Paris-based Alpic, the cloud platform built for MCP, has raised $6 million in pre-seed funding to accelerate development of its one-click setup, AI-specific analytics, and production-grade security and tooling for deploying and monitoring MCP servers. As AI reshapes the internet, a new persona is emerging: the agent, systems that act on behalf of users to handle tasks from booking travel to managing enterprise workflows. Until now, models have been limited in their ability to act, relying on clunky workarounds like scraping websites or navigating human UIs. The Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open standard introduced by Anthropic and now adopted by major AI players, changes this by providing a secure, structured way for agents to connect with external services. This shift creates demand for infrastructure tailored to a new kind of frontend, one built not of pixels, but of tools. Alpic delivers that layer as the all-in-one cloud platform for deploying, managing, and scaling MCP servers in production. Its mission is to make it safe, simple, and reliable for businesses to expose services to AI agents. With built-in security, analytics, and developer-friendly tooling, Alpic eliminates operational complexity and provides a flexible toolkit for rapid deployment, fine-grained authentication, versioning, and observability, all without framework lock-in. Pierre-Louis Theron, Co-founder and CEO of Alpic, shared: The real potential of agents lies in their ability to interact with the digital world around them. For that we need infrastructure built from the ground up for agents, not retrofitted for them. Alpic sees that current approaches, where AI navigates human-designed interfaces, are unreliable and costly at scale. The company believes that the majority of online services will be directly accessible to agents via a dedicated protocol. Authentication, user experience, payments, and developer workflows look completely different when the user is an AI agent. We’re only beginning to understand how much the internet will change, added Theron. The round was led by Partech, with participation from K5 Global, Irregular Expression, Yellow, Drysdale, Kima Ventures, and Galion.exe. They were joined by prominent founders from companies such as Mistral, Datadog, and Dataiku, bringing deep expertise in developer platforms, cloud infrastructure, and enterprise software. Boris Golden, General Partner at Partech, said: We’re thrilled to back this experienced founding team as they build the infrastructure for the new internet. Agent-first protocols like MCP could be as foundational to AI as HTTP was two decades ago to the internet. Alpic has the deep infrastructure experience and timing to shape how they will be adopted. Having deployed dozens of MCP servers with early customers this summer, Alpic is now opening its platform in public beta.

London-based RYE, the energy intelligence solution redefining how multi-site businesses manage, monetise and scale energy operations, has closed a €1 million pre-seed funding round. The funding will enable RYE to increase their range of products in order to better service new and existing users. Rising energy costs, inadequate metering, and opaque billing are driving insolvencies, particularly in multi-site hospitality. RYE addresses this by making energy management transparent, predictable, and aligned with renewables, and is already piloting its technology at 30+ UK locations. Diego Vega, Founder and CEO of RYE, shared: Volatility in European energy markets is making energy more expensive for users, while decreasing profitability for suppliers. Energy has become a tax, ultimately making small businesses uncompetitive and inefficient. RYE’s mission is to make energy an enabler of growth, instead of a constraint. Unlike legacy systems that rely solely on behind-the-meter data, RYE integrates on-site insights with forecasting models tailored to the complexities of retail and hospitality. This approach delivers greater demand-side granularity, sharper predictions, and fewer hidden costs. By aggregating SME energy demand, RYE also boosts buy-side liquidity for off-market renewable solutions, unlocking smarter procurement and more competitive pricing. Built to cut running costs and support scale, RYE assists multi-site businesses with metering, management, and maintenance while offering smart meter provisioning, automated bill validation and dispute support, real-time usage tracking, and automated payments, simplifying energy management from end to end. The investment is co-led by CapitalT and January Ventures, with participation from Earth and Norrsken Evolve. Eva de Mol, Founding Partner at CapitalT, commented: What sets RYE apart is how deeply the team understands the realities of the energy market. With experience from Europe’s most exciting energy startups, they are perfectly positioned to make energy procurement simpler, fairer, and more reliable. RYE’s five-year vision is to become the go-to energy intelligence layer for multi-site businesses across Europe, helping retail and hospitality groups scale while optimising energy spend. 

Ground autonomy platform FERNRIDE, today announces the extension of its Series A financing round, raising an additional €18 million. This brings the total funding to €75 million, fueling the acceleration of dual-use autonomous logistics solutions across Europe.  Building on its work in civilian logistics with customers such as HHLA, Volkswagen, and DB Schenker, FERNRIDE is now extending its technology and expertise to the field of defence logistics. I spoke to Hendrik Kramer, CEO and co-founder of FERNRIDE to learn more. FERNRIDE’s vision has always been to automate jobs that are essential but also repetitive and dangerous — jobs humans shouldn’t have to do. This is true in logistics, defence, agriculture, mining, and construction. The company employs a human-assisted autonomy approach, which allows for remote takeovers of trucks when necessary. This ensures seamless integration and reliable operations for logistics operators.   FERNRIDE prepares to scale its solution in container terminals, following the groundbreaking first-ever safety certification in July of an autonomous terminal tractor by TÜV SÜD and the transition to operations without a safety driver. This confirms that the company meets EU standards for safety, cybersecurity, and system reliability — a critical step toward large-scale industrial deployment across Europe, and vital for defence logistics. Automation not only eliminates the requirement for human drivers but also enhances on-site safety. It improves vehicle efficiency by eliminating expensive idling periods while trucks are being loaded, thanks to the seamless switching capabilities of teleoperators who can maximise productivity by managing multiple vehicles. Why defence logistics is the next frontier According to Kramer, last year the team asked themselves what the next chapter should be and the defence opportunity stood out. “It’s huge, urgent, and strategically important. We are one of the very few companies in Europe that has developed industrialised autonomous driving solutions that can be applied to defence logistics.” With this launch, FERNRIDE aims to enhance mission flexibility, protect lives in high-risk zones, and help defence organisations reallocate skilled personnel from repetitive transport tasks to more strategic roles. According to Kramer, automation is the only way to ensure resilient civil and defence logistics: “People talk about tanks, jets, and drones, but without logistics — supplies of ammunition, food, and water — none of those work. Trucks are also prime targets for drones, making it very dangerous to drive them.” At the same time, Europe needs to double its logistics capacity to defend itself, and it doesn’t have enough people willing or able to do this work.  Germany is a vital hub for NATO, moving vast amounts of cargo from A to B. This means that if there were a conflict on NATO’s Eastern flank, many of today’s truck drivers would be called to serve at the front lines in their home countries. That would leave no one to move cargo across Europe. “Soldiers should focus on strategic tasks, not the easiest-to-automate ones like driving trucks to deliver cargo. So the logic we applied in the civil market transfers directly to defence,” shared Kramer.  Building for Europe’s sovereignty The expansion is also part of Kramer’s personal drive to support European values and sovereignty. He contends that while the US has great autonomous technology, Europe needs its own solutions.  "Europe needs sovereignty in critical industries and technologies. Autonomous systems for container terminals and defence are mission-critical for Europe’s future. I want to contribute to that mission as quickly as possible.” Built to withstand cyberattacks and operate in GPS-denied environments. Many battles today are fought in cyberspace. Cybersecurity has always been central to FERNRIDE.  According to Kramer, ports are strategic assets and constant targets in hybrid cyberwarfare.  “We built and implemented strong protections against cyberthreats.” FERNRIDE has also tested its systems in contested environments.  “For example, in Finland, close to the Russian border, GPS often didn’t work due to interference,” shared Kramer.  “We had to develop GPS-free localisation within our self-driving stack. Now our vehicles can operate in GPS-denied environments, which is a huge advantage for defence.” Backed by dual-use investors and industry leaders Image: Thomas Müller and Hendrik Kramer.  The extension is backed by Helantic and joined by various prominent dual-use investors, including Thomas Müller, former CEO of Hensoldt and Board Member of Airbus Defense, who also takes a seat on FERNRIDE’s Board.  In addition to existing shareholders doubling down, several new strategic investors, family offices, and venture capital firms joined the round, further supporting the mission. Thomas Müller, who joins the Advisory Board of FERNRIDE, commented:  “FERNRIDE’s technology has already proven itself in civilian logistics, and its high potential to protect lives and strengthen Europe’s defence forces is undeniable. This is exactly the kind of Made-in-Germany innovation we need to ensure technological sovereignty.” FERNRIDE is focused on the civic side in scaling its product across European container terminals. On the defence side, it's launching several projects with European armed forces and vehicle manufacturers, integrating autonomous driving into the next generation of vehicles.

Driven, the AI-powered platform for sales commissions, has secured €1.5 million in a funding round led by Pitchdrive, with support from prominent figures in the Ghent tech scene. Today, one in two salespeople works with a flexible pay package where their fixed salary is topped up with commissions, but these agreements often sit in static Excel files that are updated only weeks or even months later. That delay often leads to frustration, especially because transparency and clear communication are missing. That’s exactly the issue Driven was created to solve. Launched in June, the platform gives sales reps a real-time view of their goals and the commissions tied to them, while allowing managers to set targets and rewards together with their teams using live data and historical figures. In this way, Driven helps companies make better use of commissions and boost overall sales performance. The platform also gives managers a broader picture of how targets and commissions affect profitability. Thanks to the AI assistant, they can analyze everything from financial results to CRM data and average industry pay. This makes it easier to fine-tune plans on the go and keep expectations aligned on both sides. Ludovic Diercxsens, CEO of Driven, explains: Driven is the tool that motivates sales teams through smart incentives. You immediately see how a reward impacts a salesperson’s drive. By making goals visible and dividing them fairly, everyone in the company knows exactly what they’re working toward. That clarity instantly lifts motivation. Driven goes beyond transparency in pay and targets, addressing another common challenge - poor data quality in CRM systems. The round was led by Pitchdrive, with Newschool VC also joining in. Support from the Ghent tech scene is strong too, with backing from names such as Jeroen de Wit (Teamleader), Gilles Mattelin, Jorn Vanysacker and Wouter Van Respaille (Henchman), Matthias Geeroms (Lighthouse), and other investors. With this fresh capital, the founders want to double down on product development and scale the business further. Photo: Justine Wolfs

TrustNXT, a computer vision and cybersecurity spin-off from Basler AG, has secured €1.6 million in pre-seed financing to scale its deep tech solution that safeguards images and videos in security-critical B2B applications from AI-driven manipulation and cyberattacks, a rapidly growing market with major significance for industry, insurers, and public safety. TrustNXT is developing a software platform for comprehensive manipulation protection for visual data. It combines cryptography, computer vision and patented trust technology to ensure the authenticity of image and video data. This prevents manipulation effectively and provides for reliability at every step. The solution guarantees the integrity of visual data in critical business processes. Ariane Scheer-Danielsson, Co-founder and managing director at TrustNXT: In a world where AI can generate deceptively real images in seconds, trust and data integrity are crucial. Without them, digital business models are threatened. Our mission is to secure this integrity for companies. TrustNXT's insurance solution addresses manipulated damage photos and enables the complete automation of claims and underwriting processes – without any human review. Insurers can effectively prevent image fraud, shorten processing times and make their processes cost-efficient and scalable. The funding round saw participation from leading early-stage investors D11Z.Ventures and High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF). Patrick Schmitt, Principal at D11Z.Ventures, commented: We are excited about the cryptography technology used by TrustNXT. It generates a technically unique fingerprint of the sensor data at the point of origin of a medium. It is irrevocably linked to the medium – a physical, tamper-proof evidence. This prevents manipulation and proves the origin of digital content beyond doubt. In the current race between AI-manipulated media and AI that recognises such manipulation, TrustNXT renders this duel obsolete. TrustNXT's technology will restore trust in digital media for the long term. Tizian Hoppen, Senior Investment Manager at HTGF, emphasized that a functioning economy fundamentally relies on trust: Today, important decisions are based on digital media such as photos and videos. TrustNXT has impressed us with its digital trust technology, which is based on years of deep tech research. TrustNXT plans to use the capital to expand its technology, particularly for tamper-proof real-time protection of video data in industrial applications. The first pilot projects in industry are planned for 2026. 

Real estate marketplace Zefir has announced €15 million Series B, bringing its funding to €50 million. Founded in 2020, the French marketplace uses AI to simplify and speed up residential property deals. By nearly halving transaction times for sellers and boosting agent revenues, it has powered more than €600 million in annualised home sales. I spoke to Remy Fabr, co-founder and CEO of Zefir, to learn more.  Zefir is now extending that expertise to the buy side with the launch of Europe’s first AI-powered home-search assistant, branded ZIA. It gives buyers a true digital agent in a market that had long lacked such support.  Simplifying a long, complex, fragmented process Buying a home is one of life’s biggest decisions, yet in France it often means sending multiple enquiries just to secure a single viewing, sifting through irrelevant listings, and worrying about missing the right property due to slow alerts.  According to Fabr, prospective buyers are left to navigate a fragmented landscape of over 100,000 listing agents on their own. Zefir’s new assistant fills that gap, acting as a digital buyer’s agent that helps people search, compare, and decide faster.  “We’ve simplified what is usually a long, fragmented process. Sellers start with a single price estimate.  Our AI matches their home with qualified buyers across our partner network. This cuts transaction times in half — from ~4 months to under 2 months — while helping agents close more deals with less friction.” “We were the first to bring AI into the selling experience in France—cutting sale times in half and helping agents boost their revenue,” shared Fabre.  “Now we’re doing the same for buyers.  In a market where they have no agent on their side, our AI assistant gives them clarity, speed, and confidence.”  Zefir’s AI assistant, ZIA, acts like a personal property hunter. Unlike traditional portals, Zefir doesn't charge agents to list—so there are no paid rankings. Buyers see only the most relevant homes, right up front.  Users gain early access to thousands of Zefir-exclusive homes, ahead of the legacy portals and can express exactly what they're looking for, the same way you’d ask ChatGPT. Homes sell nearly twice as fast, with Agents earning up to €100K more annually. According to Fabre, rather than displacement, real estate agents see Zefir as an ally.  ZIA qualifies buyers before they ever reach the agent. That means fewer time-wasting enquiries and more serious prospects. For agents, this translates into faster closings, fewer dead-end visits, and smoother negotiations. According to Fabre, “it’s not just more leads — it’s the right leads at the right time.”. Further, “instead of competing with them, we generate more qualified leads and help them close faster. Many earn up to €100K more per year with us. That’s why 4,500 professionals already work with us.” Zefir’s platform unifies competing agents, pooling listings and buyer data, while AI streamlines the matchmaking so sellers reach the right buyers faster and agents close more deals with less effort.  On average, homes sell in just 58 days — nearly twice as fast as the national median—while agents can earn up to €100,000 more per year. Building “the connective tissue” of European real estate Fabre sees the role of Zefir as “the connective tissue of European real estate”: a unified network where AI makes transactions faster, fairer, and more transparent.  “Over time, we see Zefir becoming the default infrastructure layer that buyers, sellers, and agents rely on—similar to how platforms like Booking.com transformed travel. Our ambition is continental, not just national.” FinTech Collective led the funding, with continued support from Sequoia Capital, Zigg Capital and Heartcore Capital. Joining the round are TX Ventures — the venture arm of TX Group and backer of ImmoScout24 — and FJ Labs, a global leader in marketplace investing.  “ Zefir has already transformed the sell-side experience in France,” said Toby Triebel, Partner at FinTech Collective. “With ZIA™, they’re now bringing that same innovation to buyers - delivering a rare trifecta of network effects, transactional velocity, and AI-driven utility. Our conviction stems from the team’s unwavering execution and their ability to scale with precision.”  The funding will fuel AI expansion across the platform, including ZIA and professional tools as well as geographic growth into France’s top 15 largest cities. The company plans to double headcount by 2026., with a focus on Tech & Product. Over the next decade, Fabre believes the biggest shift in real estate will be toward digitisation and transparency.  “Buyers and sellers will expect the same clarity they have in sectors like travel or mobility. AI will become a standard part of decision-making— filtering, guiding, and accelerating choices. Zefir intends to lead that shift, ensuring that people move homes with speed and confidence rather than friction and uncertainty." But Zefir’s ambition goes even further — Fabre sees real estate transactions at the centre of a broader ecosystem — financing, insurance, renovations, and moving services.  “Our first focus is to nail the core transaction experience, but over time, Zefir is well-positioned to be the platform where every adjacent service plugs in. That’s where the real multiplier effect will come Lead image: Zefir. Photo: uncredited. 

Atlassian has acquired the technology and team of French startup Cycle, the AI-powered platform that helps companies understand customer feedback at scale.  Cycle was founded in 2019 by Mehdi Boudoukhane with Hexa (formerly eFounders), the startup studio behind SaaS successes like Front, Aircall, and Spendesk. Backed by a $6 million Seed round it grew into the feedback engine of choice for product-led companies including Brex, Qonto, Alan, and Alma. Image: Thibaut Nyssens, Martin Delobbe, Mehdi Boudoukhane, Thibaud Elzière of Cycle. At its core, Cycle is an AI-powered platform that brings the voice of the customer into the heart of product development. It ensures that feedback from customers and go-to-market teams is not only heard, but acted upon. By keeping stakeholders informed when product updates ship, Cycle helps teams build trust across users, sales, product, and engineering. Cycle’s AI feedback engine will be integrated into Jira Product Discovery, Atlassian’s dedicated tool for product discovery, built to help teams capture ideas, prioritise opportunities, and connect product decisions to customer impact. Launched two years ago, it has already been adopted by more than 20,000 customers worldwide.  Atlassian’s acquisition of the tech and team of Cycle strengthens Jira Product Discovery by embedding this intelligence directly into the app. Instead of beginning discovery with anecdotes or scattered input, product managers can work with structured insights tied to ideas, features, and customer impact. According to  Tanguy Crusson, Head of Product for Jira Product Discovery at Atlassian: “When we met with Mehdi and the Cycle team, things just clicked: we share the same experience and vision for what great product management looks like, and what customer-centric development feels like.  They’ve built an impressive product that connects feedback with customers and uses AI to distill it into actionable insights.” The entire Cycle team is joining Atlassian’s Jira Product Discovery team.  The standalone Cycle product will be discontinued, but its core AI features and feedback engine will be rebuilt directly inside Jira Product Discovery. 

The workplace has been in constant flux over the last few years, with hybrid work models and digital tools redefining how employees collaborate. Now, predictive and generative AI technologies are accelerating that transformation, helping to remove low-level tasks, boost productivity, and create more personalized employee experiences. A recent eBook from Zoom, AI and the Digital Workplace, highlights how leaders can use AI to improve the digital employee experience and drive business outcomes — without losing the human touch. Enhancing, Not Replacing, Human Interaction One of the key takeaways is that AI should not be viewed as a replacement for human interaction, but rather as an enhancement. “Anytime you can tell an employee or customer, ‘I know who you are and I know what matters to you,’ you’re deepening the relationship,” said David Strickland, VP of telehealth and care at home technology at Kaiser Permanente. Zoom CIO Casey Santos explained how AI features are already improving productivity: “When I couldn’t attend a meeting recently, our AI summary feature helped me stay on top of what I needed to do. Zoom’s meeting summary sent me a quick recap of the topics covered and an action item I was able to complete within minutes.” Generative AI can also personalize training and content at scale. “AI can allow me to personalize content like never before based on who you are, what you do, where you’ve been, and where you’re going in an organization,” said Jason Averbook, senior partner and global leader of digital HR strategy at Mercer. Changefulness and Minimum Lovable Products AI adoption requires “changefulness” — a mindset open to experimentation and continuous learning. According to Averbook, companies that block or restrict AI tools risk falling behind. “Phase one has to work. It has to be minimum lovable, not minimum viable, because our audience has expectations unlike they’ve ever had before,” he said. This means organizations should focus on high-impact use cases and roll out AI tools that deliver a positive first experience, encouraging trust and adoption among employees. AI in Hybrid Work and Meetings Hybrid work presents new challenges for collaboration, especially in meetings. Generative AI can reduce distractions by automatically transcribing discussions, enabling employees to stay engaged and contribute meaningfully. “People go to meetings to solve problems,” said Zoom Chief Transformation Officer Xuedong (XD) Huang. “Our AI Companion can take notes for you, identify speakers or clarify what was said in the moment.” AI can also remove language barriers, with real-time translated captions and chat translations making it easier for global teams to work together. Global and Asynchronous Collaboration Zoom’s own teams, spread across continents, use tools like Zoom Team Chat, Clips, and Workvivo to collaborate asynchronously. This enables them to work effectively without forcing late-night or early-morning meetings. “Clips isn’t a meeting replacement but more of an accompaniment to keep momentum going,” said Laura, a content designer at Zoom. Translation tools are another game-changer for distributed teams. “Team Chat’s translation feature is helpful for my team. It’s quite easy to double-check the meaning of a message when we have doubts,” said Kendall, manager of product design. Predictive AI’s Broader Impact Beyond workplace collaboration, predictive AI is transforming decision-making across industries. Economist and Prediction Machines co-author Ajay Agrawal explains that AI lowers the cost of prediction, allowing organizations to use it more frequently. From fraud detection to medical imaging, predictive AI is enhancing productivity and leveling the playing field for lower-skilled workers. In call centers, for example, AI tools can guide employees in real time, helping them reach the performance level of top-tier agents. Similarly, navigational AI has enabled millions to work as drivers for companies like Uber, regardless of their prior local knowledge. Agrawal predicts that AI will soon move beyond the screen into the physical world — with robots capable of executing tasks like making coffee or conducting scientific experiments. Closing the Gap Between Leaders and Employees Zoom’s survey with Morning Consult found that 82% of leaders are excited about AI, compared to just 57% of employees. While leaders see benefits such as time savings and improved collaboration, employees express concerns over job loss, data security, and accuracy. This adoption gap underscores the need for clear communication and training. Educating employees on how AI can support — rather than replace — their work will be crucial for widespread adoption. The Road Ahead As the eBook concludes, the future of work lies in using AI to “enhance human interaction, personalize experiences, meet employees’ needs with user-friendly language, focus on impactful solutions, and free workers to focus on higher-level tasks.” AI will continue to evolve, expanding into areas we can only speculate about today. For organizations ready to embrace it, the potential to improve productivity, collaboration, and employee engagement is enormous — but only if they keep people at the heart of the transformation.

AI automation startup HappyRobot has raised $44 million in Series B funding to accelerate the deployment of its "AI workforce" designed to handle operational tasks across complex, high-volume industries like logistics, freight, and customer support. The round was led by Base10 Partners, with participation from existing backers Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Y Combinator, and new investors including Tokio Marine, WaVe-X, and World Innovation Lab (WiL).  Founded in 2023, the Spanish company is positioning itself as a vertical AI platform that replaces manual operational workflows with domain-specific, production-ready AI agents. “Most people don’t realise how much time and money is burned just coordinating operations and sharing information,” said Pablo Palafox, co-founder and CEO of HappyRobot. HappyRobot’s platform equips organisations with AI agents that can handle end-to-end tasks across communication channels (phone, email, chat), document parsing, web browsing, and backend data entry. These agents are already being used in production to negotiate shipping rates, book appointments, collect payments, recruit staff, and provide stakeholder updates, replacing many tasks that would traditionally be done by overloaded teams or outsourced call centers. Unlike general-purpose AI copilots, HappyRobot focuses on the operational, messy, and often fragmented workflows in logistics, supply chain, and other high-volume industries. Its AI agents are vertically integrated, combining transcription, LLMs, voice generation, OCR, and browser automation with deep software integrations across TMS, ERP, CRM, and other enterprise systems. “Our investment thesis lies in automation for the real economy. HappyRobot does just that,” said Adeyemi Ajao, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Base10. With the new funding, the company plans to expand hiring across engineering, go-to-market, and its forward-deployed engineering (FDE) team, specialists who work on-site with clients to tailor and maintain AI workflows. HappyRobot’s rise comes amid continued pressure on global supply chains, driven by labour shortages, rising operational complexity, and the inefficiencies of fragmented software stacks. The company was co-founded by Pablo Palafox, Luis Paarup, and Javier Palafox, who met through robotics and deep learning projects before launching HappyRobot.

Today IQM Quantum Computers announced that it has raised $320 million in venture capital, the largest Series B raise ever in the quantum space, both in Europe and outside of the US. It brings the company’s total funding raised to date to $600 million. IQM is a global leader in superconducting quantum computers. IQM provides both on-premises full-stack quantum computers and a cloud platform to access its computers.  I spoke to Dr Jan Goetz, co-founder and co-CEO of IQM Quantum Computers, to find out more.  IQM scales quantum with 13+ systems sold, enterprise cloud traction, and hardware edge IQM Quantum Computers sells on-premises superconducting quantum computers, which according to Goertz is currently the most mature and scalable approach. It’s chip-based and built on semiconductor wafers, which have proven to scale over decades—just think of Moore’s Law. “Our key differentiator is error correction. We’ve developed a path that’s about ten times more hardware-efficient than surface codes used by others like Google. We’ve also invested heavily in product maturity. Our systems are standalone, self-calibrated machines designed to fit seamlessly into supercomputing centres with a standard 19-inch rack footprint. That makes them very competitive globally.” The company has sold over 13 quantum computing systems. Most of the on-premise systems it sells go to scientific computing centres where they are integrated into supercomputers and workflows, supporting fundamental physics simulations and performance optimisation. Image: IQM Radiance quantum computer. Alongside hardware, IQM offers cloud access through its Resonance platform, which lets users run algorithms on exclusive processors like Crystal 20 and Star 24 using familiar SDKs such as Qiskit and Cirq.  On the enterprise side, adoption is growing according to Goertz — mainly via the cloud.  “Our Munich quantum data centre hosts six machines, and we see strong demand from pharma, logistics, finance, and security. Companies are building teams, developing IP, and testing use cases to become ‘quantum ready.’ That way, when machines become more powerful, they’re prepared to use them effectively.” Customers also buy services and support packages, typically 10–20 per cent of system costs, covering maintenance, training, and integration with high-performance computing environments.  A Commercial mindset from Day One IQM stands out for cracking the transition from research-heavy to commercial.  Goetz attributes this success to mindset: "From day one, even when almost everyone at IQM was a physicist, we said: we’re going to sell what we build. People thought we were crazy trying to sell a five-qubit machine — but we did it anyway. Those early sales taught us how to define products, set pricing, manage delivery, and incorporate customer feedback into our roadmap."  This commercialisation mindset, combined with European programs like EuroHPC — which integrates quantum into supercomputing procurement—has given IQM an edge.  “Today, Europe has more quantum computers deployed in supercomputing centres than the US, showing that we can be globally competitive with our own model.” Scaling towards millions of qubits with new chip fabrication investments Over the next three to five years, IQM has two primary goals, according to Goetz.  First, technology — accelerating development towards error correction and scaling up to thousands, then millions, of qubits.  “Much of our new funding will go into expanding chip fabrication to support this.” Second, commercial traction: “We’re expanding in the US, selling more machines, and growing our cloud services. We’re also launching a developer platform with an SDK in partnership with Crisp. The goal is to bring in developers not just from quantum, but also from high-performance computing and other fields, to build on our platform.” A dynamic global market shapes IQM’s expansion strategy In terms of global reach, IQM sees three main technology blocks: the US with its hyperscalers, Europe with its research and startups, and APAC with its growing semiconductor and industrial strengths. Each region has unique characteristics, making it a dynamic global landscape. Goetz highlighted strong traction in the APAC region, where IQM has customers in Korea and Taiwan, and places like Singapore and Japan are investing heavily.  "Japan has a strong national strategy, with players like Fujitsu entering the field," he shared. Public–private partnerships fuel the Nordic’s transition from academia to industry The Nordics have long been strong in quantum thanks to local ecosystem building. Goetz sees public–private partnerships as critical to making the region a frontrunner in quantum.  “We’re still in the stage of transferring processes from academia to industry, and ecosystems accelerate that transition. In Finland, for example, we have VTT with its state-owned chip fab line, universities like Aalto and Helsinki, and suppliers like Bluefors, the global leader in cryogenics.  Since IQM launched in 2019, several other startups have emerged in Finland, covering hardware components and algorithms. We see similar activity in Denmark, Sweden, and across the Nordics, often backed by major industrial foundations like the Wallenberg Foundation. These strong ecosystems are essential for building momentum in deep tech.” Ten Eleven Ventures leads IQM’s record Series B as first US investor This Series B funding round was led by cybersecurity-focused investment firm Ten Eleven Ventures, IQM's first US investor, with an increased commitment level from existing Finnish venture capital and private equity company Tesi.  According to Goetz, US Ten Eleven Ventures' investment is purposeful — IQM has been very strong in selling quantum computers in Europe, but has also started expanding outside the EU, with cases in Korea and Taiwan, and now its first sales in the US:  "The US is the largest market for supercomputing — most of the world’s computing centres are there.  Bringing in a US investor helps strengthen our commercial push, open doors, and activate networks. Ten Eleven Ventures is a perfect fit due to its focus on technology and cybersecurity, which is highly relevant for quantum. They also have strong experience in government-related deals, which is valuable in our space.” "Having spent decades helping scale portfolio companies, we understand how to work with forward-thinking, global teams that are pushing the boundaries of innovation. Cybersecurity and quantum share an evolving relationship characterised by common stakeholder communities. This overlap will enable us to provide high-value counsel, capital, and connections to the IQM team,” said Alex Doll, Co-founder and Managing General Partner of Ten Eleven Ventures. “Ten Eleven's investment reflects our belief that partnering with companies at the forefront of the quantum era will be essential for the future of secure computing.” As part of the fundraise, Alex Doll joins IQM´s board of directors. Participation also came from several new and existing investors, including pension funds Elo Mutual Pension Insurance and Varma Mutual Pension Insurance, strategic investor companies of Schwarz Group and Winbond Electronics Corporation, and sovereign wealth funds EIC and Bayern Kapital.  According to Juha Lehtola, Director of Venture and Growth Investments at Tesi, Tesi has been an investor in IQM since the very beginning, “and we have had the privilege of witnessing its journey to becoming a global leader.” “Over the years, IQM has made great strides on its technology roadmap, production capabilities and customer deliveries which truly sets it apart from the competition.”  IPO, partnerships, or other exits remain open — but focus stays on scaling I was curious about IQMs long-term goals, given the potential for an acquisition or IPO in its future. Goetz contends that the company’s goal is to build a sustainable, long-standing business and reach profitability.  “We want to build computers no one has built before and make a real business out of it. How we get there — IPO, strategic partnerships, or other paths—we’ll decide later.  For now, we’re well-capitalised from this round and focused on scaling both technology and commercial operations." With this Series B funding round, IQM will expand its commercial presence and scale its data centre infrastructure and assembly lines globally.  With further investments into IQM´s chip fabrication in Finland, the funding will also support research and development aimed at achieving fault-tolerant quantum computing in the near term. The advanced fabrication capabilities will facilitate the goal of scaling up to one million qubits, paired with quantum error reduction and correction. Goetz advises early-stage deeptech founders to start thinking about products sooner rather than later.  “Even if the technology is still early, engaging with customers, selling, and learning from the process are invaluable. Those feedback loops help turn cutting-edge research into a viable global business.” Lead image: From left to right: Juha Lehtola, Director of Venture and Growth Investments at Tesi, Alex Doll, Co-founder and Managing General Partner of Ten Eleven Ventures, Dr Sierk Poetting, Chairman of IQM’s Board, Mikko Välimäki, co-CEO of IQM, and Dr Jan Goetz, Co-founder and co-CEO of IQM.

German AI translation startup DeepL is launching its debut AI agent, as it looks to broaden its offering beyond its core language translation services. The German startup, which is known for its AI text translation and writing tools, is launching an AI agent geared to make life simpler for businesses, undertaking “time-consuming, repetitive tasks knowledge workers face every day”. DeepL said the general-purpose, multi-language autonomous agent would be well-suited to sales, finance, marketing, HR professionals, amongst other business disciplines. The agent is tapping into the hot trend of agentic AI, where agents act with a high-degree of autonomy with limited human supervision. As an example, it said the agent, called DeepL Agent, can autonomously pull insights for sales teams, automate invoice processing for finance, or handle document translation and approvals for localisation teams. Jarek Kutylowski, CEO and founder, DeepL, heralded that its “strong background in research gives us a natural advantage in the agentic space in building tools that can understand, reason and then act across a wide range of tasks”. The agent is currently in beta testing with some of DeepL's customers, which it says include 50 per cent of the Fortune500, as well as KBC Bank and law firm Taylor Wessing. DeepL, based in Cologne, competes against the likes of Google Translate but said the agent would mean it can better compete against a much bigger set of AI competitors globally. The Cologne-based startup was valued at $2bn in 2024. DeepL did not disclose the pricing of its agent or plans of future agent launches.

The EIC Scaling Club’s 120 European deep tech scaleups have collectively raised over €1.2 billion in funding within the scope of the programme. The milestone was announced by Stéphane Ouaki, Acting Director of the European Innovation Council & SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA), at the EIC Scaling Club Ambition Forum held on 3 September in Riga, Latvia. Funded by the European Innovation Council (EIC), the EIC Scaling Club is made up of 120 of Europe’s most promising deep tech scaleups in 10 sectors, ranging from Agri Tech to Space Tech. The Club’s purpose is to support its members’ growth over the course of the 2-year programme. The Club inaugurated its members in two cohorts – the first cohort, which joined in April of 2024, has already experienced funding growth of 58.27% since joining, reaching a median of €22.34 million per funding round. Meanwhile, the second cohort, which joined six months later, has grown their teams by 27.7%. The most funded sectors within the EIC Scaling Club are: €447.1 million – Next-Gen Computing, with an average round of €37 million €220.7 million – Renewable Energies, with an average round of €22 million €133.8 million – Smart Mobility, with an average round of €22 million The largest deals of the period include: Multiverse Computing raised €189 million this June, following €67 million in March 2025, for a total of €256 million raised in 2025. The Spanish quantum software company delivers quantum and quantum-inspired solutions to solve complex challenges in finance, energy, manufacturing, and beyond. Axelera AI from the Netherlands raised €61.6 million in 2025 and €58.6 million in 2024 to develop its AI-native hardware and software platform to accelerate artificial intelligence. Aerones, the world's leading robot-enabled wind turbine maintenance and inspections service provider from Latvia, raised €53.4 million in 2025. Edurosat, from Bulgaria, raised €43 million and another undisclosed round in 2025 to make satellite and space missions universally accessible. The company aims to transform the complex satellite industry into a streamlined data service, giving instant access to space data from hundreds of orbiting sensors. H2Site, from Spain, raised €36 million to develop its patented palladium-alloy membrane reactors for high-purity hydrogen separation. While speaking at the Forum, Stéphane Ouaki, Acting Director of EISMEA said: Europe’s deep tech ecosystem has hit a new milestone: The EIC Scaling Club companies have together raised more than €1.2 billion since joining the action. This demonstrates that Europe’s most promising innovators are gaining investor backing, both from the private and the public sector. This achievement is not only about numbers, but also about Europe gaining its strength to lead in future-shaping technologies, making our continent more competitive, sustainable, and secure. Since joining the EIC Scaling Club, the companies have raised a cumulative €287.6 million in 2024, while in 2025, they have already surpassed €910.6 million, indicating an accelerated rate of fundraising. In order to achieve the project’s fundraising targets, the EIC Scaling Club provides Club Members with biannual networking events, facilitating 1:1 meetings with deeptech investors. This year, the Club Members have gathered in Riga, Latvia, for the EIC Scaling Club Ambition Forum, which is hosted by the University of Latvia, with the Latvian Investment and Development Agency (LIAA) as the event’s partner. To develop deep tech technologies in Europe, both public and private funding have to work together in a format that is most appropriate for the time, as well as for the specific company. Latvia is moving in this direction, and hosting Europe’s leading technology developers in Riga, as well as Europe’s public and private funding representatives, 120 Club Members, and ecosystem participants, is a major foundational block for Latvia’s innovation ecosystem. Many meetings will be held, conversations will be further developed and decisions will be made. Riga is a very comfortable and hospitable place for hosting such conferences in Northern Europe. - Egita Aizsilniece-Ibema, EIC Scaling Club Advisory Council Member, and Head of the Latvian office for Innovation and Technology in Brussels The next EIC Scaling Club event will be held in the first half of 2026. It will be the final event of the programme, which will run until October 2026.

Stockholm-based Greenvoltis, an AI-native energy tech company, has closed a new multi-million-dollar funding round, led exclusively by DeepMind Capital. Europe’s energy transition is accelerating, bringing heightened volatility in electricity markets and a decline in long-term fixed contracts. Grid operators, retailers, and asset owners now face mounting pressure to optimize in real time, making flexibility and accuracy essential. Greenvoltis is addressing this challenge by building the infrastructure for a resilient energy ecosystem. Its AI-native, digital-first platform enables renewable asset owners, battery operators, industrial consumers, and energy retailers to actively participate in intelligent grids. By supporting multi-market trading across spot markets and ancillary services, Greenvoltis turns real-time flexibility into new revenue streams. In addition, the company equips strategic investment partners with advanced tools to evaluate projects, drive development, and optimize assets over the long term. Ali Shi, Co-founder of Greenvoltis, shared: From day one in Europe, we built our solution on an AI-native platform architecture aimed at real-time multi-market optimization. Compared with virtual power plant aggregators focused solely on frequency regulation, our team’s industry expertise and technology-iteration capabilities can deliver significant improvements in operational efficiency and revenue. At the 2025 McKinsey Green Business Building Summit (GBB25), Greenvoltis introduced two flagship innovations set to shape the future of clean energy. Aether, an AI-native trading platform, is designed to boost efficiency and revenue for renewable energy and battery-storage operators. Alongside it, Terra AI offers investors powerful modelling capabilities, providing intelligent financial insights to guide infrastructure decisions in complex markets. Together, these launches highlight Greenvoltis’ commitment to end-to-end innovation, combining architecture, data intelligence, and new commercial models, to reinforce Europe’s clean energy value chain. With this new investment, Greenvoltis will accelerate the evolution of its AI-native platform, scaling infrastructure, broadening market reach, and deepening partnerships to advance Europe’s clean energy transition. This round follows the company’s $10 million angel funding in July 2024 from Cyber Creation Ventures (CCV), Planetree Investment, and Unity Ventures, underscoring sustained investor confidence in its long-term vision and technical expertise. Greenvoltis’ mission remains clear: to make renewable energy more accessible, efficient, and reliable, while delivering lasting value to customers, partners, and the planet.

Cambridge-based Xampla, creator of natural materials for commercial use, has secured $14 million in Series A funding to accelerate its mission to replace single-use plastics with plant-based alternatives. Global plastic production is projected to reach one billion tonnes a year, yet with under 10 per cent ever recycled, around 8 billion tonnes of plastics and microplastics have accumulated in the environment. Xampla’s Morro materials provide a natural polymer alternative made from regenerative plant proteins. They are fully plastic-free, biodegradable, and home compostable. Through partnerships with companies like 2M Group of Companies, Huhtamaki, and Transcend Packaging, they’ve already replaced plastic coatings on boxes for Just Eat Takeaway and Bunzl Catering Supplies. Morro™ Coating maintains the recyclability of cardboard while providing strong grease, oxygen, and moisture barriers. Meanwhile, Morro™ films, now being commercialised globally, are soluble, making them a sustainable replacement for polluting plastic PVA films in dishwasher tablets and laundry pods. Food-safe and even edible, they also offer packaging alternatives for single-serve products, from sweets to soups. Alexandra French, CEO of Xampla, shared: This is a major vote of confidence for our revolutionary replacements for polluting plastics, and will see us expanding into Asia Pacific as well as growing in the UK and Europe. We have proven to investors and to brands that Morro™ materials are the real deal in making plastic a material of the past. Our ambition now is nothing less than to see our products – proudly bearing their Morro marque – become the world’s go-to plastic replacement. The investment was led by Emerald Technology Ventures, which manages Europe’s first specialist, venture-backed fund dedicated to the full packaging lifecycle and focused on advancing sustainable materials with strong returns. Also leading the Series A round were BGF, Matterwave Ventures, with follow-on support from existing backers, including Amadeus Capital Partners and Horizons Ventures. Neil Cameron, Partner at Emerald Technology Ventures, noted that collaborating with Xampla aligns with their mission to accelerate a revolution in innovative packaging: This technology hits the sweet spot I search for: a big solution to a big problem that can reap big rewards. And with its current global traction, there is huge potential to scale even further. Rowan Bird, Investor at BGF, added: We believe in the strength of the team, the quality of the product, and the positive role Xampla can play in helping reduce reliance on polluting plastics. We’re excited to support their continued growth as they bring this innovation to more partners and applications.  Ines Kolmsee, Partner at Matterwave Ventures, also commented on the investment, stating that Xampla’s mission is closely aligned with theirs, as the company addresses a critical sustainability challenge with smart technology that integrates seamlessly into existing equipment, ensuring ease of adoption and cost efficiency. She highlighted: They have got their product out of the lab and into the market. It is a remarkable achievement and I know they will now go from strength to strength. Within the next five years, the funding will enable Xampla’s innovative Morro™ materials to replace over ten billion pieces of the most harmful single-use plastics, such as linings in takeaway boxes, coffee cups, and sachets.

AI healthtech startup ArcaScience has raised $7 million in seed funding to expand in the US and UK, launch patient solutions, and advance safer drug evaluation. The round was led by The Moon Venture, with participation from Pléiade Venture, Plug&Play Ventures, Bpifrance, and AKKA Technologies. This is ArcaScience’s first institutional funding round and follows a €1.3 million pre-seed raise with Plug & Play Ventures and angel investors. ArcaScience was founded to tackle a critical weakness in medicine: the lack of tailored treatments and the blind spots in how new drugs are evaluated. After experiencing these inefficiencies firsthand, founder Romain Clement set out to change the system. The company has since developed AI technology that radically improves benefit-risk assessments for pharmaceuticals, giving regulators, clinical teams, and patients tools to make better, safer decisions. Romain Clement, Founder and CEO at ArcaScience, explained: It takes 10+ years to bring a drug to market. There is a 90 per cent fail rate and the average cost per drug that makes it to the market is $2.3 billion. Benefit-risk prediction is no longer a nice-to-have, but a prerequisite for building better drugs. This funding round will help us scale our product, and bring real benefit-risk clarity to both the pharma industry and patients. We’re thrilled to be backed by The Moon Venture whose team of founders turned investors bring unparalleled access to global entrepreneurs and healthtech networks, and Pléiade Venture, who are known for helping startups scale to profitability and long-term success. According to the research, the global benefit-risk evaluation market is valued at $13 billion annually. As AI adoption in healthcare accelerates, experts predict that 80 per cent of pharmaceutical companies will rely on AI solutions for benefit-risk evaluation by 2026. ArcaScience is already seeing traction from this shift, working with global pharma leaders and top research institutions. ArcaScience is solving a critical need in the pharmaceutical industry with a groundbreaking technological approach, said the team at The Moon Venture. We’ve seen remarkable market traction to date, and we believe they are ideally positioned to have a major impact in the pharma and patient care industries. This investment aligns with our strategy of supporting companies that are transforming entire industries through AI. ArcaScience already counts 10 pharma clients, including Sanofi, AstraZeneca, GSK, Takeda, ICON, and the Paris Brain Institute. The company is also a member of a newly formed pan-European consortium looking at ways to combat pediatric brain cancer with AI. The consortium was created by Sanofi and Imagine for Margo and also includes the Paris Brain Institute, the Institut Gustave Roussy, the Medical University of Vienna, as well as major pharma companies such as AstraZeneca, Roche, Merck, and some of the brightest institutions and companies in the world. ArcaScience’s platform has been used by over 70,000 patients in the area of chronic skin diseases and is being adopted by clinical operations and pharmacovigilance leaders to derisk clinical trials and optimise drug development. The funds will fuel US and UK expansion, the launch of ArcaScience’s first patient-facing solution focused on pediatric brain cancer and dermatological diseases, and the growth of its team to accelerate the translation of its AI into measurable clinical impact.

Pan-European fintech venture builder and investor 0TO9 (Zero to Nine) launches out of stealth today with an ambitious goal —  to build 1,000 profitable fintechs by 2045.  Its secret sauce? It operates under European financial services licences, allowing its portfolio companies to launch regulated financial products immediately.  Combined with a powerhouse of industry professionals helping entrepreneurs navigate common market barriers such as complex EU regulations, high capital requirements, and lengthy licensing processes, it gives fintech startups a rare ability to scale faster and more securely across Europe. I spoke to founder Oliver Hildebrandt and Partner and CEO Germany Jessica Holzbach to learn more.  0TO9’s founding team packs ex-Penta, Spotify, EQT Ventures, and four-time CEO firepower 0TO9 is founded and headquartered in Stockholm with an office in Berlin.  Founder Oliver Hildebrandt is a serial entrepreneur who sold his first fintech company at the age of 20 and has since founded four more, including the AI-powered financing platform Gilion (€40 million total equity raised) and the consumer credit platform Plus 1 (with 100 per cent YoY growth), has assembled some of Europe’s most accomplished fintech entrepreneurs to join him on this mission. Jessica Holzbach is a two-time exited fintech founder and the youngest supervisory board member in German banking history). The team also includes: CEO Tord Topsholm, who has served as CEO of four banks and driven successful exits like KKR;  CMO Siduri Poli, co-founder of startup factory Changers Hub and board member of state-owned VC Saminvest; and  Henrik Landgren, ex-Spotify VP Analytics and ex-EQT Ventures Partner, is serving on 0TO9’s board. Hildebrandt admits he dropped out of school when he was 15 and has been an entrepreneur for more than half his life.  “I’ve always loved building in the financial industry because it’s a bit slow and really needs innovation.“ Jessica Holzbach is a seasoned fintech entrepreneur and investor with a proven track record of founding, scaling, and successfully exiting two companies — Penta and Pile and experience as an active angel investor. When she met Hildebrandt, they resonated on the same questions: how should the bank of the future look, and how can venture money be used productively in finance? That led them to join forces at 0TO9. Get a licence from Day 1  In comparison to incubators, accelerators and venture builders, Hildebrandt shared:  “Our key differentiator is licences. It took me a decade in one of my companies to secure a license. At 0TO9, founders get it on day one. That’s something you won’t find in incubators or accelerators.” This is because 0TO9’s model is rooted in Founder Hildebrandt’s firsthand experience building Plus 1. During that decade-long process, he saw how complex regulatory frameworks and high capital requirements can put undue pressure on founders, with investors demanding impressive growth metrics too early in a company’s journey. Hildebrandt admits,  “In building five fintech companies before, I’ve survived the hard path through licensing, regulation, and funding. At times, it nearly killed me."  Nearly three-quarters of fintech startups fail within their first three years because of avoidable regulatory and compliance issues, according to a recent report by consulting firm Hare Strategy Group.  This suggests regulation itself is not the problem; instead, the challenge for European fintech founders is navigating compliance processes without compromising growth, profitability, and speed of execution.  Research from Carta suggests that many early-stage startups are forced to make cost-cutting moves, such as layoffs, to extend their capital runway and prioritise profitability at the expense of growth to satisfy impatient investors.  Hildebrandt designed 0TO9 to resolve this tension between founders and investors by providing early-stage fintechs with a capital runway until they are profitable, access to deposit funding, full compliance and legal support, brand development, technology infrastructure, and advice on go-to-market strategies that help them break into the European market.  Holzbach asserts that 0TO9 combines what they’ve learned: “We help founders navigate compliance and licenses so that they can move faster. But equally important: we’re in it for the long run.  This isn’t about a quick accelerator program and then goodbye. We’re here for 20 years with the companies, and that’s something Oliver and I would have loved to have when we started our first ventures.” 1,000 fintech companies by 2045 The idea of building 1000 profitable fintechs in the next decade sounds overly ambitious — some would say delusional, but Hildebrandt asserts that “looking back 10 years, over 20,000 fintechs were created in Europe. "After five years, only 10 per cent survived. After 10 years, just 1 per cent are still standing." "By building the right platform, we believe survival rates can be much higher. Jessica and I are still young — we feel like we’ve only just started. Setting this goal forces us to work day and night, push ourselves, and inspire more talent to quit their jobs and become founders.” Holzbach speaks to the value of decentralisation: “If you think about it, we don’t have to build 1,000 companies all at once. In the first years, we might only build 500. But by the 20th year, the growth will be exponential as hubs keep producing more companies.” Part of the route to success involves establishing hubs across different countries, where startups can launch locally and then expand. Holzbach contends that innovation doesn’t happen through micromanagement or subsidiaries — it happens when entrepreneurs are trusted to build independently.  0TO9 breaks cover with four fintechs already in market — two profitable within six months Significantly, 0TO9 emerges from stealth with several strong businesses already in its portfolio, including: Fuels Capital: financing for entrepreneurs and investors, profitable after six months; NordKronan: financing for real estate projects and companies, profitable after six months; Flow & Partners: factory and business loans for SMEs, launching today; and  HUGO: AI-powered savings assistant, launching today. 0TO9 trades consultants for hands-on execution In terms of founders, 0TO9 welcomes a mix that could include students, recent graduates, first-time entrepreneurs, seasoned industry experts, or even senior banking executives. The common denominator is passion for building.  The 0TO9 team sit in the same offices in Berlin and Sweden as the portfolio companies. According to Holzbach, the CMO works closely with their marketing team, and she and Oliver are essentially co-founders.  “Unlike many programs where consultants give advice, we roll up our sleeves and execute alongside them.” The team has spoken with hundreds of potential founders, even while in stealth, and Holzbach contends: “The one thing they share is the desire to work independently and creatively. Often, they’re just one tiny step away from taking the leap. That’s where we come in. If you have that, we’ll help with the missing piece: idea, team, compliance, or regulatory path.” Hildebrandt advises prospective founders to “reach out. Don’t wait,” while Holzbach suggests that there are countless fintech problems still unsolved. "Just because funding has slowed doesn’t mean the opportunities aren’t there.”

Anthropic, the AI research startup behind the Claude family of models, has raised $13 billion in a Series F round, bringing its post-money valuation to $183 billion, more than tripling its value from just six months ago. The round was led by investment firm ICONIQ, with Fidelity Management & Research and Lightspeed Venture Partners co-leading. Other major investors include the Qatar Investment Authority, Blackstone, and Coatue. This marks a sharp rise from the company’s $61.5 billion valuation in March 2025, when it raised $3.5 billion in Series E. The fresh capital will be used to "expand our capacity to meet growing enterprise demand, deepen our safety research, and support international expansion as we continue building reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems," Anthropic said in a blog post. Anthropic’s growth has been driven largely by rising enterprise demand for its Claude AI models. In August, the company released Claude Opus 4.1, an upgrade focused on agentic tasks, real-world coding, and reasoning, areas that continue to drive adoption in enterprise software and development teams. Anthropic's partners include Alphabet and Amazon, the latter of which is reportedly considering another multibillion-dollar investment to deepen its strategic partnership with the startup. Anthropic is also deepening its ties with the U.S. government. In August, Claude was added to the list of approved AI vendors by the U.S. General Services Administration, joining OpenAI and Google. The company later said it would offer Claude to the U.S. government for just $1, signaling a longer-term strategy to become a key AI supplier for public-sector needs.

Gastrointestinal diagnostics startup Cyted Health has secured $44 million in Series B funding, led by EQT Life Sciences, with Advent Life Sciences and the British Business Bank (formerly British Patient Capital) joining as co-leads. Existing investors Morningside and BGF also participated in the round, which includes a non-dilutive contribution from a strategic partnership with HCA Healthcare. The Cambridge-founded company, which develops molecular diagnostics for the early detection of esophageal diseases, plans to use the capital to accelerate commercial expansion in the United States, consolidate its presence in the UK market, and grow its portfolio of advanced diagnostic tests. “This Series B financing marks a defining moment for Cyted as we continue to deepen our commitment to detecting esophageal diseases earlier,” said Marcel Gehrung, CEO and Co-founder of Cyted Health. “This investment will help us consolidate our leading position in the market by expanding our US presence and adding new life-saving innovations to our advanced diagnostics portfolio.” Cyted’s diagnostics platform centers on EndoSign, an FDA 510(k)-cleared device that enables minimally invasive collection of esophageal cells, alongside a suite of proprietary biomarker-based molecular tests. The platform aims to offer a patient-friendly alternative to endoscopy, enabling earlier detection of conditions such as Barrett’s esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma. The company has already demonstrated substantial clinical traction in the UK through the National Health Service (NHS), with over 35,000 tests performed to date. Its technology is backed by a growing body of peer-reviewed publications validating both patient acceptance and clinical effectiveness. “Cyted is strongly positioned to redefine the standard of care in upper GI diagnostics worldwide,” said Bruno Holthof, Partner at EQT Life Sciences. “Its minimally invasive diagnostics platform is the standout innovation to capture this significant market opportunity, and we’re delighted to add the company to our portfolio.” The gastrointestinal diagnostics market is experiencing increased investor attention, driven by rising global incidence of esophageal and colorectal cancers, growing demand for non-invasive diagnostics, and mounting healthcare system pressures to detect and treat diseases earlier. Cyted operates at the intersection of biomarker-based precision medicine and preventive gastroenterology, two fast-growing verticals within the healthtech and diagnostics space. Its focus on early-stage detection of esophageal conditions positions it well in a market segment where survival rates can increase dramatically with earlier diagnosis. The company’s expansion into the US, the world's largest diagnostics market, will likely target health systems and value-based care providers looking for scalable, cost-effective alternatives to invasive procedures. The strategic partnership with HCA Healthcare, one of the US's largest for-profit hospital networks, may provide a strong commercialisation foothold. The Series B financing follows Cyted’s formation of a Clinical Advisory Board, comprising leading experts in gastroenterology and oncology, tasked with guiding the company's clinical strategy as it scales internationally.

Klarna aims to raise as much as $1.27 billion in its US IPO, as the Swedish fintech today revealed details of its IPO plans, which had previously been paused because of the Trump tariffs. The Swedish fintech announced the launch of its New York IPO, in a regulatory filing. Klarna and its investors will sell a total of 34.3m shares, with the offer prices between $35 and $37 per ordinary share. Klarna will offer 5.6m of shares, with the rest offered by Klarna investors. The share offering will value Klarna up to $14bn. Klarna will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol KLAR. Klarna pulled its IPO plans in April amid the market fallout of the Trump tariffs. Klarna pointed out that its offering was "subject to market conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the proposed offering may be completed, or as to the actual size or terms of the proposed offering". Klarna, most well known for its BNPL products, is currently making a big play in the US and is looking to reposition itself as a bank. It recently launched a debit-first card in the US and across the EU.

Today the EQT Foundation has launched another global fast-grant for rare disease science, designed to accelerate high-risk, high-reward research that rarely makes it through traditional funding filters. Over 300 million people worldwide live with a rare disease - nearly half of them children. For most, the journey is marked by years-long diagnostic odysseys, frequent misdiagnosis, and a lifetime of symptoms with no approved or effective treatments. The result is profound suffering and an urgent unmet need. According to Cilia Holmes Indahl, CEO of EQT Foundation, “rare diseases are among the most underserved areas in medicine, “yet they’ve catalysed some of our most transformative therapeutic breakthroughs, such as early gene therapy for severe immunodeficiencies and advanced, targeted biologics. “ EQT Foundation is seeking to award €25,000 to €100,000 in catalytic grant funding to research projects with innovative, translational approaches that have the potential for outsized patient outcomes in this space. I spoke to Cilia Holmes Indahl, CEO of EQT Foundation to learn more. Indahl shared: “Through our Breakthrough Science program, we’re offering fast, flexible grants to support researchers working at the edge of innovation, developing RNA-based tools, digital trial platforms, or scalable delivery technologies that can materially improve outcomes for small patient populations.” Flipping the model on rare disease research funding Rare disease research is often where breakthroughs begin; CRISPR, gene therapies, biologics, but the funding model hasn’t caught up. This new grant flips the model: It offers €25–100K grants, deployed fast with decisions in weeks, not months. Further, the grant is open globally, with a focus on underfunded and underrepresented rare conditions and is backed by EQT’s network of commercial, regulatory, and scientific experts to push ideas from lab to clinic. According to Indahl, “many of these scientists are navigating complex, underfunded areas with limited data and fragmented infrastructure, and we want to give them the resources and support to move faster toward first-in-patient impact.”Indahl contends that solving for rare diseases isn’t just about science: “It’s about building the systems that allow breakthroughs to reach patients, wherever they are. At EQT Foundation, we’re focused on supporting translational science that goes beyond the lab.” “Through the Breakthrough Science program, EQT Foundation offers more than just capital. We connect researchers with a global network of healthcare experts, commercialisation support, and strategic partners who can help turn promising ideas into patient-ready solutions. Whether it’s scaling trial models or improving access through decentralised diagnostics, we’re here to help science move faster, and further.” The call out is particularly interested in funding initiatives focused on: Novel therapeutic platforms & curative modalities: Bold approaches that treat rare diseases at their root cause with a clear path to IND/first-in-patient. This includes enzyme replacement therapies, oral therapies (e.g. neurotransmitter modulators), gene therapies, RNA-based therapeutics (e.g. RNA-based gene modulation, RNA interference), synergistic approaches, and delivery engineering (e.g. alternative delivery approaches, vector optimisation, CMC, in-process analytics), and n-of-few/one toolchains that responsibly scale individualized medicines. Biomarkers for trial enablement, with selective early detection: The discovery, validation, and development of assays for novel prognostic biomarkers and candidate surrogate outcome measures that improve small-population trial design. Instrument-light or ultra-rapid molecular assays using new chemistries or microfluidics that materially shorten the diagnostic odyssey for patients in underserved settings and have a clear path to impact. Trial & evidence acceleration (path to first-in-patient): Deeptech methods that turn scarce, fragmented and small-N data into regulatory-grade evidence and accelerate the path to first-in-patient within 12-18 months. Examples could include FAIR-aligned, interoperable registries for a specific rare disease network; submission ready natural-history and digital biomarker platforms; AI-enabled drug repurposing with a clear clinical evidence plan for new indication. Access-enabling technology: Rare diseases affect people worldwide, and the Foundation encourages ideas that benefit patients in low-resource or remote settings. This could mean developing cost-effective therapies or diagnostics that can be deployed in healthcare systems with limited infrastructure, or process innovations that lower cost and complexity of manufacturing/distribution suitable for constrained settings and tied to measurable patient outcomes for individuals with rare conditions. Innovative disease models & mechanistic insights: Human-relevant models (e.g., patient-derived iPSCs, 3D organoids, organ-on-chip) that recapitulate rare-disease biology and de-risk targets/therapeutics — enabling biomarker discovery, patient stratification, and decision-grade preclinical evidence. The EQT Foundation supports entrepreneurs, researchers, and non-profits to build a regenerative and more inclusive tomorrow. Founded by Partners at EQT, the foundation exists to push the frontiers of impact, empower the entire EQT ecosystem to give back to society in meaningful ways, and safeguard the EQT Values.   Applications are open.