Italian company  Alps Blockchain,  a producer of computational power for blockchain and digital mining, has received €105 million debt financing from fintech Azimut. This brings the company’s funding to over €140 million. Founded in 2018, Alps Blockchain builds and operates greener mining farms. It revives historic hydroelectric power plants by installing mining farms integrated with the traditional production system to create more sustainable mining.   Today, Alps Blockchain has extended its reach from  Europe to South America and the Middle East, focusing on projects that generate scalable growth and new opportunities through computational power generation.  In the last three years the company has quintupled the number of mining machines installed in its planned sites globally from 2,500 to over  15,000. This increase has enabled the company to reach a total energy capacity of  50 MW and more than 2 EH/s (exahash per second) of computing power produced by June 2024.  Giorgio Medda, CEO and Global Head of Asset Management & Fintech of the Azimut  Group, commented:  "We are thrilled to strengthen our relationship with Alps  Blockchain, whose objective is to make mining more sustainable. This new transaction is part of Azimut's broader commitment to promoting a global and sustainable energy transition through innovative investment solutions in private markets.” Francesco Buffa, CEO of Alps Blockchain, stated:  “At Alps Blockchain, we are committed to shaping projects that foster the synergy between new technologies and the world of energy, generating a positive impact in both sectors.” The funds raised will support Alps Blockchain's growth and  internationalisation path, consolidating and implementing its existing  operations and considering expansion into new markets.  Lead image: Alps Blockchain. Photo: uncredited.

Women’s health app Flo Health has raised more than $200M in a Series C investment from General Atlantic, bringing its funding to over $275 million. This minority investment propels Flo's valuation beyond $1 billion, making it the first purely digital consumer women’s health app to achieve unicorn status.  Flo supports women at every stage of their health journey, from menstruation to conception, pregnancy, and menopause. With over 120 doctors and health experts, the all-in-one platform offers curated cycle and ovulation tracking. Users can monitor over 70 symptoms and access various features designed to enhance their understanding and management of their health.  Flo also provides users with tailored health insights, expert tips, daily bite-sized visual content, and access to a private digital discussion community focused on health and wellness-related topics.  In 2023, Flo launched ‘Flo for Partners’, which enables users to educate and empower their partners with scientific insights into their menstrual and reproductive health.  Flo's growth has been significant, after more than eight years of continuous expansion. As of June 2024, the company supports nearly 70 million monthly active users (MAUs) and close to 5 million paid subscribers. This rapid growth is further reflected in Flo's gross bookings for 2024, which are expected to exceed $200 million this year – an approximately 50% year-over-year increase.  "Reaching unicorn status is a significant milestone for Flo and the entire femtech industry," said Dmitry Gurski, co-founder and CEO of Flo Health.  "When we started Flo, we identified a huge gap in women's health services. Now, we're a leader in a global movement to make women's health a priority everywhere.  This investment from General Atlantic will help propel Flo Health’s growth as we continue normalising conversations about women's health, improving health literacy, and raising awareness of women's health issues worldwide, especially in underserved regions.” Jessie Cai, Principal at General Atlantic, commented:  “We have been lucky enough to watch the Flo team over the past five years build a beloved, mission-critical app for women globally, and now we have the fortunate opportunity to partner with Dmitry and his team.  We are excited about their big vision and the innovation ahead for the broader women’s health and wellness ecosystem.” "This investment accelerates Flo's mission to revolutionise women's health," said Anna Klepchukova, Chief Medical Officer of Flo Health.  "With women spending 25 per cent more of their lives in poor health compared to men, we're committed to changing this unacceptable status quo." As the #1 OB-GYN-recommended cycle tracking app, Flo empowers users with tailored health insights, enabling better-informed conversations with healthcare providers.  We serve as a tool for preventive care and health education, helping our users recognise potential issues early and encouraging proactive healthcare management, all while maintaining the highest standards of medical credibility, data privacy, and user trust." As part of the transaction, Tanzeen Syed, Managing Director and Head of Consumer Internet and Technology at General Atlantic, and Jessie Cai, will join Flo's Board of Directors. With this new funding, Flo plans to expand into new user segments including perimenopause and menopause, enhance its tech-driven health insights, and pursue strategic expansion opportunities. Flo also intends to leverage General Atlantic’s significant expertise in scaling companies at the intersection of consumer technology, healthcare, and subscription business models.   Lead image: Flo Health. Photo: uncredited. 

Carbon accounting software startup Tset has closed €12.7 million Series A round as it expands to new markets and industries. Founded in 2018 by Andreas Tsetinis and Sasan Hashemi, the Austria-based company is a global software provider specialising in enterprise-wide product cost and emissions calculations for industrial goods.  Tset's SaaS software provides real-time insights into the impact of design changes on the product cost and carbon footprint, enabling the manufacturing industry to maximise cost and CO₂-efficient product development, production and procurement.  The cloud-based software is offered as a SaaS product and can be used from the early development phase through to series production, providing customers with a higher margin and greater transparency of product emissions.  Tset’s customers include AGCO, Brose, Lego, Thyssenkrupp, ZF and, since this year, the BMW Group.  Hashemi and Tsetinis emphasise:  “Due to the regulation of CO₂ emissions and the increasingly intense competition in the automotive industry, the demand for our software is continuously growing.  Following our success in Europe, we are now increasingly working on entering the North American and Asian markets.”  Investors in the current round include Carbon Removal Partners, Brose Ventures, and Ingenics Holding. Lead image: Tset. Photo: uncredited.

OpusFlow, a pioneering all-in-one ERP solution for sustainable installers proudly announces a €1.7M investment from Peak, a prominent B2B SaaS investor. OpusFlow is currently gearing up to further enhance its product offering and expand its market reach across the European continent. Launched in November 2022, OpusFlow emerged to focus exclusively on developing modular ERP functionalities for sustainable installation companies specializing in sustainable technologies such as solar panels, heat pumps, home-batteries and electric vehicle charging stations. Unlike existing solutions, OpusFlow's API-first approach allows seamless integration with external systems and facilitates rapid feature development, ensuring its capability to meet diverse customer needs. Diego Smits, Founder and CEO of OpusFlow, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership with Peak: "This investment represents a huge validation of our vision to enable sustainable installers to run their business on autopilot by streamlining their operations and increasing their revenues. We co-developed our solution with leading sustainable installers building a flexible and highly customizable all-in-one ERP solution with industry specific features like a PV calculator as generic solutions for quotations, CRM, planning, project and stock management. With Peak's support, resources and knowledge we are assured to effectively deliver value within our product development and expand our footprint across new markets." Joey Teunissen, Founder and CTO, highlighted OpusFlow's commitment to customer-centric innovation: "Our strength lies in collaborating closely with our clients to understand their unique challenges. This approach not only drives our product evolution but also ensures that our solutions remain highly relevant and impactful in the rapidly evolving installation industry. Our secret sauce is not that we provide all relevant modules in one system, it’s the workflow automations which you can build on top that drives the real customer value." Peak, known for its expertise in scaling go-to-market efforts in SaaS companies, led the investment round. "From the day we met the team, we were excited about their vision and rapid execution. OpusFlow's has a tremendous dedication to customer-centric development and has been executing extremely well in delivering a broad solution for a specific customer group. This aligns well with our thesis of an increase in successful vertical SaaS solutions," remarked Thijs Dijkman, Partner at Peak. "We are excited to support the Opusflow team in its journey to enable sustainable installers to realize their ambitions quicker and more efficiently by providing the best-in-class all-in-one ERP solution." OpusFlow currently serves clients in the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, and Belgium. The majority of its clients are active in sustainable installations like solar panels, heat pumps, home-batteries and electric vehicle charging stations, but it’s also widely adopted in installation and maintenance companies in Airco’s, Wind Turbines and cooling. The investment will enable the team to double down on their international markets and expand further into Europe.  

UK extended reality (XR) software startup Luminous XR has raised a further £1 million from the North East Venture Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Mercia Ventures. Founded in 2006 as a 3D mapping specialist, Luminous XR moved into virtual reality ten years later.  Mercia first backed the company in 2017 and has provided successive rounds of investment from its own funds and from the NEVF to enable it to develop its products and grow the business. The latest funding brings the total raised to date to £3.55 million. Luminous XR’s platform enables developers to create metaverse-style training programmes and simulate real-life scenarios, for example for health and safety training. It is particularly popular with clients in the energy, manufacturing and industrial sectors. The company has also developed a virtual reality content authoring tool, FLOW, which will be launched in late summer and will make it easier and faster to create training content by removing the need to write code. Ben Bennett, CEO of Luminous XR, said:  “Luminous is used by the biggest brands in the industrial and manufacturing sectors who have the highest training standards. Our XR platform is paving the way for the adoption of Extended Reality training, providing a scalable, secure solution with many advanced features. The current funding round will now allow us to grow our sales and marketing as we expand globally.” Chris McCourt of Mercia Ventures added:  “Luminous XR’s system enables companies to recreate real-life scenarios and offer more effective training at lower cost. With the use of virtual reality growing worldwide, companies are waking up to its potential. The latest funding will enable Ben and the team to capitalise on this trend and continue their growth by targeting the US and other global markets.” The latest investment follows the company’s success in winning a seven-figure contract from a major Middle East oil provider. It will help the Newcastle-based business to deliver the project and target other overseas markets, in particular in the US. Luminous XR now employs 30 staff. In addition to its Newcastle headquarters, it also has an office in Bahrain and has recently established a presence in Texas, USA. Lead image: Ben Bennett and Chris McCourt, Luminous XR. Photo: uncredited. 

Nanotechnology is a rapidly evolving field with the potential to transform science and technology. Its ability to manipulate matter at the atomic and molecular level opens up new possibilities for creating materials and devices with unprecedented properties and functionalities. Here are promising startups in the space to watch:  Poly-Dtech (France) Image: Poly-Dtech.  Founded in 2019, Poly-Dtech is a company based in Strasbourg that develops and produces immunoassays and Lateral Flow tests based on high-performance fluorescent nanoparticles with unique features. It aims to enhance current screening, drug discovery, and early disease diagnosis by advancing biomarker detection in scientific research and medical diagnostics. Specifically, Bright-Dtech offers a range of fluorescent dyes using nanoparticles that emit light across a spectrum from green to infrared , providing high sensitivity and accuracy in detection. These dyes surpass existing products by significantly improving biomarker detection across diverse sample types and concentration levels, including previously undetected biomarkers. The company provides ready-to-use kits that simplify using their fluorescent dyes and nanoparticles in research and diagnostic applications. Nanosci (Poland) Nanosci is developing air purification and disinfection technology using nanotechnology.  The company has created an innovative solution for air purification that addresses both air pollutants and viruses. It uses a nanotech-based photocatalytic engine that can be integrated into various electrical appliances, such as lighting fixtures and ventilation systems.  This technology aims to provide a high index of air purification, low electricity consumption, and maintenance-free operation for years without filter changes. Usecases include elevators, public transport, and school classrooms.  Nium (UK) Nium develops patent-pending nanotechnology that produces greener ammonia. Ammonia is used in a wide variety of industrial and commercial applications from fertiliser to shipping fuel and metal extraction in mining. However about 80-90 per cent of industrially produced ammonia is currently made using fossil fuels, particularly natural gas, through the Haber-Bosch process. This results in significant greenhouse gas emissions. In response, Nium has developed modular energy-efficient small-scale chemical reactors (it calls them minions) that synthesise ammonia at a fraction of the price and pollution of traditional methods.   Replacing the Haber-Bosch-derived global ammonia market with Nium's cleaner alternative can eliminate 1-2 per cent of global CO2 emissions from agriculture, a further 3 per cent from shipping and expedite the replacement of grey hydrogen with green hydrogen around the world.  Chiral (Switzerland)  Chiral develops robotic machines to integrate nanomaterials into electronic devices to enhance performance. The machines offer the complete automated assembly of clean nanotransistors at wafer scale with unprecedented precision and speed.  They can robotically place micrometre-sized (or even nanometer-sized) materials on small chips.  The tech can be used in high-performance transistors, low-power chemical and physical sensors, nanoscale systems exhibiting quantum effects, and targeted drug delivery systems INEM Technologies (Greece) Spun out of the  Democritus University of Thrace, INEM Technologies, develops advanced nanomaterials and electrochemical devices, particularly for lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery technology. The company aims to push the boundaries of battery performance, targeting improvements in temperature resilience, weight, charging time, and overall lifespan.  Lithium-ion batteries perform poorly in the minus Celsius temperatures. Inem has developed AIM Cell,  a novel internal pre-heating method for low-temperature batteries. The AIM Cell™ technology offers fast and uniform pre-heating of the active material from low temperatures of -40oC, with low energy consumption. The tech is chemistry agnostic, meaning it can be implemented on any battery electrode. Solid-state batteries could also benefit from the advantages of AIM™ heating, as it can keep the solid electrolyte warm during operation. The company has also developed The HELT Cell, spun out of space tech,  to eliminate the need for RHU (radioisotope heater units) for the batteries in Exploration Vehicles in Lunar Missions. Envue Technologies (Sweden) Image: Envue Technologies Envue Technologies is a spinout from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden. The company specialises in nanoparticle characterisation technology, offering innovative solutions for analysing freely moving and label-free single molecules. It has developed a patent-pending innovation called Nanofluidic scattering microscopy. NSM is based on optical microscopy of small objects suspended inside Nanofluidic channels. In this configuration, light scattered from the object and the channel will interfere, resulting in a magnified optical signature.  Objects moving inside the channel can be tracked, and their size can be determined based on their movement characteristics. Researchers can use the technology in a variety of applications, including : Studying proteins and other biomolecules, e.g. Mass and Size characterisation,  DNA tracking and characterisation Quality control, e.g., identifying species in complex media and counting particles.  Lead image: Nium. Photo: uncredited. 

Zurich-based climate tech startup Metafuels and the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) has been awarded a grant from the Swiss Federal Office of Energy to construct an e-SAF pilot plant for the development of sustainable aviation fuel. The grant will contribute to the realisation of a pilot facility to demonstrate the innovative aerobrew technology developed by Metafuels and the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI for the production of sustainable aviation fuel made from renewable energies, a so-called e-SAF. Operation is planned for early 2025. The facility, which will be the first of its kind in Switzerland, will be set up at the PSI campus in Villigen AG. Aviation is included in Switzerland’s net-zero target and the government recognises the significant role e-SAF will play to achieve this. PSI is Switzerland’s largest research institute for natural and engineering sciences. Set to be the country’s first such plant, the facility will be installed at the PSI campus in Villigen AG and will focus on demonstrating groundbreaking sustainable aviation fuel technology for large-scale commercial deployment. Metafuels, along with technology development partner PSI, have secured the grant funding under the Pilot & Demonstration (P&D) programme, on account of the highly innovative nature of their technology and close alignment with the key objectives of the Swiss Energy Strategy 2050. The timing is crucial, as the decarbonization of aviation emerges as one of the greatest technological challenges. While current alternatives such as electrification and hydrogen remain years away from widespread adoption, especially for long-haul flights due to logistical and design hurdles, sustainable aviation fuel emerges as a viable drop-in replacement for conventional kerosene. Developing Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) made using renewable electricity (e-SAF)—a further environmentally-refined version of what has emerged as the leading long-term strategy to decarbonize air travel. It does not require the re-engineering or re-purchase of aircraft—nor a redesign of the underlying fueling infrastructure which supports both commercial and cargo airlines, route planning, and the existing customer experience, all of which make it an attractive and versatile option. aerobrew e-SAF can replace conventional kerosene regardless of the size and type of aircraft or whether it operates short- or long-haul. But unlike competitors in this space, aerobrew technology aims to achieve the lowest cost of production through high efficiency and ultra-high yield of e-SAF. Similarly, the technology is expected to achieve high environmental performance—through an up to 90% reduction of life cycle emissions and not chipping away at food and feed supply chains. The aviation sector accounts for over 2% of global CO2 emissions—some 800 million tonnes.

The German CEO of Berlin-based Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) startup Solaris is an Anglophile. “I like the English mentality,” says Carsten Höltkemeyer. “I like their humour. I like the fact that they can laugh about themselves quite a bit. I resonated with a lot of people in the UK. “The Germans are sometimes very straight. If you don’t like somebody, you say ‘I don’t like you’.” Höltkemeyer has had plenty of dealings with Brits, by dint of stints at UK finance powerhouses Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclaycard, in a CV wedded to Oscar Wilde’s maxim that the “aim of life is self-development”. Höltkemeyer says: “When you look back at my CV, there is a lot of change. What I actually like to do is change businesses and change direction, growing, doing better and developing cultures.” CV He has hotfooted it around, from a PWC auditor to senior finance roles at Commerzbank (his ambition was always to be a CFO of a traditional bank), to Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclaycard, to senior payment roles, to private equity. He entered the fintech world not as a young idealist executive but as a 50-year-old plus gnarly banking veteran, wanting to test himself. His appetite for fintech was whetted by chairing the supervisory board of German digital lender Auxmoney, after which he joined Solaris as CEO in 2021. He says: “ When you work for a big banking group like Barclays and RBS, you want to do so many things but your technology, people will tell you ‘that will last a few years, few months’. “So you are limited by your legacy systems quite a bit. Moving into the fintech world, I learned there is a different way of doing things, much quicker, and much faster.” As a side hustle, the sport-loving CEO has also until recently served as a board member at FC St Pauli (Hamburg’s fußballmannschaft nummer zwei). However, he left before the team got promoted to the dizzy heights of the Bundesliga this year after a 14-year hiatus. Channelling English drollness, Höltkemeyer says: “People say ‘immediately after your six-year engagement, they went up to the first league. Is that to do with your departure? I say no, no, I prepared everything and now it’s the easy part'.” Solaris facts and figs Solaris, founded in 2015, shines bright among German startups, a unicorn last valued at €1.6bn, which is also one of Europe’s biggest BaaS providers. The fintech, baked by Visa and Spain’s BBVA, has raised over €470m, including a €96m funding round earlier this year. It has around 700 staff, across 10 offices including the UK, Spain and Italy and offers its banking services across Europe. Its latest financials, for 2022, show it notched up around €130m of annual revenues, which are set to almost double after it scooped a 10-year contract to issue credit cards for Europe’s biggest motor association. But the rise of Solaris has not been trouble-free: it has been shackled by the German regulator BaFin, wary about the BaaS model amid a German financial landscape where the demise of Wirecard still casts a pall. Furthermore, in light of the demise of the US’s Synapse, which called itself the biggest Banking-as-a-Service company, further questions about the BaaS model have arisen. The Solaris business To use industry parlance, Solaris is a BaaS provider, which means it provides white-label financial services, such as debit cards, credit cards, KYC, and digital banking to fintechs, like German fintech Naga Pay and banking platform Vivid Money as well as corporate clients like Samsung and Amex. Solaris, which has a German banking licence and an EMI (Electronic Money Institution) licence, offers a full suite of banking products including lending options, making it, experts say, more of a compelling offering than many of its competitors. Solaris can also pass on a per cent of deposit interest to customers. Competitors across Europe include Aion Bank, a European licenced bank and BaaS provider Vodeno, which together offer embedded financial services across Europe as well as BaaS providers, leveraging EMI licences, like Treezor and Railsr. BaaS market cooking The BaaS market continues to cook, as firms look to embed financial services into their product offering to increase customer stickiness. Europe’s BaaS market size was valued at $116.98bn in 2023 and is expected to grow at 9.4 per cent this year, industry figures show. At Solaris, clients come in via a mixture of inbound- it gets RFPs (Request for Proposals) from big organisations- as well as outbound from its in-house sales and partnership teams, the CEO says. ADAC contract Recently, Solaris’s focus has switched from fintech clients amid fintech funding drying out to higher value corporate clients, exemplified by snatching “landmark” client ADAC. Expected to bring in north of €100m revenues a year, Höltkemeyer heralds the ADAC contract as “probably one of the biggest you can get in this market”. Solaris won the account in 2022, providing co-branded credit cards to the motor association’s 22 million members. But a report in the FT last year said Solaris had struggled to raise €100m in funds, casting doubt over whether it could fulfil the contract. Funding for upfront payment The funding, the report said, was needed for an upfront payment to ADAC as well as funding to meet regulatory requirements as it took on ADAC credit cards’ €500mn loan book. The report said ADAC has contacted bidders of the original contract, DKB, Deutsche Bank and Hanseatic bank, to see whether they would consider clubbing together with Solaris on the contract. But, says Höltkemeyer, in light of Solaris's funding round earlier this year, the issue has now been fixed and Solaris is on top of the contract. He says: “We are in the final phase of migrating the existing supplier of ADAC to our own books. Hopefully, after that, we will see a smooth running of the portfolio.” Financial discipline One of the reasons Höltkemeyer was drafted in, given his experiences in the upper echelons of the banking world, was to help Solaris become profitable and instil more banking discipline. Solaris reported annual losses of €56mn for 2022 but Höltkemeyer says it “scratched profitability” last year, and “probably next year will get much closer to profitability”. Höltkemeyer admitted that in the past Solaris “didn’t put too much focus on regulation”. This lack of focus has come back to bite Solaris on the bum. Earlier this month, the German bank regulator BaFin said it had threatened to fine Solaris if it doesn't meet deadlines to improve anti-money laundering controls and other shortfalls. The shortfalls also relate to regulatory reporting and the way it tracks its contracts. Approval for new clients BaFin also said that it was extending the mandate of a special monitor installed since 2022 to oversee progress- this means that Solaris can’t bring in new clients without the regulator’s approval. Solaris is not alone, and others such as German challenger bank N26 have felt the wrath of the German regulator. Höltkemeyer points out that Solaris has picked up clients, like Bitpanda, via BaFin approval. He says “we do a risk assessment and then we share it with BaFin and they then support it or not” adding that he is “very confident” Solaris won’t be hit with fines in the future. He adds: “I feel since the Wirecard disaster, there has been a lot more scrutiny around how to deal with companies. "You can say it’s very tough to comply with the regulations. It needs some investments to really comply in full. “But on the other hand, once you are fully tested and approved by the regulator, I think this is a USP, because what we are selling is a banking product to corporates and, of course, they want to know the partner they are dealing with is fully compliant.” Another potential deadline facing Solaris, says the CEO, is its investors looking for an exit in the next couple of years. He says he is “not super concrete” on whether this will be an IPO. Competitive spirit Höltkemeyer spends a lot of time on the road, he lives in Hamburg, his family in Düsseldorf and he works in Berlin,on top of which he has work travel. But an inherently competitive individual, be it in sports or business, he is not one to complain. He will need to draw on this competitive spirit as he looks to navigate Solaris through the regulatory challenges ahead, instilling financial discipline and scooping some big corporate clients. Lead image: Carsten Höltkemeyer. Photo: uncredited. 

Industrial automation startup Flink Robotics has received €156,000 (CHF 150,000) from Venture Kick to enable robots to adapt to dynamic environments.  Flink Robotics is an ETH spinoff emerging from the Computational Robotics Lab and affiliated with the ETH AI Center. Its founding team includes CEO Dr. Moritz Geilinger, CTO Simon Huber, and CSO Prof. Dr. Stelian Coros. Flink Robotics transforms robots into adaptable, plug-and-play workers suitable for a variety of dynamic material handling tasks.  Its software, FlinkAutonomy, has built-in physical intelligence that enables robots to perceive and react to changes in their environment and collaboratively solve material handling tasks.  By combining advanced machine perception with a differentiable physics engine, this empowers a new generation of plug-and-play robots that can be installed within minutes without altering existing environments and are incredibly easy to use. Flink Robotics’ initial customers are in the parcel delivery and end-of-line packaging industries, where labour shortages are most acute. “The support from Venture Kick recognises our work and our potential to transform the robot automation industry,” highlighted CEO Moritz Geilinger.  “The funding has been instrumental in launching our company, providing the necessary resources to secure our first customers and develop the initial version of our product." Flink Robotics will use the CHF 150,000 from Venture Kick to accelerate its go-to-market strategy and undertake additional pilot projects. Lead image: Flink Robotics. Photo: uncredited. 

Stairpay, a platform for shared housing ownership, has raised £750k in Pre-Seed funding, led by Fuel Ventures with participation from Heartfelt Ventures. Stairpay automates the entire shared ownership journey for both residents and housing associations to help more people gradually build towards 100% home ownership. The startup has also partnered with a leading housing association, Clarion and social enterprise, Places for People as well as Share to Buy, the largest property portal for shared ownership. The startup, which currently focuses on automating staircasing - the process of gradually building towards 100% home ownership - has partnered with leading housing association, Clarion and social enterprise, Places for People. The company has also partnered with Share to Buy, the largest property portal for shared ownership, to facilitate automatic listing of shared ownership properties for sale. These partnerships will leverage Stairpay’s data-driven insights to enhance and simplify the shared ownership experience for residents using the part-buy, part-rent scheme designed to make housing more affordable. The end of the Help to Buy scheme in 2022, which enabled the purchase of almost 390,000 new build homes, has also created a supply void. Consequently, the number of first-time buyers dropped to a 10-year low of 293,000last year, highlighting the need for innovative solutions. Stairpay’s platform addresses these challenges by automating the entire shared ownership journey for both residents and housing associations — from initial purchase to staircasing and resales. Residents can manage their entire shared ownership experience through the app, eliminating the need for dealing with multiple advisers and complex paperwork. Stairpay also captures crucial data points to help housing associations better understand their residents and optimise their shared ownership offerings. A successful two-month pilot with Clarion saw an additional £1.58m worth of staircasing instructions generated and strong resident engagement with the app. Floris ten Nijenhuis, Founder of Stairpay said: “Stairpay was born out of the desire to solve the challenges faced by first-time buyers looking to get onto the property ladder. The UK has the largest shared ownership market globally, but has challenges to address. Our partnerships with Places for People, Clarion and Share to Buy signify the collective intent to apply a data-driven approach to significantly improve the shared ownership experience for both residents, housing associations and other stakeholders which will see more people realise their dream of full home ownership. Shared Ownership has also become an increasingly popular asset class, attracting significant investment from the likes of Blackstone, Legal & General and M&G. Our technology provides data and insights to make Shared Ownership an even more attractive asset class by determining who it works for.” Mike Stevenson, Principal at Fuel Ventures said: “The shared ownership market in the UK is currently facing significant challenges and the results of Stairpay’s pilot with Clarion Housing has demonstrated the potential of innovative solutions to address them. By leveraging data, the platform simplifies and enhances the shared ownership experience for both housing associations and residents. We are excited to support Floris and the team in their mission to help more people achieve their dream of owning a home.”  

Greentech startup MARCLEY from Hannover has raised a latest financing round of over €4M. The round was led by investors Virida Capital, a new energy-hardware VC (part of the Green Giraffe Group), the Munich-based VC Venture Stars, as well as business angels including Emma Tracey and Florian Bennhold. Previous investors, such as the Hannover-based fund managed by Enjoy Ventures and the investor Climate Founders, also participated in this round. Additionally, the MBG and banks expanded this round with financial resources. MARCLEY offers owners of multi-family homes a solar solution that allows residents to benefit from green electricity, which is even much cheaper than any other provider. "This funding will enable us to expand our pioneering status in communal building supply. This will allow us to provide residents of multi-family homes with solar power from their own roofs more quickly and reduce their annual electricity costs by several hundred euros,” said Friedrich Grimm, co-founder of MARCLEY. “At Virida Capital, we focus on new hardware-based technologies and business models that accelerate the energy transition. Therefore, we are pleased to welcome MARCLEY to the seed portfolio of our newly launched fund. Their approach makes access to green electricity easier and more affordable for residents. We are proud to be part of this journey and look forward to supporting MARCLEY in further expanding their leadership position in the field of communal building supply,” says Niels Jongste of Virida Capital. The goal is to enable access to green energy without investment costs or effort for the owners and to provide residents with cost-effective, environmentally friendly electricity. “We know the particular challenges of multi-family homes as well as the energy industry and use our expertise to develop a win-win solution for all involved. With our support, multi-family homes can finally make a significant contribution to the energy transition while also benefiting economically from solar energy,” said Florian Schnipkoweit, co-founder of MARCLEY. “Our investment in MARCLEY reflects our commitment to startups that want to transform promising markets with innovative solutions. We are convinced that MARCLEY’s disruptive solar solution will have a major impact on the participation of residents in multi-family homes in the energy transition. The market potential is unmatched. Our mission is to support such pioneers and create sustainable growth together,” concludes Martin Junker of Venture Stars. MARCLEY was founded by energy experts Florian Schnipkoweit, Florian Schulte, and Friedrich Grimm. The company is a pioneer in the regulation of the renewable energy industry. MARCLEY enables residents of multi-family homes to generate their own electricity in an environmentally friendly and cost-saving manner – without investment costs or effort. Virida is a Europe-based venture capital fund founded in 2024 and backed by the Green Giraffe Group. Virida invests in start-ups and scale-ups in the field of the energy transition and supports them with capital and sector expertise to help them grow. In particular, Virida Capital supports founders in accelerating the deployment of new hardware-based technology solutions and business models. Venture Stars is a venture capital fund from Munich focused on early-stage investments in innovative, digital B2C and B2B business models. The Venture Stars team typically invests 0.5 – 1.5 million euros initially and up to 3 million euros per company. The Venture Stars partners are serial start-up entrepreneurs themselves and work closely with the founders of the portfolio companies. The collaboration with Venture Stars usually goes beyond the investment of capital and includes know-how, network, and operational support on topics such as strategy, organizational development, financing, and exit.

Foodtech Melt&Marble have secured €2.76M in EU grants to support development and commercial launch of a new, highly sustainable meat-like fat for use in alt-meat. The maker of sustainable designer fats, has been selected to receive a €2.5M grant and potential future equity investment by the European Innovation Council (EIC), accelerating its journey to commercialise innovative fermentation-based fats. The EIC's recognition underscores the groundbreaking nature of Melt&Marble’s precision fermentation and microbial engineering platform, which promises to deliver healthy energy- and resource-efficient, low-emission foods. Selected as part of a highly competitive process that saw 969 companies submit a full grant proposal, Melt&Marble is one of 68 European deep tech start-ups chosen by the jury to receive the blend of grant and equity funding unique to the EIC Accelerator. The EIC Accelerator Challenges invite proposals in areas where breakthrough technologies or game-changing innovations developed by start-ups or SMEs can have a major impact on EU objectives. Notably, Melt&Marble is also one of 14 female-led companies to succeed in this funding round and gain access to leading expertise, corporates, investors and ecosystem actors. In addition to the €2.5M EIC grant, Melt&Marble has also secured a further €260K grant from the Horizon Europe Framework Programme (HORIZON), part of the EU’s “Farm to Fork” strategy. Coordinated by RISE Processum, the project “DELICIOUS” comprises companies and R&D organizations across Europe. Melt&Marble will focus on developing dairy fats for enhancing the organoleptic properties of dairy analogues. This initiative will accelerate the company’s DairyMarble™ program, aiming to provide superior dairy fats for the next generation of cheeses, butters, and bakery products. ‘’We’re thrilled to receive this funding and proud to be recognized for our efforts in driving the transition towards a more sustainable food system,’’ said Anastasia Krivoruchko, co-founder & CEO, ‘’The EU's commitment to supporting innovative food production technologies is truly encouraging. This funding will help bring us a step closer to offering delicious and healthy meat and dairy analogues, significantly improving both sustainability and food security,” Anastasia added. The EIC funding will enable Melt&Marble to further scale-up its process and advance to pre-commercial levels. The grant will also support the application development of the company's first product, MeatyMarble™, while reducing production costs in preparation for a commercial launch. Melt&Marble’s first product, MeatyMarble™ is a solid, meat-like fat designed to replicate the properties of animal-derived fats for use in alternative meat products, resulting in a more delicious and sustainable alternative. In parallel, Melt&Marble is exploring MeatyMarble™’s potential in other industries, including personal care, where there is a growing demand for sustainable specialty fats driven by evolving consumer preferences. Chief Business Officer, Thomas Cresswell commented: ‘’These grants mark a significant milestone for Melt&Marble, enabling us to decrease production costs, scale our innovative technology and bring sustainable fats to market. We are excited about the opportunities this creates for us to progress on our mission to enable the transition to a more sustainable agri-food system.’’

Legaltech Litera has acquired Filetrail, an information governance and records management SaaS. FileTrail will add on to Litera's suite of legal tools that unify data management, simplify compliance, streamline transfers, and optimise record disposition. These enhancements will provide Litera customers with a more comprehensive and modernised solution for managing evolving regulations and data security threats across both physical and digital records. This is an expansion by Litera in the governance space, and will provide Litera customers with a more comprehensive and modernised solution for managing evolving regulations and data security threats across both physical and digital records. “Firms have always prioritised information governance and safeguarding client and matter data, but in today's regulatory environment, it's become even more critical,” said Litera CEO Sheryl Hoskins. “It is essential for firms to maintain a complete view of client and matter data to comply with their regulatory obligations. FileTrail’s strength lies in its ability to offer a unified view of all data within an organisation, and this integration into Litera's existing GRC portfolio will provide firms and corporate departments with industry-leading Governance, Risk, and Compliance capabilities.” Commenting on the acquisition, FileTrail CEO Harold Westervelt noted: “We are excited to showcase our cutting-edge suite of products to a larger, more agile fan base. The combination of FileTrail’s capabilities, alongside Litera’s CAM, PowerDesktop, and PS/Ship products creates a governance solution that allows our customers to have complete control over sensitive client data.” FileTrail customers will also benefit from Litera’s modern approach to SaaS and AI technologies, and an elevated customer experience, including dedicated Customer Success Management, extensive adoption resources, and access to product SMEs, all focused on empowering customers to extract the utmost value from their Litera solutions. The consolidated offerings from Litera and FileTrail empower legal firms and corporate departments with an expanded set of capabilities that include: Comprehensive Data Management, Integrated Digital Collaboration Management and Streamlined Review and Approval Workflows.

ESG tech company osapiens has completed a $120 million Series B financing round led by Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives. This brings the company’s funding to over $145 million. osapiens was founded in Mannheim, Germany in 2018 by Alberto Zamora, Stefan Wawrzinek and Matthias Jungblut.  Its core offering, the osapiens HUB, is an AI powered cloud-based platform that simplifies compliance with international ESG regulations, including:  The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) The European Union Deforestation-free Regulation (EUDR), and The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). The osapiens HUB also enables companies to identify and mitigate risks in operations and supply chains, and to reduce manual workloads through process automation. osapiens’ international team of over 300 dedicated professionals support more than 1,300 customers worldwide, including Bosch, Coca Cola North America, Metro, Costco, Ritter Sport, Lidl, Celanese, C&A and DM. “We are thrilled to be working with Goldman Sachs,” said Alberto Zamora, Co-Founder and CEO of osapiens.  “Their support is a testament to our leadership position in this highly competitive and rapidly evolving market – ESG compliance and process efficiency. We are proud to offer a single platform that helps companies around the world to navigate the complexities of ESG regulation with ease and confidence and to achieve long-term sustainability. osapiens enables them to make a positive impact not only on their P&L but also on the planet.” Alexander Lippert, Managing Director in Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, said:  “osapiens creates extraordinary value for their customers, helping them meet an increasing number of regulatory requirements, whilst simultaneously driving tangible business value. We see enormous potential in osapiens and we are pleased to help them further on their mission.” The fundraising caps a year of rapid growth for osapiens, with the total number of customers growing at over 473 per cent in 2023.  The funds will be used to accelerate international expansion and further invest in the technology platform, helping to make business operations more compliant, resilient and efficient.   

Spanish-US fintech Rillet today announces $13.5 million funding to build the next generation of accounting platform. High-growth companies face a catch-22 when it comes to accounting: use 25-year-old software built for small businesses that don’t meet their needs (QuickBooks) or 25-year-old software built for large corporations that don’t either (NetSuite). Either way, finance teams are stuck doing tons of manual work in spreadsheets to reconcile and report their financials. To exacerbate the issue, there are fewer accountants to do this work: 300,000 accountants left the profession Rillet has developed an ERP that automates almost everything for high-growth companies. A lot of the complexity when it comes to startup accounting is on the revenue side, so Rillet integrates with payment processors and CRM tools to simplify all of this.  The company makes sense of raw source data using metadata and AI, and can run all kinds of workflow automation that finance teams used to have to do manually — from invoicing to closing the books and running investor reporting. Rillet can even handle this automation across multiple entities, geographies, and currencies — turning a major pain point as companies scale internationally into a single view with a single login.  “100 per cent automation will lead to much faster and better decision making while keeping accounting teams lean and helping them focus their talent on more meaningful work than reconciling numbers,” says Nicolas Kopp, Rillet’s CEO,  “With today's technology and the rapid advancements of AI, the world where your accounting software does all the work for you and you, as a Controller, manually review exceptions and verify that the numbers are accurate is a question of when, not if. I am hoping that we can help bring this future forward and make it a reality in the next couple of years.” Rillet currently works with over 70 customers across SaaS and usage-based revenue businesses to automate the workflows accounting teams perform monthly. 93 percent of all journal entries booked in Rillet to date were done without a human being involved. Creandum and First Round Capital led the funding, which was participated in by individual investors including Chad Byers (Susa Ventures), Kevin Hartz (founder of Eventbrite and Xoom), the former Chief Accounting Officer of Facebook and Stripe, and the Controller at Ramp.  Peter Specht, General Partner, at Creandum, said,  “Rillet has successfully tackled some of the most complex problems in automating the general ledger. This sector is ripe for disruption and Rillet’s product stands heads and shoulders above anything else we’ve seen in this space.” The funding will be used to grow the team and expand to support new customers in new verticals from e-commerce to fintech.

Last week, we tracked more than 65 tech funding deals worth over €686 million, and over 5 exits, M&A transactions, rumours, and related news stories across Europe.Click to read the rest of the news.

VDS, one of Southern Europe's most prominent international tech events, will take place on October 23-24, at the iconic City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia. Featuring a lineup of stellar business leaders from major companies and top venture capital firms, VDS is set to be an unmissable event for tech innovation professionals and enthusiasts alike. Leading the impressive lineup of VDS speakers are two of the tech world’s most influential figures: Steve Chen, co-founder and former CTO of YouTube, who revolutionized online video sharing and has played a pivotal role in shaping the digital landscape. Chen will share his invaluable insights and experiences from building one of the most visited websites in the world to spearheading the digital media revolution. His insights promise to provide invaluable lessons for tech professionals and Steve Chen aspiring tech entrepreneurs. Randi Zuckerberg, founder & CEO of Zuckerberg Media and HUG, brings her extensive experience in shaping Facebook and pioneering Facebook Live to the forefront. As a leading champion for women in crypto and NFTs and an influential voice in the Web3 landscape, her insights offer a unique perspective on the intersections of technology, art, media, and innovation. Her expertise promises to deliver valuable insights into the future of tech and the pivotal role of women in this evolving landscape. Highlighting the broad-reaching impact of tech innovation, Juan Antonio Samaranch Salisachs, Vice President of the International Olympic Committee, brings his deep understanding of the intersection between technology and sports. Samaranch has played a crucial role in integrating tech advancements into the Olympic Games, enhancing athlete experience and audience engagement through innovative solutions. His insights will delve into how technology is transforming the world of sports and the significant opportunities that lie ahead for the sports industry and beyond. Sharing their insights and experience on the hottest topic in tech, Artificial Intelligence, there will be visionary speakers from top companies like Hugging Face, Stability IA, Microsoft, IBM, Cloudera, Shutterstock, Mastercard, Intel, Babel, Eleven Labs, Multiverse and Freepik at VDS2024. “Our aim is to empower the upcoming generation of entrepreneurs by fostering connections with industry visionaries, delivering inspiration, and facilitating avenues for networking, funding, and business expansion,” explains Patricia Pastor, VDS Chairwoman. According to Juan Luis Hortelano, President of Startup Valencia, the event's organizing entity, “the quality of the speakers at VDS, the attending investors, and the networking opportunities position this tech event as a key destination for startups seeking capital and strategic alliances. It’s also essential for innovative ecosystem players, governments, and technology enthusiasts.” VDS will transform Valencia into a dynamic hub of technological innovation, global collaboration, and business for the tech community. The tech event will bring together over 12,000 attendees from more than 100 countries, over 600 speakers and 2,500 startups, fostering a collaborative environment where innovation and investment converge to empower the leaders of tomorrow. With the expected presence of over 700 investors, the seventh edition of VDS anticipates an estimated total of €200 billion in managed assets by venture capitalists attending the event, positioning it as a key destination for startups in search of capital and strategic partnerships. Noteworthy funds recognized for their successful investments and global presence include Blue Opal Capital, Pegasus Tech Ventures, Katapult VC, Kvanted Ventures, CCEP Ventures, SoftBank Investment, Techstars, and IDC Ventures. The tech event offers extensive networking opportunities across six dynamic stages, featuring engaging topics such as AI, Sustainability, Health, the Future of Work, the Next-Gen Audiovisual Sector, and Women in Tech. National and international entrepreneurial and technological talent will also be highlighted through its international startup competition, which this year has received over 800 applications from more than 65 countries. This year, VDS is celebrated under the theme “Embracing Evolution: Invest in the Leaders of Tomorrow,” with a special focus on empowering entrepreneurs. By connecting them with investors, corporate innovators, businesses, and society at large, VDS aims to provide the networks and resources essential for the success of startups, ensuring that the next generation of entrepreneurs has what they need to thrive. Join VDS2024 VDS2024 promises more than just a tech event with stellar innovation leaders in the tech scene; it’s an opportunity to be part of a transformational journey in one of Europe’s fast-growing tech ecosystems featuring a vibrant local community, tech talent, strong government support, idyllic climate, cultural depth and superior living standards: Valencia. Startup Valencia is the driving force behind VDS and stands as a proud representative of the flourishing Valencian Startup ecosystem on both the national and international stages. Chances to join VDS2024 as an Exhibitor, Sponsor or Press are still open. Attendee, Business and Investor Early Bird tickets are available until September 23rd, 2024. Learn more and get tickets at www.vds.tech.

Amsterdam real estate startup Epum has raised $1.6 million Pre-Seed funding. Epum was founded by two former commercial real estate developers (Royden Cooper and Spencer Stieff), one ex-Adyen senior software engineer (Leonardo Costa), one ex-Globality senior data scientist (Tomasz Pietruszka), and one of the world's preeminent researchers in the field of Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (Marvin Mc Cutchan), who has a PhD from the Vienna University of Technology.  Epum's platform includes the largest real-time dataset of urban zoning and planning activity across the  United States. Based on this dataset and proprietary algorithms, the platform offers a powerful commercial real estate development site selection solution. It evaluates local demand drivers, zoning, ownership profiles, demographics, competitive supply, land area, topography, traffic data, and more to identify and support ideal acquisition opportunities. Epum is already working with two nationwide commercial real estate developers and one real estate private equity fund.  "Raising $1.6 million for our pre-seed round is a significant milestone for Epum, and we are thrilled to have more resources to serve our customers," said Royden Cooper, CEO of Epum.  "Commercial real estate developers are the main catalysts of value in the commercial real estate ecosystem since they are the ones who build the future of our cities.  Over the last 12 months of industry volatility due to  rising interest rates, we are excited to support developers with new tools to derisk their projects and  grow their assets under management."  Curiosity VC led the oversubscribed round with co-investments from NP-Hard Ventures, Remote First Capital, and HearNelt VC.  The investment will accelerate the development and distribution of Epum's commercial real estate research platform, designed to allow developers, investment managers, and lenders to identify the optimal development sites based on inputted parameters, to safely organise their proprietary data, to forecast submarket trends with purpose-built machine learning models, and to prepare investment committee memos over 10x faster than with traditional human analysts.  Lead image: Epum. Photo: uncredited. 

Transatlantic growth equity investor Kennet has raised €266M for its largest fund to date, Kennet VI. Kennet has already begun to deploy this capital into B2B SaaS companies across Europe, including Screendragon in Ireland and the UK and Fluid Topics in France. Kennet VI builds on the success of the previous five funds and proven investment thesis. Kennet has over 25 years of experience and a proven track record across multiple market cycles. Not only has the firm raised its largest ever fund in a challenging macro environment, it has also continued to deliver exits, such as Eloomi in January 2024 generating a 3.1x cash multiple. This follows numerous successful exits in recent years including Nuxeo (5x), Dext (3.8x), CrossBorder Solutions (6.4x), Rimilia (2.5x), and Impartner (2.6x). Kennet focuses exclusively on investing in established, high growth B2B SaaS technology companies which are founder-owned and either highly capital efficient or fully ‘bootstrapped’ – built without external capital. The investment from Kennet is typically the first external funding that companies receive and is used to scale and expand internationally, build world class management teams and build strategic value. Michael Elias, Managing Director, Kennet Partners, said: “This fundraise marks another important milestone for Kennet as we close our largest fund to date, with a significant number of previous investors participating in this fund. At a time when the market has recognised that ‘growth at any cost’ is no longer rational, our long-standing conservative strategy has appealed to investors. Kennet’s risk-balanced strategy provides investors with the growth associated with innovative technology, while maintaining a low failure rate. We have proven over numerous fund cycles that capital efficient B2B SaaS businesses offer attractive investment opportunities and that helping entrepreneurs build outstanding management teams and enter global markets remains a winning formula.” Hillel Zidel, Managing Director, Kennet Partners, said: “Our proven approach is based on the relationships we establish with bootstrapped founders, understanding that this will be a long-term trusted partnership. Unlike venture-backed businesses, our founders have typically not taken external investment before – they need to know they are working with the right team to realise their global ambitions. We are very proud that founders choose to work with Kennet because of our deep market knowledge, and reputation for fairness and integrity. This has enabled us to invest in great companies at sensible valuations regardless of the hype cycle. B2B software has become the engine room of many sectors, and Kennet VI will be at the forefront of the next generation of mission critical, scaling businesses.” Kennet VI was raised as part of a successful partnership with Edmond de Rothschild Private Equity which began in 2017. Edmond de Rothschild is a cornerstone investor in the Kennet VI fund and the bank’s global client base has had priority access to the fund. British Patient Capital, Federated Hermes Private Equity and Bpifrance also committed to the fund. Francois-Xavier Vucekovic, CIO at Edmond de Rothschild Private Equity, added: “We firmly believe that technology plays a critical role in the transformation of our economies and societies. Our commitment is to support and nurture companies that are at the forefront of innovation and value creation. The success of this fundraising effort, particularly in the current challenging environment, is a testament to the strength and relevance of Kennet's strategic approach. By leveraging cutting-edge tech solutions, Kennet ensures the sustainability and growth of their clients' business models, enabling them to thrive in a rapidly evolving market."

This week we tracked more than 65 tech funding deals worth over €685 million, and over 5 exits, M&A transactions, rumours, and related news stories across Europe. In addition to this week's top financials, we've also indexed the most important/industry-related news items you need to know about. If email is more your thing, you can always subscribe to our newsletter and receive a more robust version of this round-up delivered to your inbox. Either way, let's get you up to speed. ? Notable and big funding rounds ?? RE&UP Recycling Technologies secures €70M from Proparco to push fashion & textile industry to circularity ?? H55 closes €67.7M Series C funding ??Traveltech Exotica secures €60M Series D ?? Gcore secures $60M for advanced Edge AI and cloud solutions ??‍?? Noteworthy acquisitions and mergers ?? Salesforce is taking over the Berlin AI startup Spoke.ai ?️ MiddleGround Capital launches voluntary public takeover of computer vision company ?? Assa Abloy to acquire Skidata ?? UniCredit acquires Vodeno ? Interesting moves from investors ?  Lead Ventures launches €100M fund for CEE startups ? Tech VC Molten Ventures reveals new £180m debt facility ?  Biovance Capital Partners announces the launch of a biotechnology fund with a first closing of €51M ?  FoolFarm Increases Capital by €2.55M ?️ In other (important) news ?️  Inrupt's Data Wallet realises Sir Berners-Lee's data ownership dream ?  Cash App to exit UK as "deprioritises global expansion" ?  Revolut finally gets UK banking licence ⭐  “Maybe some things got a little wobbly,” says Techstars CEO addressing criticism about its corporate culture ? Recommended reads and listens ??  Greece: From ancient roots to modern heights ?️‍?  Beyond the Swipe: How Cosmic Latte has created safe and dynamic dating apps for the LGBTQ+ community ?  How first responders get instant aerial intel with Fotokite's tethered drones ?  The Berlin-based startup school whose teaching methods date back to Socrates ?  Repurpose, regenerate, reimagine: startups leading the future of material innovation ? European tech startups to watch ??  Skippio secures €540,000 for queue management ??  Amporin Pharmaceuticals secures €157,000 for degenerative disease treatment ??  Syntropic Medical secures €1.1M for drug-resistant depression treatment ??  Estonian Enty raises €700,000 Seed for financial SaaS ??  Irish analytics firm INQDATA secures £750,000 ??  Pension fintech Jarvis secures £1.8M to tell you when to retire