London-based Marloo, an AI partner for financial advisers, has raised $10 million in a seed funding round led by Blackbird Ventures, which also participated in the company’s earlier pre-seed round. The latest investment brings Marloo’s total funding to $12.7 million within a year. The company is developing an AI platform designed to support financial advisers by automating administrative tasks such as note-taking, documentation, and compliance, allowing them to focus more on client relationships and advice delivery. Over time, the platform also identifies opportunities that may otherwise go unnoticed due to time or context constraints. Financial advice is a critical service, but it remains difficult to deliver effectively at scale. Existing tools often do not reflect how advisory work is carried out in practice, resulting in limited access to guidance for clients and a significant administrative burden for advisers. Marloo’s platform has been developed with input from industry practitioners, with a portion of its team having experience as financial advisers. The platform enables advisers to focus on client interactions by automating tasks such as note-taking, documentation, and compliance. It also identifies potential opportunities over time based on broader data context. Commenting on the development, Hardy Michel and Shakeel Lala, co-founders at Marloo, said it represents a significant shift for financial advice, enabling advisers to better leverage their time, expertise, and client relationships: For too long, the tools available to advisers have been unworthy of that responsibility. Marloo changes that. It does work that was never possible before. Every adviser deserves this, and every client deserves an adviser who has it. The new funding will be used to expand Marloo’s presence in the UK and Australia, where adoption is increasing, and to support its entry into the US market. It will also accelerate the development of a broader product suite intended to position the platform as a core operating system for advisory firms

Revolut is to open a retail store in Barcelona, marking its first move into retail bricks and mortar. Called Revolut Store, it will be located in the heart of Barcelona and has been likened to the Apple retail store in terms of its large size, according to Spanish media.  According to Revolut, the idea behind the store is to make the Revolut brand more accessible and its products easier to discover. A spokesperson for Revolut, which is valued at $75bn, said: “This will not be a temporary pop-up, but a permanent space. A high-visibility, immersive space that will bring our ecosystem to life.” Revolut didn’t confirm exactly what services Revolut Store will offer, but La Vanguardia said customers will be able to get advice on contracting services and enjoy brand-related experiences. The store will not be a bank branch. A Revolut spokesperson added: "We decided to open a physical space to engage with consumers as any other lifestyle brand would do. We also believe physical presence builds trust by putting a human layer on top of the digital experience.” Antoine Le Nel, Revolut global marketing director, told La Vanguardia: "We chose Barcelona because it has always been our testing ground. It’s an innovative city where we can find both local and international customers.” He said if successful, the store would be replicated in other markets. Revolut chose Barcelona, which is a strategic location for Revolut where it employs around 700 people, as the city to launch its first ATMs. The store will operate under a lease agreement and employ more than twenty people, according to the report, which said it would open at the end of this year or the start of 2027.

Functional drinks and supplements brand Neutonic has raised $6 million in funding at a $60 million valuation to support its global expansion across the UK, US, and additional international markets. The round includes backing from investors such as Alan Barrett, Ollie Marchon, Ross Edgley, Dan Martell, Codie Sanchez, Nomit Shah, and Zach Ranen, alongside continued participation from existing shareholders. Jay Parker has also joined the company as a special advisor. Founded in 2023 by Chris Williamson, James Smith, Luke Betts, and Shan Hanif, Neutonic has scaled rapidly since launch, selling more than 7.5 million cans to date. The company operates within the growing nootropics and functional drinks category, offering products designed to support focus, mental clarity, and sustained energy. Its formulations combine research-backed ingredients with a consumer-focused approach to flavour and usability, targeting increasing demand for performance-oriented alternatives to traditional energy drinks. Commenting on the funding, co-founder James Smith said: This raise gives us the firepower to keep building Neutonic across both the UK and the US whilst also launching in Australia. We have seen strong momentum in retail and this next phase is about scaling distribution, strengthening the team and continuing to meet growing consumer demand. The company is on track to exceed $25 million in revenue this year, supported by strong growth across both direct-to-consumer and retail channels. Its products are now stocked in over 10,000 retail locations globally, spanning grocery, specialist retail, and fitness environments. The new funding will be used to accelerate retail expansion, particularly in the UK and the US, while supporting entry into new markets, including Australia. It will also fund strategic hires across product, commercial, and operations teams, expand distribution across key channels, and drive ongoing product innovation.

dehaze, a Munich-based healthtech AI company, has raised €3.2 million in a seed funding round led by YZR Capital and DN Capital, with participation from Angel Invest, Zoho, and Better Ventures. The funding will support the company’s efforts to develop a foundational AI model for chronic disease detection. dehaze’s platform uses causal AI to analyse large volumes of patient data, enabling healthcare payers to identify individuals at risk of chronic conditions earlier, improve intervention outcomes, and reduce costs. Chronic diseases remain the largest cost driver in global healthcare systems, accounting for around 70 per cent of deaths and more than $8 trillion in annual spending, according to the World Health Organization. Despite the abundance of available health data, clinicians typically review only a small fraction before making decisions, contributing to a significant share of conditions going undetected at earlier, more treatable stages. dehaze aims to address this gap through a purpose-built model designed specifically for healthcare data. Its system processes heterogeneous datasets at scale and provides causal insights that support decision-making for both clinicians and insurers. The company says its approach can help reduce medical loss ratios while enabling earlier and more effective treatment. Marius Klages, co-founder and CEO of dehaze, said the company was built in Munich from the ground up as a foundational AI model for chronic disease detection, rather than as a chatbot or dashboard-style solution: Our customers are global from day one, because the problem is global from day one. The speed at which payers are signing with us confirms what we believed when we started: this is a category that will be defined over the next few years, and dehaze is going to define it. The new funding will be used to expand both the technical and commercial teams and to further develop platform capabilities, including features for recommending next-best actions and improving traceability.

Prague-based payments infrastructure startup Tapaya has raised €1 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Passion Capital, with co-lead participation from Depo Ventures and follow-on investment from BADideas.fund. Founded in 2025 by Laura Ďorďová, Roman Kuchařík, and Petr Zahradník, Tapaya is developing infrastructure that enables banks, fintechs, and software platforms to integrate in-person payment acceptance directly into their applications. The company is already working on integrations in the Czech Republic and expanding partnerships across Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltics. In-person payments continue to rely heavily on dedicated hardware terminals, creating cost and operational complexity for merchants and software providers. Embedding payment functionality into platforms such as POS systems, ERP software, or kiosks remains a lengthy and resource-intensive process due to certification requirements and fragmented infrastructure. Tapaya addresses this by consolidating compliance, certification, and processor integrations into a single software layer. Its platform allows developers to enable payment acceptance across Android, iOS, and other commercial devices, effectively turning standard hardware into payment terminals and removing the need for dedicated devices. By simplifying integration and reducing reliance on third parties, the company aims to shorten implementation timelines from months to days. Commenting on the company’s approach, co-founder and CEO Laura Ďorďová said: We want accepting payments to be as simple as turning on a light. For decades, it has meant relying on a piece of hardware, buying it, carrying it, connecting it, and reconciling it separately. Merchants are tired of that complexity. The system is designed to comply with evolving standards set by the PCI Security Standards Council, including the PCI MPoC framework, which enables secure card acceptance on commercial devices. By abstracting these requirements into a single integration, Tapaya allows partners to offer in-person payments without building their own certification infrastructure. The funding will be used to complete Tapaya’s PCI MPoC certification and further develop its in-house technology, while supporting the expansion of its partner network across Europe.

Scotland's Cnuic has raised $3 million in pre-seed funding led by Tensor Ventures, together with the Silicon Valley-based Blank Space Ventures. The round also saw participation from Silicon Roundabout Ventures, Phasechange, SANDS, and Superlative. The company based in Edinburgh has developed a working prototype of a completely new type of photolithography device, which makes use of the properties of light, enabling rapid, reconfigurable production of photonic chips with enhanced 3D control, something that was previously impossible.  This will enable a new scale of photonic chip production, and could result in a completely new balance of power in the global chip industry, in Europe’s favour.  In practice, Cnuic asserts this could be the biggest innovation in this field since the invention of the transistor. The semiconductor industry is facing its biggest transformation since the invention of the transistor. Silicon chips are nearing their physical limits. In contrast, photonic chips transmit data using light, that is, photons, rather than electrons, and therefore offer significantly higher transmission speeds without overheating. Until now, the main obstacles to the mass deployment of photonic chips have been their technological complexity and high manufacturing costs.  New technology represents a critical turning point for business, as these properties will enable global tech giants to operate data centres with radically lower cooling and electricity costs.  In the field of AI, model training will be significantly accelerated by photonic chips, which eliminate “bottlenecks” in communication among thousands of processors. The underlying technology also opens up possibilities across a broader range of light-based systems, including metalenses, 3D photonic crystals, AR and VR waveguides, flexible gratings, and similar applications.  According to Omar Durrani, co-founder of Cnuic, every major leap in human capability has come from learning to use a new medium better.  “We learned to use electrons. Now we are learning to use light. Cnuic is building the tools that make that possible at scale."  “Cnuic’s technology can democratise the production of photonic chips in much the same way that PCs democratized computing power,” says Ondřej Lipold, partner in Tensor Ventures.  Martin Drdúl, co-founder of Tensor Ventures, who oversaw the investment alongside Ondřej Lipold, adds:  “From a deep tech perspective, this is a completely new technology and a major breakthrough that could mean a whole new role for Europe in the semiconductor industry.”

Always Friday, an Italian AI-native platform for corporate event planning, has raised a €1.05 million Pre-Seed round led by Vento Ventures and P3 Ventures, with participation from Marco Migliore, Arnaldo Borghesi, and several angel investors from the Italian startup ecosystem. Founded in 2024 in Latina by Gianluca Sordano, Daniele Viccaro, Antonio Restaino, and Lorenzo Balzani, the startup has developed an AI platform that automates key workflows in event planning — from venue sourcing and supplier selection to operations, contracts, and payments. The product is designed around an AI interface that enables users to manage the entire event planning process. Behind the scenes, proprietary AI agents handle the operational heavy lifting, including contacting venues, negotiating pricing and availability, and coordinating suppliers end-to-end. Its AI agents can automate up to 90 per cent of operational tasks, reducing processes that typically take weeks to just a few hours. Always Friday currently employs nine people and has grown revenue fivefold year-on-year. In Q1 2026, it matched its full-year 2025 revenue, driven by demand from companies looking to streamline corporate event operations. The company is focused on enterprise and mid-market clients, where event volume and operational complexity make automation most impactful. “We’re building a platform that brings structure and automation to an industry that still runs largely on manual work,” said Gianluca Sordano, CEO and co-founder of Always Friday. “AI helps us remove operational overhead while keeping full control over execution and quality.” Always Friday is also building one of the largest proprietary event supplier databases in Italy, with plans to expand across Europe. The new capital will be used to expand the engineering team, further develop its proprietary AI agents, and strengthen its data infrastructure, which maps venues, suppliers, pricing, and event performance data.

Berlin-based Patronus has raised €11 million in a funding round led by 3TS Capital Partners, with participation from Grazia Equity and existing investors including Singular, Burda Principal Investments, Adjacent, NAP, and UVC Partners. Founded in 2020 by Ben Staudt, Patronus develops digital safety and companion solutions designed for older adults. The company focuses on addressing limitations of traditional emergency call systems, which are often underused due to usability and stigma, by offering a more accessible and user-friendly alternative. Its core product is a smartwatch that enables users to connect directly to an emergency call centre at the press of a button. Designed to resemble a standard wristwatch, the device integrates mobile connectivity and removes the need for dedicated home infrastructure. Patronus complements the device with a mobile app for family members, allowing them to stay informed and connected without intrusive monitoring. Commenting on the company’s vision, founder Ben Staudt said: We want to create a world where ageing means safety, independence, and connection, supported by technology that adapts to people, not the other way around. The company reports strong adoption, with tens of thousands of users and a high rate of daily usage compared to traditional emergency devices. The platform has also facilitated a significant number of emergency responses, reflecting growing demand for mobile safety solutions among ageing populations. With demographic trends pointing to a growing elderly population and increasing demand for independent living solutions, Patronus aims to further scale its platform and broaden its offering across Europe. The new funding will be used to expand Patronus’ position in the mobile emergency response market and to develop additional product features focused on family connectivity and wellbeing, including an AI-powered companion designed to support users in everyday situations.

Swedish AI company Redpine has raised €6.8 million in a seed funding round led by NordicNinja, with participation from Luminar Ventures and node.vc. The investment will support the company’s international expansion and further development of its AI data platform. Founded in 2024 by Anders Hammarbäck and David Österdahl, Redpine focuses on addressing a key limitation in artificial intelligence: the restricted availability of high-quality data. While only a small fraction of global data is openly accessible for AI training, the company works with content owners to unlock premium, non-public datasets in a compliant way, enabling broader and more reliable AI applications. Its platform operates as a headless API interface, allowing AI companies and agents to access curated datasets across domains, particularly in scientific and high-value fields. By combining proprietary retrieval and reranking technology with real-time data evaluation, Redpine aims to improve both the quality and reliability of AI outputs while ensuring that data providers are compensated. Anders Hammarbäck, CEO and co-founder of Redpine, said that the company is developing infrastructure to support the sustainable growth of a token-based agent economy for all stakeholders: The opportunities in this space are endless and we see applications across clinical guidelines, case law, physical research, financial markets data, and quality human-created news. The investment comes amid rapid growth in the AI agent market, where access to accurate, high-quality, and compliant data is becoming increasingly critical. The new funding will be used to accelerate product development, expand Redpine’s network of proprietary data partnerships, and scale hiring across engineering, data science, and commercial functions. The company is also collaborating with leading AI labs and international partners, including US-based biotechnology firm AsedaSciences.

Startup Ineffable Intelligence has just come out of stealth. The company, with a mission to make first contact with superintelligence, has raised $1.1 billion in Seed funding, the largest ever in Europe, at a valuation of $5.1 billion, according to the company. Ineffable Intelligence is using  Reinforcement Learning to create a “superlearner” that can endlessly discover knowledge and skills without relying on human data. The company was founded by David Silver, the former lead of the reinforcement learning team at DeepMind, and is a professor at University College London. Silver is committing to giving away 100% per cent of the money he makes from his Ineffable equity via Founders Pledge - the biggest pledge in their history, and it is likely to amount to multiple billions.  According to a statement by Silver on the company’s website:  "The world needs a place where the full ambition of the reinforcement learning paradigm can flourish. A place where the deep question of intelligence is faced head-on: how to discover new knowledge. The world needs a place where the full ambition of the reinforcement learning paradigm can flourish. A place where the deep question of intelligence is faced head on: how to discover new knowledge from experience in the environment. I have a unique opportunity to build this place, using my leadership, vision, track record, and the strength of my team." The fundraise is  co-led by Sequoia (Alfred Lin & Sonya Huang) and Lightspeed (Ravi Mhatre, Raviraj Jain), with participation from NVIDIA, DST Global, Index, Google, Flying Fish Ventures, EQT Ventures, Evantic Capital, UK Wellcome Trust, BOND Capital, The British Business Bank, and the UK’s Sovereign AI Fund, plus strategic angels.

Vinted has completed a €880 million secondary share transaction at an equity valuation of €8 billion, with participation from a mix of new and existing investors led by EQT, Schroders Capital, and Teachers' Venture Growth. The transaction provides liquidity to existing shareholders and employees while strengthening Vinted’s investor base with long-term institutional backers. Existing investors, including EQT, increased their positions, while new participants include funds managed by BlackRock, Lombard Odier Investment Managers, and Pinegrove Opportunity Partners. The round was significantly oversubscribed, reflecting strong investor demand. Founded in 2008 in Vilnius by Milda Mitkute and Justas Janauskas, Vinted began as a clothing exchange platform before expanding into categories such as electronics, books, toys, and video games. It later became Lithuania’s first tech unicorn and has since grown into a large-scale marketplace operating across multiple European markets and beyond. The company has built a profitable marketplace supported by an integrated ecosystem of shipping and payments services. Valued at around €5 billion in 2024, Vinted continued its expansion in 2025 by entering Latvia, Estonia, and Slovenia, extending its presence to 26 countries. Operating with sustained cash flow, the company is able to fund its growth from existing resources without raising new primary capital. Its platform combines the core marketplace with logistics and payments infrastructure, including Vinted Go and Vinted Pay, aimed at improving the efficiency and accessibility of second-hand transactions. Commenting on the transaction, CEO Thomas Plantenga said that the deal and valuation reflect the company’s progress in building a scaled marketplace supported by an integrated shipping and payments infrastructure, making second-hand trading more reliable, accessible, and cost-efficient. With a strong financial position and established market presence, Vinted aims to continue expanding its reach while supporting the broader shift toward second-hand consumption.

Zurich-based Qendra has secured €162,000 (CHF 150,000) in funding from Venture Kick to advance the development of its control systems for quantum computing experiments. Founded by Martin Stadler (CEO), Ferdinand Felder (COO), and Chidzahi Mabritto (Deputy CTO), the company builds on technology developed at ETH Zurich within the Trapped Ion Quantum Information group. The team combines expertise in quantum physics, engineering, and system design to deliver advanced control solutions for quantum laboratories. Quantum computing is widely expected to impact areas such as drug discovery, logistics, and climate modelling. However, leading hardware approaches, including trapped-ion and neutral-atom platforms, depend on intricate experimental environments that are difficult to manage. These systems require precise coordination of lasers, cameras, and other components, often relying on highly specialised solutions that limit scalability and operational reliability. Qendra addresses this challenge by developing a dedicated control system that connects classical hardware with quantum operations. Its platform is designed to synchronise and manage multiple experimental components, from signal generation to overall system orchestration. By enabling faster setup times and maintaining high precision, the technology aims to improve experimental efficiency and support the scaling of quantum computing infrastructure. Commenting on the funding, co-founder Martin Stadler noted that Venture Kick played a key role in supporting the transition from academic research to a commercially oriented startup, helping to define the company’s business model, go-to-market strategy, and development roadmap. The funding will enable Qendra to implement its intellectual property strategy to ensure long-term operational freedom, while also supporting customer conversion and expansion plans in the coming years.

Spacetech investor Seraphim Space is looking to raise up to £350m, it said today, as it seeks to tap into the current fervour around the spacetech sector. The London-listed investment trust heralded the raise as “one of the most significant equity raises by a UK‑listed investment trust” and “one of the very few sizeable fundraisings in the listed growth and technology space”. Its plans come ahead of the expected bumper IPO of Elon Musk’s SpaceX and growing excitement around the spacetech sector. The investment trust, which listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2021 and is managed by Seraphim Space, said: “Spacetech is the backbone of the next wave of global megatrends, offering a compelling investment opportunity. The spacetech market is now at a critical inflection point. Recent developments have caused a significant cost reduction in access to space, with lower satellite and launch costs – there are few parts of the global economy that will be unaffected by space.” The investor will look to raise the funds by issuing a new set of shares, which will allow it to raise funds without diluting the value of shares of existing shareholders. Seraphim Space has invested in 45 Spacetech companies, including nine unicorns, 5 IPOs and one trade sale. Seraphim Space said it intends to invest in companies that have come through its accelerator programme or venture fund, existing portfolio startups, and new spacetech startups. Earlier this year, Seraphim Space exceeded $100m at the close of its latest fund. Image: NASA on Unsplash.

Today, research released by global VC firm Antler highlights that a new generation of founders is reshaping European tech — younger, more mobile, and thriving under the pressure of the AI era. Drawn from a study of its European portfolio of more than 400 startups, the data characterises founders as defined by international mobility, early high performance, and a relentless drive to build faster than ever before. Across 30 cities worldwide — including New York, San Francisco, London, Berlin, Bangalore, Singapore, Seoul, and Sydney — Antler helps founders remove barriers to building by connecting them with world-class peers, validating their business models, and providing initial capital. To date, Antler has backed more than 1,500 startups globally, including Airalo, Peec.AI, Reebelo, Wrtn and Benjamin. According to the VC firm, startups founded in the last year in Antler’s European portfolio are reaching first revenue three times faster and generating up to ten times more revenue in their first year than startups founded just three years ago. Check out an earlier interview with Antler Partner Christoph Klink to learn about Antler’s approach to supporting founders. ​ Meet the Velocity Generation Antler describes the new founders as “strikingly mobile.” 96 per cent of founders in the study are building their startups in a city or country different from the one in which they were born. According to Klink, the old model, in which a government or city could cultivate a startup cluster by investing in local universities and hoping graduates would stay, is under pressure. “Munich is a good example of an ecosystem that has managed to maintain that, with the majority of its innovative power being built around Technical University Munich. But the best founders today are asking the question: where can I build fastest, access the best co-founders, and be around people who are operating at the same level as me?" He contends that the ecosystems that answer that question most convincingly will win. “London is doing well on this. Berlin is doing well. Stockholm is doing well. I actually think this is good news for Europe as founders consider quality of life, safety and culture alongside talent and capital density. Initiatives like EU-INC have the potential of building these bridges faster than ever.” Founders are younger and top their peers in accolades, from sports to gaming According to Antler's research, founders are also younger than ever. The average age of a founder of a European AI rocketship — companies founded since 2020 that have already achieved unicorn status —is now 28, compared to 32 for European unicorns more broadly. ​ Before they built startups, many of these founders were already competing at the highest level. Seventy-two per cent of the founders in Antler’s study were in the top 1 per cent of their peers growing up, whether in sports, academic performance or online gaming. Founders in the study had competed nationally and internationally in sports including sailing, gymnastics, golf, and rugby, and had ranked in the global top 100 in games such as League of Legends, Counter-Strike, and Gran Turismo. ​ When asked what motivates them to build, 55 per cent cited being the best at what they do as their primary driver. Seventy-one per cent said that proving doubters wrong was fuelling their daily execution speed. Notably, 60 per cent said financial reward was not a motivation at all. Europe is now producing unicorns at near–Silicon Valley speeds The gap is narrowing between European founders and those who build stateside. Klink attributes this to a number of factors converging. AI dramatically lowered the cost of building and accelerated the path to revenue by compressing feedback loops that used to take years into weeks or months. At the same time, a generation of founders who had watched (and worked for) Spotify, Klarna and Zalando prove it was possible in Europe came of age — and raised the ambition ceiling. And the talent pool genuinely improved. “We are seeing founders with deep technical backgrounds, international experience, and in many cases prior startup experience, starting earlier and moving faster. Lovable and ElevenLabs are inspiring the current generation the way Spotify inspired the previous generation. To scale that quickly, one needs to combine great market timing with very strong execution. The era of execution that we covered in research recently is very real.” ​ Over half can’t live without Claude According to Antler, the Velocity Generation is harnessing AI to build at a pace that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. Ninety-three per cent have used AI tools to complete specialist tasks that would previously have required outsourced expertise, putting capabilities ranging from software development to legal drafting directly in founders’ hands. When asked to name the one AI tool they couldn’t live without, 52 per cent of founders chose Claude or Claude Code — more than three times the share who cited ChatGPT (16 per cent). This puts high-quality coding capability in the hands of both non-technical and technical founders, dramatically expanding what small teams can ship. According to Klink, three years ago, a non-technical founder who wanted to build a software product needed to either find a technical co-founder or raise enough money to hire engineers. “Today, that same founder uses Claude Code and starts shipping the first products within weeks.” At the same time, technical founders build much more in less time using tools like Claude Code. He contends that the stack is no longer something you build around a team — it is something one person can operate across the full breadth of a company (add Claude Co-Work and Design, and you have a lot of ground covered). “What is interesting about the Claude number specifically is that it points to quality. Founders are not just looking for something fast, they are looking for something they can trust with consequential work and actually become a lot more productive right away.“ Antler has tracked around 50 tools that create real value for founders today, and unsurprisingly, AI-powered tools vastly outperform conventional SaaS tools from a few years ago. Supercharging agility The results of an AI-first approach to building and entrepreneurship are evident in how founders work. Klink explained: “AI has reduced the barrier to entry for building startups, and competition is fiercer than ever. Which is why speed is so important — founders need to build defensibility fast to gain market share and beat competition.” That said, I was curious about platform risk if so much of a company's capability sits on top of tools like Claude Code — especially at a time when a lot of Europe is trying to divest from US big tech like OpenAI, Google, and Meta. But according to Klink, this is not a new phenomenon: “Every generation of founders has built on top of platforms they do not control — AWS, Stripe, the App Store. The question is never whether you have platform dependency; it is whether what you’ve built is defensible. Founders are building moats from the quality of their data, customer relationships and domain expertise.” He contends this is further reflected in the different players innovating at a very high pace, each offering migration services to people who want to swap around. “That race is far from over, and people who stay agile will win.” Don’t confuse velocity with vision According to Antler’s research, today’s founders operate in an always-on mode. Seventy-nine per cent respond to messages from critical stakeholders within an hour; 16 per cent aim to respond within five minutes. More than two-thirds monitor growth metrics daily, with a quarter tracking continuously in real time. One in ten founders say the average time between an initial idea and first live user test can be counted in hours – staggering when you think about it — and 43 per cent say they can ship new features in days. That said, Klink has a more measured view of speed, contending that it’s not a strategy, but a capability. “And if all you are doing is shipping faster than the next person, eventually someone ships faster than you.” Instead, the founders building durable businesses are using speed to gain insight and, as a result, find what is genuinely hard to replicate, whether that is a proprietary dataset, a distribution advantage, or a domain so specialised that it takes years to develop real expertise “The risk is real for founders who confuse velocity with vision. The best ones understand the difference. Looking at the newest generation of European unicorns, I notice a high degree of technical sophistication, so I believe that both can be combined.” Further, this new era of speed comes at a personal cost. Forty-seven per cent of founders describe the pace as addictive and say they are thriving in this environment - but 14 per cent say they find it stressful. Forty-three per cent have not taken a holiday in the past 12 months. A quarter have reduced time spent on family life (25 per cent) and their own physical health (24 per cent). Some reported missing significant personal milestones - birthdays, weddings - to maintain the pace of building. ​ Klink admits that founders have always been obsessed with the companies they are building. But AI is taking that to new levels, enabling founders to ship faster, be more responsive, and make quick decisions based on data available immediately. “Harvesting the potential of this new era of execution also means that founders have to prioritise their time even more ruthlessly. The best find ways to consistently perform at the highest level in a sustainable way.” ​ The team at Antler talks about time management and burnout more than they used to, and thinks the industry is genuinely evolving in this regard. ​ “The practical things matter - making sure founders are not fundraising constantly, structuring capital in a way that gives them runway to focus, and being honest when the pace they are keeping is not sustainable. That said, you have to strike the right balance when discussing founders' mental health. “These are adults who have intentionally chosen a path that is famously difficult. Building a startup is hard and demands a huge amount of time, blood, sweat, and tears. We can’t sugar-coat that.“ But working 24/7 for years isn’t sustainable. “Founders who burn out make worse decisions. The companies that last are built by people who find a way to perform at a high level consistently, not those who sprint until they break.” Antler tries to take inspiration from sports, with Klink admitting, “You wouldn’t tell Roger Federer to stop practising at the peak of his career. Athletes push themselves to their absolute limit, but they also take downtime seriously and build time off into their training routine. Founders need to do the same.” ​ Overall, Antler’s data suggests that AI has created a genuine window — a moment when the advantages that used to accrue to Silicon Valley by default — proximity to capital and deep engineering talent — matter less than they did. According to Klink, “European founders have used that window well and adopted a very strong and execution focused mindset.” However, late-stage capital is still thinner in Europe with a more complex regulatory environment. Further, Klink contends that the culture around failure, while improving, is still more risk-averse than in the US. “So I would say: the velocity data is real, and the momentum is real, but we should not mistake a tailwind for a permanent structural shift. The work of building a truly competitive European ecosystem is not finished. We remain very bullish about backing more great founders on the journey of making this shift structural.” Looking ahead, Klink predicts that the next generation will make this one look slow. “The founders starting companies in 2028 or 2029 will have grown up building with AI as a native capability  — not a tool they learned to adopt, but the only way they have ever worked." What does this do to the shape of companies, he asks: “If a team of five can do what a team of fifty did, what does a mature, scaled company look like? We are currently not seeing that companies stop hiring; they just hire differently. That means that companies should become a lot more productive and produce greater output.” The survey was conducted in March 2026. 120 founders responded to each survey. Respondents are building tech startups from Pre-Seed to Series A across the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland.

German robotics startup Sereact has raised $110m in a Series B funding round, with the funding used to develop and scale its latest AI model and US expansion, it announced today. The round was led by San Francisco and Berlin-based VC Headline, with Bullhound Capital, Felix Capital, and Daphni also investing. Returning investors Air Street Capital, Creandum, and Point Nine also participated. It follows its €25m ($29m) Series A funding in January last year, which was led by Creandum. It has raised more than $140m in total.   The Stuttgart-based company, which employs around 100 people. develops AI-powered robotics tech that is deployed across various industries and use cases for customers in the US and Europe. Its AI software equips robots with general-purpose visual and manipulation capabilities, enabling them to perceive their environment and devise intelligent strategies to perform a wide range of physical tasks.   The bulk of the new funding will be used to develop its latest AI model, Cortex 2, which is launching today. The model trains a robot on different physical behaviours, helping it pick the one most likely to succeed.   Ralf Guide, co-founder and CEO, said: "It takes Cortex out of the picking bin and into work where contact matters - assembly under tension, kitting, placement where every millimetre counts. We don't build robots. We don't sell services. We ship one thing: the model that runs on any robot. Single arm, dual arm, humanoid, fixed cell - same brain across all of it.” The funding will also be used for US expansion, the 2021-founded startup said, with a new office in Boston, where it plans to staff up across engineering, commercial and other areas. Sereact's customers include BMW, Daimler Truck, Bol and Active Ants, and the real-world deployment of its products creates a real-time data flywheel from which Sereact systems learn to continually improve far beyond systems trained primarily on synthetic data, it added.

Threat intelligence company QuoIntelligence today announced the close of a €7.3 million Series A financing round.   QuoIntelligence is building the Unified Risk Intelligence standard for European mid-market organisations,  delivering finished threat intelligence that arrives already analysed, already contextualised, and ready to act on, with no in-house team required to operate it.  NIS2 and DORA together mandate proactive, preemptive cyber risk management and supply chain oversight across more than 160,000 European organisations – creating structural demand for continuous, forward-looking intelligence.  However, most companies have no in-house function, and building one requires a significant six-figure investment in talent alone – before accounting for the time to operationalise it.  At the same time, European procurement frameworks are increasingly requiring that highly sensitive data remain within EU jurisdictions, thus disqualifying non-EU vendors that have historically dominated the market.   QuoIntelligence provides finished intelligence, produced by European technology, stored in German soil, delivered within hours of onboarding, requiring no internal team to operate.   Founded in Frankfurt in 2020, the company serves organisations across Europe in the finance, government, manufacturing, retail, and transportation sectors.   Its analyst-first model combines Mercury, an AI-powered threat intelligence platform, with a team of European analysts who review, curate, and contextualise every intelligence output in the client’s language and sector. KARLA, the company’s conversational AI analyst, makes that intelligence accessible at every level of an organisation – from the board to the security analyst. European sovereignty is not just a differentiator for QuoIntelligence – it is a structural fact. The company is incorporated under German law, operates two additional entities in Spain and Italy, and stores all intelligence data under EU jurisdiction – regardless of where its clients are located.  QuoIntelligence is one of the few providers able to satisfy those requirements while matching the intelligence depth previously available only from US, Russian, or Israeli vendors. The round is led by Elevator Ventures, the venture capital arm of Raiffeisen Bank International, and co-led by BMH Beteiligungs Managementgesellschaft Hessen (BMH), with participation from returning investor eCAPITAL ENTREPRENEURIAL PARTNERS, and further support from Mercurius Private Equity. Marco Riccardi, CEO and Founder, QuoIntelligence, contends that  world-class threat intelligence has always been described as something only large teams can produce.   “We built QuoIntelligence to prove that wrong: our vision is Unified Risk Intelligence - cyber threats, physical risks, and geopolitical signals converging into decisions, not just alerts, for any organisation, within hours of onboarding, under European law. NIS2 and DORA have turned what was a competitive advantage for our customers into a regulatory baseline for every mid-market  company in Europe.” Magdalena Chalas, Senior Investment Manager, Elevator Ventures, shared:  “By  empowering organisations across Europe to proactively address evolving cyber threats,  QuoIntelligence plays a crucial role in reinforcing Europe’s independence and security in the digital  age.”According to Dirk Seewald, Managing Partner, eCAPITAL ENTREPRENEURIAL PARTNERS, cyber threat intelligence is moving from a specialist function into core risk management.  “Our follow-on investment reflects a conviction we had from day one and that QuoIntelligence has since validated:  it can deliver relevant, tailored intelligence to Europe’s mid-market firms in regulated sectors without  requiring them to build an in-house function.” Funding will be deployed across go-to-market expansion, product development, and team growth.

Last week, we tracked more than 65 tech funding deals worth over €632 million, and over 5 exits, M&A transactions, rumours, and related news stories across Europe.Click to read the rest of the news.

AI hardware startup Atech has raised a Pre-Seed round with participation from Nordic Makers, Emblem, Lovable, Sequoia Scout Fund (Sequoia), and Andreessen Horowitz Scout Fund (A16z).  Founded by Vladimir Baran (CCO), Tomas Erik Harmer (CEO), and David Stålmarck (CTO), Atech is building a platform that makes hardware development accessible to everyone, removing one of tech’s highest barriers to entry.  Building a hardware prototype has traditionally required years of specialised expertise or significant investment in engineering talent. That barrier has kept countless ideas on paper and locked hardware innovation behind a small group of specialists.  While software development has been democratised over the past decade, hardware has remained stubbornly difficult to access. Atech is closing that gap, making physical creation as intuitive and flexible as building a web app.  Atech introduces ‘vibe-engineering’ for hardware. Just as modern AI tools have made software creation accessible to non-developers, Atech lets users describe a hardware concept in natural language and receive a working prototype in minutes, with all underlying technical complexity handled by the platform.  According to Tomas Harmer, CEO of Atech: "Software has an entire stack of tools that lets a teenager build an app in a weekend, hardware doesn’t, and we’re still working at the first level of abstraction. Atech is building the missing layers, so creating in the physical world can feel as fast and joyful as writing code."  ”I am seeing the same patterns Lovable had, but for hardware. I'm really excited to see Atech’s journey. The team is one of a kind,"  shared Anton Osika, CEO of Lovable. The rise of Physical AI — intelligent systems that sense, interact with, and act upon the real world –- is accelerating demand for hardware expertise at every level.  As this shift unfolds, the ability to build and control physical systems will become a foundational skill, not a niche one.  Atech believes hardware should be as programmable, adaptable, and user-driven as software. The company is building the tools to make that a reality.  Lead image: David Stålmarck (CTO), Tomas Erik Harmer (CEO, and Vladimir Baran (CCO), co-founders of Atech.

A coalition of major European investors, corporations and high-growth startups today published an open letter to European policymakers and leaders, calling for a commitment to make Europe the world’s first “electro-continent” – an economy where over 50 per cent of final energy consumption runs on clean, domestically produced electricity by 2040. The letter, coordinated by Norrsken (inc Norrsken Foundation and Norrsken Evolve) and backed by the Corporate Leaders Group Europe (CLG Europe), H&M, Oatly, Einride, Flower, Trawa, and others, argues that Europe’s chronic vulnerability to energy price shocks must end. The signatories are urging EU leaders to set a robust target: electricity's share of final energy consumption must reach 50 per cent by 2040, giving regulators, investors, and member states a shared destination to build toward.  I spoke to David Frykman, Founding General Partner of Norrsken VC, to learn more.  Three shocks, one lesson: Europe’s energy model is no longer viable The open letter arrives as Europe weathers its third fossil fuel price shock since 2022. Russia’s weaponisation of gas pipelines, the Red Sea shipping disruptions, and now the closure of the Strait of Hormuz have each triggered spikes in European energy costs. In the first 30 days of the Iran conflict, the EU paid an additional €14 billion in fossil fuel imports. Between 2021 and 2024, energy crises cost Europe an estimated €930 billion in crisis premiums above normal prices.  According to Frykman, in the first 30 days of the Iran conflict alone, the additional cost of fossil fuel imports could have financed two large-scale nuclear reactors. The crisis premium Europe paid between 2021 and 2024 could have financed more than the EU's entire existing nuclear fleet.  “The cost of inaction arrives with every crisis, and it is getting higher."  Between 2021 and 2025, Europe paid over €1 trillion in what could be described as an “energy crisis premium” — largely due to fossil fuel imports. According to Frykman, this has reinforced external dependencies. That’s ultimately the core issue this initiative is trying to address. He offers a strong wake-up call, asserting:  “Europe runs on fuel it does not own, shipped through waters it does not control. Three energy shocks in four years should settle the argument. The region can no longer rely on burning expensive imports.   The only cheap energy Europe can produce at scale, on its own soil, is clean electricity. It is time to end the fossil fuel chokehold on Europe's economy, once and for all. Europe must become the world's first electro-continent.”  What does the “Electro Union” actually mean in practice? At its core, the proposal sets a clear target: by 2040, 50 per cent of Europe’s economy should run on clean electricity — roughly double today’s level. Today, that figure is closer to 25 per cent. According to Frykman, in practical terms, this is about doubling electrification across industries — from transport to heavy industry — using existing technologies. Technically, Europe could electrify up to 90 per cent of its economy “using existing technologies." "The capital, talent, and market demand are already there. China did not become the world's first electro-state by accident. It set a direction and delivered. Europe needs the same clarity of purpose – a commitment that gives investors, entrepreneurs, regulators, and member states a shared destination to build toward, accelerating permitting reform, grid investment, and cross-border energy integration. That is what making the EU the Electro Union means." Why now? I wondered why this push is happening now, after decades of energy shocks? Europe has experienced multiple energy shocks over decades, yet dependency on imported fossil fuels persists. Frykman admits that this is something many people are asking.  “What’s different now is a convergence of factors. First, there’s growing public fatigue: energy shocks are no longer abstract — they’re visible in household bills, inflation, and interest rates." Second, the economics have shifted.  “In many cases, building new clean energy capacity is now cheaper than continuing to rely on fossil fuels.” And third, there’s a competitiveness issue. The European industry pays roughly twice as much for energy as its US counterparts do. "That creates a structural disadvantage, particularly in an era where energy-intensive sectors like AI and data infrastructure are becoming central.” Europe’s energy transition faces a political, not technological, constraint From an investor’s perspective, Frykman asserts that predictability is key, and Europe has been inconsistent.  “Regulatory environments vary widely between countries, and permitting timelines can range from one to ten years, sometimes with projects being revoked late in the process. Despite that, the underlying thesis is straightforward: capital flows to the most efficient solutions. Increasingly, that means wind, solar, and other forms of clean energy.” He contends that what’s often missing is political alignment, sharing: “There are cases where fully funded, shovel-ready renewable projects have been blocked at the policy level.” So the issue isn’t necessarily a lack of innovation or investment appetite — it’s that regulatory and political barriers are slowing deployment. Sweden halted plans for 13 offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea — projects that together could have added tens of gigawatts of new electricity capacity. This is because the Swedish military argued that large clusters of offshore turbines would interfere with radar and surveillance systems, making it harder to detect aircraft or missiles and reducing response times in a conflict scenario.  According to WindEurope, these projects combined could have doubled Sweden’s current electricity generation capacity, and their cancellation threatens the country’s industrial competitiveness and its broader energy security goals.  Frykman contends, “Ultimately, much of this comes down to political decision-making. If policymakers allow the market to function — allocating capital to where it can be used most efficiently — then the system is far more likely to deliver the outcomes needed.” A new wave of energy startups is rising in Europe — against structural headwinds Despite these constraints, Europe is producing a new generation of energy startups attempting to reshape the system. Europe is home to a number of energy unicorns (and soonicorns) like Verkor, focused on low-carbon battery gigafactories and German energy unicorn 1KOMMA5°, which aims to turn homes into self-sufficient, electrified energy systems. However, in October 2025, 1KOMMA5° filed a complaint with the European Commission against Germany’s plan to subsidise up to 20 GW of new gas-fired power plants, arguing the policy constitutes unlawful state aid that distorts competition and raises costs for the energy transition.  The company said the proposed subsidies and capacity payments unfairly favour centralised fossil-fuel infrastructure over cheaper, decentralised solutions like virtual power plants, potentially crowding out cleantech innovation and increasing electricity prices for consumers. But Europe is also home to cautionary examples, such as Northvolt, which highlights how difficult it is to scale gigafactories. For Frykman, there’s an important distinction between types of investment. “Deploying proven technologies — like wind, solar, or battery storage projects — is relatively low risk and largely execution-driven.” But building entirely new industrial ecosystems at scale is a different challenge. “Competing globally, particularly with countries that have significant state backing, requires coordinated support. For projects of that magnitude, public and private alignment becomes critical. That said, these large-scale industrial bets represent a small portion of the overall investment needed — the majority can be driven by the market.” Can Europe surge ahead or just catch up?  Frykman draws a clear distinction between Europe’s position in traditional and clean energy — while the continent remains structurally disadvantaged in fossil fuels, that same constraint could become a catalyst for leadership in renewables, if it can align policy, cost, and infrastructure with rising demand. Frykman explained that in terms of conventional energy, Europe is clearly behind, partly due to higher energy costs. But in clean energy, the picture is more balanced. He contends: “Europe has the potential to lead, particularly because it lacks the same level of domestic fossil fuel resources as countries like the US. That constraint effectively forces a faster shift toward renewables. And importantly, clean energy is now the most cost-effective option for new capacity. That creates a structural advantage if Europe moves decisively.” But there is a competitiveness gap  As AI drives exponential demand for compute, Europe’s energy costs are no longer just an economic issue — they are a structural competitiveness risk. The letter warns that Europe’s energy cost disadvantage is undermining its industrial base and its ability to compete in the AI era. According to the IEA, industrial electricity prices in the EU are roughly twice those in the United States and about 50 per cent higher than in China.  As the AI race accelerates – with global data centre electricity consumption projected to more than double by 2030, according to the IEA – the cost of power is becoming the decisive factor in where the next generation of major companies are built.  Frykman contends that without a clear strategy, this becomes a “competitiveness problem.” “The logical path forward is to pair data centre expansion with new, domestically produced clean energy. But enabling that at scale requires policy support alongside market forces.” The problem is no longer economic The coalition points to the economics as already resolved: solar costs have dropped over 90 per cent in the past decade, and over 90 per cent of new renewable projects are now cheaper than the fossil fuel alternative. Wind and solar generated more EU electricity than fossil fuels for the first time in 2025.  Further, Frykman contends that while there’s been a lot of attention around next-generation nuclear technologies in Europe and the US, in some regions — particularly China — these technologies are already operational at scale. “In the West, development is ongoing, but attention tends to move in cycles. Just because something drops out of the spotlight doesn’t mean progress has stopped. Nuclear is likely to complement renewables.” However, he contends that Europe cannot run on homegrown clean electricity if its economy is still wired to burn fossil fuels.  “Around 90 per cent of it can be electrified with technology that already exists. Less than a quarter runs on electricity today. And that number has barely moved in over a decade. This needs to change for Europe to end its dependence on expensive imports”, said Frykman.  Signatories   The open letter is signed by:  Norrsken VC  Norrsken Evolve  Norrsken Foundation  Corporate Leaders Group Europe  H&M  Oatly  Einride  Terralayr  Flower  Fever  trawa

This week, we tracked more than 65 tech funding deals worth over €632 million and over 5 exits, M&A transactions, rumours, and related news stories across Europe. 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 ?? Verda raises $117M to scale AI cloud infrastructure built on clean Nordic power ?? Cloudsmith raises $72M Series C to secure the AI-era software supply chain ?? Arm subsidiary invests £50M into Raspberry Pi ?? AI scale-up BLP Digital secures $50M from Goldman Sachs ??‍?? Noteworthy acquisitions and mergers ??  Aleph Alpha to be acquired by Cohere ??  Legora snaps up Stockholm legal research startup Qura ?? €500 million Acquisition: SAGA Diagnostics acquired by Foundation Medicine, a subsidiary of Roche ?? doValue has acquired coeo Group for €354.3M ? Interesting moves from investors ? EU–Ukraine launches €160M defence innovation programme to unlock €400M in financing ? Balderton adds serial entrepreneur Phil Chambers to its partnership ?  London’s Passion Capital closes €46 million fourth Seed fund targeting AI and FinTech startups ?️ In other (important) news ❤️‍? Hello Inside pushes metabolic health into mainstream care with BARMER deal ?  Aikido launches Endpoint to secure AI-native developer workflows ?? What Happened on the First Day of the Tech.eu Summit London 2026? ??  What Happened on the Second Day of the Tech.eu Summit London 2026? ?? Nox Mobility raises €2M pre-seed to rethink Europe’s night trains ??  Wenite secures €1.8M to power the future of data-driven HR ??  Quillon raises $1.5M for audit-grade AI in accounting ?? QMatter secures $1.2M to tackle quantum scaling challenges ?? Zynt raises $500,000 pre-seed to drive signal-based B2B sales