Syndicate One, an international network-driven investment firm backing Belgian startup founders, has completed the first close of its second fund at €22 million. The fund was oversubscribed within eight weeks of the initial pitch, reflecting strong investor interest in the Belgian tech ecosystem. The new capital follows Syndicate One’s €6.5 million fund raised in late 2024. The new fund will be deployed through Syndicate One’s network of founders, investors and operators, and will be managed by founder Laurens De Poorter together with founding members Arnaud Bakker and Robin Wauters. Since its launch in early 2022, Syndicate One has invested in a range of Belgian early-stage startups, including Aikido Security, Techwolf, Conveo, Sirona Technologies, Donna, Warren, SAPI, Ravical, Cosmic Aerospace, Powernaut, Tekst, and Mindoo. Two early portfolio companies, Fundamental and Aikido Security, have since reached unicorn status with private valuations exceeding $1 billion. Laurens De Poorter, founder of Syndicate One, said the new fund reflects the continued maturation and compounding momentum of the Belgian tech ecosystem: What started as a tight-knit network of ambitious founders and operators has evolved into a powerful flywheel, where today’s founders become tomorrow’s backers. We are doubling down on exceptional Belgian entrepreneurs, wherever they are in the world, and on the ecosystem initiatives that help them scale faster, think bigger and build globally competitive companies from day one. A growing investor base Syndicate One was the first Belgian investment firm backed by four governmental funds - PMV (Flanders), SFPIM (federal), Finance&Invest Brussels, and Wallonie Entreprendre. Together with prior anchor investor Sofina and new institutional backers including Finhouse and COI, all previous institutional investors have recommitted to the new fund. The €22 million vehicle has also attracted a broad group of founders and ecosystem builders as investors, including Felix Garriau, Roeland Delrue and Willem Delbare (Aikido Security), Matthias Geeroms (Lighthouse), Stijn Christiaens (Collibra), Andreas De Neve (TechWolf), Cedric De Vleeschauwer, David Du Pré and Jos Polfliet (Warren), Alexis Eggermont (Accountable), JC Velge (Qover), Sebastien Deletaille (Rosa), Thoralf Gutierrez (Sirona), Elise Pepermans (ImmuneSpec), Benoit Deper (Aerospacelab), Benjamin Schrauwen (Oqton), Raf Mertens (CrazyGames), Jeroen De Wit (Teamleader), Dewi Van De Vyver (Effex), Hendrik Isebaert and Pieterjan Bouten (Showpad), Sam Heymans (Lizy), Otto Debals (Segments, Uber), Tom Vroemans (Gorilla, Spencer, November Five), Victor and Louis Mortreu (Just Russel), Willem Schroe (Botanix Labs), Michiel Van Beirendonck (Belfort), Michiel Bearelle (Officient, Vendorvue), and Benoit Baervoets (Eagl), among others. In total, more than 120 entrepreneurs and several Belgian entrepreneurial families have backed the fund, with a growing number of founders from previously backed companies now investing in Syndicate One. Beyond capital, Syndicate One provides founders access to a network of Belgian entrepreneurs and operators with experience scaling companies such as Collibra, Deliverect, Accountable, DataCamp, Showpad, THEO Technologies, N26, EyeSee, Oper, and Bnewable. The community offers expertise across investment, operations, go-to-market strategy, sales, platform development, marketing, and communications. Together with Sofina, SFPIM, and Bain & Co, the firm recently published the second State of Belgian Tech Report. It has also released an updated version of the Syndicate One Convertible, a standardised convertible loan agreement for early-stage financing, and launched a video podcast showcasing Belgian technology talent.

TThis week, we tracked more than 80 tech funding deals worth over €707 million and over 15 exits, M&A transactions, rumours, and related news stories across Europe. Alongside the week’s top funding rounds, we’ve highlighted key industry developments, as well as notable trends in European venture activity, investor moves and emerging sectors shaping the current funding landscape. 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 ??  Wayflyer raises $250M in credit facility ?? Bootstrapped and profitable AI insuretech company mea platform raises €42.2M ?? Onodrim Industries raises €40M in seed funding ??‍?? Noteworthy acquisitions and mergers ?? eBay agrees £890 million deal to buy Depop ?? Scopely takes majority stake in Pixel Flow! at $1B valuation ?? Firecell and Accelleran unite in €7.9 million-backed merger to simplify private 5G networks ?? Mondra and inoqo merge to build a product intelligence platform for the food sector ? Interesting moves from investors ? Quantonation Ventures closes €220M quantum fund backed by Toshiba ?? British Business Bank invests up to £45M in VC fund targeting consumer brand startups ?  212 NexT invests in advanced chemistry startup Aepnus ??. Berlin-based “AI roll-ups” investment firm Tenet launches ?️ In other (important) news ?  Legora and Tandem Health CEOs reject Anthropic and OpenAI threat ?? Austrian creator of viral OpenClaw joins OpenAI ? Getir's co-founders have filed a $700 million lawsuit against Mubadala ⚖️ Noxtua launches Europe’s first cross-border legal AI license ?? HeyCharge awarded €2.5M EIC grant to expand EV charging solutions for apartment buildings ?? Tingit raises €1.5M to scale AI-powered repair platform across Europe ??  Intuos receives €720,000 for non-commercial aviation operations and safety ?? MaXon Systems secures funding to build autonomous air defence against mass drone attacks ?? TrueLayer lands eBay "strategic investment"

CLIMATEX AG, a Swiss textile technology company focused on circular textile technologies and patented solutions, has closed a €3.5 million (CHF 3.2 million) financing round led by the Collateral Good Textile & Fashion Innovation Fund, with participation from existing investors. CLIMATEX develops advanced material and construction technologies designed to enable circularity across the apparel and interior textiles industry. Its core objective is to eliminate textile waste by creating high-performance fabrics and product architectures that can be fully separated and recycled at the end of life. By combining functionality, sustainability, and design for disassembly, the company supports the transition toward a scalable circular textile economy. The company has built a broad portfolio of patented, recyclable textile solutions and emphasises proprietary fabric systems engineered to recover complex, multi-material products within closed material loops. The company works with international clients, operates at Technology Readiness Level 8, participates in multiple EU and Swiss circularity research projects, and has recently filed two additional patents covering next-generation textile technologies. Following the financing round, CLIMATEX also announced the appointment of Camilla Skjønning Jørgensen as CEO-designate. Commenting on the company’s positioning, Camilla Skjønning Jørgensen said CLIMATEX is targeting a distinct system-level opportunity within the textile industry: By rethinking textile construction at the product design stage, the technology enables high-quality, durable products that are also designed for disassembly and recycling from the outset. As part of the leadership transition, current Co-CEOs Adrian Obrist and Patric Rupp will remain shareholders and board members. The newly raised capital will be used to strengthen sales and marketing activities as CLIMATEX’s technologies, products, and market adoption enter a growth phase.

On the homepage of The Times website this week, nestled between a review of the new Wuthering Heights film and a comment piece about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's ex-wife, was a story about how a podcast-cum-novelist “broke the internet” with an Instagram poll about what coffee table she and her partner should buy. Thousands commented on Elizabeth Day’s domestic dilemma, on whether the couple should opt for a coffee table such as Dunelm’s simple kidney-shaped coffee table in black-stained mango wood or Soho Home’s striking circular reddish-orange Rosso Alicante marble table. Professional interior designers, the comedian Miranda Hart, and TV actress Scarlet Moffatt, were amongst Day’s 30,000 followers who eagerly had their say. One of those not commenting was Day’s husband, Justin Basini, a startup entrepreneur and CEO of a UK fintech that is a prime candidate to soon IPO. “We have now chosen the table, and we have released that to the world,” laughs Basini, the co-founder and CEO of credit marketplace ClearScore, speaking at its light and airy south London offices. “And apparently, that is very interesting to people. Surprising to me.” Accidental Insta celeb In fact, at the behest of his wife, Basini, who is not a big social media user due to health concerns, has become something of an unwitting Insta celebrity, appearing in his wife’s Insta videos as an amateur chef. He says: “This cooking thing has gone mad. I feel like the work that I do is important. The impact I have on our 26 million users is important, the 600 staff that I employ is important. And almost always now I will walk into meetings, and people will be like ‘saw you cooking pasta on Sunday’ and that is the thing they engage in.” Basini, 51, Italian ancestry, strong bearing, a full head of hair atop pronounced features, has the look of a chef, albeit one who is serving up a public offering, rather than a culinary offering. Laying the groundwork for IPO ClearScore, one of London’s most prominent fintechs, is currently laying the foundations for an IPO- and London is the favoured destination. The 2015-founded startup is working with an undisclosed accountancy firm to audit its systems- be it legal, finance, reporting structures- to see if it’s IPO-ready, Basini says. Basini said: “As I see it now, given the size of the company, the profile of the brand, the investor base, our mix of growth and profitability, that London is the lead option." Incentives like the UK chancellor’s stamp duty holidays for companies that list on the London Stock Exchange are also helpful, he says. A London listing, which could value ClearScore at between £1.5bn and £2.5bn, according to industry estimates, would be welcomed by investors, staff, and the UK government wanting to defrost an ice-cold IPO market. But a ClearScore listing is not going to happen overnight, Basini says, and points out that he wants the company to grow bigger before it takes the plunge. If London is the lead option, then the US, it would seem, is an unlikely option, courtesy of its lack of US brand recognition (ClearScore is not in the US), allied to it being too small to quicken the pulse of US investors and be a success. Basini says: “If a company were to IPO for £5bn in the UK, I think they would be FTSE 100. In the US, they would be the bottom 25 per cent.” IPO good for general public Another option out the door is ClearScore making its way through the alphabet in never-ending private funding rounds, shielding itself from the glare of quarterly reporting of public life. Speaking in a personal capacity, Basini has a public-spirited, opinionated view on companies staying private for too long. He argues ClearScore (or any company, for that matter) is carrying out a wider public good by listing, arguing these days there is too much capital held in private companies, stoking public distrust and animosity towards “fat cat companies” who are “mugging off” the public. Selling shares to the wider public following an IPO will help re-establish trust between companies and the public, which has been lost, he says. Basini says: “My dad was a teacher, ex-coal miner, he never owned shares, and when Thatcher said you can own a bit of British Gas, you can own a bit of British Telecom, he bought a few shares. And what that is doing is enfranchising him and my family into that business growth. Largely, we have lost that, and that is because a lot of companies are staying private and they are owned by the top 0.1 per cent of the world." Luckily, all the ClearScore equity is not locked away and long-serving ClearScore staff are given the chance to cash in on their service, via small annual secondary share sales. Basini says: "I am very conscious that I have people who joined me in their twenties, they are now in their thirties, they’re having babies, they want to pay down a bit of the mortgage.” What does ClearScore do? ClearScore is a credit marketplace, which has evolved from its credit score roots, to now offer its users an array of credit products: credit cards, loans, car finance and soon-to-launch mortgages. It was founded by Basini, Nigel Morris, managing partner, QED Investors, who founded Capital One and is now ClearScore chairman, and Dan Cobley, ex-Google, who now acts as an advisor to Basini. It operates in the UK, where it has 16 million users, with its headquarters in London and offices in Manchester and Edinburgh. It also has a presence in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada. New markets could be South America, mainland Europe and Asia. Some commentators say that ClearScore might have peaked. Not so, says Basini, pointing out that it adds around two million customers a year, including one million UK users a year. Taking on giants ClearScore has disrupted a market, occupied by giants like TransUnion and Experian, with what it says is a more user-friendly and cheaper offering. For example, Basini says that, unlike rivals, users get their credit score, credit report, and tools to understand it, for free. The wizardry of its algorithm and banking API links is another winning selling point, he says. This means customers are only served up credit products which fit their financial budgets, eliminating the “doom loop” of users getting turned down for credit, impairing their credit rating. ClearScore is also available on third-party websites, such as GoCompare. He also says that the credit scores of the active users of ClearScore increase by an average of 80 points, helping them access more interest-friendly products. ClearScore, which also uses open banking technology, is free to consumers and makes money by taking a “bounty”, a commission from the financial institutions when a product is sold. The fintech, which has raised over $200m in debt and equity and is backed by QED, Lead Edge Capital, and Blenheim Chalcot, was last publicly valued at $700m in 2021. New credit products and financials Buy Now Pay Later could be the next credit product it offers, which could come through acquisitions, following the three it has made to date. He says: “Over the next 10 years, we want to broker every type of credit that is out there. We will start to think about Buy Now Pay Later. We will start to think about equity release. We will start to think about insurance that goes alongside credit products.” ClearScore itself got close to being acquired by Experian in 2018, but was ruled out by the Competition and Markets Authority (where Basini now sits on the board), due to competition concerns- a deal, which had it been successful, would have given Basini all the coffee tables in the world! However, what ClearScore won’t start to think about is investment and savings products. Basini adds: “My users, they really are average families. I have got people who are not affluent, I have got people who are affluent. But if I look at the average, they are heavy users of credit, they are responsible borrowers. But they don’t have a huge amount of assets. They are not investing in the stock market.” Financial figures for ClearScore UK in the year ending 2024 show revenues of £89.7m and pre-tax profits of £17.9m. However, these figures are only for its UK entity, with Basini saying it invests profits from its UK entity into its global business. Integrating Buddhism Basini’s professional career has run through peaks and valleys. ClearScore is his third startup, having had one failure (in his twenties), where he admits he made mistakes, and one moderate success (a data brokerage firm which he sold). In between the two startups, Basini, who is chair of the financial education charity, the Money Charity, blagged his way into Deutsche Bank, pretending to be an investment banker, made some money, paid back his credit card debts from his failed startup, then learnt about consumer credit at Capital One. In his twenties, he went through a rough spell, having suicidal thoughts, ending up in therapy, following the failure of his first startup. He returned to therapy around ten years ago, going through a divorce and following his father's death. A leveller has been Zen Buddhism, helping him achieve Zen-like calm, handle pressure and be attuned to the feelings of others, he says. He says: "I meditate quite frequently. I spend time trying to integrate Buddhist practices into the way I think and feel about things." Despite his inner calm, he admits he can be a “quite emotional” leader who cries easily. “When did I last tear up?” he asks his top PR man, sitting next to us. It was at the ClearScore summer party last year. Why? I ask. He says: "Just because talking about the people we employ. We have a lot of people here who have been with us for eight, nine years. And came as first job people. They have grown, they have delivered a lot to the company.” He admits he is a workaholic, firing off company Slack and email messages at 2am. AI, London as fintech hub, and plans for 2026 Some commentators believe that AI could have a detrimental impact on ClearScore, superseding its offering. But Basini says it is embracing the tech, pointing to its positive impact. He says: “I think it is going to be fantastic for businesses like us, which are tech-enabled, have a data asset that is unique, and have a brand.” It is leveraging AI into its product, using it internally to streamline code, and latterly investing in agentic AI.  Meanwhile, the entrepreneur is a fan of London as a fintech hub, amid suggestions London has lost its European pre-eminence. He says: “London is still a fantastic place to build a business. It is packed full of entrepreneurs, packed full of talent, huge infrastructure, huge access to government, regulator and the City.” And ClearScore’s plans for the rest of the year? He says: “Execute our plan, integrate Acre (its latest acquisition), focus a lot on some of the stuff we are doing in agentic AI and mortgages, and that is what we will be launching later this year.” And which coffee table did the couple opt for? It was West Elm’s marble top perched atop a dark bronze base.

When I tell people I live in Berlin at startup events abroad, I often receive a bad reaction, especially from investors.  Many people associate Berlin with its heyday of Rocket Internet and see it as a city full of techno sex clubs, drug addicts, and founders more interested in partying than disciplined, global ambition. It’s certainly not a view I share — and now there’s a concerted initiative determined to demonstrate what Berlin is truly capable of. This week saw the launch of Berlin auf die Eins (BAD1), a community-led campaign founded by local founders, startup builders, investors, and ecosystem players with the goal of making Berlin the most builder-friendly tech city in Europe within the next 12 to 24 months.  ​This grassroots initiative was started by entrepreneurs Bela Wiertz, Julian Teicke, Linda Büscher, Benedict Kurz, Leonard Darsow, Max Linden & Bastian Meyer, is powered by The Delta and supported by founding partners UNITE and Dentsu Creative.  The reality of the startup system in Berlin Berlin's startup ecosystem contributes 10–12 per cent of the city's GDP and is a major growth driver. It creates over 150,000 jobs directly and indirectly. Berlin is Germany's funding hub: €2.2 billion in VC in 2024, that's 31 per cent of all German VC volume. Berlin is Germany's leading AI cluster, home to 283 AI startups. Berlin keeps founding at speed: 498 new startups in 2024. Home to initiatives like EWOR, Vision Lab, and Deep Tech Momentum. And yet, despite this strength, structural frictions continue to slow its global competitiveness. What holds Berlin back Berlin, like all of Germany, is notorious for its slow, complex bureaucracy and administrative processes — this is why we need the 28th regime.  Newcomers to the city — particularly migrants from outside the EU, myself included as an Australian — face severe housing shortages and systems that are still highly paper-based and decentralised  that make the practicalities of relocating both costly and exhausting. And structurally, Berlin still lacks a strong, systematic pipeline between its universities and startup ecosystem, limiting the commercial translation of research and the steady flow of talent into early-stage companies. High impact focus on meaningful change Importantly, Berlin auf die Eins is not a top-down policy programme but a community-driven movement with a focused mission. Rather than producing a long wishlist, the aim is to prioritise a small number of high-impact issues — five to ten changes that could meaningfully improve Berlin within 12 to 24 months. From there, working groups drawn from the community develop concrete, owned solutions. At the same time, the initiative seeks to reshape Berlin’s narrative through facts — highlighting that the city is already a major economic engine and deserves stronger global recognition. Supporters include:  Kai Wegner – Mayor of Berlin. Jan Oberhauser – Founder of n8n. Daniel Khachab, Founder of Choco. Marius Meiners, Founder of Peec AI Filip Dames, Founding Partner at Cherry. Florian Heinemann, Founding Partner at Project A. Dr Gesa Miczaika, co-founder and Partner at Auxxo and the Auxxo Female Catalyst Fund. Overall, BAD1 aims to reduce friction for startups and founders, bring ecosystem stakeholders together, and build momentum across the city and beyond. While the campaign is just getting started, it's a great start to make Berlin more competitive globally. 

MaXon Systems, a Ukrainian defence technology company building an autonomous, end-to-end counter-UAS platform designed to defend large perimeters against mass drone attacks, has raised funding in a round which included Greenflag Ventures, BRAVE1, Freedom Fund VC, and Big Defence. MaXon is building an autonomous air defence system designed to counter mass Shahed-type drone attacks, where today’s manual FPV intercept model does not scale. MaXon is addressing one of the defining challenges of modern warfare: the reality that adversary drones are no longer deployed one at a time, but in high-volume swarms.  Traditional air defence systems are capable but prohibitively expensive at scale; neither does manual interception. MaXon’s approach is different; a closed-loop system that combines high-speed interceptors, long-range detection and tracking, and an integrated targeting and guidance software stack to enable centralised, autonomous defence of cities and critical infrastructure. Its detect-to-defeat stack pairs a proprietary high-speed interceptor (Eichel) with integrated detection, targeting, and guidance software built to function in GPS-denied, EW-heavy conditions. The goal is to shift interception from pilot workload to software execution. In MaXon’s current workflow, the system is designed to compress an intercept into a tight sequence of actions: launch, target selection, and engagement confirmation. This enables a remote command post to dispatch multiple interceptors against multiple targets in parallel.  Further, MaXon combines battlefield traction with a clear path to autonomy at scale. The team reports 16 km proven detection with its DTU (Detection & Tracking Unit), multiple real-target contacts in automatic guidance mode, and active collaboration with multiple combat units. They position MaXon System V1 as commercially ready with first sales targeted for early 2026, while last-mile terminal guidance progresses through testing.   Their roadmap is shaped by the constraint that matters most: high-volume defence. That includes multi-interceptor control, remote command-centre operations, and all-weather terminal guidance, including FMCW radar integration work already underway with a large EU automotive partner.  According to a post by Greenflag Ventures on LinkedIn, the firm shared: “We're impressed not only by the ambition of the technical vision, but the pace and seriousness of execution. MaXon has already reached TRL 8 with validation in real combat conditions. Equally important, MaXon’s roadmap is clearly aligned with the future requirements of scalable air defence. The company is focused on providing full end-to-end autonomy across launch, mid-course, and terminal phases; enabling multi-interceptor parallel control from a remote command post; and integrating radar-based terminal guidance to ensure all-weather performance.  This is precisely the type of autonomy-first architecture that will define the next decade of European and NATO-relevant air defence modernisation.”

Pontiro, a healthtech company focused on enabling the safe and compliant use of medical imaging data for research and AI, has raised £357,500 in a funding round led by SFC Capital, with participation from Plug and Play Ventures and the British Business Bank. Founded by Evan Jenkins, Adam Shannon, and Lewis Bowen, Pontiro was created to address a key bottleneck in healthcare AI: preparing medical imaging data for research and development had long been slow, manual, and resource-intensive. As AI adoption accelerates across healthcare, expectations are shifting. Safe data access alone is no longer sufficient, and healthcare leaders increasingly require evidence that AI deployments deliver measurable operational value. Pontiro’s platform has processed more than 2 million medical images across NHS Wales, supporting secure anonymisation, AI validation case studies, and teaching workflows across multiple health boards. By replacing fragmented manual processes with automated tools integrated into hospital systems, the company has reduced turnaround times while lowering compliance risk. Pontiro was built inside the NHS, alongside the teams who use it every day. That matters. With this investment, we're taking infrastructure that already works at scale in Wales and making it available to trusts across the UK who are navigating the same challenges. said Lewis Bowen, Co-founder of Portiro. The new investment marks an important step in Pontiro’s development, reflecting its progression from addressing operational challenges within NHS Wales to building infrastructure that helps healthcare organisations measure the real-world impact of AI. Co-founder Evan Jenkins said the funding validates both the problem the company is addressing and its approach. The funding will support expansion beyond Wales into NHS England trusts, with early discussions already underway with organisations exploring AI evaluation frameworks. The company is also working toward inclusion on national procurement frameworks to help streamline adoption across the public sector.

In 2025, European tech investment totalled €72 billion, marking the second-strongest year of the past three and demonstrating continued market resilience despite a modest 3.2% decline from the 2024 peak. Within this landscape, France remained one of Europe’s key tech markets, ranking third with €8.7 billion raised (behind the UK with €21.5 billion and Germany with €11.5 billion), supported by several large late-stage rounds in AI, energy, and deep tech. France’s tech funding landscape was heavily influenced by artificial intelligence, which attracted the largest share of capital. While one very large round significantly lifted the total, a series of mid-sized AI investments also pointed to sustained investor interest across different maturity stages. Fintech remained a major funding recipient, supported in part by debt and later-stage deals, while software attracted significant capital spread across multiple transactions. Gaming activity was largely driven by one major deal alongside smaller rounds, and energy continued to benefit from investment in charging and hydrogen, with cleantech and security showing steady but more moderate momentum. Overall, capital deployment remained highly concentrated, with a small number of very large rounds shaping the aggregate totals, complemented by a broader base of mid-sized financings across multiple industries. (for more detailed analyses of the European technology ecosystem, check out Tech.eu’s annual report: European Tech 2025–The Big Picture). Here are the 10 companies that raised the most in 2025. Amount raised in 2025: €1.7B Mistral AI develops generative AI models and tools that enable organisations to build, customise, and deploy large language models, AI assistants, and autonomous agents for applications such as search, coding, automation, and data processing. The company raised €1.7 billion in 2025, which more than doubled its valuation to about €11.7 billion, with ASML taking a major stake as part of a strategic partnership. Amount raised in 2025: $1.25B Ubisoft develops and publishes interactive video games and entertainment for console, PC, and online platforms, with franchises including Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, Tom Clancy’s, Just Dance, and Watch Dogs. The company focuses on delivering immersive gaming experiences and expanding its digital entertainment ecosystem globally. In 2025, the company raised $1.25 billion to support its core game development operations and long-term content production. Amount raised in 2025: €500M Brevo is a cloud software company that provides an all-in-one customer engagement platform combining email and SMS marketing, marketing automation, CRM, live chat, and transactional messaging in a single interface. The company focuses on helping businesses, particularly SMEs, centralise customer communications and manage the full customer lifecycle through multichannel campaigns, data tools, and AI-powered features. In 2025, Brevo became a unicorn after raising €500 million in a funding round led by General Atlantic and Oakley Capital. Amount raised in 2025: €433M Electra is an electric mobility company that designs, installs, and operates ultra-fast charging stations for electric vehicles, combining proprietary software, site development, and network management to support large-scale EV adoption across Europe. In 2025, Electra secured a green loan facility of up to €433 million, bringing its total funding since inception to over €1 billion. Amount raised in 2025: €400M Younited is a credit institution that provides fully digital consumer lending and payment solutions to individuals, merchants, banks, and fintech partners. Through its proprietary technology platform, the company enables instant credit decisions, transparent pricing, and seamless financing embedded into customer journeys. Operating across multiple European markets, Younited focuses on modernising consumer credit with data-driven underwriting and a fully online experience. Younited secures €400 million warehouse facility from Citi in 2025, to expand European consumer credit. Amount raised in 2025: €220M HoloSolis is a renewable energy company developing one of Europe’s largest photovoltaic manufacturing facilities to produce high-efficiency solar cells and modules locally. The company aims to strengthen Europe’s energy sovereignty by building a large-scale, low-carbon solar supply chain and supporting the continent’s transition to renewable power. In 2025, HoloSolis secured €220 million to build one of Europe’s biggest solar factories. Amount raised in 2025: €149M Lhyfe is a renewable energy company that produces and supplies green hydrogen for mobility and industrial uses. The company designs, installs, and operates production sites powered by renewable electricity, enabling customers to decarbonise operations and transition away from fossil fuels. In 2025, Lhyfe secured a €149 million grant from the French government for its future green hydrogen production plant located near the Grand Canal of Le Havre. Amount raised in 2025: €100M Alice & Bob is a quantum computing company developing hardware and software to build universal, fault-tolerant quantum computers using its proprietary cat-qubit architecture. The company focuses on reducing quantum error rates through built-in error correction to enable scalable, practical quantum systems. In 2025, Alice & Bob raised €100 million to accelerate development of its fault-tolerant quantum computing technology and advance its roadmap toward building a useful quantum computer by 2030. Amount raised in 2025: €100M WAAT is an electric mobility company that designs, installs, and operates turnkey charging infrastructure for electric vehicles, primarily serving residential buildings, workplaces, and private parking environments. The company provides end-to-end services, from technical studies and installation to supervision and billing, to accelerate EV adoption across France. WAAT raised €100 million in 2025 to accelerate its expansion in France and across Europe. Amount raised in 2025: $102M Flowdesk is a crypto-financial services company that provides market making, OTC trading, and digital asset infrastructure for Web3 and institutional clients. The company combines proprietary algorithmic trading technology with global exchange connectivity to deliver liquidity, brokerage, and treasury solutions across the digital asset ecosystem. In 2025, Flowdesk raised $102 million to support global expansion and meet growing demand for liquidity provision and OTC trading solutions.

As global venture markets continue to rebalance, the Baltics are emerging as one of Europe’s more resilient early-stage ecosystems – and in 2025, Lithuania has taken the regional lead.   According to a new early-stage funding report by FIRSTPICK and Practica Capital, Lithuanian startups raised €238 million last year, alongside a record number of exits – the highest annual total ever recorded in the country. Lithuania’s early-stage segment posted particularly strong results, attracting €77 million across pre-seed and seed rounds – both record levels – including €56.52 million raised in seed funding alone. Growth was driven primarily by an increase in deal volume, while the average ticket size remained stable at approximately €2 million.   Alongside Estonia, Lithuania now leads the region in median pre-seed valuations, with Lithuania showing the fastest upward momentum among Baltic peers. In January, CAST AI became the country’s fifth unicorn. According to Andra Bagdonaitė, Partner at FIRSTPICK, the surge in exits reflects growing global demand for specialised Lithuanian startups.  “Foreign acquirers are buying these companies primarily for product depth, IP, and teams – not local market access. The common thread is predictable enterprise value creation: sticky workflows, regulatory or operational complexity, and products that scale faster within a global distribution engine.” Vilnius has also strengthened its long-term founder pipeline. Over the past year, the city has expanded its startup-formation infrastructure through additional hackathons, accelerator-style programmes, and new hacker spaces such as Basedspace and Lost Astronaut. Across the Baltics, similar initiatives have already produced dozens of new startup teams, broadening access to entrepreneurship beyond traditional technical backgrounds. “Vilnius’ startup ecosystem is gaining global attention not just for its strong numbers, but for the quality of companies emerging across the capital and the country,” says Mangirdas Šapranauskas, Head of Business Department at Go Vilnius, the official tourism and development agency. “Investors are increasingly backing teams that can scale internationally, and our network of innovation programmes and talent initiatives ensures that these companies are ready to compete on a global stage.” With new venture funds launched across the region in 2025 and additional investment vehicles expected in 2026, capital deployment in Lithuania is forecast to grow further,  reinforcing Vilnius’ position as one of the fastest-rising startup centres in Central and Eastern Europe. With early-stage investment and exits hitting record highs, Lithuania is attracting investors across Europe and the US Its growing ecosystem of programmes, talent, and capital is positioning the country as a Baltic startup hub capable of producing companies that can compete globally – and the trend shows no sign of slowing in 2026.

A London-headquartered AI startup targeting accountancy departments, set up by a former Uber and Plaid executive, has raised $23 million in a Series A round, led by new investor Lightspeed. The Series A in Stacks also includes returning investors EQT Ventures, General Catalyst, and S16VC. The new round follows 12 months after its $12m seed round. It has raised $35m in total.   Stacks, founded in Amsterdam but headquartered in London, is an AI platform for enterprise accounting teams. Its tech is remedying the challenge of scattered data in enterprise finance. It says that transaction-level detail is scattered across ERPs, spreadsheets, data lakes, and legacy systems, forcing teams into manual workarounds because core platforms are slow, difficult to integrate, and not built for AI.   Stacks says it has built a data layer that connects directly to finance systems and creates a single, consistent financial view across them.    It says it has also built machine-learning tooling required to make automation reliable at enterprise scale and is deploying agents that automate workflows across the finance stack. Its 30 clients include the publisher Future and audio firm Epidemic Sound. Stacks was set up by CEO Albert Malikov, who, before founding Stacks, held product leadership roles at Uber and Plaid, where he worked on scaling Plaid’s European business.  Alex Schmitt, partner at Lightspeed, said: "Stacks is uniquely positioned to tackle some of the toughest challenges in enterprise finance. The team’s mix of technical and finance expertise from Uber and Plaid, along with the company’s remarkable traction, gives us strong conviction that they will lead the AI shift inside the Office of the CFO.”

Budapest-based Giggle, a staffing platform connecting blue-collar workers with shift-based roles, has raised an undisclosed funding round to support its expansion into the Romanian market. The round was led by OXO Labs, part of O3 Partners and the family fund of Romania’s Catalyst NXT Ventures, headed by former Hungarian finance minister Peter Oszkó, alongside three additional investors. Founded in April 2022 by Ádám Birizdó and Ádám Sebestyén, Giggle operates a mobile-first workforce marketplace that connects businesses with pre-screened gig workers for short-term, shift-based roles. The platform is designed to address labour shortages and fluctuating staffing needs, particularly in sectors such as hospitality, retail, and logistics. Through the app, employers can post individual shifts with transparent pay and scheduling details, while workers can browse opportunities and apply in just a few clicks. Giggle’s model breaks traditional jobs into discrete, on-demand shifts, helping companies reduce recruitment time and costs while giving workers greater flexibility over when and how they work. The platform integrates ratings, profile verification, and full administrative support to streamline workforce management and improve matching quality between employers and candidates. Positioned within the growing gig economy, the company aims to modernise temporary staffing across Central and Eastern Europe by combining marketplace technology with workforce management tools. When thousands of packages are delayed due to staff shortages, the need for flexible workforce solutions becomes undeniable. Through Giggle, partners can access additional capacity within hours, said co-founders Ádám Birizdó and Ádám Sebestyén. The model has gained traction, with 180,000 users registered within three years and nearly €5 million in transactions completed in 2025. According to company data, 70 per cent of workers on the platform are seeking supplementary income, reflecting broader trends driven by economic uncertainty and rising demand for flexible work across the region. With the new funding, Giggle plans to strengthen its presence in its existing markets over the next two years while preparing for broader regional expansion.

Scopely, one of the world’s leading mobile gaming companies, has reached a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in the Istanbul-based studio behind Pixel Flow!, marking a new unicorn success story from Türkiye. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the multi-year, performance-based deal is reported to value the company at over $1 billion. Launched at the end of 2025 by founders Kübra Gündoğan (CEO) and Emre Çelik (CTO), the hybrid-casual puzzle game Pixel Flow! has gained significant traction within its first year, supported by its puzzle mechanics and hybrid monetisation model, combining in-app purchases and advertising. The game quickly surpassed 10 million players and, over the past 12 months, has been the only casual title to rank among the top 20 highest-grossing mobile games in the United States on a monthly basis. Tim O’Brien, Chief Revenue Officer at Scopely, highlighted the team’s creative approach, rapid iteration cycles and early commercial traction, noting that the investment aligns with Scopely’s strategy of partnering with high-performing studios worldwide. Studio CEO Kübra Gündoğan said the game was built on a vision to deliver a genuinely original experience and noted that strong player feedback has been a key motivator for the team. The strong feedback from players has been incredibly motivating for our team. Scopely’s global scaling expertise will support our growth while preserving our creative independence. she said. The approximately 20-person team will continue operating from Istanbul, further reinforcing Türkiye’s position as a dynamic game development hub in the EMEA region. The studio previously completed a seed funding round with participation from Arcadia Gaming Partners and e2vc. Akın Babayiğit, Managing Director of Arcadia Gaming Partners, described the transaction as one of the most notable success stories in the Turkish gaming sector in recent years. Overall, the partnership is viewed not only as a successful exit but also as a signal of the Turkish gaming industry’s expanding presence on the global stage.

Behind every brightly coloured garment lies a largely invisible cost. Dyeing synthetic fibres can account for up to 60 per cent of the total energy used in textile production, while the global dyeing industry is responsible for nearly 20 per cent of water contamination and around 5 per cent of greenhouse-gas emissions. In a sector built on heat-intensive petrochemical chemistry, French startup Everdye believes it has found a radically different path. The company has developed a new dyeing process that can cut energy consumption by up to 8x — without requiring dye houses to overhaul their machinery. I spoke to CEO Philippe Berlan and CTO Dr Amira Erokh to learn more. From discovery to industrial opportunity Everdye’s founding traces back to the doctoral research of co-founder Dr Amira Erokh. During her PhD, conducted across universities in Tunisia, Portugal, and France, she participated in a NATO-backed project to develop fabrics resistant to biological attack. CEO, Philippe Berlan, explains: “During that research, she made a discovery that wasn’t part of the original objective. At the time, she didn’t yet know what the practical application could be, but the chemistry behind it later became the foundation of Everdye.” After completing her PhD, Erokh worked in the paint industry in Tunisia before relocating to France for personal reasons. There, she joined an entrepreneurship programme that helped her translate scientific insight into an industrial opportunity. Through extensive conversations with textile industry collaborators, she realised her chemistry could be adapted for dyeing. She began experimenting at home — literally in her laundry room — building the first working prototype there. Everdye was formally founded in 2021, secured early funding in 2022, and began structuring its industrial development soon after. From investor to CEO Berlan initially joined the company as an investor before stepping in as CEO. “When the team needed more senior management with industry experience, it made sense for me to step in. I came from the fashion and textile world, so joining Everdye was a way to help transform the industry from the inside.” Why does conventional dyeing consume so much energy? Traditional textile dyeing relies on forcing chemical bonds between dye molecules and fibres. These strong carbon bonds do not form spontaneously. To make the reaction happen, manufacturers use high heat — often around 130°C — along with petrochemical-based auxiliaries. Deep colours such as black can require six to seven hours of processing. Berlan explained: “This heavy heating leads to enormous energy consumption and large greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, the dye bath becomes contaminated with toxic residues, and in many regions wastewater is released directly into rivers or oceans without proper treatment.” The environmental burden is therefore twofold: high emissions from heating, and water pollution from chemical discharge. A magnet-like mechanism at room temperature Everdye’s process takes a fundamentally different approach to traditional dying. During the standard bleaching step — required before dyeing — fibres naturally develop negatively charged sites. Instead of counteracting that chemistry, Everdye harnesses it. Everdye’s pigment functions almost like a magnet. A pretreatment creates negatively charged anchoring points on the fibres' surfaces; the pigment, which carries a positive charge, instantly locks onto these points. Through electrostatic attraction, the pigment naturally attaches to the fibre at room temperature. Then, during the drying stage — already part of any dyeing process — polymerisation locks the pigment permanently into the fibre. The final attachment strength is comparable to that of conventional dyeing, without the need for prolonged high heat or toxic chemical additives. "The industry needs disruption, not nostalgia” Before petrochemical dyes, textiles were coloured using natural pigments derived from plants, insects, and minerals. While these methods were less industrially intensive, they were difficult to scale and often lacked durability. Berlan is clear that Everdye is not attempting to revive historical techniques. “When petrochemical dyes appeared, they solved the performance problem. They delivered strong, stable colours at an industrial scale. At the time, the environmental consequences were not understood. Today, the entire textile industry is built around that petrochemical model. Our goal is not to go backwards to historical dyeing. We are creating a new chemistry that combines industrial-quality performance with a radically lower environmental footprint. The industry needs disruption, not nostalgia.” The environmental and economic value Everdye’s modelling shows energy reductions of 80–90 per cent compared to conventional dyeing. Production cycles can be three to four times faster. Toxic wastewater treatment is largely eliminated. Depending on the benchmark process, greenhouse-gas emissions can be reduced by 60 per cent to nearly 99 per cent. Unlike conventional methods that rely on hours of high-temperature treatment, Everdye’s process works rapidly at ambient temperature, significantly reducing both energy costs and greenhouse-gas emissions. All pigments developed by the company are bio-sourced, produced exclusively from plant-based or mineral raw materials. The result is almost clean water at the end of the dyeing cycle. This delivers several major advantages: A massive reduction in water and energy consumption. Fewer chemical residues. Richer, longer-lasting colour. A simplified dyeing process. Long-term, cost parity is central to the strategy. “Our objective is cost parity,” explained Berlan. “Today green solutions often carry a premium. As we scale production, pigment prices will fall, while operational savings — energy, labour, and water treatment — rebalance the economics." The total process becomes competitive, not just environmentally but financially. Easy incorporation into existing production lines The startup’s primary customers are dye houses. The market is highly fragmented globally, so the company is focusing first on Europe to strengthen the technology and gain operational experience before expanding. A critical advantage is that no new capital equipment is required. Berlan explains: “Dye houses don’t need capital investment. They simply adjust process parameters. With minimal training, they can integrate the technology into their existing production lines.” The company also collaborates directly with apparel brands facing increasing pressure to decarbonise supply chains.  Technical complexity and measured scaling Textile dyeing is among the most technically complex manufacturing processes. Different fibres, colours, and machine types each represent separate technical variables that must be validated independently. “Textile dyeing is extremely complex. You have different fibres, colours, and machinery types — each combination is a separate technical challenge,” says Berlan. Everdye currently offers primary colours, enabling a wide range of shades. Deep black — one of the most technically demanding pigments — remains under development. The pigments are already ready for cellulosic fibres such as cotton, hemp, and linen. Polyester — the world’s most widely used fibre — is in advanced development. The company supports garment dyeing and roll dyeing, while a soluble pigment format for jet dyeing is being developed with strategic partners. The focus is on reliability over speed. “The priority is quality and reliability. We want smooth adoption and industrial confidence. Entering this market requires delivering consistent performance.” According to Berlan, the biggest barrier facing the sector is cultural and financial rather than technical. “This is a traditional industry, and change takes time. Factories operate on long-established processes and spreadsheets that favour legacy systems.” But the environmental and social cost of current dyeing practices is becoming impossible to ignore. Many communities are directly harmed by toxic discharge. The pressure to transform is increasing from regulators, brands, and consumers, and EverDye offers a viable way forward.  Lead image: Everdye CEO Philippe Berlan and CTO Dr Amira Erokh.

eBay has made a “strategic investment” in UK open banking fintech TrueLayer, the UK fintech announced today. eBay has made the investment through its VC arm, eBay Ventures, joining existing TrueLayer investors Stripe, Tiger Global, Tencent and Temasek. TrueLayer did not provide details about the size of the investment. TrueLayer said: "For TrueLayer, it represents both a commercial and strategic leap forward - one that underscores how execution and innovation continue to set the company apart.” TrueLayer last publicly raised in 2024, raising a $50m round, in a funding round that lost it its unicorn status, according to reports. Today's investment was announced as TrueLayer announced an open banking payment partnership with eBay at online checkout, as an alternative to card payments. TrueLayer's other merchant partners include Amazon and Ryanair. Francesco Simoneschi, CEO and co-founder, TrueLayer, said: "By integrating directly into eBay’s checkout, we’re enabling instant, bank-authenticated payments at scale that allows merchants to benefit from a faster and more streamlined payment experience. This is another step towards a real-time payments ecosystem that aligns with modern consumer expectations.” Avritti Khandurie Mittal, vice president of product for eBay services, said: “Pay by Bank represents an important step in diversifying our payment mix with a secure, real-time way for buyers to pay directly from their bank accounts.” In the year ending 2024, TrueLayer’s revenues came in at £20.3m, compared to £12.4m in 2023. TrueLayer made a pre-tax loss of £38.6m in 2024, a reduction on the £55.6m loss it made in 2023.

Tingit, a startup transforming how we repair fashion and electronics, has raised €1.5 million investment round to take its AI-driven repairs platform across the European Union.  Led by Coinvest Capital and joined by Firstpick, NGL Ventures, and previous investors Heartfelt (Germany), BADideas (Latvia), and Purpose Tech (Czech Republic),  the funding marks a major step toward making high-quality repair a seamless daily habit rather than a logistical headache. Tingit’s mission is to make repairing items a seamless daily habit. The company’s primary technological focus is an AI-driven algorithm that automatically detects damage in a user-uploaded photo, instantly matches it with the right expert, and provides an accurate price and timeline estimate. With Tingit, a user simply uploads a photo or video of the damaged item and receives a repair quote after the AI and craftsmen have evaluated the work. Items are sent via parcel lockers using a label generated by the platform. "We want users to get offers even for very niche repairs anywhere in the EU. We’re starting to collaborate with fashion brands and e-commerce platforms so that Tingit becomes a natural part of the commercial infrastructure — it is what we call a ‘longevity protocol’ for your belongings," says Indrė Viltrakytė, CEO and co-founder of Tingit. She shares that the idea for Tingit was born in the ultimate startup fashion -  at a café: "The zipper on my handbag broke, and I suddenly realised I’d have to spend hours getting it fixed. I’d have to drive somewhere, negotiate, pay in cash, then drive back later to pick it up... A digital process just seemed so much simpler, and that intuition proved to be right." Since its launch in 2024, Tingit has raised a total of €2.02 million in external funding. In its first year, the platform successfully established itself in Lithuania and expanded into France; its network now connects over 100 skilled makers across Lithuania, France, and Poland.  To date, more than 14,000 customers have used the platform to appraise items valued at over €9 million — ranging from €20 sneakers to a €15,000 Hermès handbag.  While shoe and handbag restorations are currently the most popular, Tingit is seeing a surge in requests for household appliances, audio equipment, eyewear, and luggage. The founders encourage professional repairers interested in growing their businesses to join the network. Viktorija Trimbel, Managing Director of Coinvest Capital, shared: "At Coinvest Capital, we are always glad to support original ideas; in this case, Tingit has not only successfully brought its vision to market but has also begun to dictate new trends in consumption culture."  Tingit’s mission is both environmental – preventing overconsumption – and emotional. While repairing saves money and reduces the carbon footprint, users often simply want to preserve items tied to meaningful memories. 

Plato, an AI-based operating system for wholesale distributors, has closed a $14.5 million seed funding round led by Atomico, with participation from existing investors including Cherry Ventures. The distribution sector is under increasing pressure from labour constraints, low margins, economic uncertainty, and rising digital expectations from B2B customers. Plato aims to address these challenges by replacing manual sales and ERP workflows with AI-driven automation designed to improve operational efficiency and commercial performance. Founded by Benedikt Nolte, Matthias Heinrich Morales, and Oliver Birch, Plato develops AI-native software that automates core workflows across sales, quoting, and ERP operations for distribution businesses. By unlocking and structuring data within legacy ERP systems, the platform reduces manual work and enables sales teams to operate more proactively, supporting efficiency and revenue growth. Key capabilities include AI-driven sales intelligence to identify customer risks and opportunities, automation of repetitive processes such as order handling and internal communication, and industry-specific software tailored to wholesalers managing large and complex product portfolios. Commenting on the company’s origins, CEO Benedikt Nolte said Plato was built after experiencing the challenges faced by distribution businesses firsthand, leading the team to rethink industry workflows in collaboration with experienced technologists. He added that the company is developing an AI operating system for distributors, starting with intelligent sales automation. Plato has gained early traction, signing several large European distribution companies with six-figure average contract values. The new funding will be used to expand the platform’s functionality into areas such as customer service and procurement, as well as to support international expansion.

SportIQ, a company that develops smart basketballs and in-app shooting coaching technology, has raised a total of $6.2 million in a Series A funding round completed in two closings. The latest closing included $3.2 million in new funding from KB Partners, Koppenberg Management, Match Ventures, and a group of high-net-worth individuals and family offices. Read our earlier interview with Erik Anderson, CEO of SportIQ. The company develops connected sports balls that combine sensors, analytics, and AI to support performance tracking. Its sensor system and analytics app, which are covered by multiple patents, are used in the Spalding TF DNA basketball. The system uses a sensor embedded in the ball’s valve to track shooting performance, collecting data such as shooting position, power, angle, and technique. This data is analysed through a companion mobile app, which provides feedback and training recommendations intended to support players across different skill levels. The product combines the connected basketball with a subscription-based app designed to support skill development through data-driven coaching. We are partnering with the biggest brands in sports to bring intelligence directly into the ball without changing how the game is played. Our in valve sensor is completely invisible to athletes, which unlocks new consumer and professional applications that were not possible before. This is how every sports ball becomes smart, said Harri Hohteri, CPO and Founder of SportIQ. SportIQ plans to expand its product range and platform into additional use cases, including new basketball products and applications for other sports where its sensor system can be adapted. The funding will support market expansion, platform development, and new applications for professional leagues beyond basketball.

Stockholm-based Agaton, an agentic AI platform that uses voice analysis to help enterprise sales teams identify and act on opportunities in customer conversations, has emerged from stealth and raised $10 million in total seed funding. The round was co-led by Inception Fund and Alstin Capital, with participation from seed+speed Ventures and Foundry Ventures. Additional investors included founders and operators such as Peter Sarlin, Kieran Flanagan, Sebastian Knutsson, Lukas Saari, and Guillermo Flor. Agaton’s platform is designed to help enterprises analyse unstructured customer conversation data across sales and customer service interactions. Using AI, the system identifies behavioural patterns and sentiment signals with the aim of supporting workflow automation and improving organisational decision-making. The platform addresses a common challenge, as many companies still rely on sampled data, market research, or analytical models to guide decisions. By analysing customer interactions in real time and combining quantitative and qualitative insights, the system is intended to help organisations identify buying signals, inform product and pricing decisions, and improve the training and management of customer-facing teams. Unlike traditional conversation intelligence tools that focus primarily on transcription, Agaton’s system is designed to detect sentiment changes, highlight potential sales opportunities, provide coaching insights, and support quality assurance processes. According to the company, early customers have used the platform to gain broader visibility across customer interactions and support frontline teams with AI-driven guidance. Andreas Kullberg, CEO and Co-founder of Agaton, said the company aims to help sales teams operate more effectively through AI. The companies winning today aren't those with the biggest sales teams; they're those with the smartest ones, augmented by AI that transforms every customer interaction into strategic intelligence. This funding accelerates our mission: making enterprise sales and service teams genuinely unstoppable. The funding will be used to accelerate go-to-market efforts, expand AI capabilities, and support further product development. Over the coming year, Agaton plans to expand its team and establish additional international hubs to support a growing global customer base.

Copla, a European regtech company developing real-time compliance infrastructure for regulated financial services, has raised €6 million in a Series A funding round led by Baltic DeepTech & AI VC Iron Wolf Capital. US-based Operator Stack also participated, alongside existing investors including Specialist VC, SuperHero Capital, FirstPick, NGL Ventures, Loggerhead Partners, and a group of angel investors. The announcement comes as regulatory requirements for financial institutions in Europe continue to evolve. The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) is now in force, key obligations under the EU AI Act are scheduled to take effect in August 2026, and the Cyber Resilience Act will apply from December 2027. At the same time, AI-related risks, including automated fraud and increasingly sophisticated social engineering attacks, are placing additional pressure on organisations to strengthen operational resilience, creating challenges for traditional compliance approaches. These changes present particular difficulties for fintechs and other regulated third-party providers that are scaling their businesses while building governance and risk functions with limited resources. According to the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA), ransomware attacks in the European financial sector have disproportionately affected smaller and less-established service providers, accounting for 29 per cent of incidents, with data exposure and sale identified as common outcomes. For regulated financial services providers, gaps in cybersecurity and compliance can result in penalties, reputational damage, or, in severe cases, loss of licences. Copla’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) compliance platform is designed to help organisations interpret and implement regulatory frameworks such as DORA, the EU AI Act, and the Cyber Resilience Act. The platform converts regulatory requirements into guided workflows, tracks compliance activities on an ongoing basis, and stores supporting evidence to help organisations prepare for audits and manage operational risk while reducing manual processes. Regulation is getting sharper, but most compliance is still stuck in spreadsheets. We built Copla so compliance stays current by default, and so companies can grow with confidence instead of audit anxiety. This round gives us the momentum to make Copla the default compliance execution layer for regulated finance in Europe and beyond, said Aurimas Bakas, Co-founder and CEO of Copla. Instead of relying on static spreadsheets, the system maintains updated records of assets, vendors, risks, and controls in real time as regulations and business needs change. The company also provides additional support through in-house and fractional CISO expertise, along with a network of partners across Europe, to assist with audits, risk assessments, and regulatory processes. Founded in 2023, Copla was established by Aurimas Bakas (CEO), Andrius Minkevičius (CTO), who previously co-founded the core banking platform Paysolut, acquired by SumUp in 2021, and Nojus Bendoraitis (Chief Legal Officer), bringing experience across fintech, regulatory compliance, and cybersecurity. The new funding will support product development, team expansion, and international growth beyond the EU. It will also be used to expand product capabilities, including the rollout of Copla Bridge, a platform layer designed to help partners, consultants, and multi-entity organisations manage compliance across multiple companies from a unified view. Image: Photo by Judita Grigelytė ("Verslo žinios")

Vienna-based Flinn, a provider of AI-powered software designed to automate regulatory and quality processes in medtech, has raised $20 million in additional funding. The round was led by HV Capital, with participation from US-based healthcare investor BHI – Bertelsmann Healthcare Investments, alongside continued support from existing investors Cherry Ventures, Speedinvest, and SquareOne. The funding comes as healthcare systems globally face increasing pressure from ageing populations, more complex treatment approaches, and administrative challenges that are placing strain on public healthcare budgets. As costs rise, governments face growing difficulty managing expenditure, while patients may encounter reduced access to new treatments or higher out-of-pocket costs. Medical devices and pharmaceuticals can improve efficiency through areas such as automated healthcare, advanced diagnostics, and personalised treatments. However, innovation in these sectors is shaped by strict regulatory and quality frameworks. While these requirements are essential for patient safety, they can also extend development timelines and increase the costs of bringing products to market and maintaining compliance throughout their lifecycle. As compliance demands grow, many companies face rising operational complexity in managing regulatory and quality processes. Flinn aims to address these challenges through AI-based software that automates regulatory workflows, data evaluation, and reporting, replacing manual, document-heavy processes with more scalable systems. Bastian Krapinger-Rüther, Co-founder and Co-CEO of Flinn, said regulatory and quality requirements are increasingly contributing to costs across the medical product lifecycle. Our software replaces manual, document-heavy workflows with automated systems that scale across products, markets, and regulatory regimes. This additional investment enables us to extend that infrastructure across more lifecycle stages and support manufacturers operating globally, he added. By integrating automation into regulatory and quality functions, the platform aims to help manufacturers improve operational efficiency, shorten development timelines, and maintain compliance while supporting patient safety requirements. The approach is intended to reduce administrative burden and allow teams to focus more on product development and innovation. With the new funding, Flinn plans to expand its platform beyond existing regulatory and post-market solutions to cover earlier development stages as well as commercial processes, creating a unified compliance and quality framework across the full medical product lifecycle. The company also plans to use the funding to support international growth, including further expansion across Europe and entry into the US market.