve their lives: staying connected with family, reducing loneliness, accessing healthcare, and feeling part of the digital world. Our mission isn’t just a statement — it’s visible in every person we help." Whereas in the US, tech founders are celebrated in Hollywood films and, rightly or wrongly, invited into the White House, in Europe 73 per cent of founders said they didn’t feel like their dedication or commitment received the recognition it deserved.  Danyal Oezdeuzenciler, co-founder of Capsa AI notes: “People often see the headlines but not the sleepless nights or personal risks behind them. Founders pour so much into an idea—financially, emotionally, mentally—and the resilience it takes is pretty extraordinary.  I’ve realised that ignoring burnout doesn’t make you tougher—it just makes you less effective. Setting real boundaries, staying active, and talking with mentors or peers who’ve walked this path has been crucial for keeping my energy and perspective in check.” Stepanova asserts: “It's not about applause — it's about support. Founders take on immense responsibility and risk to build something that didn’t exist before. In countries like Germany, for example, there are far fewer benefits of being founders than for the rest of people, even though the demands are often greater. What would help isn’t more recognition, but more practical systems that reflect the reality and contribution of building a company from the ground up.” The survey comes at an interesting time, as more and more investment firms are recognising the importance of mental health in startup founders.  Mental health-focused venture capital impact fund Masawa stands out for its efforts to support founders in building healthy organisations by utilising a "Nurture Capital" approach, designed to minimise human capital risk by strengthening leadership effectiveness, team resilience, and social impact. Further, last year, Cherry Ventures made coaching a core part of its investment approach by launching Copilot—a new program that requires newly-backed founders and key team members to work with an executive coach. Alan Poensgen, Partner at Antler, comments,  “In Europe, you are more likely to be an Olympic medalist than the founder of a unicorn company.  Whilst both require similar levels of ambition, resilience and endurance, founders don’t get the same level of recognition. Olympic gold medal winners aren’t asked about their work-life balance when they step down from the podium. Yet we expect founders to have "normal" lives while they’re trying to achieve something extraordinary. It’s time to change perceptions about what it really takes to be a founder, and give these outliers the recognition they deserve. A new generation of founders is emerging who have the potential to do just that.”   

Optise, an Icelandic startup, has secured $2.2M in Pre-Seed funding to accelerate the development of its AI-powered website analytics platform designed specifically for B2B companies. It leverages AI to optimise the performance of websites. The funding round was led by Frumtak Ventures. The $2.2M will be used to accelerate Optise’s product development and expand its reach across markets.  Optise turns data points into clear, actionable recommendations so that businesses can optimise their websites with personalised insights tailored to their unique audience, structure, and goals. It also aims to help companies identify broken elements, missing features, and areas needing improvement, empowering them to make better data-driven decisions and close the gap between potential and performance. The B2B online sales market is booming, with projections indicating it will reach $66.89T by 2029. At the same time, digital channels are becoming increasingly important, generating 82 percent of revenue. However, despite the crucial role websites play as revenue drivers, many B2B sites suffer from poor performance, including slow page speeds, weak user experience (UX), broken elements, and ineffective SEO strategies. “Websites are the most important touchpoint for B2B companies – yet they’re often overlooked,” said Ómar Thor Ómarsson, CEO and Co-founder of Optise. “We created Optise to close that gap. Our team is focused on helping B2B business owners realize the full potential of their websites to drive real growth and revenue.”  By combining large language models, vision analysis, intelligent workflows, and an advanced ranking system, Optise’s platform delivers recommendations that prioritise the most important actions, making it easier for businesses to implement website improvements.  “We’ve built a product that takes the complexity out of website optimization, offering actionable insights that teams can implement instantly,” Ómarsson continued. “Our technology will bring expert-level insight to every company, using our collective knowledge and AI to spot what’s broken, what’s missing, and what needs to be improved to drive more leads and revenue.” Andri Heiðar Kristinsson, Partner at Frumtak Ventures, commented, “Despite previously having worked in Silicon Valley and at LinkedIn, I'm still blown away by Iceland's tech ecosystem. Optise represents exactly the kind of innovative startup we love to nurture at Frumtak: a company with a global vision born from local talent. I’m so excited to be partnering with this ambitious team who are going to help people maximize revenue generation through B2B websites.” In addition to Frumtak Ventures’ investment, Optise is strengthening its leadership team with key hires including Vivienne Hsu. Hsu will be joining the Optise board to support the company’s strategic expansion plans.

The launch of DeepSeek in February sparked discussions about Europe's position in the AI race. While touted for its competitive pricing and efficiency, the LLMs open-source nature and data storage in China has also raised serious security concerns, with Italy banning its use and others restricting its use by government agencies and contractors.  Enter OpenEuroLLM project February also saw the launch of the OpenEuroLLM project, which aims to improve Europe's competitiveness and digital sovereignty while lowering thresholds for European AI product development and refinement. It's timely, as many people have wondered what companies in Europe could compete with DeepSeek. Mistral AI (France) and  Aleph Alpha (Germany) were most often mentioned. However, the latter has shifted from foundational LLMs to providing AI infrastructure and platforms for enterprise and government clients.  Both companies are members of OpenEuropeLLM, a consortium of 20 leading European research institutions, companies and EuroHPC centres coordinated by Jan Hajič (Charles University, Czechia) and co-led by Peter Sarlin (AMD Silo AI, Finland). OpenEuropeLLM is building a family of performant, multilingual, large language foundation models for commercial, industrial and public services. Significantly, the models will be developed within Europe's robust regulatory framework, ensuring alignment with European values and cooperation with open-source and open-science communities to ensure the models, software, data, and evaluation will be fully open and can be fine-tuned and instruction-tuned for specific industry and public sector needs.  However, there's another argument about Europe's standing in the AI race. Can we foster innovation and close the AI innovation gap by investing in smaller, specialised AI models and applications? SLMs are another way forward Anita Schjøll Abildgaard, CEO of EU-funded Iris.ai, argues that Europe's AI future depends on embracing smaller, domain-specific models (SLMs) and open-source collaboration.   With Europe's data centre power demand set to triple by 2030, it's compelling to envision a different approach to AI — one that doesn't rely on ever-larger models consuming vast energy resources.  I spoke to Abildgaard, and Iris.ai CTO and co-founder Victor Botev to learn more. Abildgaard contends: "While there's been some movement—like the €200 billion InvestAI plan, Open Euro LLM, and other initiatives—it still doesn't amount to a major push. The momentum is real, but it comes with big caveats: how exactly will the funding be allocated, and over what timeframe?" Small language models bridge AI's real-world adoption SLMs need foundational models to generate the high-quality data necessary to train small ones. Thus, for Europe to be competitive, it needs a presence in both foundational and small models. However, SLMs are cheaper, can be tailored to specific business needs, and are more practical than large general-purpose models. Further, according to Botev,  most business use cases don't need the full power of massive LLMs.  "If you can distill just the knowledge you need into a smaller model, it's more efficient and cost-effective. That's been our focus — using small models to address real workflows." SLMs work anywhere you need fast, efficient decision-making — for example, in agent-based workflows where several small models collaborate. They also work well in domains like chemistry and healthcare.  According to Botev, "Training large models to understand DNA or chemical structures risks "catastrophic forgetting" — where they lose existing capabilities. Small models let us specialise without that risk." Further, SLMs provide mammoth energy savings. Botev shared:  "A 1B parameter model needs far less compute than a 400B one — potentially 60,000x fewer resources. Small models can run on older GPUs with lower power use. They're not only cheaper but greener too, which aligns with Europe's sustainability goals." Transparency and collaboration as European advantages According to Botev, open source collaboration is exploding thanks to projects like DeepSeek: "They've open-sourced distillation methods, which let people build small models from large ones. There are now over 10,000 distilled models on Hugging Face. Reinforcement learning is also proving effective — even rivalling supervised fine-tuning. That's huge for customisation. However in Europe have expertise in safety, guardrails, and efficient systems — we should double down on that." Abildgaard suggested that  European startups could take inspiration from open-access publishing.  "If you get EU funding, maybe you should be required to open-source some of your work, especially foundational models. It would drive collaboration and transparency — areas where Europe leads." In terms of collaboration, Iris.ai has partnered with Sigma2 AS is responsible for providing the national e-infrastructure for computational science in Norway, which offers services in high-performance computing (supercomputing) and large-scale data storage for research and educational purposes. The company uses Sigma2 to train and domain-adapt small models (1–9B parameters), and to evaluate system components.  According to Botov, evaluation is often overlooked, "but it's compute-intensive and critical for scaling systems with multiple agents and retrieval layers." Iris recently launched a new business line — a powerful RAG (retrieval-augmented generation) system, a decade in the works. According to Botev, Iris-ai's  RAG system is agent-based and packed with small models.  We need more SLMs That said, SLMs (or, indeed, local competitors to LLMs) have been slow to emerge in Europe.  One stand-out company is Malted AI (Scotland), which takes the output of large models and distils them into smaller models. Its technology allows enterprises to apply small language models (SLMs) that solve domain-specific problems with 10-100x cost savings. Instead of doing thousands of tasks moderately well, Malted AI's SLMs do one task nearly perfectly. Rather than chasing scale alone, Europe could lead by championing smart, open, and sustainable AI. That means investing not only in foundational models but also in the ecosystems that enable agile development, collaboration, and fine-tuning. Ultimately, the future of European AI might not be about building the biggest model — but the smartest, most specialised one.

German identity security startup Unosecur has raised $5 million Seed funding round through a priced round, with an additional $3 million in oversubscribed commitments.  As organisations scale, identities multiply – not just employee logins but service accounts, API keys, and AI agents. Identity has effectively become the new security perimeter, a constantly evolving and fragile one.  It’s not uncommon for today’s identity and access management (IAM) stack to comprise 6–16 different tools operating in silos.  This patchwork approach leaves security teams with partial views of user access and inconsistent enforcement of policies. Disparate IAM systems that don’t communicate effectively lead to inefficiencies and potential security vulnerabilities.  Adding to the complexity is the proliferation of AI agents and the rise of AI-driven threats.  To overcome these challenges, Unosecur has developed Unified Identity Fabric, which treats identity security not as separate pieces but as one end-to-end integrated fabric.  Instead of isolated silos, all identity data – from employee accounts and cloud service roles to DevOps secrets and AI agent credentials – feed into one intelligent system. The real game-changer is the infusion of AI-driven intelligence throughout this fabric. Unosecur’s platform continuously monitors identity behaviour and access patterns using advanced AI models. It learns what normal patterns look like for each identity – human, machine, or AI Agents – and can spot anomalies or risky deviations and remediate them in real-time.  Fifteen sector-leading organisations – including a Fortune 500 topper – currently use Unosecur’s capabilities to reduce their identity sprawl. The enterprise platform that can be onboarded swiftly and effectively was a major factor in attracting significant interest from numerous institutional investors. “This funding milestone fuels our long and continuous process of tackling the ever-changing ways in which identities are misused in hybrid environments,” said Santhosh Jayaprakash, CEO of Unosecur.  “This investment validates our innovative approach and provides the resources we need to accelerate our platform’s development and expand our market presence.” The round was led by VentureFriends and DFF Ventures, with participation from Leo Capital, Heartfelt (APX), and prominent angel investors. According to Maarten Engelen, Partner at DFF Ventures. "Identity security is the Achilles’ heel of cloud infrastructure, and Unosecur is building the definitive solution at a pace that sets them apart. Rapid adoption by major enterprises proves that they’re solving a universal and urgent problem. We’re excited to back a team that’s redefining how identity threats are managed at scale.” “The newly secured capital will enable Unosecur to enhance its core platform capabilities and scale operations to meet the evolving identity security demands of global enterprises. We are very excited to join forces with a seasoned team that has built an impressive product catering to a major pain point of CISOs,” said Pavlos Pavlakis, Principal at VentureFriends. With fresh capital and strategic backing, Unosecur plans to advance R&D for real-time threat detection, AI-driven risk analysis, and automated remediation as well as expand market reach and scale the team. Lead image: Freepik. 

The Tech.eu Q1 2025 Report reveals that European tech companies raised €18.4 billion across 912 deals during the first quarter of 2025.  Approximately 12.7 per cent of these companies successfully closed seed rounds, amounting to nearly half a billion euros (€467.7 million). Today, we present the list of the 10 largest seed rounds among European tech companies that were completed in Q1 2025. Amount raised: $31M TRIMTECH Therapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on developing novel small molecule degraders targeting protein aggregates associated with neurodegenerative and inflammatory diseases. The company’s mission is to develop innovative and highly specialized orally active small molecule degraders that target protein aggregates, aiming to address serious neurodegenerative and inflammatory diseases with substantial unmet medical needs. In March, TRIMTECH secured a $31 million seed funding round to advance its targeted protein degradation pipeline. Amount raised: €20M Vertical Compute is a deep-tech semiconductor startup focused on revolutionizing the processing of data-intensive workloads, such as generative AI. By integrating memory layers directly into processors, its innovative chiplet technology brings data closer to computation, significantly enhancing the speed and energy efficiency. This approach aims to overcome the "memory wall" challenge, achieving up to 100x performance gains in large language model execution and up to 80% energy savings. The company secured €20 million in seed funding in early 2025 to advance its technology. Amount raised: €15.6M Rerun is developing an open-source data infrastructure platform tailored for "Physical AI" applications, including robotics, drones, and autonomous vehicles. Its platform offers a software development kit (SDK) for logging multimodal data—such as video streams, audio, sensor readings, and 3D visualizations—and a high-performance visualizer for real-time and recorded data analysis. In March, Rerun secured $17 million in seed funding to advance its multimodal data stack, aiming to simplify data handling and visualization for developers in the AI and robotics sectors. Amount raised: €15M Subbyx is a company that is transforming the consumer electronics market by offering flexible, subscription-based access to tech products such as smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches. Their innovative model allows customers to choose, change, or cancel subscriptions monthly, promoting both financial and environmental sustainability. Emphasizing the circular economy, Subbyx provides "PreLoved" refurbished devices, reducing waste and extending product lifecycles. In January, Subbyx raised €20 million in a seed funding round. Amount raised: €11.3M Capra Robotics is a deep-tech company specializing in versatile mobile robot platforms for various applications, including inspection, logistics, and maintenance. Their patented wheel frame technology combines features of Ackermann and differential steering, resulting in agile robots capable of navigating diverse terrains, from indoor facilities to challenging outdoor environments. In January 2025, the company secured €11.3 million in seed funding to accelerate global expansion. Amount raised: €10M Hallo Theo is a property management company that leverages advanced AI technology and automated processes to deliver a seamless and efficient customer experience. By integrating personal on-site engagement with digital solutions, Hallo Theo transforms traditional property management into a proactive and transparent service. Their offerings cater to homeowner associations, rental buildings, commercial spaces, family offices, and institutional investors, ensuring professional and worry-free management. In February, the company secured €10 million in a seed round, which it will use to accelerate its growth and expansion, across Germany. The company's mission is to create a better living environment by focusing on customer needs and embracing modern technological solutions. Amount raised: $10.5M Magdrive is developing next-generation high-thrust electric propulsion systems for satellites and spacecraft. Their innovative thrusters, such as the Rogue and Warlock models, utilize solid metal propellants to achieve high thrust and efficiency, enabling advanced maneuvers like sustained rendezvous and proximity operations, stochastic movement for defense satellites, and effective constellation management. In February, the company secured $10.5 million in seed funding. This funding will support the development of their propulsion systems, the construction of a UK manufacturing facility, and the establishment of a U.S. office in Los Angeles. Magdrive's long-term vision includes scaling its technology to support in-space servicing, assembly, manufacturing, and interplanetary travel. Amount raised: $10M Hyperline is a modern monetization and billing platform designed for B2B SaaS businesses. The platform offers flexible solutions for subscription management, usage-based billing, and payment collection, integrating seamlessly with leading payment providers like Stripe, Mollie, and GoCardless. In January, Hyperline secured a $10 million seed extension round which will support Hyperline's mission to simplify pricing and billing processes, enabling businesses to focus on growth. Amount raised: $10M Quantum Industries is a company that specializes in quantum cryptographic solutions that provide unbreakable telecommunications security. Their technology leverages entangled photons to ensure confidential and tamper-proof communication, even against advanced computational attacks. Quantum Industries' solutions integrate seamlessly into existing communication infrastructures, offering 100% security based on quantum entanglement and the fundamental laws of nature. In March, the company secured $10 million in seed funding round. Amount raised: €9.5M Arsenale BioYards is developing an integrated platform for biomanufacturing that combines hardware, data, and AI to streamline production from lab-scale organism design to large-scale industrial output. Their proprietary system aims to enhance scalability, precision, and efficiency in biomanufacturing processes. In February, Arsenale BioYards secured €9.5 million in seed funding to expand its infrastructure and accelerate its commercialization efforts in the food and cosmetics sectors.

Munich-based startup VESTIGAS, pioneering digital delivery note processing in the construction industry, has secured €8 million investment from Project A and b2venture Home | b2venture.  With material costs accounting for 70 per cent of total construction expenses, inefficiencies in supply chains continue to drive costs even higher. VESTIGAS provides the solution — its Supply Chain OS digitises delivery notes, optimises material flows, and automates processes, unlocking billions in savings in Germany alone. The VESTIGAS software enables construction companies and suppliers to replace digital documents completely with a digital workflow — from sign-off and analysis to post-processing and invoice verification — bringing true digital transformation to the industry. For the first-time, this allows the industry to approach supply chain processes on a full automatic and data-based level. App-based ESG-Analysis, quality control and financial processing give construction workers and managers several hours per week back that were previously spent with menial paperwork.  The company was founded in 2021 by co-CEOs Paul Kaiser/ and JulianBlum, both former founders in construction with 8+ years of industry experience, Yannick Gehring (CTO), former Flixbus and Celonis, and Nicolas Blum(CPO), former UnternehmerTUM appliedAI.  VESTIGAS has already partnered with 14 of the top 20 contractors and 17 of the top 20 suppliers in the German construction industry.  The VESTIGAS platform has grown over 10x in 2024, servicing >80 construction players and thousands of users today.  Paul Kaiser, CEO of VESTIGAS, comments:  "This investment will fuel our growth not only in Germany but also internationally. We have the opportunity to set a new industry standard—and we’re ready to make it happen!" Also joining the VESTIGAS board, Philipp Werner, Partner at Project A comments:  "Paul and Julian aren’t just selling software: they’ve experienced the construction supply chain inefficiencies firsthand.  That’s exactly why they’re succeeding where legacy solutions have failed, transforming procurement inefficiencies into a strategic advantage and creating an indispensable bridge between general constructors and suppliers, locking in long-term relationships." With this investment, VESTIGAS will accelerate its expansion across the DACH region and Europe while further investing in its core products and automated invoice management.  Lead image: Freepix.

Lithium-ion battery repair and maintenance startup NOWOS today announced it has raised a €6 million equity funding round.  The round was led by Impact Venture Fund Shift4Good, with participation from Dutch investors Fair Capital Impact Fund and Goeie Grutten Impact Fund. An additional €3 million in debt financing is currently being raised. Since the Dutch company’s launch in 2019, NOWOS initially focused on micro-mobility: repairing batteries for e-bikes, e-mopeds, and kick-scooters for customers across Europe such as vehicle manufacturers and fleet operators including Swapfiets, Dott, Felyx, Qwic from the Netherlands, Voi from Sweden, Dance in Germany and France, Fifteen in France, plus naming NIU, Phylion, TWS, Segway-Ninebot among Chinese manufacturers repairing with NOWOS, showing dedication to sustainability and collaboration. In 2024 alone, the company repaired 310,000 kilograms of 98 different battery models, the equivalent of 90,000 batteries.  CEO and serial entrepreneur Prins Doornekamp explains:  “This funding not only recognises the work we’ve done so far but also gives us the resources to accelerate our mission: making battery repair and reuse the standard across Europe.  We especially want to acknowledge our customers—those who trust and work with us in this complex and rapidly evolving space since the beginning.” Newly appointed Chief Impact Officer Alix Armour points out: “Today, more than 80 per cent of the batteries we receive can be repaired, saving both energy and materials that would otherwise be wasted through premature recycling. In a rapidly growing sector like micro-mobility, repair isn’t just sustainable, it’s economically strategic." With the EU pushing for 70 percent material recovery by 2030, companies can no longer afford to treat batteries as disposable.  “Repair is now on average 55 per cent cheaper than replacement due to rising raw material costs, storage, regulations, and growing pressure to extend product life cycles.” NOWOS now has hubs in the Netherlands, France and a partner in the UK.  The round’s lead investor, Shift4Good, is a global impact venture capital fund dedicated to sustainable transportation.  CEO Prins Doornekamp shared:  “We’re gaining a mission-aligned investor with deep knowledge of the transportation and circular economy sectors. Their strategic support, network, and shared vision give us a powerful platform to scale, innovate, and lead in a rapidly evolving industry. This is the kind of partnership that creates long-term impact.”According to Shift4Good’s founder Yann Marteil: “The circular economy is becoming a standalone sector, especially within transportation, which is a major consumer of raw materials and manufactured goods.  We believe that the B2B model NOWOS is building, with large clients at its core, is the right approach to structure the market. At the same time, their localised repair facilities are especially compelling. It allows them to adapt to local needs and client-specific constraints, which is key in this space.” Shift4Good is joined by Dutch impact investors the Fair Capital Impact Fund and Goeie Grutten. Marije Schasfoort, impact investor at Fair Capital Impact Fund shared: “NOWOS is a leader in sustainable battery solutions, through extending battery lifespans and reducing waste.  They emphasise the importance of repair for the transition towards a circular economy. Their pioneering position and ability to scale across Europe make them a strong fit for our impact-driven investment approach.”  With the new funding the company plans to open new repair hubs in Poland in 2025 and in Germany in 2026 to support growing demand across Europe. Additional investments will go towards further developing a Battery Passport system and scaling repair protocols to serve more battery types and use cases.  The company will continue to expand into additional sectors such as material handling equipment (e.g., forklifts and AGVs), energy storage systems (ESS), power tools and garden electronics, automated drones, robotics, and medical devices. Lead image: NOWOS. Photo: uncredited.

Revolut has been hit with a €3.5m fine by Lithuania’s central bank, after it was found to have flouted money laundering prevention rules. The Bank of Lithuania carried out a scheduled inspection of Revolut, during which it identified “violations and shortcomings in the monitoring of business relationships and operations”, the bank said. The bank added: “These resulted in the bank not always properly identifying suspicious monetary operations or transactions carried out by customers in practice.” Revolut, which is Europe's most valuable startup valued at $45bn, operates across the EU under a Lithuanian banking licence. Sources close to Revolut pointed out that the bank’s probe did not identify or confirm any instances of money laundering and its findings are related to improvements of existing controls. A Revolut spokesperson said: “Revolut Bank UAB is committed to the highest standards of regulatory compliance and cooperated with the Bank of Lithuania in taking immediate action to address the procedural deficiencies. “We continue to invest to ensure we have best in class controls in the fight against financial crime." The Bank of Lithuania said that Revolut acknowledged the violations and deficiencies and taken steps to address them. According to Reuters, the fine is the biggest ever issued by the Lithuanian central bank. In December last year, Klarna was fined over £35m (500m Swedish crowns) by the Swedish financial regulator after it broke anti-money laundering rules.

French fashiontech BLNG has raised $3M to accelerate its commercialisation phase and provide generative AI to the jewelry industry. The investment round, led by Speedinvest, with additional participation from Cove Fund, eSeed, and Focal, will enable BLNG to expand its team in Europe and the U.S., scaling its AI-powered tools and preparing for the broader launch of its subscription-based app. Founded by Valérie Leblond, ex-Cirque du Soleil, and Dumëne Comploi, ex-Disney Imagineering, BLNG AI has developed a suite of tools for jewelry professionals to design products. By transforming jewelry sketches into photorealistic designs, it significantly reduces the design process. The technology is already being piloted by major luxury brands. BLNG won the prestigious LVMH Innovation Award for Data and Artificial Intelligence solutions at Viva Tech and was included in Vogue Business’s 2024 list of "100 Innovators," underscoring its growing influence in the $482B jewelry market. "Gone are the days of endless revisions and painstaking rendering processes," said Valérie Leblond, Co-founder and CEO of BLNG. "We've reshaped the design process for jewelry professionals by bringing sketches to life through advanced AI tools. Our technology enables creative teams to instantly visualize their concepts with exceptional precision, giving them more time to design, experiment, and collaborate instead of waiting for manual iterations. Our vision with both our funding and app launch is to broaden access to these powerful tools for jewelry creators at every level, from major luxury houses to independent designers." The timing of BLNG's innovation is especially relevant as the jewelry market faces significant challenges, including declining diamond prices and growing pressure on brands to innovate and differentiate. As part of this, a growing number of luxury houses are increasingly adopting AI technologies to streamline design and production processes. According to a recent Bain & Company report, 78 percent of large luxury brands have listed AI as one of their top strategic priorities for the next three years. “We fell in love with BLNG when they showcased their solution with infectious passion combined with a pipeline of the Top Tier Luxury Brands. Operating in the luxury and jewelry industry requires the highest quality, innovation, and trust – three components the founders executed extremely well on,” said Max Wilhelm, a partner at Speedinvest. “The jewelry market is at an inflection point, and BLNG is ideally positioned to lead this technological evolution,” Wilhelm added.

I recently attended the healthspan Hevolution conference in Riyadh, an event focused on health across the lifespan, biotech, regenerative medicine and age-related disease. During a panel discussion on investment in health science, panellist Dr Werner Lanthaler, CEO of family office Wlanholding, made a startling claim.  "It still takes 14 years to bring a drug from discovery to the market, and the average failure rate at phase one entry is still well over 50 per cent." In the past few decades, 90 per cent of clinical drug developments have failed during clinical phase I, II, and III clinical studies and drug approval. Researchers at the College of Pharmacy, University of Michigan, suggest four possible reasons: "lack of clinical efficacy, unmanageable toxicity, poor drug-like properties, and lack of commercial needs and poor strategic planning." With this in mind, and the rapid growth of drug discovery startups — and startups working to solve the painpoints in the lab — I wanted to explore how investors approach the high-risk domain of clinical drug trials. So I sat down and spoke with Lanthaler to learn more.  Lanthaler previously served as CEO of Evotec AG for nearly 15 years, transforming it into a global leader in drug discovery and development with a focus on precision medicine and artificial intelligence. Before Evotec, he was CFO at Intercell AG, where he played a key role in the company's IPO and vaccine development. Lanthaler is widely recognised for his innovative vision and commitment to integrating advanced technologies into drug development, serves on various startup boards, and advises leading private equity firms. Fix the Data, fix the pipeline Lanthaler emphasised the critical importance of data integrity at the earliest stages of investment in clinical drug development.  "Bringing this to an experimental point," he explained, "we always have to ask the questions: 'Is it true, is it reproducible, is it the correct data that we are investing in?'"  He underscored the urgency of this approach by pointing to a troubling statistic:  "The valley of death starts when you know that 67 per cent of the data that is published out there cannot effectively be reproduced for drug discovery and drug development purposes. You have to eradicate that mistake at the beginning, because otherwise, everything that happens 14 years down the line will lead to failure — as we've seen so often in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and other diseases." Lanthaler contends that "curing data that we work with is an immensely growing field – and it will be investable. Looking at the right data to start with is where we make money better predictable in its outcome." The value of a family office Many startups in medtech and biotech say their first port of call is a family office. According to Lanthaler, while family officers are sometimes viewed as less sophisticated than venture capital or private equity,  "I'd argue that, in my case, we have significant due diligence capability because of my network built over 25 years. That can be more advantageous than what you see at many VCs, where they may not have such deep scientific expertise. "I don't invest anywhere that doesn't have scientifically 'first-in-class' or "best-in-class' insights or a management team whose track record and personality I trust. I need privileged access to scientific or team insights that let me lead an investment rather than just following others." Diversification, timing, and deep capital are critical to managing risk in drug discovery According to Lanthaler, with high-risk investment stakes, diversification and portfolio thinking are essential.  "Even the most rigorous scientific due diligence can't fully anticipate what might go wrong in drug development — often, only the data from the final stages of clinical trials provides clarity."  Timing, therefore, becomes a critical factor: you need to decide whether to stay through the next risk milestone or exit beforehand.  "That decision is more constrained in private investments, but in public markets, it's easier to step back and wait for the next data point." Lanthaler emphasises the importance of spreading risk: "No one is omniscient enough to foresee every outcome. If you can't fund a broad enough portfolio to hedge against some failures, it becomes incredibly stressful. Failures will happen." He also points out the opportunity at later stages of development: "When I talk about the stage of investment, there can be excellent opportunities right before a product launch. Early investors sometimes lose patience; by then, they might be willing to exit. So investing at the market-launch stage or during commercialisation can be very attractive." At the same time, Lanthaler's mandate at Wlanholding focuses on cutting-edge science: "Our edge lies in backing 'best-in-class' or 'first-in-class' seed science. But we also need the capital to keep investing at least through Series B—otherwise early investors get diluted into oblivion. Those seemingly small initial investments of €250,000 or $250,000 can turn into a €2 to 3 million commitment if you follow on through Series B." He does however note that. while there are plenty of matching funds available, but what's missing is enough private, first-dollar Seed investors to get things started. Strategic investment diversification Wlanholding's investment portfolio reflects a strategic blend of cutting-edge biotech innovation and sustainability. Proxygen Proxygen is a biotechnology company specialising in the field of targeted protein degradation (TPD). It is developing "molecular glue degraders" that harness the body's own protein-disposal machinery to eliminate disease-causing proteins. By doing so, Proxygen aims to tackle diseases (such as certain cancers, neurodegenerative conditions, and more) that have been traditionally considered "undruggable" or difficult to treat with standard therapies. Solgate  Solgate discovers and develops novel therapies by targeting solute carrier (SLC) transporters — a family of membrane proteins responsible for transporting critical molecules like nutrients, metabolites, and ions across cell membranes.  By harnessing advanced drug discovery techniques, the company aims to modulate the function of these often overlooked transporters, opening new avenues to treating a wide range of diseases, including metabolic, oncological, and neurological disorders. Pexxes Pexxes focused on antibody therapies to treat chronic diseases in pets: dogs, cats, and horses. Providing proof of diversification, Lanthaler also invests in sustainable data storage company Cerabyte, and maker of organic detergents and cleaning products, Planet Pure. In biotech's brutal landscape of long timelines and high failure rates, Lanthaler's strategy—betting early on breakthrough science, doubling down with capital, and timing exits with precision—shows how to turn risk into reward.

In a digital space dominated by giants like Netflix, TikTok, and social media, companies in competitive sectors must work harder than ever to capture user attention. Innovative providers like Soft2Bet have long recognised gamification as a powerful tool, using game-like elements to enhance engagement and build lasting user loyalty. Gamification has proven effective across multiple industries, boosting retention and increasing customer lifetime value. Precedence Research projects the global gamification market will surpass USD 190.87 billion by 2034, a clear signal of its growing impact. In retail, gamification has become a key strategy for improving loyalty. While just 12 to 15% of customers remain loyal to a single retailer, these individuals account for 55 to 70% of total sales. Reward loops, progression systems, and interactive incentives are helping brands deepen user engagement and encourage repeat visits. Fintech platforms are also successfully applying gamification. Features like achievements, challenges, and unlockable rewards turn routine financial tasks into interactive experiences, driving regular use and promoting healthy financial habits. How iGaming Perfected Gamification iGaming has long been a proving ground for gamification best practices. This competitive sector understands the value of game mechanics in driving engagement and loyalty. Soft2Bet has been a leader in this space, refining interactive user experiences across casinos, sportsbooks, hybrid platforms, and fintech applications. By embedding progression levels, achievements, and reward systems into everyday interactions, Soft2Bet turns casual visitors into loyal users. This approach has set industry standards and influenced the fintech, retail, healthcare, and education sectors. As noted in Forbes, banking and fintech are increasingly adopting gamification strategies first developed in iGaming, proving their broad relevance and impact. "Gamification taps into fundamental human motivations like exploration, achievement, and reward. At Soft2Bet, we’ve seen firsthand how these mechanics drive retention and satisfaction, which is why more and more businesses are applying them to stay competitive in an increasingly digital world," says Yoel Zuckerberg, CPO of Soft2Bet. Cross-Industry Applications Before Soft2Bet's rise in iGaming, the concept of gamification appeared in loyalty programmes, frequent flyer miles, and even educational software. The innovations that Soft2Bet brought to them were accelerated within the iGaming sector, where points, badges, and leaderboards became integral to creating a highly competitive, real-time environment. Analysing user behaviours, such as how players are drawn to specific challenges or react to daily rewards, has provided valuable data. Soft2Bet’s findings now significantly influence fintech, retail, and e-learning industries. By observing these patterns, Soft2Bet and other operators have developed a deeper understanding of what keeps users engaged. In the fintech sector specifically, gamification mechanics help encourage users to manage their finances more effectively and consistently. Key Elements That Translate Well Gamification elements that Soft2Bet utilise so well to succeed in iGaming often translate well into other industries. Progression systems, where users unlock new features as they advance, can be used in fintech to grant access to better rates or exclusive tools based on savings goals. Social features like live chats and tournaments help build community, which can also enhance engagement in fitness apps, loyalty programs, or peer-to-peer platforms. Reward mechanics, such as deposit bonuses and free spins, can be adapted into micro-rewards for budgeting or daily logins to build consistent habits. Leaderboards and rankings, often used to highlight top players, can be applied to showcase financial milestones or learning achievements. Banking and Fintech: A Closer Look Fintech has quickly embraced gamification, recognising that user experience is just as crucial as offering competitive rates. A sleek dashboard, progress bars, and daily challenges can make users spend more time in their banking apps and stay actively engaged. Here are a few ways fintech platforms can apply proven gamification techniques inspired by Soft2Bet’s iGaming expertise: Savings Challenges: Encouraging users to save a set amount weekly or monthly can turn into a fun, competitive experience. Badges or trophies keep users motivated and make saving feel more rewarding. Spending Quizzes: Budget tracking becomes more interactive with short quizzes that test users on their spending habits. Points for accuracy or staying on budget add a game-like feel to financial management. Tiered Loyalty: Similar to high-roller rewards in iGaming, fintech apps can offer perks like waived fees or free financial advice for consistent app use. This encourages long-term engagement. By applying these gamified elements so frequently employed by Soft2Bet, fintech platforms can turn routine financial tasks into engaging experiences that motivate users to stay active and in control of their money. Other Industries Benefiting from Gamification Gamification's appeal extends beyond fintech and iGaming, boosting engagement in sectors such as retail, education, healthcare, corporate training, and many others. Soft2Bet’s gamification exploits might be limited to iGaming, but there’s plenty of evidence to suggest it works across multiple industries. Retailers, for instance, use iGaming strategies by introducing daily deals or limited-time free shipping to encourage repeat visits and customer loyalty. In education and corporate settings, gamified elements like badges, quizzes, and interactive feedback motivate users, making learning and training sessions more enjoyable and productive. Likewise, healthcare and fitness platforms implement gaming-inspired challenges that reward consistent progress, helping users build healthier habits. Soft2Bet’s insights highlight the potential of gamification to increase user retention and engagement across diverse industries. Ensuring Reliability Through Strategic Partnerships Soft2Bet ensures reliable, secure, and scalable gamification experiences through strategic partnerships with leading providers like AWS and SEON. AWS supports real-time data processing and automatic scaling, ensuring platforms remain stable during peak events such as major sports matches or financial market fluctuations. Soft2Bet’s global infrastructure guarantees minimal latency and secure handling of sensitive user data. SEON further strengthens platform security by integrating advanced fraud detection technology. With real-time risk scoring and adaptive learning capabilities, SEON helps Soft2Bet protect financial transactions and maintain compliance, enabling operators to deliver engaging yet secure user experiences across iGaming, fintech, and beyond. Lessons from iGaming for Cross-Industry Success Effective gamification in iGaming requires a tailored, goal-driven approach. Soft2Bet’s Motivational Engineering Gaming Application (MEGA) platform offers flexibility in adapting engagement strategies to different types of player journeys. For instance, daily quests, achievement milestones, and instant rewards can be aligned with specific user behaviours to boost retention and long-term value. Balancing simplicity with depth is key, making it easy for new users to jump in while gradually layering in more complex features as familiarity grows. Real-time analytics within Soft2Bet’s MEGA allow businesses to fine-tune their strategies based on user behaviour, improving both engagement and retention. Just as important is maintaining ethical standards, especially in sectors like fintech and iGaming. Soft2Bet prioritises transparency, responsible data handling, and clear communication around risks and limits, ensuring gamified experiences are both effective and trustworthy. Final Thoughts Gamification continues to play a considerable role in Soft2Bet’s success, but the concept has grown far beyond iGaming, becoming a smart strategy for improving user experience, loyalty, and satisfaction across multiple industries. Features like leaderboards, tiered rewards, and interactive challenges can turn everyday actions, whether financial, educational, or retail-related, into engaging experiences that keep users coming back. The principles built in iGaming are flexible and effective. Fintech apps encouraging smarter money habits, retail platforms rewarding loyalty, and educational tools driving consistent learning are all proof of this. MEGA by Soft2Bet shows how these features can be implemented efficiently. With a single API integration, businesses can cut down development time, while partnerships with AWS and SEON ensure a secure and reliable foundation. Gamification works best when aligned with user motivations. Soft2Bet brings years of experience and data from iGaming and fintech to help bridge entertainment and function. As technology evolves and users expect more, gamification will continue to shape how fintech and other sectors create meaningful and interactive user journeys. Soft2Bet is here to help power that shift.

Polish biotech startup Ingenix has raised  €9 million Seed funding for its development of a pioneering model for simulating clinical trials.  Ingenix is a proprietary multimodal and multiscale generative AI co-pilot for clinical development, created to enable accurate simulation of clinical drug trials.  Starting at the molecular level and continuing via the cellular, tissue, and organism levels to the level of the population, Ingenix will offer a true, granular prediction of clinical endpoint values and adverse events of trials for a wide variety of drugs.  The pharmaceutical industry, which invests approximately $50 billion annually in clinical trials, yet nine out of ten pilot drugs fail to gain regulatory approval.  Ingenix’s AI-driven clinical trials simulations could significantly reduce drug development time, helping pharmaceutical companies expedite this process without compromising on quality of product, for the ultimate benefit of patients. Ingenix was co-founded by Piotr Surma and Adam Dancewicz, both bringing an impressive track record in developing and taking an AI start-up to market. Prior to Ingenix, they founded Applica, an AI-based start-up specialising in proprietary multimodal LLMs, successfully acquired by Snowflake for in 2022. According to Piotr Surma, co-founder and CEO at Ingenix:   “The intricacies of human biology make the development of any AI technology in the pharmaceutical industry incredibly complex. However, it is possible.  What Adam, myself and the team are developing could have a seismic impact not just on the way clinical trials are conducted, but on the entire sector, as it will make the drug development process predictable.  The pharmaceutical industry has long been awaiting its ‘GPT moment’ and, as shown time and time again, the AI leaders of tomorrow can appear anywhere in the world so long as they are driven by intellect, creativity and a real-world focus.” Inovo.vc led the funding round, with further participation from OTB Ventures and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Wojtek Walniczek, Partner at OTB Ventures, commented:  “At OTB Ventures, we are committed to supporting groundbreaking technologies that have the potential to revolutionise industries. Ingenix’s multi-modal and multiscale approach to AI-driven clinical trial simulation stands to significantly enhance the efficiency and accuracy of drug development, changing the game for the pharmaceutical sector.” Krzysztof Przybylak, Principal at Inovo.vc, noted: "Ingenix is tackling a research challenge that is both ambitious and complex. At this stage of investment, the only thing that truly matters is the team. Very few teams worldwide are capable of addressing this problem, but after nearly a year of collaboration with Piotr and his team, we had no doubt that Ingenix is one of them—and that we should lead this round." Lead image: Freepik.

Turkish fintech Sipay has closed a $78M Series B funding round at a valuation of $875M. The Series B round was led by Elephant VC, a U.S.-based venture capital firm, with participation from QuantumLight, the venture firm founded by Revolut co-founder Nik Storonsky. The round comes as the company plans to expand its services outside of Turkey, targeting markets in emerging regions where it will introduce offerings not currently available from Stripe, such as remittances. As part of its growth strategy, the fintech startup plans to offer new services, including cross-border remittance solutions that will differentiate it from other fintech players like Stripe, which does not yet offer remittance services in the emerging markets Sipay plans to target. Nezih Sipahioğlu, the founder and global CEO of Sipay, shared his vision for the company: “Stripe is sorting out one single problem, but there is no all-in-one fintech solution in our markets. So that’s why we have different products.” This approach positions Sipay to cater to diverse fintech needs across the emerging markets it plans to enter.  Sipahioğlu added, “Our services run as a white label, so any fintech that wants to issue their own card or wallet can do it through us.” After bootstrapping its development from its founding in 2019 until June 2024, the company raised a $15M Series A funding round led by Anfa. With its Series B funding, Sipay is now poised to accelerate its expansion and enhance its product offering, providing more comprehensive fintech solutions across a broader range of markets. Peter Fallon, general partner at Elephant VC, remarked, “As markets become more globalized, Sipay’s focus on cross-border payment solutions will help drive international growth and trade.” Sipay’s model represents a significant shift in the fintech landscape, particularly in emerging markets. While global players like Stripe have made considerable inroads in developed markets, they have yet to address the full range of financial services needed in these regions. By offering an all-in-one platform tailored to local needs and integrating with both global financial systems and regional banks, it can capitalise on the growing demand for fintech solutions in emerging markets. The fintech space in Turkey and the broader Middle East is evolving rapidly, with a growing number of consumers and businesses adopting digital financial services. By partnering with global giants like Visa and Mastercard, as well as local Turkish banks and e-commerce platforms like Trendyol, Sipay has acquired 25,000 registered merchants on its platform.

Dealstack, a London-based platform designed to streamline private capital operations, has raised $5.5M in seed funding. The round was backed by a group of senior professionals from industry-leading firms, including Paul Weiss, Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, KKR, CVC, TA Associates, and Goldman Sachs, among others. Founded by Joel Arnell, a former Partner at Kirkland & Ellis, and Seb Lapinski, a former investor at Oaktree Capital, Dealstack seeks to modernise private capital operations, which often rely on outdated and inefficient tools. It automates critical workflows that are traditionally managed manually, such as valuation waterfalls, employee equity and ownership tracking, structure charts, and contract management.  Despite the growing excitement around AI’s potential, the technology has been slow to make a meaningful impact in private capital. Data security, regulatory concerns, and the complex nature of the sector have made it challenging to apply AI in a way that delivers real-world value. The success of AI in this field depends on clean, connected, and trusted data. “Private equity is full of brilliant people working with ancient tools,” said Lapinski, Dealstack’s co-founder and COO. “We built Dealstack because highly qualified professionals shouldn’t be stuck copying and pasting data from spreadsheets to PDFs when AI and automated workflows can do that for them.” Dealstack builds a data model unique to each customer. The platform’s AI capabilities are powered by a structured data model that maps the legal, financial, and ownership relationships within private capital. This "private capital ontology" is designed to provide clarity and consistency in the complex ownership and waterfall structures that private capital firms manage, improving legal and regulatory compliance along the way. Arnell, Dealstack’s CEO and co-founder, explained: “As M&A lawyers and investors, we’ve lived these inefficiencies first-hand. We built a platform designed specifically for private capital to automate the highly manual workflows that prevail. The broad backing from leading industry figures shows we are on the right track.” In just two years, the platform has been adopted by 30+ private capital firms managing a combined total of $2.6T in assets under management (AUM). Among these are six of the top 10 global private capital firms by funds raised, and eight of the top 10 in Europe. In the future, Dealstack envisions a fully agentic platform that could handle end-to-end tasks without human intervention. 

A fledgling business set up by two University of Southampton students that brings AI to the world of tendering has attracted  £250k investment. — the highest sum invested in a startup founded by undergraduates at the university to date. Business student Samuel Aaron, 22, and Economics student Jamie Horsnell, 21, established their startup mytender.io in September 2023. mytender.io is an AI-driven bid writing platform that transforms tendering processes in the construction and facilities management industries. The duo already has over 20 clients, a small team of employees, and big ambitions to grow the startup when they graduate this year. “We were housemates, and we were always talking about different ideas as we were keen to start a business together,” said Horsnell.  “We went to a Small Business Speed Launch weekend organised by the university’s Student Enterprise team. We learnt lots that weekend and it gave us a real urge to create a business.” They set up an AI consultancy and contacted hundreds of businesses offering AI automation. “Through reaching out via lots of emails, we met a facilities management director who was spending his weekends writing bids and responding to tenders, and wanted to use AI to speed this up,” explained Aaron. “At that time, we didn’t know what bids or tenders were, but we did lots of research and things grew from there.” He added: “Outside of our studies, we put everything else that we can to the business. After we graduate, we both intend to work on this full-time.” mytender.io have employed two interns, a salesperson and one full-time employee, and are looking to grow via Seed funding in the coming months. They are also keen to explore overseas expansion. According to Horsnell, the investment from Fuel Ventures will allow the team to rapidly scale up our sales and marketing activity, and further develop its system: “It allows Sam and I to keep living the dream of building a massive business together out of university and aid our goals for mytender.io to become one of the biggest pieces of bid writing software in the world.” Last month, Universities UK launched a new campaign Unis start up the UK to highlight the impact of university startups. Since 2014, 38,000 student and staff startup companies have been launched with the support of universities, and from 2014-15 to 2022-23 there was a 70 per cent increase in active firms. On average, more than 4,300 startups are registered each year, and in the academic year 2022 to 2023, more than 64,000 people were employed by startups that emerged from universities. Lead image: mytender.io. Photo: uncredited. 

The interim CEO of open banking fintech Volt says there is still a “lot of work” to be done for open banking to achieve success in the UK. Steffen Vollert, co-founder and interim CEO of Volt, was speaking on the Tech.eu podcast, where he talked about his new role, Volt’s offering and how open banking is developing across Europe. Volt, founded in 2019 and which now has around 150 staff, specialises in open banking. It was valued at around $350m in 2023. Open banking technology is loosely defined as banks and financial institutions opening up data so that fintechs and other third parties can bring new products to market to help provide competition and more consumer choice. On open banking, Vollert said: “I think in the UK there is still a lot of work to be done for open banking to succeed and capture effective market share from the cards.” He cited the delays in the introduction of VRPs - which via open banking enable individuals to make account-to-account payments of varying amounts- and new APP (Authorised Push Payment) fraud rules as hindering the development of open banking. He said: “Especially in the UK, it seems that the cards still defend their stronghold. I think a major fail factor for open banking is also the delay with VRPs and VRPs ultimately allowing for future parity with cards where you can have one click where you can have recurring, sort of Uber and Spotify experience. “That will of course, greatly enhance the use case for open banking in the UK. “In addition, the APP fraud rules and the practical implementation, or lack thereof, has probably had quite a negative impact on open banking fintechs. “I think in the UK there is still a lot of work to be done for open banking to succeed and to capture effective market share from the cards.”

OSSTEC, a London-based startup based on research at Imperial College London, has raised £2.5M to accelerate the launch of its groundbreaking 3D printing technology aimed at improving joint replacement implants. The funding round, led by specialist DeepTech venture capital firm Empirical Ventures, is set to help OSSTEC bring its innovative cementless knee implant technology to market. It will enable OSSTEC to scale its operations and collaborate with strategic partners in the medical field. OSSTEC’s product, which mimics the structure of cartilage and bone-fixing elements through 3D printing, is designed to overcome common challenges seen with traditional knee replacements. The company's first product uses this approach in less invasive knee implants to stimulate bone growth, with the potential to significantly reduce the risk of implant failure—a concern that affects millions of patients worldwide. By leveraging 3D printing, OSSTEC’s solution also simplifies the supply chain, improving efficiency and potentially reducing costs for healthcare systems. This is particularly important as the demand for joint replacement surgeries increases and healthcare providers are pressured to manage resources more effectively. Max Munford, PhD, CEO and Founder of OSSTEC, explained, “This funding marks a pivotal moment for OSSTEC, enabling us to bring our groundbreaking technology to market with our team of surgeons and engage in strategic collaborations to improve patient outcomes. We are at the exciting intersection of innovative technology, delivering value for surgeons and patients and high-growth markets, all combined to help more people stay active and pain-free for longer.” Johnathan Matlock, General Partner and co-founder at Empirical Ventures, commented, “OSSTEC is an excellent example of how scientific discovery can be transformed into real-world impact. The company has huge potential to completely reform best practices in this field of healthcare, with an impressive team of scientists pushing the boundaries of engineering and medical research. In backing OSSTEC, we continue to drive forward Empirical Ventures’ own mission of empowering the next generation of innovators to turn their research into impactful solutions.” Dr Alex Liddle, Chief Medical Officer at OSSTEC, highlighted the significance of the company’s technology, saying, “OSSTEC’s 3D printing technology allows efficient manufacturing whilst eliminating mechanisms of failure seen in previous cementless knee replacements. Its cementless partial knee represents a major step forward in unicompartmental knee replacement surgery. Cementless partial knee replacement has advantages over cemented techniques with improved efficient workflows, survival and clinical outcomes. This represents an exciting new development in orthopaedics that promises improved fixation and reduced risks, providing value for patients, surgeons and the wider healthcare system.”

Nettle, a London-based AI-powered risk assessment platform, has raised £1.45M in Pre-Seed funding to address delays in risk engineering. The funding round was led by Project A, with additional participation from angel investors with expertise in insurance and artificial intelligence. An estimated 40 percent of risk engineers are set to retire within the next five years, which is exacerbating delays in risk assessments, causing financial strain, and reducing insurers' ability to underwrite new business.  Nettle's AI-powered platform enables insurers to streamline and expedite the risk assessment process. By automating manual tasks and utilising AI to surface insights from decades of historical data, it aims to reduce turnaround times by five times, while freeing engineers to focus on the most valuable parts of their role. The financial and operational impact of delays in risk engineering is significant. The global primary commercial property and casualty (P&C) insurance market is valued at £750B annually, with an estimated £19B spent on risk engineering alone. Nettle combines AI-powered remote risk identification, bespoke inspection guides, mobile evidence analysis, and instant report generation. The platform allows engineers to complete five times as many inspections, improving underwriting efficiency and accuracy. Jack Miller, co-founder and CEO, commented: “AI has moved beyond hype - it’s delivering incredible efficiencies and transforming how companies use unstructured data at scale. Our mission is clear: modernise risk assessment. Insurers who embrace AI will win.” Malin Posern, Partner at Project A, added: "Nettle is uniquely positioned at the intersection of technology and risk assessment. With a team that has a proven track record of building AI solutions for the industry, Nettle is set to help insurers understand and maintain in-depth risk profiles in an automated way and unlock efficiencies across the insurance value chain."