A London-headquartered fintech, which provides financial services businesses with debt market data and analytics, has become a unicorn, following a $170m funding round.   9fin has raised the Series C funding at a $1.3 billion valuation, it said. The round was led by HarbourVest, the private equity investor, with participation from Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and earlier investors Redalpine, Highland Europe, Spark Capital, and Seedcamp.   The fintech was valued at around $500m in 2024, when it raised $50m, according to the FT.   9fin’s platform combines data, analytics, and AI in one system, with more than 300 banks, asset managers, law firms, and advisory firms as clients who use its tech for sourcing deals, analysing risk, and monitoring global debt markets.    It said it would use the funds to invest in AI, proprietary data, and international expansion as it scales its platform for global debt markets.   The fintech is headquartered in London, with a Belfast office focused on data operations and engineering, with operations spanning New York, Asia, and Latin America.    Steven Hunter, CEO & co-founder of 9fin, commented: “AI will redefine the credit markets, but only if it’s powered by proprietary data and embedded into how professionals actually work.    “That’s exactly what we’ve built at 9fin. We've scaled our product rapidly across geographies and asset classes to provide clients with unmatched breadth and depth of data in an AI-native platform.   “Our ultimate goal is to be the only platform credit professionals ever need. This capital gets us there even faster.”

Barcelona-based Brickken, a provider of tokenisation infrastructure for financial institutions, has raised €3 million in a pre-Series A funding round. The round included strategic investors from across Europe, including Marco Podini, founder and executive chairman of Dedagroup, who invested in a personal capacity, as well as GRX. The funding follows the company’s seed round, completed a year earlier and reflects continued market traction and investor interest. Brickken provides a platform that enables financial institutions, asset managers, and issuers to tokenise and manage real-world assets, including equity, debt, funds, and physical assets, within a compliant framework. As adoption accelerates, the market for tokenised real-world assets is moving beyond early experimentation towards broader institutional use. Industry estimates indicate rapid growth in recent years, with expectations of significant expansion over the coming decade as traditional financial instruments are increasingly issued and traded on programmable infrastructure. This financing marks a deliberate step toward institutional scale. We are investing in regulatory readiness and operational depth to support financial institutions as tokenised infrastructure becomes an increasingly important part of capital markets, said Edwin Mata, CEO of Brickken. The newly raised capital will be used to establish The Brickken Group and strengthen the company’s regulatory capabilities across key international markets, supporting further expansion of its global operations and infrastructure.

Kestra has raised $25 million in a Series A funding round led by RTP Global, with continued participation from Alven, ISAI, and Axeleo. The round brings the company’s total funding to $36 million. Kestra develops an open-source orchestration platform designed to unify data pipelines, AI workflows, infrastructure automation, and business processes within a single control plane. As enterprise systems become increasingly distributed across cloud, on-premise environments, and AI-driven applications, organisations often rely on fragmented tools that are not built for current levels of complexity. The company addresses this challenge with a unified orchestration layer that enables teams to manage workflows across systems in a consistent and scalable way. Its platform is designed to support hybrid and secure environments, with an extensible architecture supported by a broad plugin ecosystem. Most enterprise software companies try to sell top-down and hope developers adopt. We took a different approach, focusing on building a product that engineers choose because it works in production. That foundation continues to guide how we develop the platform, said Emmanuel Darras, CEO and co-founder of Kestra. The newly raised capital will support the development of Kestra 2.0, including enhancements to its distributed execution capabilities and real-time observability features. The company also plans to expand its cloud offering, strengthen its presence in North America and Europe, and continue investing in its open-source ecosystem.

If you were finishing high school this year, would you go to University? What if you wanted to change careers or upskill in your profession? While many would look to a Master's, others are looking for more hands-on, workplace-based learning. This growing focus on practical learning is evident in venture capital investments. Firms such as Emerge and Educapital invest in the future of work, highlighting a shift where career success is defined by continuous learning, skills development, and AI-driven pathways rather than by specific jobs or degrees. Enter ELVTR: learning by doing One startup building directly into this shift is ELVTR, which has developed a live, instructor-led platform designed to bridge the gap between traditional online courses and real-world professional training. ​ Since launch, it has built a catalogue of 100+ courses and trained thousands of students across multiple industries. I spoke to Roman Peskin, CEO of ELVTR, to learn more. Rethinking how professional skills are taught Founded within the LABA Group ecosystem and operating independently since 2020, ELVTR offers short, intensive programmes taught entirely online, typically over several weeks. Students attend live sessions, complete hands-on assignments, and receive direct feedback from instructors. Rather than broad academic theory, the curriculum is built around practical workflows and industry-specific skills across areas like AI, product, design, data, and creative industries. ​ The attention problem: rethinking education in the age of AI Peskin recalls his childhood with ADHD, when school was tough. “They kicked me out of preschool because they didn’t know what to do with me. I couldn’t hold back. If I knew the answer, I would have said it immediately. And I usually knew the answer, because it was things like “two apples plus one apple.” Why even ask? So they put me in school a year early. I was younger than everyone else. Those ten years weren’t great. Other kids played football. I didn’t understand why — that wasn’t interesting to me. Libraries and books were.” He didn’t fare much better at university, which inspired him to found ELVTR. According to Peskin, there’s a fundamental problem with education that he experienced firsthand. “Knowledge is no longer scarce. It’s almost free now. Especially with AI, you can ask anything. What’s in short supply is attention." With ELVTR, all classes are live, and courses focus on immediacy and applicability. "You need a mechanism to capture attention if you want someone to learn," asserts Peskin. “When I sat in lectures, I wasn’t interested. One reason is that professors spend 25 years researching a subject but often zero days actually doing it.” ​ ELVTR students are primarily career starters or switchers — people who want to enter a field but don’t know how, especially niche fields like game writing, as well as people seeking to upskill, such as nurses who want to move into management roles but lack data skills. Popular courses on the platform include those geared toward niche, passion-driven careers with no formal education path, such as: Game writing UX for games Creative direction Publishing (editing, etc.) Peskin contends, “We often say we close the gap between college and real life. You can spend years in college, rack up debt, and still not know how to do anything practical. We help make people employable." The platform creates interaction through live lectures, community discussions, and project-based work, with students from companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Uber. Peskin asserts, “It’s easier to pay attention in a live Zoom session than watching videos at your own pace, because my own pace is zero if I’m not interested. If it’s Wednesday at 7 pm, you log in. That structure forces attention.” Those who do, teach ELVTR’s strongest differentiator is its roster of instructors directly from industry rather than academia. Courses are led by professionals from companies like Meta, Ubisoft, Google, Nike, Sony, and major creative studios, bringing current workflows directly into the classroom. ELVTR builds its courses by sourcing instructors directly from the industry, then supporting them in translating their expertise into structured learning. “We approach instructors and invite them to teach, then we train them,” Peskin explains. “We have a strong instructional design team that helps extract their knowledge and turn it into a curriculum. Our instructors are not educators—they’re professionals doing their jobs. They ship products, then they teach. They know things that simply aren’t in textbooks.” The result is a hybrid model that combines real-world experience with pedagogical structure. “It’s a combination of their expertise and charisma, and our ability to structure and teach it.” Examples include AI in Marketing taught by an ex-Google expert, Product Management for AI & ML led by a Meta practitioner, and game writing or UX/UI courses run by former Blizzard or Ubisoft designers. On the creative side, the platform includes comic writing courses taught by Marvel/DC writers, screenwriting taught by former Disney and DreamWorks creatives, and production or animation courses led by professionals from major studios. Meanwhile, the business and technical tracks feature instructors with senior roles at companies such as Wells Fargo, Salesforce, and Barclays. This structure doesn’t just change how courses are taught; it also affects whether students finish them. And it's an approach which is paying off. With median completion rates for online courses often hovering around 10–15 per cent, ELVTR stands out, reporting graduation rates closer to 90 per cent. ​ ELVTR also tracks career outcomes, with Peskin explaining, “We’ve trained over 10,000 people in a year, and we’re starting to measure long-term impact more systematically.” Education in the age of AI Much has been written about AI’s impact on learning, especially whether it erodes critical thinking, encourages shortcut-taking, or shifts education toward prompt literacy rather than deep understanding. Peskin sees these changes as structural. He contends that universities used to offer four core things: knowledge, network, credentials, and brand. “The knowledge component is rapidly eroding as AI is replacing it. But the other three still matter. The catch is that only top-tier institutions will retain real value there. What we’re moving toward instead is learning directly from the best practitioners. This is what I call ‘GOAT education.’” Regarding the future of education, Peskin admits he’s both excited and scared. “As a researcher, I’m excited because education will change dramatically in the next five years. As a parent, I’m concerned. My daughter just started university. I paid $50,000 for a year and asked myself, "What am I paying for?" Would I be comfortable if she didn’t go? Not yet. Universities still provide structure, network, and signalling. But they must integrate AI. Otherwise, they risk becoming irrelevant.”

European crypto investment firm Keyrock has hit unicorn status, following a new funding round, with its valuation quadrupling from its previous round, it said today. The Belgium-based startup, founded in 2017, said it was now valued at $1.1bn following a “significant” Series C funding round.   The round was led by SC Ventures, the venture arm of Standard Chartered, with support from blockchain firm Ripple, an existing investor. The funding round remains open until June and could total up to $100m, Keyrock said.   Keyrock is a digital asset services firm, providing services including market making, asset management, and options trading. It positions itself as a conduit between the crypto industry and traditional financial markets. Keyrock raised a $72m in a Series B funding round in 2022. Keyrock said it will use the funds to strengthen its balance sheet, innovate across its business, and seek acquisitions. Kevin Patoul, Keyrock’s CEO, said: “Our latest funding round is a signal of intent for the future. In 2026, we’re pushing for more growth in our services, client base, and geographic reach, as we look to gain greater market."

Semarion, a University of Cambridge spin-out from the Cavendish Laboratory, has raised $3.8 million (£2.9 million) in funding to support the expansion of its cell-based screening technology. The round was led by Parkwalk, with participation from The FSE Group, Cambridge Enterprise Ventures, Oxford Innovation Finance, Found Capital, Cambridge Capital Group, and Start Codon. This round follows the company’s $2.89 million seed funding raised in 2022 and marks a further step in scaling its platform. Semarion develops next-generation tools for cell-based drug discovery by combining materials engineering, microfabrication, and cell biology. Its proprietary SemaCyte platform enables adherent cells to be used as barcoded, assay-ready, and automation-compatible reagents, allowing researchers to multiplex cell models, increase throughput, and generate richer datasets within existing laboratory workflows. By addressing key limitations in adherent cell assays, the technology is designed to improve efficiency and data generation in drug discovery processes. The company is seeing increasing traction across the industry, with its technology already adopted by several global pharmaceutical organisations, including top 10 pharma companies, and pilot programmes progressing toward wider commercial deployment across the US and Europe. In parallel, Semarion has established collaborations with life sciences tools providers, integrating its technology into imaging, analysis, and automated liquid handling workflows. The new funding will support Semarion in scaling manufacturing of the SemaCyte platform while advancing its commercial expansion. It will also be used to strengthen field application support and facilitate broader adoption of the technology among pharmaceutical and life sciences partners, as the company responds to growing industry demand.

Riplo, a London-based company developing an agentic operating system for consulting, has raised £2.3 million in pre-seed funding. The round was led by Cherry Ventures, with participation from Blue Lion Capital, the founders of QuantumBlack, and a group of angel investors from the technology and professional services sectors. Riplo is building a platform designed to address inefficiencies in consulting workflows, where legacy tools remain largely built for manual, human-only processes. While artificial intelligence has transformed other knowledge-intensive industries, consulting workflows often still rely on traditional formats that limit collaboration between humans and AI systems. The company’s approach centres on an agent-first interface that enables AI agents to work alongside consultants in real time, supporting tasks such as structuring analyses, drafting outputs, and iterating on workstreams within a unified environment. Riplo was founded by Tobias Haefele, Oliver Scott, and Zack Zornitta, who bring experience across AI product development, consulting, and engineering. The founding team previously worked on AI-native products and advisory projects, shaping the company’s focus on integrating AI directly into consulting workflows. The $1 trillion consulting industry is currently running on the digital equivalent of a typewriter. We are building the interface where the next generation of strategic analyses takes place, enabling humans and AI agents to work together in real time, said Tobias Haefele, co-founder and CEO of Riplo. The newly raised capital will be used to expand the engineering team, deepen collaboration with design partners, and continue developing the platform’s capabilities.

European AI infrastructure company Nebius today said it was constructing one of Europe’s largest data centres, as the demand for AI compute shows no signs of slowing down. The data centre, located in the Finnish city of Lappeenranta, has a capacity of up to 310 megawatts and is expected to be up and running by 2027, Nebius said. The Amsterdam-based company said the data centre, which will be used to ⁠train AI models and run AI applications, will be one of Europe’s largest dedicated AI data centres, when fully deployed. Nebius, which is sometimes referred to as a neocloud, builds and operates data centres, packing them with GPUs, then offers access to these data centres to AI and enterprise companies needing compute power, as well as offering them specialised software to run AI applications. Nebius recently expanded capacity of its first data centre in Mäntsälä, Finland, and says it plans to expand further in Finland, which due to low energy prices and cool climate helping cut cooling costs, is seen as attractive to building data centres. Nebius also has plans to scale up its data centre offering in Europe and the US. Nebius has bagged multi-billion dollar contracts with Meta and Microsoft to supply them with AI infrastructure and power. Arkady Volozh, founder and CEO of Nebius, said: “We have been building in Finland for many years and are pleased to be expanding our presence here. “Lappeenranta represents a significant addition to our global AI infrastructure build-out, and will make a significant contribution to achieving our capacity goals.” Earlier this month Nebius closed a $4.34bn debt funding round.

French precision fermentation company Standing Ovation has announced a €30 million Series B financing round, including €25 million in equity, led jointly by the Ecotechnologies 2 fund — managed on behalf of the French government by Bpifrance as part of the France 2030 initiative — and Crédit Mutuel Innovation.  The round includes its existing investors Astanor, Bel Group, Seventure Partners, GoodStartUp, and Big Idea Ventures, as well as new investors Danone Ventures, Angelor, Newtree, and Noshaq. This investment is supplemented by $5.7 million (€5 million) in non-dilutive financing provided by Bpifrance and a leading banking syndicate. Standing Ovation is redefining dairy protein production with a patented process that turns whey permeates into high-value caseins, a premium ingredient in critical demand across the global agrifood industry. The ability to repurpose dairy co-products, which are currently of little to no value, is a major milestone that reshapes the future of the ecosystem. A world-first, patented technology Lead image: Standing Ovation. Standing Ovation upcycles agricultural sugars and milk whey — previously diverted to fertiliser or biogas — into high-quality casein, the cornerstone of dairy.  The company Standing Ovation has shielded its technology with eight patent families.  Critically, Standing Ovation repurposes local circular resources, effectively reducing the industry's dependence on international supply chains. This issue is all the more critical given that France’s self-sufficiency in milk could be at risk as early as 2027. Further, Standing Ovation’s process drastically reduces the strain on global resources (a 74 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and up to three times less water use than animal casein, according to an ISO-certified life cycle assessment). Standing Ovation turns dairy side-streams into profitable new markets for producers, and offers the food industry a reliable, high-performance solution to the rising global demand for dairy and protein-rich products. Furthermore, this new resource has the advantage of contributing to the necessary decarbonisation of their processing operations. According to Yvan Chardonnens, CEO, and Romain Chayot, co-founder and Managing Director of Standing Ovation: “Our patented technology is becoming the focal point for an industry-wide shift toward sustainable, high-performance proteins. Our ambition is to pioneer a new, circular, and sustainable approach to protein production to meet rapidly growing global demand. By combining technological innovation with the dairy industry’s expertise, we are bridging the gap between the agri-food industry and deep tech. Backed by strong technological barriers to entry, we are accelerating our rollout and helping to strengthen European food sovereignty.”  This new funding will finance the commercial rollout of Standing Ovation’s proteins in the United States and, starting at the end of 2027, in Europe and Asia.  Lead image: Standing Ovation. Photo: Antoine Repesse.

From March 16 to 20, Paris became the command centre for the future of European deeptech, bringing together founders, industrialists, investors, and public decision-makers at Bpifrance's headquarters to accelerate the transition from science labs and startup studios to commercial markets. A convergence of European deeptech power players Conceived by Bpifrance and INSKIP with the support of over 30 partners, European Deeptech Week brought together more than 2,500 ecosystem stakeholders in Paris for conferences, workshops, closed-door sessions, and investor-startup meetings.    For five days, Paris was an innovation nerve centre, bringing together startups, policy makers, investors, and large corporates to connect national and pan-European initiatives, share best practices, and foster cross-border partnerships designed to translate Europe’s scientific leadership into industrial and strategic strength. All of this was part of a critical goal to make disruptive innovation a direct lever of sovereignty, competitiveness and resilience for Europe. Building across Europe’s strategic industries  The European Deeptech Week programme spanned key strategic sectors including AI and quantum computing, space and defence technologies, industrial technologies and Industry 4.0, energy and climate innovation, and life sciences and health technologies — all seen as foundational to Europe’s next generation of globally competitive industries. European Deeptech Week included representatives from the European Commission and national innovation agencies, venture capital firms and deeptech-focused funds, including Eurazeo, Elaia, Supernova Invest, and Wind Capital. France’s deeptech surge sets the pace 410 deeptech startups were created in France in 2025, with the sector raising €4.1 billion. Reflecting this momentum, European Deeptech Week showcased founders building across quantum computing, climate technology, advanced materials, space, and carbon capture.  Speakers included Jean-Luc Maria of Exotrail, Maud Vinet of Quobly, Valérian Giesz of Quandela, and Susanna Partanen of Woamy. Capital, policy, and ecosystems align Major corporates participating included Airbus, Safran, Thales Group, VINCI, EDF, Siemens, AstraZeneca, Sanofi, Dassault Systèmes, Bosch, and STMicroelectronics. Their presence underscored the growing role of large industrial groups in adopting, procuring, and deploying deep technologies developed by startups and research institutions. Ecosystem leaders such as Constantijn van Oranje-Nassau of Techleap and innovation hub leaders from Station F contributed to discussions on strengthening Europe’s startup ecosystems. And, in a landscape often defined by fragmentation, the event demonstrated how intentional coordination can help transform Europe’s deeptech excellence into collective momentum. European Deeptech Week was co-organised by BPIFRANCE & Inskip Entrepreneurs with the support of the European Commission and France Deeptech.

Stockholm-based Endform, a platform designed to run browser-based end-to-end tests at high speed, has raised €1.5 million in funding. The round was led by Alliance VC, Antler, First Fellow, and Greens, with participation from a group of strategic angel investors. Endform develops a platform that enables engineering teams to run browser-based end-to-end tests for web applications more efficiently. Built specifically for the Playwright testing framework, the system distributes tests across multiple cloud machines, allowing large test suites to run in parallel. By executing each test on separate machines and coordinating the results centrally, Endform reduces the time required to complete testing pipelines and provides developers with faster feedback during the software development process. The platform is designed to simplify testing infrastructure so teams can scale their test coverage while maintaining rapid development cycles. The company is targeting the quality assurance infrastructure market, which is experiencing increased demand as AI-assisted development accelerates the pace of software iteration. As development cycles become faster, engineering teams require quicker feedback from testing processes, something traditional testing infrastructure can struggle to deliver. Endform addresses this challenge by enabling large numbers of browser instances to run performance-intensive tests simultaneously. With a single command change, organisations can run existing Playwright test suites fully in parallel, significantly reducing testing times. Commenting on the challenges of scaling test infrastructure, Jakob Norlin, co-founder of Endform, said that as test suites grow, they can increasingly become a bottleneck that slows down the pace of engineering teams: Endform solves this by decoupling the number of tests from the time it takes to run them, allowing developers to focus on shipping code rather than waiting for CI pipelines. Our software is already helping some of the world’s best companies to scale and accelerate their code development. The company launched its platform in March 2025 and has since been adopted by organisations across Sweden and the United States, including software company Lovable. The new funding will be used to expand the company’s core team and support further growth as Endform works to increase adoption of its platform for end-to-end web testing.

Insurtech Qover today marks its 10th anniversary with a significant milestone: the extension of a $12 million growth capital facility from CIBC Innovation Banking, bringing total funding raised since inception to over $100 million. Founded in 2016 by Quentin Colmant and Jean-Charles Velge, Qover set out to make insurance simple, transparent, and accessible across borders through technology.  Ten years later, the company has become a defining force in European insurtech, orchestrating embedded insurance programs for major global brands including Revolut, Mastercard, BMW, Monzo, bunq, Canyon and Trust Travel (a TUI brand), across 32+ countries. Qover now protects 15 million people through its platform and is on track to reach 55 million users by the end of 2026, driven by a strong pipeline of partner programs currently in implementation. Over the last four years, Qover has achieved 3x revenue growth, with total GWP exceeding $173 million. "We started with a simple conviction: insurance could be simpler and truly accessible across borders," said Quentin Colmant, CEO and Co-founder of Qover. "Ten years and 15 million users later, that conviction has become a platform, and with AI now accelerating what's possible, we are more ambitious than ever. Our goal is to protect 100 million people by 2030, building the infrastructure that makes a global safety net real." The additional growth capital from CIBC will support Qover's continued investment in its orchestration platform, AI capabilities and operational infrastructure as the company enters its next chapter.

Stockholm-based Enkei, a company developing circular materials for architecture and interior design, has closed a pre-seed funding round at a €3 million valuation. The round includes investors such as architect Anders Lendager, Christina Åqvist, Ulf Mattsson, and Fabian Månsson, alongside RadCap. It also brings in materials expertise from Thomas Granfeldt and Daniel Strömberg. Founded by Lovisa Sunnerholm and Miriam Bichsel, the company focuses on transforming construction and ceramic waste into high-quality materials for architectural applications. Its platform aims to address the environmental impact of traditional materials such as concrete and quarried stone, which continue to dominate the built environment despite growing sustainability concerns. Enkei’s approach centres on converting waste streams into usable materials, supporting the development of a more circular construction ecosystem. Its core product, ReCeramix™, is made primarily from recovered construction and ceramic waste and is already being applied in interior surfaces and design-led projects, including tabletops, window sills, and other architectural elements. Construction produces Europe’s largest waste stream, yet the materials shaping our built environment still rely heavily on newly extracted resources. We see a significant opportunity to transform overlooked waste into a new generation of architectural materials, keeping resources in circulation instead of extracting more, said Lovisa Sunnerholm, CEO and co-founder of Enkei. The funding will be used to advance research and development and support the commercialisation of ReCeramix™, as the company continues to expand its material platform and applications within architecture and interior design.

Czech defencetech STV Group and UK cybersecurity company Post-Quantum today announced the successful testing of the world’s first quantum-safe drones for active deployment across allied theatres. As allied nations adapt to warfighting defined by autonomous systems and drones, the ability to future-proof secure communications between drones and their operators is of paramount importance. Drone swarms procured today may be stored and deployed in future operations years later. This dynamic requires drones manufactured today to incorporate encryption that’s resistant to attack by both classical and quantum computers. In Ukraine and the Middle East, unmanned platforms must operate under conditions that include: Jamming, GPS denial and signal interception, Beyond-line-of-sight missions over degraded communications links,  Large-scale fleet command and control, Continuous transmission of sensitive ISR data. At the same time, governments recognise that adversaries may already be collecting encrypted communications for decryption once quantum computing becomes viable. With drone platforms expected to remain operational for decades, protecting these systems against future quantum threats is becoming a near-term requirement. The two companies have now successfully trialled the new approach at STV’s weapons testing facility in the Czech Republic.  The collaboration combines STV’s combat-tested unmanned systems and command-and-control infrastructure with Post-Quantum’s patented post-quantum cryptography and secure radio technology. STV asserts that it is one of the very few companies worldwide that can deploy its drone solutions directly to operational environments without further certification. Specifically, the partnership introduces two industry firsts: A quantum-resilient drone architecture designed for contested operational environments The first airborne deployment of Classic McEliece, the longest-studied post-quantum public-key cryptographic algorithm, previously considered infeasible for DDIL (denied, disrupted, intermittent, limited) communications Classic McEliece for operational deployment  The new platform is underpinned by Classic McEliece, the code‑based post‑quantum cryptographic scheme co-invented by Post-Quantum. The partnership’s architecture uses the cryptography in a targeted, mission-aligned way by encrypting full‑motion video, imagery and flight metadata for the duration of the mission. This ensures sensitive ISR data remains confidential over the long term against Harvest Now Decrypt Later attacks. Dr Pavel Kudrhalt, Chief Executive Officer of STV Group, said: “STV’s unmanned platforms operate daily in Ukraine, where drone communications are among the most contested in the world. In this environment, communications security is no longer an afterthought – the risk of an adversary intercepting or even seizing control of a drone swarm is simply unacceptable.  By integrating Classic McEliece into our operational stack, we are giving our customers the strongest available future‑proof cryptography, engineered for the realities of the battlefield and ready for immediate deployment.” According to Rikky Hasan, Chief Executive Officer of Post-Quantum, the partnership is about more than cryptography: "It is about delivering a complete sovereign unmanned operations system, with quantum‑resilient security built in as standard.” “Classic McEliece’s large key size has long been considered too large for real-world deployments, especially for airborne platforms operating in DDIL environments.  We have proven that assumption wrong. Its tiny ciphertexts and ultra‑fast encryption, combined with our experience in government‑grade radio communications and electronic warfare, make it the ideal choice for protecting drone ISR against both classical and quantum attacks." The companies will begin phased integration of the quantum-resilient UAV platform across European and allied defence programmes. Lead image: Freepik.

Empirical Ventures, a specialist deeptech Fund, has secured an additional £10 million British Business Bank commitment to back the UK’s best venture scientists, bringing its total support to £15 million. This partnership will accelerate Empirical’s mission to back the best venture scientists in the UK. Empirical Ventures was built to solve a specific problem: exceptional scientists often lack investors who speak their language. Empirical Venture Scientist's thesis suggests that the most valuable companies of the next century will not be built by generalist entrepreneurs, but by deep domain experts who can navigate the boundary between fundamental research and commercial reality.   By focusing on Deetech and Life Sciences, Empirical Ventures is actively de-risking the "hard science" sector, proving that with the right support, scientific founders can deliver outsized returns and high-skilled regional employment. The commitment from the British Business Bank, via its Regional Angels Programme, will allow Empirical Ventures to write high-conviction cheques to these founders across the UK.  By combining patient capital with their unique SEIS & EIS Fund and Syndicate, Empirical Ventures is providing the financial fuel for scientists to leave the lab and build technologies that bend the physical world, from novel energy generation and advanced materials to next-generation life sciences and everything in between.  Mark Barry, Senior Investment Director at British Business Bank, said: “We are delighted to expand our commitment to Empirical Ventures. Their team has identified a powerful untapped resource in the UK economy: the ‘Venture Scientist.’  By backing technical founders who solve hard problems, Empirical is helping to bridge the critical funding gap for science-led businesses outside London. This partnership ensures that the UK’s brightest scientific minds have the support they need to turn research into category-defining global companies.” Dr Johnathan Matlock, Co-Founder and General Partner at Empirical Ventures, said: “The greatest companies of the next 30 years will be built by scientists. We call them ‘Venture Scientists’ — founders who bring rigorous scientific methodology to company building. But for too long, these founders have been underestimated or misunderstood by generalist investors.  This £10 million commitment from the British Business Bank allows us to back these Venture Scientists with the conviction they deserve.  Whether they are in Bristol, Manchester, or Edinburgh, we are here to ensure that the founders capable of rewriting the rules of what’s possible get the resources to do so.”  This commitment directly supports the UK government’s 2026 Modern Industrial Strategy by unlocking the commercial potential of the UK’s world-leading research base.

Today, VC firm P101 released the tenth edition of the "State of Italian VC" report, an analysis of the evolution of the Italian innovation industry. The Italian tech sector includes more than 14,000 innovative companies – nearly 12,000 of which are startups – that, in 2025, generated a production value of 10 billion euros and employed around 62,000 people. Of these, about a third work in startups that, alone, last year, recorded a production value of about €2.8 billion. According to Andrea Di Camillo, Founder and Managing Partner of P101, we are today looking at the evolution of an industry that barely existed in Italy a decade ago.  Italy has moved from a handful of operators with limited resources and marginal impact to a venture capital ecosystem with solid foundations, consistently investing between 1 and 2 billion euros per year into the real economy. "Corporate participation is essental" Di Camillo shared that the broader context has also changed dramatically: the era of incremental innovation is over: “We are now facing a phase of deep technological discontinuity, with AI and critical infrastructure reshaping capital allocation, alongside a growing awareness that digital sovereignty is no longer a choice, but a strategic necessity.  Everything is moving faster, and if we want to keep pace, growing capital alone will not be enough — despite the support of institutional investors such as CDP and EIF, and players like Azimut.”  He asserts that corporate participation will be essential, as it remains limited to a few virtuous cases, along with a more efficient public capital market.  “Above all, what is needed is a truly international perspective: from funds, which must look beyond national borders; from companies, which must compete globally; and from investors, who must become increasingly international. In a continent that remains too fragmented, the future of this industry — central to innovation — will depend on strengthening venture capital as a European asset class. The ‘28th regime’ represents a first step in this direction.” Evolution of investments: VC quadruples, but Italy slips in the European ranking Over the past decade, the Italian VC has invested a total of about €10 billion in startups, 7.5 of which in the last 5 years. This growth trajectory has led to a fourfold increase in annual investment capacity, from €363 million in 2016 to €1.4 billion in 2025. However, despite Italy being the fourth-largest economy in Europe, per capita VC investment remains disproportionately low: Fewer deals, bigger tickets: 2025 marks the maturation of the market In 2025, investments in Italy reached €1.4 billion, up 17 per cent compared to 2024, despite a decline in the number of transactions to 637 (-35 per cent). This trend reflects an increase in average deal size, with the median doubling to 1 million euros. Startup valuations in Italy have increased over time, from €1.8 million in 2016 to nearly €5 million in 2025. However, this remains roughly half of European levels and significantly below the US, where average valuations approach €49 million. Exit: the structural bottleneck of public markets In 2025 Italy recorded 22 exits, down from 31 in 2024, mainly due to lower corporate acquisitions (from 25 to 14 transactions). Buyouts increased from 6 to 8, indicating a growing role for financial investors. As in 2024, no IPOs were recorded for VC-backed companies.  Over the last decade, only 22 IPOs in Italy have involved VC-backed companies, confirming the limited role of public markets in the industry. In 2025, fundraising totalled nearly €400 million across 9 funds (-13 per cent year-on-year), with the market heavily concentrated on smaller fund sizes and no vehicles above €150 million. Overall, over €8 billion was raised in Italy over the last decade through 123 funds.  Although Italy has doubled its fundraising capacity in ten years, it still accounts for a small fraction of Europe's funding, with total funding reaching almost €11 billion, down sharply from € 25 billion in 2024.  Investors: institutional are growing, but domestic capital still dominates Italian venture capital remains heavily reliant on domestic investors (71 per cent), highlighting limited international diversification: European investors account for 19 per cent of funding, followed by North American investors at 4 per cent, while Asian investors are notably absent. The Middle East contributes 6 per cent, making Italy unique among its peers in attracting a meaningful share of capital from the region. The LP base is relatively balanced despite concentration: Direct investments: 17 per cent Banks: 15 per cent Funds of funds: 14 per cent Foundations: 10 per cent Pension funds: 9 per cent Insurance companies (4 per cent) and corporates (12 per cent) remain underrepresented, compared to more mature ecosystems such as France, where they account for 14 per cent and 21 per cent respectively In general, the interest of institutional investors is growing, thanks to the support of investors such as CDP, EIF, and Fondo Italiano, which have invested 63 times in Italian funds over the last 10 years, as well as Azimut, and driven by new regulations aimed at incentivising investments in VC.  Universities: Bocconi and Politecnico drive new entrepreneurship  In the last five years, startups founded by former students of Italian universities have raised over €7.3 billion in capital from the broader innovation ecosystem, which, alongside Italian VC, includes business angels, private, foreign, and corporate investors.  Bocconi University (3.1 billion) and Politecnico di Milano (2.2 billion) lead the ranking, followed by: The University of Bologna (1 billion), LUISS (505 million), La Sapienza in Rome (338 million), and The Polytechnic University of Turin (196 million) contributed more modest, but still significant, investment flows.

German tech investor Maguar , which specialises in medium-sized B2B software companies, has acquired a significant stake in GlobalSuite Solutions, a multinational software company specialising in Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) solutions.   This transaction represents Maguar's first investment in the Spanish market. Founded in 2007, with a presence in Iberia and Latin America and a team of more than 100 professionals, GlobalSuite Solutions supports more than 2,000 customers in highly regulated sectors, including banking, insurance, healthcare, and telecommunications, offering solutions that facilitate risk management, regulatory compliance, business continuity, and ESG.  Companies are increasingly adopting technology platforms that centralise risk management, regulatory compliance, and corporate governance, replacing manual processes with integrated systems that provide real-time visibility and improve strategic decision-making. Maguar's investment in GlobalSuite Solutions is part of this trend, aimed at driving the company's evolution in a market that is increasingly strategic for organisations. Maguar plans to support GlobalSuite Solutions by strengthening its commercial organisation and partner ecosystem while driving innovation in automation, integration, artificial intelligence, and usability. The alliance also envisions geographic expansion into new markets, complemented by a selective acquisition strategy. According to Arno Poschik, Founding Partner of Maguar, GlobalSuite Solutions has developed a solid and highly differentiated GRC platform in a market with great potential.  “With this investment, we seek to support the continued development of its technology and accelerate its expansion to continue generating value for its customers." Antonio Quevedo Muñoz, founder and CEO of GlobalSuite Solutions, shared: "Maguar's entry marks a key moment for our company and opens a new stage of progression. Their extensive experience in the development and scaling of B2B software companies, together with their long-term vision, makes them the ideal partner to accompany us in this new phase. Thanks to this alliance, we will be able to continue driving innovation on our platform and strengthening our presence in new international markets, thereby maintaining our commitment to delivering maximum value to our customers.” Antonio Quevedo Muñoz, founder and CEO of GlobalSuite Solutions, will continue to lead the company, maintaining a significant stake in the business, alongside his team and Jaime Girón de Velasco, who will join GSS as Managing Director.  Lead image: Antonio Quevedo Muñoz, Founder and CEO of GlobalSuite Solutions, and Arno Poschik, Founding Partner at Maguar.

Midas, a platform for composable on-chain investment products, has raised $50 million in Series A funding. The round was led by RRE Ventures and Creandum, with participation from Framework Ventures, HV Capital, Ledger Cathay, Franklin Templeton, Coinbase Ventures, M1 Capital, Anchorage Digital, FJ Labs, North Island Ventures and GSR. The round brings total funding to $58.75 million, following an $8.75 million seed round in 2024. Midas enables asset managers to convert institutional-grade investment strategies into regulatory-compliant tokens, providing investors with transparency, liquidity, and composability across decentralised finance protocols such as Morpho and Pendle. As institutional adoption of tokenised assets continues to grow, many existing products still rely on delayed settlement processes, creating liquidity constraints for investors. To address this, Midas has introduced Midas Staked Liquidity (MSL), which deploys dedicated staked liquidity to enable instant redemptions without affecting underlying yield or composability. We’re building toward a future where investing works like the internet: open, transparent, composable, and accessible by default, said Dennis Dinkelmeyer, CEO and co-founder of Midas. In addition to MSL, the company plans to expand its product offering into a broader range of institutional asset classes, deepen integrations across decentralised finance ecosystems, and further develop existing partnerships. Developers, investors, and asset managers can access further information, including technical documentation and live products, via the Midas platform. The newly raised capital will support the continued development of MSL as part of an open liquidity architecture designed to enable instant redemptions across on-chain investment products.

TerraSpark, a developer of space-based solar energy systems, has raised over €5 million in a pre-seed financing round. Investors include Daphni, better ventures, the Hans(wo)men Group, and a group of strategic business angels. TerraSpark is developing a long-term approach to energy generation based on space-based solar power, aiming to provide continuous energy independent of weather conditions or time of day. The concept addresses growing challenges in Europe’s energy infrastructure, including rising demand, grid constraints, and increasing energy needs from data centres. While the concept of space-based solar power has existed for decades, recent reductions in launch costs and advances in satellite manufacturing and orbital robotics are making its implementation more feasible. TerraSpark is taking a phased approach, beginning with the commercialisation of radio frequency-based wireless energy transmission for industrial use on Earth. This allows the company to validate safety, efficiency, and regulatory requirements before scaling towards orbital systems. Space-based solar power has long been considered something for the distant future. Across Europe, energy resilience is now a practical concern. With a step-by-step approach, starting with commercially viable systems on Earth, we believe this can become real infrastructure within a realistic timeframe, said Jasper Deprez, founder and CEO of TerraSpark. The company is led by a team with experience in space technology, engineering, and scaling businesses, including Jasper Deprez (CEO), Sanjay Vijendran (CTO), and Matthias Laug (COO). In the coming months, TerraSpark plans to prepare pilot applications and demonstration use cases, including wireless power transmission for live environments. An orbital technology demonstrator is planned for 2027, followed by initial space-to-Earth power transmission in 2028. The funding will be used to further develop the company’s technology and support upcoming pilot applications and live testing.

The Tech.eu Summit London 2026 is set to take place on 21–22 April 2026 at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in London. With the event now less than four weeks away, this is one of the final opportunities to secure a ticket before pricing moves to its last tier. Ticket pricing will be updated on 1 April 2026 Ticket pricing for the Tech.eu Summit London 2026 will be revised on 1 April 2026. From that date, the Last Chance ticket will be priced at £600 + VAT. Joining with colleagues or friends? A discounted group rate is available for purchases of three or more tickets, with Last Chance (3+ People) passes priced at £550 + VAT per person. The Tech.eu Summit London 2026 will bring together founders, investors and technology professionals from across Europe and beyond. Sessions will cover artificial intelligence, fintech, deeptech, climate tech and other fast-evolving sectors, with speakers confirmed from organisations including OpenAI, Notion Capital, PolyAI, Oxa, Wise, NATO Innovation Fund, Upvest, 2150, Mastercard, Morgan Stanley, Mollie and many more. Make the most of your summit experience with the Tech.eu Events App Attendees can download the Tech.eu Events App via the App Store and Google Play to begin connecting ahead of the summit. Through the app, participants can browse attendee profiles, arrange meetings in advance, explore the agenda and manage their personal schedule. The app will also be used for on-site access via QR code check-in. Get your ticket today Secure your ticket before prices increase on 1 April. Join us at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre on 21–22 April for two days of discussions, networking and insight from some of the most influential figures in European technology and investment. We look forward to welcoming you in London. Partners Pavilion Partner Gold Partner   Silver Partners   Supporting Partner Community Partners