Monumental, the Amsterdam-based construction technology company developing autonomous robotics and software for the building industry, has raised $32 million in a Series B funding round led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from existing investors Plural and Hummingbird. Founded by Salar al Khafaji and Sebastiaan Visser, Monumental is addressing labour shortages in construction through autonomous bricklaying robots powered by its AI platform, Atrium. The company's electric robots combine advanced sensors, computer vision and cranes to lay bricks and mortar with millimetre precision. The robots are deployed as autonomous subcontractors on construction sites. Rather than selling robots directly, Monumental provides a construction service in which contractors pay for completed walls instead of purchasing and operating equipment. The outcome-based model removes the financial and operational complexity of adopting robotics while allowing builders to increase capacity without expanding their workforce. Monumental currently operates a fleet of more than 150 robots across construction projects in the Netherlands and the UK. Its robots have helped build more than 100 homes, as well as a school, community centre, hotel and canal walls. Nearly half of those homes were completed during the past three months, reflecting a rapid increase in deployment. Salar al Khafaji, co-founder and CEO of Monumental, said the global construction industry lacks the workforce needed to meet rising demand and that increasing capacity requires practical automation rather than experimental technology. Every robot we deploy expands the industry's capacity to build, bringing a future of beautiful, affordable, bespoke buildings and infrastructure closer to reality, he added. Monumental has recently strengthened its presence in the UK by appointing a dedicated country manager and expanding its local team. Alongside further growth across Europe, the company is preparing its first pilot projects in the US as it continues its international expansion. The funding will support the company's next phase of growth by expanding its team of hardware and software engineers, increasing the deployment of its robotic fleet across Europe and the UK, strengthening its UK operations, broadening the range of construction tasks its robots can perform, and supporting its planned expansion into the US.

Nous, an Italian ingredient company developing functional ingredients for the food, beverage and nutraceutical industries, has raised €2.315 million in a seed funding round to accelerate the commercialisation of Koncentra, its branded botanical functional ingredient for the energy category. The round was led by dsm-firmenich Ventures, with participation from FoodSeed, the foodtech programme of CDP Venture Capital's National Accelerator Network, established by CDP Venture Capital and Eatable Adventures through Accelera Ventures. Founded in Italy, Nous develops science-backed botanical ingredients using its proprietary extraction technology, with a focus on natural alternatives for the energy category. Its flagship product, Koncentra, is designed to support energy, focus and mood, and is advancing through clinical research and commercial partnerships as the company expands into international markets. The investment brings together strategic and financial expertise spanning ingredient innovation, foodtech commercialisation and international scale-up. Nous has already established a partnership with dsm-firmenich and is continuing to expand its network of commercial partners across Europe as demand grows for natural ingredients that support energy and wellbeing across the food, beverage and nutraceutical sectors. Lorenzo Pessini, CEO of Nous, described the investment as a significant milestone in the company's transition from scientific validation to the broader commercialisation of Koncentra: Support from investors with deep expertise in ingredients, foodtech and market scale-up gives us the resources to strengthen the scientific position of Koncentra, expand our supply chain, and build the next generation of functional ingredients. The new funding will enable the company to commission additional clinical studies, strengthen the scientific evidence supporting Koncentra, and expand its supply chain across Europe and Asia. Alongside the commercial rollout of Koncentra, Nous is continuing to develop additional functional ingredients using its proprietary extraction platform while expanding its team with key hires to support the next phase of international growth.

Maltese investor SuperCharger Ventures today announced the launch of Fund I with a plan to invest in edtech and Future-of-Work companies worldwide, with a focus on pre-seed and seed-stage startups. Initial tickets for selected startups will be up to €250,000, and follow-on investments will range from €500,000 to €1.5 million. The fund is backed by family offices and HNW investors.  With 90 per cent of first-close commitments already secured, the fund is still inviting additional investors, including institutional players.  The fund will operate alongside SuperCharger Ventures’ accelerator model, which provides founders with access to mentorship, investor networks, market-entry support, and government-backed, non-dilutive funding opportunities such as those provided by Malta Enterprise.  According to Janos Barberis, Co-founder and CEO of SuperCharger Ventures: “3 years ago, we had 100 startups applying to our Malta Programme. Today, it's over 1,000 per cohort trying to expand in Europe via Malta. Yesterday we were an accelerator. Today we are an investor. It's great that we can join capital alongside our existing commitment to founders through our programme. This will benefit the SuperCharger proposition, founders' ambition and Malta startup Ecosystem.”  The fund will primarily target the top 3–5 startups from each accelerator cohort, with investments typically made after founders complete the programme. Thе structure is designed to give founders a clearer post-accelerator capital-raising pathway. External investors will gain a transparent view of company quality, relevance, and founder readiness. 

Maltese investor SuperCharger Ventures today announced the launch of Fund I with a plan to invest in edtech and Future-of-Work companies worldwide, with a focus on pre-seed and seed-stage startups. Initial tickets for selected startups will be up to €250,000, and follow-on investments will range from €500,000 to €1.5 million. The fund is backed by family offices and HNW investors.  With 90 per cent of first-close commitments already secured, the fund is still inviting additional investors, including institutional players.  The fund will operate alongside SuperCharger Ventures’ accelerator model, which provides founders with access to mentorship, investor networks, market-entry support, and government-backed, non-dilutive funding opportunities such as those provided by Malta Enterprise.  According to Janos Barberis, Co-founder and CEO of SuperCharger Ventures: “3 years ago, we had 100 startups applying to our Malta Programme. Today, it's over 1,000 per cohort trying to expand in Europe via Malta. Yesterday we were an accelerator. Today we are an investor. It's great that we can join capital alongside our existing commitment to founders through our programme. This will benefit the SuperCharger proposition, founders' ambition and Malta startup Ecosystem.”  The fund will primarily target the top 3–5 startups from each accelerator cohort, with investments typically made after founders complete the programme. Thе structure is designed to give founders a clearer post-accelerator capital-raising pathway. External investors will gain a transparent view of company quality, relevance, and founder readiness. 

Bliq.ai today announced that Finland has approved Bliq Driverless for public road operations with immediate effect. The decision follows Finland’s recognition of Bliq’s existing . Operations will initially take place with a safety driver onboard as part of the first deployment phase, allowing Bliq to validate the system under local conditions and prepare for its first winter operations in Finland. Bliq is building driverless cars for private and business use, starting in Europe. Rather than manufacturing purpose-built autonomous vehicles, the company upgrades existing software-defined vehicles with a fast-to-integrate sensor and compute stack, turning them into fully driverless cars. Its current product generation combines an AI-based Level 2 driving system with remote human supervision, enabling rapid deployment while maintaining robust safety oversight. Testing in and around Helsinki will begin shortly. “We are beyond excited. This approval brings us closer to making driverless mobility part of everyday life across Europe,” said Julian Glaab, CEO and Co-Founder of Bliq. “For people and businesses in Finland, this means access to cars that can handle the driving for them, giving them more freedom, more productive time, and a safer way to travel. Finland also gives us the opportunity to validate Bliq Driverless in one of Europe’s most demanding operating environments.” Bliq’s Finnish deployment will be led by Erik Safonov, who currently oversees the company’s activities across the Baltics from Tallinn and will now also lead the Helsinki launch. “Expanding from Tallinn to Helsinki is a natural next step for Bliq,” said Erik Safonov, Operations Lead at Bliq. “Helsinki gives us a new environment in which to build real-world experience. Our focus now is on launching carefully, learning quickly, and establishing a strong foundation in Finland.” Building momentum for autonomous vehicles in Europe, in April, autonomous vehicle startup Verne announced the launch of Europe’s first commercial robotaxi service, starting in Zagreb, Croatia, enabling members of the public to book and pay for a Pony.ai-powered autonomous ride through the Verne app.

Bliq.ai today announced that Finland has approved Bliq Driverless for public road operations with immediate effect. The decision follows Finland’s recognition of Bliq’s existing . Operations will initially take place with a safety driver onboard as part of the first deployment phase, allowing Bliq to validate the system under local conditions and prepare for its first winter operations in Finland. Bliq is building driverless cars for private and business use, starting in Europe. Rather than manufacturing purpose-built autonomous vehicles, the company upgrades existing software-defined vehicles with a fast-to-integrate sensor and compute stack, turning them into fully driverless cars. Its current product generation combines an AI-based Level 2 driving system with remote human supervision, enabling rapid deployment while maintaining robust safety oversight. Testing in and around Helsinki will begin shortly. “We are beyond excited. This approval brings us closer to making driverless mobility part of everyday life across Europe,” said Julian Glaab, CEO and Co-Founder of Bliq. “For people and businesses in Finland, this means access to cars that can handle the driving for them, giving them more freedom, more productive time, and a safer way to travel. Finland also gives us the opportunity to validate Bliq Driverless in one of Europe’s most demanding operating environments.” Bliq’s Finnish deployment will be led by Erik Safonov, who currently oversees the company’s activities across the Baltics from Tallinn and will now also lead the Helsinki launch. “Expanding from Tallinn to Helsinki is a natural next step for Bliq,” said Erik Safonov, Operations Lead at Bliq. “Helsinki gives us a new environment in which to build real-world experience. Our focus now is on launching carefully, learning quickly, and establishing a strong foundation in Finland.” Building momentum for autonomous vehicles in Europe, in April, autonomous vehicle startup Verne announced the launch of Europe’s first commercial robotaxi service, starting in Zagreb, Croatia, enabling members of the public to book and pay for a Pony.ai-powered autonomous ride through the Verne app.

Float, the Stockholm-founded revenue-based financing platform for tech SMEs, has secured a €4.5 million Series A funding round led by Hamburg-based CHAPTERS Group AG. As part of the investment, CHAPTERS CEO Jan-Hendrik Mohr will join Float's board. Founded in 2022, Float was created to improve access to growth capital for European technology companies through non-dilutive financing solutions, including revenue-based financing, credit lines and working capital. To date, the company has provided more than €100 million in funding to over 130 European tech businesses, including RoomPriceGenie and RedTrack. The funding comes at a time when access to growth capital remains a challenge for many European startups. Venture investment in Europe continues to lag behind the US, limiting growth opportunities for founders and contributing to the relocation of high-growth companies outside the region. Float aims to address this gap by providing founders with both financing and the financial tools needed to build and scale businesses in Europe. Cedric Notz, CEO and co-founder of Float, said today's financial infrastructure is not designed for modern technology companies. While startups operate globally from day one, financial services remain fragmented, heavily reliant on manual processes and largely confined to local markets. Drawing on his own experience securing working capital, Notz said Float was founded to make business financing faster, simpler and more transparent. Our ambition now extends beyond lending. We are building an AI-native financial platform that brings together capital, banking and financial data in one place, giving founders the tools they need to spend less time managing finances and more time building their businesses. We want Europe's founders to have every opportunity to build and scale globally without leaving the continent, he added. The new funding will support Float's next phase of growth as the company evolves from a provider of flexible financing into an AI-native financial platform for startups and scaling businesses. Lending will remain at the core of the business, complemented by AI-powered financial management tools designed to help founders make faster financial decisions and automate operational tasks. By connecting directly to bank accounts and accounting systems, the platform will provide real-time financial insights while streamlining processes such as payments, expense management and accounting. The investment will also enable Float to double its team, strengthen its presence in the UK, already its largest market, and explore opportunities in the M&A market through its strategic partnership with CHAPTERS.

Float, the Stockholm-founded revenue-based financing platform for tech SMEs, has secured a €4.5 million Series A funding round led by Hamburg-based CHAPTERS Group AG. As part of the investment, CHAPTERS CEO Jan-Hendrik Mohr will join Float's board. Founded in 2022, Float was created to improve access to growth capital for European technology companies through non-dilutive financing solutions, including revenue-based financing, credit lines and working capital. To date, the company has provided more than €100 million in funding to over 130 European tech businesses, including RoomPriceGenie and RedTrack. The funding comes at a time when access to growth capital remains a challenge for many European startups. Venture investment in Europe continues to lag behind the US, limiting growth opportunities for founders and contributing to the relocation of high-growth companies outside the region. Float aims to address this gap by providing founders with both financing and the financial tools needed to build and scale businesses in Europe. Cedric Notz, CEO and co-founder of Float, said today's financial infrastructure is not designed for modern technology companies. While startups operate globally from day one, financial services remain fragmented, heavily reliant on manual processes and largely confined to local markets. Drawing on his own experience securing working capital, Notz said Float was founded to make business financing faster, simpler and more transparent. Our ambition now extends beyond lending. We are building an AI-native financial platform that brings together capital, banking and financial data in one place, giving founders the tools they need to spend less time managing finances and more time building their businesses. We want Europe's founders to have every opportunity to build and scale globally without leaving the continent, he added. The new funding will support Float's next phase of growth as the company evolves from a provider of flexible financing into an AI-native financial platform for startups and scaling businesses. Lending will remain at the core of the business, complemented by AI-powered financial management tools designed to help founders make faster financial decisions and automate operational tasks. By connecting directly to bank accounts and accounting systems, the platform will provide real-time financial insights while streamlining processes such as payments, expense management and accounting. The investment will also enable Float to double its team, strengthen its presence in the UK, already its largest market, and explore opportunities in the M&A market through its strategic partnership with CHAPTERS.

Neko Health today announced the completion of its $700 million  Series C funding round.  The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and co-led by O.G. Venture Partners, with participation from existing investors Atomico, General Catalyst, and Lakestar, alongside new backers including Liberty City Ventures, Positive Sum, and BDT & MSD.  The fundraise follows a $260 million Series B in January 2025.   Founded by Spotify's Daniel Ek and Hjalmar Nilsonne, Neko Health is a health technology company redefining how people understand and act on their health. At the heart of Neko’s offering is the Neko Health Scan, a 60-minute, comprehensive,  non-invasive, and radiation-free health assessment that captures millions of health data points, priced at £299 in the UK and 2,750 SEK in Sweden.  Using proprietary sensors alongside blood analysis, the scan assesses skin health, including moles and marks,  biomarkers to identify pre-diabetes risk, as well as blood abnormalities and risk factors linked to metabolic syndrome, stroke, and heart attack. Results are delivered on-site within minutes and discussed during an in-person consultation with a medical professional,  providing members with personalised and actionable health findings.   Today's news comes three weeks after Neko's most significant scan advancement to date.  The addition of body composition measures, captured in seconds during the scan, and clinician review of wearable data, is now live across all clinics – giving members an even more detailed picture of their health both in the moment and between visits.  This is the latest step in a program of continuous innovation, made possible by Neko's ownership of every part of its tech stack in-house.  Last month, Neko opened its latest clinic in Stockholm, built around the next generation of  Neko-engineered medical devices, Derma-2, Echo-2, and Spectrum-2, each upgraded to capture a greater volume and higher fidelity of health signals across skin, heart, and circulation, with increased automation freeing up clinical staff to focus on member care. This hardware will be rolled out across all Neko clinics in the next few months.   According to Hjalmar Nilsonne, Neko Health Co-Founder and CEO: "With this round,  we're taking our mission to the US for the first time, while continuing to invest in the  research and technology that make prevention possible at scale. The clearest proof is in our  members: the vast majority of our members return after their first scan, and when they do,  their health markers move in the right direction." Bejul Somaia, Global Partner, Lightspeed Venture Partners, said:  "Over the past eighteen months, Neko Health has demonstrated remarkable innovation and growth, attacking one of the largest markets in the world with breakthrough technology,  proven consumer demand, and a clear path to global scale. We believe this is one of the  most important healthcare companies of our generation, and we're proud to deepen our  partnership as they continue to reimagine prevention."  "For more than 20 years, I've tracked every metric imaginable to optimise health and performance. It’s expensive, complicated, and fragmented. I’ve invested in Neko because  they offer beautiful simplicity, and only simplicity scales: you get a high-definition map of your biology in less than 60 minutes, explained by an unhurried doctor, all in one location and for £299. No one else can do this. And believe me, as I’ve toured their R&D lab in  Sweden: there’s a lot more coming,” says Tim Ferriss, bestselling author of The 4-Hour  Body, which introduced millions to data-driven personal health, including continuous glucose monitors, DEXA, and other technologies.  Since launching in February 2023, Neko Health has expanded its footprint in Sweden and the UK, including Manchester, Birmingham, and multiple locations in London (Marylebone, Spitalfields, Covent Garden, Victoria). Over 350,000 people have registered for a Neko  Health Scan, and more than 100,000 members have already experienced one. On average, 75 per cent of members book and prepay for a scan for the following year at the end of their appointment.   According to its latest health data, early detection is translating into measurable health improvements for returning members. Neko Health found that three in four returning members with previously identified severe or life-threatening conditions were in good health or had their conditions under control. Overall, five of seven key biomarkers showed statistically significant improvement between Scan 1 and Scan 2.  As part of the round, David Ofer of O.G. Venture Partners will join the Board of Directors, subject to regulatory approval. 

Neko Health today announced the completion of its $700 million  Series C funding round.  The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and co-led by O.G. Venture Partners, with participation from existing investors Atomico, General Catalyst, and Lakestar, alongside new backers including Liberty City Ventures, Positive Sum, and BDT & MSD.  The fundraise follows a $260 million Series B in January 2025.   Founded by Spotify's Daniel Ek and Hjalmar Nilsonne, Neko Health is a health technology company redefining how people understand and act on their health. At the heart of Neko’s offering is the Neko Health Scan, a 60-minute, comprehensive,  non-invasive, and radiation-free health assessment that captures millions of health data points, priced at £299 in the UK and 2,750 SEK in Sweden.  Using proprietary sensors alongside blood analysis, the scan assesses skin health, including moles and marks,  biomarkers to identify pre-diabetes risk, as well as blood abnormalities and risk factors linked to metabolic syndrome, stroke, and heart attack. Results are delivered on-site within minutes and discussed during an in-person consultation with a medical professional,  providing members with personalised and actionable health findings.   Today's news comes three weeks after Neko's most significant scan advancement to date.  The addition of body composition measures, captured in seconds during the scan, and clinician review of wearable data, is now live across all clinics – giving members an even more detailed picture of their health both in the moment and between visits.  This is the latest step in a program of continuous innovation, made possible by Neko's ownership of every part of its tech stack in-house.  Last month, Neko opened its latest clinic in Stockholm, built around the next generation of  Neko-engineered medical devices, Derma-2, Echo-2, and Spectrum-2, each upgraded to capture a greater volume and higher fidelity of health signals across skin, heart, and circulation, with increased automation freeing up clinical staff to focus on member care. This hardware will be rolled out across all Neko clinics in the next few months.   According to Hjalmar Nilsonne, Neko Health Co-Founder and CEO: "With this round,  we're taking our mission to the US for the first time, while continuing to invest in the  research and technology that make prevention possible at scale. The clearest proof is in our  members: the vast majority of our members return after their first scan, and when they do,  their health markers move in the right direction." Bejul Somaia, Global Partner, Lightspeed Venture Partners, said:  "Over the past eighteen months, Neko Health has demonstrated remarkable innovation and growth, attacking one of the largest markets in the world with breakthrough technology,  proven consumer demand, and a clear path to global scale. We believe this is one of the  most important healthcare companies of our generation, and we're proud to deepen our  partnership as they continue to reimagine prevention."  "For more than 20 years, I've tracked every metric imaginable to optimise health and performance. It’s expensive, complicated, and fragmented. I’ve invested in Neko because  they offer beautiful simplicity, and only simplicity scales: you get a high-definition map of your biology in less than 60 minutes, explained by an unhurried doctor, all in one location and for £299. No one else can do this. And believe me, as I’ve toured their R&D lab in  Sweden: there’s a lot more coming,” says Tim Ferriss, bestselling author of The 4-Hour  Body, which introduced millions to data-driven personal health, including continuous glucose monitors, DEXA, and other technologies.  Since launching in February 2023, Neko Health has expanded its footprint in Sweden and the UK, including Manchester, Birmingham, and multiple locations in London (Marylebone, Spitalfields, Covent Garden, Victoria). Over 350,000 people have registered for a Neko  Health Scan, and more than 100,000 members have already experienced one. On average, 75 per cent of members book and prepay for a scan for the following year at the end of their appointment.   According to its latest health data, early detection is translating into measurable health improvements for returning members. Neko Health found that three in four returning members with previously identified severe or life-threatening conditions were in good health or had their conditions under control. Overall, five of seven key biomarkers showed statistically significant improvement between Scan 1 and Scan 2.  As part of the round, David Ofer of O.G. Venture Partners will join the Board of Directors, subject to regulatory approval. 

StratX, a climatetech company specialising in greenhouse gas reductions from landfills, has raised $1.19 million in a funding round led by Neglected Climate Opportunities (NCO) with participation from CarbonFix and an initial purchase commitment from Terraset. NCO is the Grantham Environmental Trust's venture capital vehicle. The startup was developed with support from Deep Science Ventures. Uncovered landfills and dumps across the Global South are significant contributors to global warming, releasing massive quantities of methane and toxic gases. Beyond their climate impact, these sites pose risks to surrounding communities with air pollution, contamination of water supplies and sources of disease.  StratX’s proprietary landfill cover technology provides a nature-leveraged, scalable solution to these challenges. The covers combine locally-available soil and gravel with indigenous microbes to naturally oxidise methane, effectively ‘eating’ the gas before it can escape into the atmosphere. StratX’s measurement technology substantially reduces the uncertainty of landfill gas quantification, allowing the company to generate high integrity, permanent carbon credits.   Unlike traditional containment methods that require heavy investment, StratX’s model is designed to convert older landfills into profit centers for municipalities. The company implements the technology at no cost to the landfill operator or local municipality and shares top-line credit sales revenues with operators, host governments and local communities. Kevin Wheeler, CEO of StratX, said: "Landfills in the Global South are often seen as an unsolvable burden for local leaders who are caught between compounding environmental externalities and funding constraints. By treating landfill covers as living ecosystems, our technology neutralises environmental threats at the source. We are removing the financial barriers to entry, empowering local leaders to protect their communities and the climate simultaneously." The pilot projects will focus on strategic locations currently being assessed in Africa and South America, including in Tanzania, Colombia and Chile. The pilots will show how StratX’s technology and business model can turn environmental liabilities into revenue-generating assets. Elena Cavallero, Venture Advisor, The Grantham Foundation, said: "We invested in StratX because landfill methane is one of the largest unmanaged sources of climate pollution on Earth (emissions on par with the entire EU power sector), yet it has been almost entirely neglected by both policy and capital. StratX is building the first scalable model for addressing these emissions, starting in the Global South, where traditional gas capture infrastructure has consistently failed. The biocover approach is a low-cost, fast-to-deploy methane-abatement solution that can reach the tens of thousands of sites that existing solutions simply cannot.” Tom Frankiewicz, Principal, Climate-Aligned Industries at the Rocky Mountain Institute, said: “The scientific community has made substantial progress identifying ways to eliminate methane emissions from landfills and dumpsites, but real world adoption and deployment have been slow. Biocovers offer an effective solution that can be implemented today, and we look forward to seeing them in action at more waste sites as novel business models put financing within reach.”  StratX is currently assessing sites across the Global South, designing covers for installation and engaging with local governments, landfill operators and community representatives to ensure the pilots deliver maximum social and environmental impact. The capital will be deployed to install specially designed landfill covers on sites in Asia, Africa and South America, addressing both global environmental and local public health challenges. 

Czech medtech startup HTG Medical has raised €450,000 from angel and VC backers, and its proprietary device, the HTG Urogram, has successfully cleared the EU's Medical Device Regulation (MDR) certification, thereby greenlighting its immediate rollout across European and global markets. The story of HTG Medical began in 2019 at a medtech hackathon hosted by IKEM, where the founders were challenged to digitise urine output tracking. While they narrowly missed first place, the vision and drive to scale the Urogram into a market-ready product remained. Every hour, a nurse in an ICU must physically walk to a patient's bedside, read their urine output from a drainage bag, and manually log the amount. This decades-old, mundane, and time-consuming routine is about to change thanks to HTG Medical. “ "Getting a prototype into the ICU with real patients is one thing. Transitioning it into a certified medical device means perfecting countless details hidden beneath the surface—from measurement accuracy and engineering reliability to secure hospital data integration, a robust quality management system, and an airtight development and testing lifecycle,” says Max Klimeš, CTO and co-founder. The HTG Urogram tracks fluid output completely automatically, displaying real-time metrics on an integrated screen and transmitting them directly to Hospital Information Systems (HIS). This returns up to one hour of valuable time back to nurses every day, allowing them to focus on direct patient care rather than paperwork. Furthermore, automation eliminates human error; according to external research, the error rate of manual logging and fluid tracking in ICUs can skyrocket up to 26 per cent. “Securing the CE mark is validation that we built this product the right way. Starting with a deep understanding of the real needs of ICU nurses and doctors, all the way to engineering technical documentation that meets the world’s strictest regulatory requirements. We are now ready to deploy the HTG Urogram where it can truly help and start saving time,” says Tobiáš Vybíral, CEO and Co-founder of HTG Medical. The journey from initial engineering drafts to a certified product takes years and thousands of pages of documentation, pushing many legacy manufacturers out of the market entirely. HTG Medical managed to navigate this entire process in just 15 months, accelerated by localised European manufacturing and complete component traceability. “More than a year of intense regulatory work taught us how to build institutional processes that can withstand any high-stakes international market. ISO 13485 and CE marking under MDR aren't just rubber stamps - they are the core foundations upon which we are building a highly scalable company,” adds Krištof Šaman, COO and Co-founder, who steered the certification sprint. HTG Medical plans to back its international expansion and commercial launch with a fresh capital injection. This second tranche of the pre-seed round was backed by Garage Angels alongside Electron Capital Partners and JIC Ventures, with participation from existing investors Jinej fond and Dendis Capital. According to Aleš Filipenský, Investment Director at Garage Angels, healthcare is a sector where innovation traditionally scales slowly.  “The HTG Medical team blew us away by taking the Urogram from a rough hackathon concept to a certified product already active in patient care. The winning combination for us was a stellar founding team, clear MDR clearance, and a highly attractive recurring-revenue business model.” The investment pushes the company's total funding past the €1 million milestone. Looking ahead, the stringent MDR certification will serve as a regulatory springboard for fast-tracked registrations in regions outside Europe, including Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia.

For the past two years, Europe's AI debate has centred on foundation models, more recently expanding to questions of data ownership and intelligence But for Dublin-based TensorX, the next competitive battleground lies further down the stack: securing the GPUs, financing, and data centre capacity needed to enable organisations to deploy AI without their data ever leaving European jurisdiction. TensorX buys and operates AI hardware and data centre capacity across Europe, providing private AI inference on dedicated Nvidia GPUs. The company keeps prompts and data on European infrastructure with full data residency and zero retention,  I spoke to Tim Grant, Executive Chairman of TensorX to learn more. From fintech frustration to sovereign AI  TensorX was born from a practical problem. TensorX CEO Shane Morton built and sold financial trading software before acquiring ICT Services, one of Ireland's leading data centre infrastructure companies.  Through his portfolio of fintech companies, Morton kept hearing the same thing: they wanted to adopt AI but needed certainty that their data would stay within European jurisdiction.  Grant explained:  “We realised there was no viable way for many enterprises to adopt AI without a sovereign, zero-data-retention solution." TensorX combines software, hardware and infrastructure expertise to deploy GPU clusters that provide secure AI inference. Grant explains: “We buy the GPUs, optimise them for today's leading AI models, and sell that capability to customers who need complete control over their data.” The TensorX platform supports more than 33 models via an OpenAI-compatible API, enabling businesses to adopt generative AI without sending sensitive information outside the European jurisdiction or retaining customer data for training.  The company is already generating revenue across three customer groups:  Large regulated enterprises in sectors such as finance, healthcare and legal services, where GDPR, the EU AI Act and data residency requirements increasingly shape AI adoption; AI marketplaces, including OpenRouter, which route developer demand to sovereign GPU compute; and Software companies building their own AI products on TensorX's infrastructure, including APEX:E3, TradeLocker and Cor Prime. The three bottlenecks holding back European AI Grant contends that ultimately, there are three major bottlenecks in this industry: access to GPUs, financing those GPUs and securing enough power. TensorX also owns a Dublin-based company called ICT, which has worked with hardware and data centres for over 20 years, providing deep knowledge of infrastructure, supply chains and GPU procurement.  Thanks to ICT's long-standing relationship with Dell as a Titanium Partner, alongside TensorX's status as an NVIDIA Inception partner, the company secured its first allocation of NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs in a market where supply remains constrained. But obtaining hardware is only half the problem. You also need the financing to buy it. While companies like Anthropic are raising extraordinary amounts of capital and working directly with NVIDIA, “the rest of us have to navigate traditional supply chains,” explained Grant. “That's why we're focused not only on sourcing GPUs but also on developing new financing models for AI infrastructure. Traditional infrastructure financing already exists, but AI hardware is still so new that lenders don't yet understand depreciation cycles or long-term asset values. That's an important problem we're trying to solve.” Building Europe's GPU infrastructure According to Grant, “one of our biggest advantages is that we have our own capital. That allows us to move quickly." The company has already committed €8 million to deploy NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs, including the latest B300 chips, and its  targeting around €100 million in GPU infrastructure over time because “we believe that's the scale required to become a meaningful European player.” Power is the next constraint Access to power is rapidly becoming one of the biggest constraints on Europe's AI infrastructure build-out. And in terms of sustainability, Grant admits that everything in AI infrastructure is moving incredibly quickly, making it difficult to predict what the landscape will look like even one or two years from now.  “We don't yet know how supply chains will evolve or how much new capacity will come online. There is significant effort across the industry to build more sustainable infrastructure, but it's still early.” In the short term, TensorX secured enough capacity to support planned growth to around €50-100 million of deployed infrastructure. Longer term, it's actively exploring partnerships — and potentially even building its own data centres — to ensure access to sufficient power. Beyond Europe: sovereign AI everywhere In terms of data sovereignty, TensorX’s long-term vision isn't simply to operate within Europe. It wants to become a specialist in sovereign AI infrastructure across multiple jurisdictions, helping multinational organisations manage data residency and compliance globally. Interestingly, Germany has become one of TensorX's strongest markets, alongside growing demand from France, Denmark and the Netherlands as organisations prepare for the EU AI Act's compliance requirements. “We've seen a cluster of independent enquiries from German businesses looking specifically for sovereign AI infrastructure. That wasn't something we expected, but it reflects the strong focus Germany places on regulation, compliance and data sovereignty,” shared Grant.  TensorX's immediate priority is deploying the GPU infrastructure it has already ordered. Some systems are already live, with more arriving over the coming months. In addition to its dedicated infrastructure in Dublin and Helsinki, the company has additional capacity planned across Germany, France, the Nordics, and the UK. At the same time, it's growing the team and preparing for commercial expansion. The company recently announced a partnership with Solstice — a blockchain-based infrastructure company focused on financing real-world assets — to create a facility with up to $1 billion in capacity to finance AI hardware and data-centre build-out to meet rising demand for sovereign compute across the EU. Solstice will provide the onchain financing for that buildout and will launch aiUSX, a yield asset that opens the same infrastructure lending to companies holding capital for AI.

Swiss engineering startup RAROG has obtained €162,000 (CHF 150,000) from Venture Kick to develop a portable search-and-rescue system that detects the radio signals emitted by everyday electronic devices.  Finding missing people is often slow and challenging, especially in forests, mountains, disaster areas, or poor weather conditions. Existing search methods rely heavily on visual scanning, rescue dogs, or mobile network infrastructure, all of which have limitations. When people do not carry dedicated rescue beacons, locating them quickly becomes even more difficult. RAROG addresses this challenge with a portable detection system that identifies radio signals emitted by devices such as smartphones, smartwatches, and fitness trackers. The technology operates independently of mobile networks or external infrastructure and can detect people through vegetation, fog, snow, and rubble.  By turning everyday personal electronics into effective rescue beacons, the system helps emergency teams search more quickly and reliably. The systems are already being deployed in mountain rescue settings, from the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland to the Swiss Alps, where hundreds of lives are lost each year when people cannot be found in time. Beyond mountain rescue, RAROG is expanding to support firefighters, civil protection units, and other emergency response services when locating people, enabling millions of rescuers worldwide to save more lives. The funding will be used to finalise product development during ongoing pilots, complete CE marking, manufacture the first batch of detection systems, and enter the market, with the help of a growing team. Lead image: RAROG cofounders: Alexander Marinšek, Uroš Hudomalj, and Marko Hudomalj. Photo: uncredited. 

Nopan, the performance platform for account and wallet payments, today announced that it has raised €7.2 million to date, including a new funding round led by Newion, with follow-on investment from Crane and Seedcamp and support from a group of angel investors.  Founded by former Netflix payments leaders Konstantin Surkov and Nick Ryabov, Nopan was created to solve a challenge they experienced first-hand: launching a payment method is relatively easy, but making it perform at scale is much harder.  Having spent years building and optimising payments for some of the world’s largest digital businesses, the founding team brings a merchant-side perspective on what it takes to deliver performance, operational maturity and scale.  While much of the existing payment infrastructure was historically built around cards, Nopan is building payment infrastructure focused on account and wallet payments.  Account and wallet payments are gaining momentum across Europe, from emerging pan-European initiatives such as Wero to established local payment methods across individual markets. Yet digital businesses still need these methods to deliver the reliability, scalability and operational maturity they have come to expect from cards.  Nopan’s specialist infrastructure and optimisation layer helps digital businesses and Payment Service Providers increase conversion rates, reduce payment costs, and turn account and wallet payments into measurable business outcomes.  Nopan is live with initial customers and receiving positive feedback, while seeing growing commercial interest from leading enterprise businesses and Payment Service Providers across Europe, driven by the team’s merchant-side payments experience and its ambition to make account and wallet payments perform at scale.  “Nick and I experienced first-hand how much value can be created when payment methods are properly optimised,” said Konstantin Surkov, Co-Founder and CEO of Nopan. “Launching a new payment method is only the beginning. The real challenge is making it perform reliably across banks, customer behaviours, operational processes and, where relevant, across markets. Nopan was created to solve exactly that challenge.”  “Nopan is addressing a clear and growing need in the payments market,” said Pieter Welten, Partner at “Account and wallet payments represent a major  opportunity, but the infrastructure required to make them perform at scale is still emerging. With its deep merchant-side payments experience and highly focused technology platform, we believe Nopan is uniquely positioned to become a category leader in this next phase of payments.”  The funding will support Nopan’s next stage of growth as the company expands its account and wallet payment method coverage across Europe, further develops its optimisation capabilities, and strengthens its commercial presence with digital businesses and fintechs. 

Prolo, an AI-powered procurement platform helping small and medium-sized construction firms source materials, equipment and labour at competitive market rates, has secured £4.2 million in seed funding. The oversubscribed round was led by Triple Point Ventures, with participation from a16z Scout Fund, Anamcara Capital, Concrete VC, Foundation Ventures, Haatch, Koro Capital, Love Ventures, and Portfolio Ventures. Founded by serial proptech entrepreneur James Morris-Manuel, Prolo aims to modernise construction procurement by addressing long-standing inefficiencies in the sector. Despite construction being one of the world's largest industries, procurement remains largely manual, creating significant challenges for smaller contractors. Unlike tier-one firms, SMEs often spend hours contacting multiple suppliers for quotes and frequently pay higher prices because of their limited purchasing power. To address these challenges, Prolo acts as an outsourced AI-powered procurement team. Contractors can place orders through WhatsApp, email or phone. Prolo then combines AI with human procurement specialists to source competitive pricing from a nationwide network of more than 185 suppliers. The platform provides access to trade rates on bulk materials and specialist plant hire that are typically reserved for larger contractors. It also offers flexible credit terms of up to 90 days, helping customers manage cash flow and take on larger projects. Morris-Manuel said SME contractors have long been disadvantaged by limited price transparency and inefficient procurement processes, often paying higher prices because they lack the purchasing power of tier-one contractors. He added: With Prolo, we are fundamentally changing the way construction supply chains operate. The demand we are seeing from the market has been exceptional. The new funding will support Prolo's go-to-market strategy, expand its sales and marketing capabilities, and accelerate the rollout of new technology and product features as the company continues to grow its customer base among SME contractors. 

Amsterdam-based Promptwatch, an AI Search Optimisation (GEO) platform, has raised €6 million in seed funding. The round was led by seed + speed Ventures, with participation from Blum Ventures, while Arches Capital followed on from its pre-seed investment made in September last year. Founded in 2025 by Gijs de Groot and Klaas Foppen, Promptwatch helps organisations understand and improve how they are represented in AI-generated search results. Its platform is used by more than 1,840 organisations, including Duolingo, Fireflies and Monks. As AI-powered search reshapes how people discover products and services, businesses are increasingly seeking ways to manage their visibility across generative AI platforms. Unlike traditional search, where marketers can monitor rankings and website traffic, AI-generated responses reference brands, compare providers and cite sources without clearly indicating how that information is selected. Promptwatch addresses this challenge by providing organisations with insights into how AI models perceive their brands. Powered by more than 10 million data points collected daily from real user prompts, AI responses, citations, model updates, agentic traffic and content types, the platform analyses how AI models perceive brands. It identifies the sources influencing AI recommendations, highlights content and technical gaps, and recommends improvements to increase AI visibility. Beyond providing insights, Promptwatch automates much of the optimisation process. Its agentic AI engine prioritises optimisation opportunities, generates AI-ready content and publishes it directly through integrations with content management systems. Unlike platforms focused primarily on measuring AI visibility and rankings, Promptwatch combines monitoring, recommendations, content generation and publishing in a single end-to-end workflow. Gijs de Groot, CEO and co-founder of Promptwatch, said the company is focused on helping organisations better understand and improve how they are represented in AI-generated search results. He added: In less than a year, we've built advanced capabilities including our Content Agent, Actions and Model Context Protocol (MCP), which connects Promptwatch to AI tools such as ChatGPT and Claude. With Agentic AI Search Optimisation, we're making it easier for organisations to scale their AI search marketing through automated execution. The new funding will support the development of Promptwatch's next generation of agentic AI search optimisation technology, accelerate international expansion, and grow its engineering and go-to-market teams. The company also plans to open a new office in New York City to support its growing US customer base and strengthen relationships with marketing agencies, global brands and enterprise customers.

Constructiontech startup Sodex Innovations has raised €4 million in a funding round led by Capmont Technology. The round also welcomed new investors Bloomhaus, Look AI Ventures and the German business angel group Superangels, while existing backers SOSV, OMA (the founders of ProGlove) and 12 Rounds Capital (Katharina Klausberger and Armin Strbac) participated with follow-on investments. The company is developing AI-powered technology that automatically surveys and digitally maps construction sites, mines, and infrastructure projects during operation.  Construction machinery acts as mobile data collectors, recording terrain, material movements, and progress, which are fed directly into the Sodex web platform. There, documentation, quantity calculations, and progress analyses are available, making construction sites simpler, faster, and more transparent. For customers, this means fewer manual measurements, fewer delays caused by missing data, and better decisions based on solid data. In an industry that is under increasing pressure from margins, schedules, and documentation requirements, Sodex provides a direct way to boost efficiency and improve predictability.  More than 100 customers in the US, Australia, and Europe are already using the technology. According to Ralf Pfefferkorn, CEO and co-founder of Sodex Innovations: “Real-time updates directly from the construction site have become a central starting point and are now indispensable for many of our customers. With this funding, we can not only expand our team but also our portfolio and scale internationally much more quickly.” Michael Wittner, partner at Capmont Technology, adds:  “For the first time, Sodex makes physical construction activity measurable and controllable in real time, thereby creating the data foundation on which the industry will be managed in the future.  We believe that a combination of hardware, software, data, and AI—which enables these sectors to achieve a real leap in productivity—is not only incredibly exciting but also long overdue.” 

Constructiontech startup Sodex Innovations has raised €4 million in a funding round led by Capmont Technology. The round also welcomed new investors Bloomhaus, Look AI Ventures and the German business angel group Superangels, while existing backers SOSV, OMA (the founders of ProGlove) and 12 Rounds Capital (Katharina Klausberger and Armin Strbac) participated with follow-on investments. The company is developing AI-powered technology that automatically surveys and digitally maps construction sites, mines, and infrastructure projects during operation.  Construction machinery acts as mobile data collectors, recording terrain, material movements, and progress, which are fed directly into the Sodex web platform. There, documentation, quantity calculations, and progress analyses are available, making construction sites simpler, faster, and more transparent. For customers, this means fewer manual measurements, fewer delays caused by missing data, and better decisions based on solid data. In an industry that is under increasing pressure from margins, schedules, and documentation requirements, Sodex provides a direct way to boost efficiency and improve predictability.  More than 100 customers in the US, Australia, and Europe are already using the technology. According to Ralf Pfefferkorn, CEO and co-founder of Sodex Innovations: “Real-time updates directly from the construction site have become a central starting point and are now indispensable for many of our customers. With this funding, we can not only expand our team but also our portfolio and scale internationally much more quickly.” Michael Wittner, partner at Capmont Technology, adds:  “For the first time, Sodex makes physical construction activity measurable and controllable in real time, thereby creating the data foundation on which the industry will be managed in the future.  We believe that a combination of hardware, software, data, and AI—which enables these sectors to achieve a real leap in productivity—is not only incredibly exciting but also long overdue.” 

Venture capital firm Acurio Ventures today announced the closing of Acurio Secondaries I FCR, an innovative European fund with a size of approximately €115 million that invests exclusively in fund-level secondary transactions involving European VC funds.  With this new vehicle announced today, Acurio Ventures now has assets under management exceeding €450 million, spread across five investment vehicles focused on technology in Europe, three dedicated to direct investment in startups and two focused on investment in VC funds.  The private equity market, and particularly the VC segment, faces an environment characterised by limited liquidity, a challenge that Acurio Ventures aims to address with its new fund.  Secondary transactions have emerged over the past decade as a complementary exit mechanism to traditional IPOs and mergers and acquisitions. Accordingly, 2025 was the largest year on record for secondaries, with global investment volumes exceeding US$200 billion.  However, unlike other private equity segments (buyouts, middle market, etc.), secondary activity in funds in the VC space, particularly in Europe, remains at a very early stage and is driven mainly by large United States managers with billions of assets under management.  This new Acurio vehicle seeks to capitalise on an opportunity in a nascent market with substantial room for growth, focusing exclusively on European VC funds and on an underserved market segment of transactions below €20 million. The new vehicle aims to be fully invested within 18-24 months, focusing on mature early-stage VC funds, namely those 8+ years into their terms, with well-defined portfolios with clearly identified value drivers and realistic exit plans within two to three years. The objective is to achieve a net multiple of at least 2x invested capital for investors, with internal rates of return (IRRs) above 25 per cent.  The new fund already has a meaningful portfolio, having committed close to €45 million to date.  "We are extremely grateful for the trust placed in us by our investors, both new and returning. Successfully launching a new fund of this nature in such a difficult fundraising market for VC, and doing so with a 100 per cent private investor base that includes prestigious institutional investors, is a milestone and a validation that reinforces the strategy we have been pursuing," said Diego Recondo, Partner at Acurio Ventures.  In addition to its investment strategy in European VC funds, Acurio Ventures has three other vehicles dedicated to direct investment in European seed and series A startups.  The latest of these, Acurio Ventures III, closed in 2024 above €150 million and is still in its investment period, currently holding a portfolio of more than 40 companies.  The firm has invested in approximately 120 startups and 20 VC funds to date, and its direct portfolio includes established scaleups such as Seedtag, Voy, Preply, Jobandtalent, Indexa Capital, Lingokids and Refurbed.