On the fourth anniversary of Russia’s unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Tech.eu remains committed to amplifying Ukrainian founders and investors — not merely as a gesture of solidarity, but as recognition of their ongoing impact in innovation, creating front-running tech for international scale. Ukraine’s tech ecosystem is not paused by war. It is evolving — faster, harder, and with a clarity of purpose that much of Europe would do well to study. ​ Europe — and much of the global tech ecosystem — still underestimates and fails to grasp what Ukraine represents. ​ I often hear Ukrainian startups described as resilient. It’s a phrase I struggle with because it describes the kind of people who can bounce back, shake it off, and keep going. It makes us feel better, not them and implicitly suggests that adversity can simply be absorbed, as though anyone who struggles under these conditions is an exception rather than human. ​ No founder should have to pitch between air-raid sirens or hesitate to tell customers and investors they have teams in Ukraine — fearing that blackouts and disrupted infrastructure might make them harder to reach. ​ I’ve visited Ukraine three times since Russia’s full-scale invasion, and interviewed dozens of startups and ecosystem builders. It hits different when you visit a co-working space that has been hit by a missile attack / or talk to a founder who casually mentions they are homeless because their apartment burnt down. Founders are operating under pressures most of us will never fully comprehend — air-raid sirens at all hours, rolling blackouts, and the grinding toll of chronic sleep deprivation. I’m a chronic insomniac myself, but imagine being jolted awake night after night for nearly four years by the sound of an air-raid alert. You check the app and your local Telegram group. What kind of missile is it? Is it serious enough to warrant shelter — again — or can you cautiously try to sleep? But now you’re awake in fight-or-flight mode. And the next morning, you have a company to run. A pitch to deliver. A stage to stand on. Recently, Ukrainians experienced what became Ukraine’s harshest winter since the full-scale invasion. Temperatures plunged to –20°C in many regions as sustained Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure — actions that constitute war crimes under international humanitarian law — left entire areas without electricity, heating, or running water. And, there's the reality that family, friends, and colleagues have been killed. The editorial team at DOU, the largest Ukrainian IT community and portal for software developers and tech professionals, created a powerful digital memorial in honour of fallen IT professionals. The structural barriers Ukrainian founders face are rarely understood outside the region. Most Ukrainian men aged 18–60 are not permitted to leave the country under martial law. Yet I have heard investors say they will only invest if they can meet founders in person — as though geography were a preference rather than a wartime restriction. I’ve also had quite a few early-stage Ukrainian founders ask me not to mention they have co-founders and management in Ukraine in case it deters investors who see the blackouts as a particular liability for customer retention. Ukraine’s airspace has been closed to civilian flights for more than four years. A trip to a conference, pitch event, or board meeting in London, Berlin, or Lisbon can involve a 15-hour journey each way — train to the Polish border, border crossing, flight onwards, then the same again in reverse. And for those who got out. displacement brings its own invisible tax: navigating a new language, unfamiliar bureaucracy, housing insecurity, and rebuilding professional networks from scratch. These are not minor inconveniences. They are structural friction layered on top of war. And yet, Ukrainian startups continue to launch, raise capital, and scale internationally. But in the last four years, we’ve seen airSlate, Unstoppable Domains, Creatio, Preply, and mono become unicorns. Since 2020, the estimated value of the Ukrainian startup ecosystem has tripled to more than $25 billion. According to Digital State UA , there are approximately 2,600 startups in Ukraine, of which around 2,100 were founded by Ukrainian crews and more than 500 foreign startups that have opened offices in Ukraine. Further, the exodus of Ukrainian talent across the US, UK, and Europe has created unlikely dividends — new networks, new markets, new paths to scale. Has Europe done enough? Definitely not. Ukraine is holding the line — not just for itself, but for Europe’s security. ​ It’s been bizarre for me to see the investors go from anti-defencetech to scrambling for a foothold. Ukraine did not “pivot into defence tech” as a trend. It had to. And what began as an urgent, frontline necessity is increasingly translating into exportable dual-use technologies with broader European relevance, especially for startups. building autonomous counter-UAS systems, battlefield communications platforms, AI-enabled targeting software, logistics optimisation tools, and space-enabled capabilities. What started as survival is becoming strategic capability. Russia’s invasion has underscored a stark strategic shortcoming for not only Ukraine but neighbouring Europe: its reliance on systems like Starlink, owned by an American company headed by one of the most megalomaniac people in tech, to power satellite communications infrastructure in times of conflict. It has also highlighted the need for an expansion of localised, decentralised energy systems — from microgrids to renewables and storage — capable of withstanding sustained attacks on centralised infrastructure. ​ And, where to from here on? The rebuilding of Ukraine will be one of the largest infrastructure and governance challenges Europe has faced in generations.   But startups are focused on rebuilding, demining, and creating the necessary digital infrastructure. ​ Once the war ends, I predict cities like Lviv and Kyiv will become beacons for founders abroad looking to find a place to found their companies. A single state portal, Diia, developed over the last few years, offers over 70 digital services — you can become an entrepreneur in Ukraine in just 2 seconds and found a limited liability company in 30 minutes. Over 1,000,000 private entrepreneurs and more than 14,000 companies have already used the service. Ukraine is not waiting to be rebuilt. It is already being built. The question is whether the rest of Europe is ready to build alongside it. Lead image: Freepik.

Finland-based quantum computing startup IQM today said it plans to go public in the US via a SPAC, with a $1.8bn valuation. Helsinki-headquartered IQM, founded in 2018, is merging with SPAC firm Real Asset Acquisition Corp (RAAQ) as part of the deal, the startup said today. SPACs are an alternative route for companies to go public, instead of a traditional listing. A SPAC listing is seen as attractive to startups as they can fast-track a listing, without the expense, time and hassle of going through a conventional IPO. SPAC IPOs leapt in popularity in 2020, but then fell out of favour, amid falling stock prices and big investor losses. IQM said the transaction values IQM at a pre-money equity valuation of approximately $1.8 billion and would make IQM the first European quantum company to go public.  It said it was going public on one of the two leading US stock exchanges, but did not share further details. RAAQ is listed on the Nasdaq. The deal, which is subject to the approval of IQM and RAAQ shareholders, is expected to be completed in June this year, ahead of the listing. IQM said it was also considering a dual listing that would see it listed on the Helsinki stock exchange. IQM is a prominent player in superconducting quantum computers. It provides both on-premises full-stack quantum computers and a cloud platform to access its computers.  Last year, IQM raised $320 million in venture capital, the largest Series B raise ever in the quantum space, bringing its total funding raised to $600m. Last year, Swedish autonomous truck startup Einride said it was going public in the US via a SPAC, valuing it at $1.8bn. Jan Goetz, co-founder and CEO, IQM, said: “We built IQM from the beginning for one purpose — to put working quantum computers in the hands of the people who will use them to solve real problems. "Not someday. Now. Quantum computing is a science project no more. It is an industry where customers own, operate, and build on advanced quantum computers. That’s what IQM makes possible.”   Peter Ort, CEO and co-chairman, Real Asset Acquisition Corp, said: “IQM has built and delivered more on-premises quantum systems than any other competitor to some of the most demanding research institutions on earth. "This transaction will accelerate the growth of a company that has already earned its position in the field, with real customers, running real quantum systems, today.”

Modern defence is shifting from hardware to software. As cyber conflict, drone warfare, and information operations reshape global security, the advantage increasingly belongs to nations that can innovate faster — not just build bigger arsenals. Defence Holdings PLC is a UK-listed defence technology company focused on building a software-led platform for modern military and security operations. Rather than manufacturing traditional hardware, it develops and acquires AI-driven tools for mission planning, logistics, cyber defence, secure communications, drone coordination, and protection of critical infrastructure.  Defence Holdings recently appointed Andrew Roughan as CEO, formerly head of innovation hub Plexal, which oversees more than 700 startups and scaleups. While Roughan focuses on scaling the company’s commercial strategy, this interview centres on CTO Andy McCartney, who leads the design and deployment of Defence Holdings’ AI product stack. Building the software layer of modern warfare The company positions itself around the idea that future defence capability will increasingly depend on intelligent software, data, and automation, and is assembling a portfolio of technologies to help governments and allied organisations respond to cyber, information, and hybrid threats. The edge-case engineer The company’s software-first strategy is shaped heavily by McCartney’s background. Andy McCartney brings nearly three decades of technology experience to Defence Holdings. A Belfast-born technologist, McCartney has built his career around developing systems ahead of mainstream demand — tools that organisations often recognise the value of only years later. “My background’s pretty much online. I’ve been doing tech since I was 11 or 12,” he said. Growing up in a rough area of Belfast, he spent long stretches teaching himself programming in public libraries. “That’s where I got a real passion for technology.” He built his first computer at 12 and quickly gravitated toward technical problems others overlooked. “I realised I was good at building the technology people said wasn’t needed — the 3 per cent nobody wanted. Then three years later, everyone says, ‘Can we please have that?’ That’s been my world: building the edge cases that later become essential.” McCartney later served as CEO of Microsoft Ventures UK between 2013 and 2015, where he launched the company’s first venture innovation platform outside the United States and helped scale dozens of high-growth technology businesses.  Defence as a natural fit McCartney went on to found Whitespace, a Belfast-based company delivering generative AI into defence, the public sector and other highly regulated industries. Today, Whitespace platforms support frontline Ministry of Defence operations. His entry into defence, he says, was driven by both technical challenge and personal motivation. “About 15 or 16 years ago, I was brought into defence and national security conversations around technology. I realised I was actually very good at it because it’s complex and fast-paced. It suited my attitude toward technology.” He frames his work in direct terms: “I’ve always been vocal about this — I really don’t like bad people. I grew up seeing bad people do bad things. Much of the technology I’ve built has been focused on stopping that. So defence felt like a natural fit.” Alongside Defence Holdings and Whitespace, McCartney has founded SafetyTalks and Jam Pot Technologies and continues to serve as chief hacking officer at Tadaweb, with a focus on security, data systems, and high-risk operational environments.  This background shapes how he sees Defence Holdings’ mission. More capability, less money, greater urgency Last year, the UK published the Strategic Defence Review. It calls on government, the armed forces, industry, and wider society to implement its 62 recommendations to ensure Britain can deter threats and respond effectively in a rapidly evolving security environment The review advises a shift toward faster procurement, dual-use innovation, and deeper collaboration with startups. For younger defence companies, it effectively opens doors that were historically closed. For McCartney, “It means developing more capability for less money, faster. We have less time and budget to solve complex problems quickly. That’s a massive attraction for me.” According to McCartney, “the last time we truly operated at wartime speed was Bletchley Park. It was about solving impossible problems quickly, bringing in talent from the commercial and civil sectors, and working nationally to solve them.” Ukraine has rewritten the rules of modern warfare According to McCartney, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine fundamentally changed how modern warfare is understood. “They didn’t have time to spin up high-end systems. War arrived in 24 hours. They had to innovate immediately,” he said. Without access to Western intelligence infrastructure, Ukrainian forces relied on low-cost hardware, commercial platforms and open data — constraints that forced rapid experimentation. “Jeopardy creates high-quality solutions because failure has consequences.” Rather than deploying multi-million-dollar systems, Ukraine adapted consumer technology at scale. Cheap drones are now capable of destroying tanks worth up to €1 million — a cost imbalance that McCartney says “rewrites doctrine.” “Ukraine isn’t spending $10 million per system. They’re bolting functionality onto consumer drones and integrating them into the kill chain. That mindset is powerful.” The lesson, he argues, extends well beyond the battlefield. NATO countries must rethink how they design and procure defence capabilities. Ukraine isn’t just a war story — it’s a preview of how modern defence will operate in the future. “For every solution you create, a hundred new problems appear. Meanwhile, you have institutions wrapped in legacy procurement systems that weren’t built for this speed. That’s the seismic shift.” Rebuilding domestic defence capability Defence Holdings positions itself as part of a broader push toward sovereign capability in UK defence technology. The company aims to reduce reliance on foreign-built systems by accelerating the development of domestic alternatives. “When you buy externally, the money leaves your economy, and you’re not part of the development cycle,” he said. “You don’t understand the solution as deeply because you didn’t build it.” He argues that the UK’s dependence on non-sovereign technology is often driven more by speed than by preference. Defence agencies frequently turn to foreign suppliers because domestic suppliers have struggled to deliver at the pace operational needs demand. “The UK often has no choice but to buy non-sovereign technology because no one has provided alternatives at the speed required,” McCartney said. “Defence Holdings exists to change that.” The company’s strategy is to work with smaller technology partners and hyperscale infrastructure providers to deliver sovereign applications faster — giving UK defence agencies greater control over both the technology stack and its long-term evolution. Why smarter systems beat bigger arsenals What Ukraine exposed, McCartney argues, is not just the importance of readiness, but the central role of data in maintaining it. Modern defence capability, he says, depends less on raw firepower and more on how effectively information is processed and acted upon. Yet he believes the long-standing assumption that “data equals power” can itself become an obstacle. “I once heard a senior military leader say, ‘The last thing I need is more data.’ That terrified me,” he said. “Amazon, Microsoft, Apple — they want more data. It sharpens execution. If you can’t use data, your systems are broken.” For McCartney, the issue is not volume, but interpretation. Data, he argues, removes institutional bias. “If decisions aren’t data-driven, they’re opinion-driven,” he said. “If you ask the army, navy and air force how to defeat an enemy, each argues for their domain. AI looks at the problem neutrally. Its strength is analysing data without institutional bias.” The lesson reinforced by Ukraine, he says, is clear: superiority will increasingly come from intelligent systems rather than sheer scale . “Ukraine proved the solution isn’t more tanks. It's smarter systems.” A system finally starting to move McCartney advises that cultural change in the UK, somewhat insulated from the battlefields of Ukraine, is possible. He advises: “Demonstration beats argument. Instead of waiting a year for approvals, I go directly to the person with the problem. We build fast. Then we come back and demonstrate the working solution.” Once people see it functioning, resistance disappears. Then, the only barrier left is process. Suddenly, onboarding documents shrink. Procurement timelines compress. Senior leadership now has proof they can use to push internal reform. “We’re not waiting for defence to fully transform before engaging. We’re engaging now and helping accelerate that transformation,” he asserts. The shift from hardware to information warfare Defence Holdings is seeing the most traction in real-time learning systems that analyse operations and continuously improve them.  According to McCartney, “Information warfare is huge: misinformation, cyber, psychological operations. A teenager with tools can destabilise a public figure faster than institutions can respond. Encryption and redundancy matter because communication infrastructure is converging.” He also shares my interest in spacetech as critical to defence, asserting, “Ukraine showed commercial satellites can outperform traditional military systems. That changes assumptions.” In terms of UK readiness in defencetech, McCartney admits, “a year ago I’d have been cautious. Now I’m encouraged.” He sees commitments made in early 2025 are turning into reality, noting: “For an organisation as regulated as defence, that pace is impressive. It reminds me of Microsoft’s transformation under Satya Nadella. Cultural change takes time, but once it starts, it compounds.” “Stop complaining and build” McCartney advises startups interested in defence/dual defence to jump in: “History is being written, and this is a historic window. The blueprint doesn’t exist yet. In three years, it will. Stop complaining and build. Right now, a small team can compete with giants. If six out of ten attempts succeed, you’re ahead of everyone who tried none. Defence Holdings isn’t a traditional prime contractor. We’re a bridge. If you’re solving real problems, talk to us.”

Cologne-based Einklang, which specialises in integrated energy solutions for Germany’s mid-sized companies, has secured €2.2 million in funding. The round was led by Vireo Ventures, with participation from SI Ventures, Saxovent, Angel Invest, Heimatboost and DnA Ventures. Einklang is an Energy-as-a-Service provider focused on serving small and medium-sized enterprises in Germany. The company delivers integrated electricity solutions for commercial and industrial customers, combining intelligent control systems, battery storage, and flexible tariffs without requiring upfront investment or operational effort from customers. Its offering is designed to help businesses reduce electricity costs, increase energy autonomy, and expand the use of renewable power. The company is part of a new generation of energy ecosystem spin-offs. Its founders, Lucas Jonas, Jonathan Schulte, Paul Ziche, and José Neri, bring experience from building and scaling companies, including Voltfang and Impuls Energy. This background in industrial energy systems and algorithmic energy trading underpins Einklang’s technology approach. Lucas Jonas, co-founder and CEO of Einklang, said the company is addressing a key challenge in the energy transition: While energy-intensive industries are granted relief through tailored regulations, mid-size companies continue to face high electricity prices. The issue isn’t renewable energy itself, but rather price volatility, high grid charges, consumption peaks, and a lack of flexibility. Our solution tackles exactly these problems. Jonas added that the company’s objective is to enable businesses to automatically use electricity when renewable generation is high, without adding operational complexity. Einklang integrates electricity procurement, storage and consumption to help companies automatically source power when it is cheaper and more renewable. The system is designed to reduce price volatility and peak loads, lower grid fees, and improve planning visibility. The solution is already in use at manufacturing and industrial sites, with implementation typically completed within three months. Following the funding round, Einklang plans to further develop its technology platform and expand strategic partnerships as it works to scale flexible energy systems for mid-sized businesses. The company aims to grow its battery-optimised electricity tariff solution across commercial and industrial customers, targeting expansion to 100 customer sites by 2026.

Today GovTech Lab Ukraine announced that three startups from Ukraine and Europe have been selected to pilot digital solutions for public services in Ukraine’s first open innovation programme for the public sector.  GovTech Lab Ukraine is an open innovation programme in government technology implemented by the Global Government Technology Centre Kyiv (GGTC), in collaboration with the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine and the World Economic Forum, and with the support of Switzerland through the EGAP Program, which is carried out by East Europe Foundation. GovTech Lab Ukraine enables government institutions to work directly with startups to design and test digital solutions before scaling them.  This approach helps reduce the risks of large-scale digital projects, accelerates innovation cycles, and allows both public institutions and technology companies to develop solutions grounded in real operational needs—ultimately improving public services and strengthening the digital economy. This year, GovTech Lab Ukraine focused on three challenge areas developed together with government partners: legal assistance, urban development, and tourism management. During the programme, seven startups worked with public-sector teams to refine user needs, test hypotheses, and prepare pilot concepts, which they presented at Demo Day. The solutions were reviewed by an Advisory Board that included representatives from government, international organisations, and the GovTech ecosystem. Winning startups and their pilot solutions Obriy AI to pilot automated legal assistance for Ukraine’s justice system In partnership with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, the “Automated Legal Assistance” challenge is designed to expand access to basic legal guidance for citizens while easing the operational burden on Ukraine’s Free Legal Aid service. As demand for legal support rises amid ongoing wartime and reconstruction pressures, scalable digital tools are becoming essential to maintain timely and consistent service delivery. The winner, Obriy AI, will pilot its SURE platform to support legal aid operators. The enterprise-grade solution deploys AI agents capable of understanding legal intent, retrieving information from approved knowledge bases, and assisting staff in responding to citizen inquiries — all while adhering to strict security and data-governance requirements. The pilot is expected to reduce workload for legal aid professionals, shorten response times, and improve the consistency and quality of frontline legal support. citytax UAB to modernise Ukraine’s tourism data infrastructure In collaboration with the State Agency for Tourism Development of Ukraine, the “Data-driven Tourism Management” challenge aims to strengthen how tourism data is collected, analysed, and applied in policymaking. As Ukraine looks to rebuild and reposition itself internationally, transparent and reliable tourism data will be essential for informed decision-making, fair taxation, and long-term sector development. The winner, citytax UAB, is a Lithuanian GovTech company building digital infrastructure for public-sector tourism management and local taxation. It will pilot a digital platform for accommodation registration and tourist-tax administration, introducing standardised identifiers, structured data flows, and AI-based screening of accommodation listings. The solution enables authorities to detect unregistered properties, improve tax compliance, and generate more reliable tourism data. Designed to integrate with existing public-sector systems and align with European regulatory frameworks, the platform supports scalable rollout beyond the initial pilot phase. Itera wins challenge to digitise Ukraine’s construction oversight In partnership with the State Inspectorate of Architecture and Urban Planning of Ukraine, the “Transparent and Efficient Urban Development” challenge set out to modernise one of the most critical bottlenecks in Ukraine’s reconstruction: construction permitting and regulatory compliance. As the country rebuilds, improving the transparency, speed, and accountability of urban planning processes — particularly around complex documentation and regulatory requirements — is essential to restoring infrastructure at scale. The winner, Itera, is a Nordic software and innovation company with more than 30 years of experience and a strong team based in Ukraine. Itera presented an AI-powered solution that automates the extraction, structuring, and verification of complex construction documentation. The system conducts compliance checks against current regulations and introduces auditable workflows alongside role-based dashboards, helping authorities streamline permit issuance while strengthening transparency and oversight in the rebuilding process. Over the next 12 weeks, startup teams will work together with government partners to develop and deploy the proposed pilot solutions in real operating environments. Each team will receive up to $100,000 to implement and test their solutions in partnership with Ukrainian government institutions. Support for selected challenges is provided by Mastercard, partner of the data-driven tourism management challenge, and East Europe Foundation, partner of the automated legal assistance challenge. Infrastructure resources across all three challenges are provided by De Novo, enabling startup teams to design and test pilot solutions.

Last 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.Click to read the rest of the news.

Thiax, a Danish deeptech spin-out, has secured investment from PSV Hafnium to advance its non-destructive 3D inspection technology for polymer and composite parts. In many high-performance composite industries, including aerospace, quality assurance still relies heavily on destructive testing and techniques such as ultrasound. While effective at confirming failure or detecting simple defects like voids, these methods often cannot reveal root causes or measure critical parameters such as strain and crystallinity. Thiax seeks to address this gap by combining advances in X-ray diffraction with multispectral X-ray detectors and 3D measurement technology to deliver deeper insight into polymer microstructures. The capability is delivered through a compact, production-ready instrument for in-line use, providing three-dimensional, depth-resolved visibility into internal material structures. Peter Froberg, CEO of Thiax, said the key milestone is not only that the underlying physics is proven, but that the technology can operate at industrial speed, enabling manufacturers to inspect internal material behaviour non-destructively in factory environments. Thiax is initially targeting aerospace manufacturing, where quality assurance remains a significant challenge, with longer-term applications expected to extend to areas such as spacecraft quality control and increased use of recycled polymers in everyday products. With the investment from PSV Hafnium, Thiax will focus on preparing its system for stable, reproducible use in industrial production environments, advancing pilot projects with aerospace partners, and strengthening its organisation around product development and commercial validation. By bringing laboratory-grade material insight into production settings, the company aims to support a shift in quality assurance toward a more enabling role in advanced manufacturing at scale.

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.