Stockholm-based Pit, an AI-native platform that replaces the patchwork of spreadsheets, inboxes, and rigid SaaS tools used in enterprise operations, has announced its public launch. The company also raised $16 million in funding led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with participation from Lakestar, its founders, and angel investors including executives from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Deel, and Revolut, as well as the Stena and Lundin families. Pit positions itself as an “AI product team as a service,” enabling enterprises to build and run custom software tailored to their internal operations. The platform aims to replace the fragmented mix of spreadsheets, inboxes, and rigid SaaS tools that continue to underpin many business processes despite significant investment in digital transformation. Founded by former leaders from Voi, Klarna, and iZettle, Pit is designed to translate business needs into fully deployed, production-grade software. Its offering consists of two core components: Pit Studio, which learns how organisations work and builds tailored systems, and Pit Cloud, which provides governed infrastructure with enterprise-grade security and compliance features. Unlike traditional low-code platforms or AI copilots, Pit delivers fully operational software systems rather than prototypes. The platform is already being deployed in enterprise environments across sectors including logistics, telecom, e-commerce, and healthcare, with customers such as Voi, Tre, Stena Recycling, and Kry. For decades, enterprises have relied on software that dictates how they operate. AI now enables companies to run on systems designed around their own workflows, said Adam Jafer, CEO and co-founder of Pit. With the new funding, Pit plans to scale its platform and expand adoption among large enterprises seeking more flexible, AI-driven approaches to managing core business operations.

OpsMill, a Paris-based infrastructure data management company, has raised $14 million in a Series A funding round led by IRIS, with participation from BGV and existing investors Serena and Partech. OpsMill addresses a core challenge in enterprise IT: fragmented and unreliable infrastructure data. Its flagship product, Infrahub, is an open-source infrastructure data management platform built on a graph database with native version control. Designed as a system of record for IT environments, it enables infrastructure and network teams to scale automation and adopt AI-driven operations with greater reliability. As enterprises increasingly turn to automation, the quality of underlying data has become critical. Many organisations still rely on disconnected systems such as spreadsheets, legacy databases, and custom scripts, which can lead to errors and operational risks in automated or AI-driven workflows. OpsMill aims to provide a unified and trusted data layer to support safe, scalable automation across complex infrastructure environments. Damien Garros, co-founder and CEO of OpsMill, said automation fundamentally depends on data, and without a complete view of the network, organisations lack full visibility: We built Infrahub so that infrastructure teams and the AI agents working alongside them, always have a complete, trusted record of what exists and a way to safely evolve at scale. Infrahub models infrastructure as a network of relationships rather than static assets, allowing teams to manage dependencies, validate changes, and maintain governance through a structured DevOps workflow. The platform is available as both a free open-source Community edition and a commercial Enterprise version. The company has already seen adoption from large infrastructure operators and enterprises across sectors including retail, manufacturing, and financial services. With the new funding, OpsMill plans to further scale its platform and meet growing demand for AI-ready infrastructure data solutions.

London-based CodeWords, an AI automation platform, has raised $9 million in a seed round led by Visionaries, with participation from firstminute capital, Sequel, and Illusian. The round also included a group of angel investors and industry leaders such as Andrey Khusid (CEO of Miro), Mati Staniszewski (CEO of ElevenLabs), Hanno Renner (CEO of Personio), Robert Gentz (CEO of Zalando), Ilkka Paananen (CEO of Supercell), Alexandre Berriche (Founder of Fleet), Kieran Flanangan (CMO at Hubspot), and François Chollet (Co-founder of the ARC Prize), along with leaders at OpenAI, Mistral, n8n, and Zapier. CodeWords is built around Cody, an AI agent designed to learn how a business operates and proactively build and run automations across tools and workflows. Rather than requiring manual input or technical setup, the platform enables non-technical users to automate tasks such as deal flow monitoring, content creation, and lead generation across multiple integrations. The system operates entirely on CodeWords’ infrastructure, handling deployment, maintenance, and execution. The company originally started as an AI research lab under the name Agemo, focusing on neurosymbolic reasoning. Following early research recognition, the founders pivoted toward building a practical product aimed at simplifying automation for everyday business users. CodeWords has since moved into beta and continues to expand its capabilities, including contextual memory, messaging integrations, and adaptive execution modes. The best operators don’t wait to be asked. We built Cody on the same principle - an agent that learns about your business, sees what needs doing, and delivers outcomes, said Aymeric Zhuo, co-founder of CodeWords. With the new funding, CodeWords plans to scale its platform and further develop its AI agent, aiming to make automation more accessible and enable businesses without dedicated technical resources to operate more efficiently.

A device ships but collects field data at only 60% of the target rate. The hardware vendor blames firmware. The firmware contractor faults the RF environment. The RF consultant cites power management. No one modeled how modem power use, battery discharge, and packet retransmission interact as a system because no single team owned all of them. This ownership gap stalls IoT projects. This issue frequently delays and inflates budgets for many European device projects, especially for companies new to connected products or established manufacturers adding connectivity without a full redesign. ACRIOS Systems, a Czech technology company known for its large-scale smart metering deployments, built its custom development practice specifically to offer end-to-end solutions. Instead of fragmented service delivery, ACRIOS provides clients with full project ownership, handling every stage of the product lifecycle from embedded hardware design through OEM production to long-term field maintenance. Clients gain a single accountable partner who streamlines management and minimises integration risk for reliable results. The fragmentation problem in IoT product development Connected device creation spans circuit design, PCB layout, firmware, radio protocols, antenna tuning, power management, application software, backend systems, and cybersecurity. Each is specialised. Commonly, hardware, firmware, and cloud layers are split among separate teams. This may work initially, but integration often reveals gaps at these boundaries, with no single supplier accountable for resolving them. These gaps cause delays and rework. Hardware, firmware, antenna, or protocol issues often arise from split development. Single-team ownership avoids predictable failures. Full-stack ownership across the product lifecycle ACRIOS provides in-house hardware, firmware, embedded software, protocols, applications, backend services, and OEM production, all managed by a 25-person team without outsourcing core engineering. ACRIOS can manage end-to-end development or join an existing team for specific phases, such as optimisation, audit, or certification, without disrupting existing work. Prototypes are delivered within 2-3 months thanks to reusable tools, past architectures, and minimal coordination overhead when one team owns the full context. Communication expertise as a foundation IoT communication is the bedrock of ACRIOS’s engineering practice. Clients benefit directly. Robust device communication is critical for real-world performance, while mistakes in this domain have immediate, visible consequences. ACRIOS’s proven strength here is a decisive differentiator. The protocol stack includes bare-metal implementations of CoAP, MQTT, LWM2M, and UDP. It encompasses wM-Bus bidirectional communication and NB-IoT integration. A multi-chipset standardisation layer gives clients flexibility in hardware selection. FUOTA enables reliable, large-scale, over-the-air updates to deployed devices. Protocol validation occurs on active networks in several countries, not only in laboratories. Clients thus receive products tested in real-world environments, protecting their deployments from unexpected field issues. Radio behaviour in dense cities differs from that in the lab. Products not validated in real networks carry risks into production. ACRIOS is an official Quectel design house for Central and Eastern Europe. This status shows deep engineering skill in Quectel module integration and direct access to manufacturer support. For NB-IoT or smart module products, this relationship shortens integration challenges. It removes long back-and-forth with component vendors. Designing for demanding environments Industrial, utility, and public infrastructure deployments face demanding conditions that typical consumer IoT development overlooks. With portfolio highlights such as a converter certified to ATEX Zone 2 for explosive environments, ACRIOS ensures devices meet stringent requirements for enclosure design, power management, and component selection. The company’s hands-on experience translates to robust, field-ready solutions. ATEX-certified hardware experience directly informs every aspect of device designs. Power budgets are conservatively calculated. Environmental tolerances are guided by field conditions, not lab scenarios. Mechanical design accounts for real-world technician use, not just engineers in controlled settings. This approach guarantees reliability where others falter. Discipline applies beyond utilities. For Lokni, a smart water vending machine, ACRIOS delivered control systems, a mobile app for users, an admin web interface, and a secure backend. The device is maintenance-free, using remote diagnostics for long uptime and reliable management. Cross-sector experience strengthens solutions. "A device that works in a lab is a prototype. After three years in the field, two firmware updates, and a radio regulation change, it is a product. That distinction shapes every architectural decision we make from day one," says Marek Novák, Chief Technology Officer at ACRIOS Systems. Cybersecurity compliance as an engineering discipline Europe's regulatory environment for connected devices is changing fast. The Cyber Resilience Act took effect in 2024, with compliance due by 2027. It enforces cybersecurity for the full lifecycle: secure development, vulnerability management, encrypted communication, OTA updates, and certification documentation. CRA compliance is not a late-stage add-on. It requires strategically planned architectural choices from the start. This means robust authentication, sound encryption key management, and prepared responses to post-deployment vulnerabilities. Retrofitting these features later is costly and inefficient. With a development team prepared for these challenges from the start, compliance becomes simple and cost-effective. ACRIOS takes part in applied research funded by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic. This research focuses on practical CRA requirements to help clients benefit from firsthand regulatory expertise. The company designs device architectures and prepares certification documentation, ensuring clients receive products that are not only operational but also ready for European certification. The Radio Equipment Directive (RED) and its delegated acts add cybersecurity and privacy rules for radio devices. ACRIOS aligns both CRA and RED requirements from the architecture stage. This ensures compliance through design, not last-minute fixes. From embedded device to data layer For clients needing more than devices, ACRIOS manages network connectivity, backend infrastructure (Dockerised Linux), and data export through various interfaces (REST API, CSV via SFTP, etc.). The practical consequence for product teams is the ability to work directly with business-relevant data rather than managing an IoT infrastructure. The device collects. The backend processes. The client's systems receive clean, structured output, reducing internal technical workload. For companies new to connected products, this approach eliminates the burden of building and maintaining their own IoT backend, delivering a turnkey solution with a lower barrier to entry and reduced operational overhead. The same architecture supports remote monitoring and OTA updates, making long-term deployments viable and CRA-compliant. Devices can be updated, rolled back, and managed remotely as requirements evolve. The case for single-partner development A single engineering partner across the full stack ensures clear accountability, fast fixes, and swift regulatory adaptation when requirements change. For European companies bringing connected products to market under increasing regulatory pressure and with limited tolerance for extended development cycles, that accountability structure is a material advantage. The alternative, distributing development across multiple suppliers and managing the integration, is not cheaper. It transfers integration risk to the client, who is typically least equipped to absorb it. ACRIOS has validated this model across metering infrastructure deployments, public environment hardware, and hospital communication systems. The technical domains differ. The underlying engineering discipline does not. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000} About ACRIOS Systems ACRIOS Systems is a Czech technology company specialising in hardware and software development for smart metering, IoT, and energy management. An official Quectel design house for Central and Eastern Europe, the company designs and manufactures its own hardware and firmware in-house, and delivers full-stack custom development and OEM production for clients across Europe. For more information, visit ACRIOS Systems.

An AI consulting-cum-recruitment startup co-founded by a Google DeepMind scientist and a SoftBank executive has raised $22.75m, led by new investor Andreessen Horowitz.   The Series A founding round in Ethos also features participation from General Catalyst, Matt Miller's Evantic and trading firm XTX. It follows its $3.25m seed round last year led by General Catalyst. The startup has raised around $30m in total. Ethos, based in London, leverages AI to help foundational AI labs, investment funds and corporates with recruiting experts in specific fields, for consulting and full-time roles. As well as talking to a candidate via voice-powered AI, the startup's AI scrutinises a candidate's portfolio of work, including academic papers, Github repositories, and professional content, matching them up with the expertise that its corporate clients want.   It says that more than 5,000 candidates are joining each week across accounting, banking, consulting, law, technology and healthcare alongside skilled tradespeople, including electricians and plumbers.   Ethos was founded by CTO Daniel Mankowitz, who spent six years at Google DeepMind, and James Lo, a former McKinsey and SoftBank Vision Fund executive, who is now the CEO of Ethos.   The funding will be used to develop Ethos’s AI agent and expand its global network, while scaling partnerships with AI labs and enterprise clients, it said. Lo said: "A CV is a poor proxy for what someone is truly capable of. Ethos helps people to see the full shape of their expertise and where it fits in an AI-transformed economy - acting as their agent, opening doors they didn't know existed, and giving companies a far more precise way to find the people they actually need.    “AI is reshaping the labour market faster than our tools for valuing human expertise can keep up. Ethos is built to change that.”

OpenTrade, a stablecoin yield infrastructure platform used by fintechs and exchanges, has raised $17 million in a strategic funding round led by Mercury Fund and Notion Capital, with participation from a16z Crypto, AlbionVC, and CMCC Global. The round brings the company’s total funding to over $30 million. The raise comes as the global stablecoin market surpasses $300 billion in supply, driving demand for infrastructure that enables secure and scalable yield generation. OpenTrade provides plug-and-play solutions that allow fintechs, neobanks, and exchanges to offer dollar- and euro-denominated yield products backed by real-world assets, without building their own investment or custody systems. Since its launch, the platform has gained traction with partners such as Littio, Midas Kripto, and Glim. It has surpassed $200 million in total value locked and processed more than $250 million in transaction volume in 2025, reflecting growing adoption across both retail and institutional use cases. As demand has evolved, OpenTrade has expanded beyond its core infrastructure to include a permissionless protocol layer and Curation+, a suite of vault curation services designed for more complex, institutional-grade strategies across real-world and on-chain assets. These capabilities enable asset issuers, non-custodial platforms, and treasuries to access diversified yield strategies without managing underlying operational complexity. David Sutter, co-founder and CEO of OpenTrade, said the company has simplified how fintechs and neobanks integrate institutional-grade stablecoin yield into their offerings: As we grew, it became clear that our infrastructure could also serve non-custodial platforms, treasuries, and asset issuers that all need the same thing: a safe, scalable way to connect stablecoins to diversified yield strategies. The company has also deployed its infrastructure as a permissionless protocol that issues transferable, position-tracking tokens, with its first live implementation through Sierra Protocol. In parallel, Curation+ formalises its investment strategy services, combining regulated asset management oversight with active portfolio design and execution. The newly raised capital will be used to expand OpenTrade’s infrastructure, further develop its Curation+ services, and grow its engineering, asset management, and customer success teams as it scales globally.

In modern warfare, speed is becoming the defining advantage. Systems that once took years to design and deploy are now expected to reach the battlefield in months — or risk becoming irrelevant before they are ever used. RSI Europe is a Lithuania-based defence tech company building remote-controlled explosive systems and drone technologies designed for rapid deployment in active conflict environments.  I spoke with CEO Tomas Milašauskas on a visit to Vilnius to learn how the company achieved rapid time-to-market and profitability from year one. From energy regulation to defence tech Tomas Milašauskas started his career as a public servant in energy regulation, setting electricity prices in Lithuania and working on European-level infrastructure projects, including interconnectors with neighbouring countries. After that, he moved into consulting, and then became a fund manager in renewable energy — investing across Eastern Europe in solar, wind, energy storage, and other EU-aligned projects. Image: Tomas Milašauskas, CEO of RSI Europe. Culture as a competitive edge in a company born out of urgency “In Lithuania, defence isn’t just about the army — it’s a whole-of-society effort,” says Milašauskas. “It includes the military, volunteer organisations, and industry.” That ethos is reflected internally at RSI Europe. “A large part of our team has direct links to defence — former or current military personnel, volunteers, or people like myself involved in organisations such as the Riflemen’s Union,” he explains, referring to the civilian force of around 17,000–18,000 members trained to support national defence. This shared context shapes how the company operates. “There’s a clear understanding of the threat, and a very clear goal,” Milašauskas says. “When you’re building these systems, you know they could ultimately protect your own country, your family, your loved ones. That responsibility gives the work real meaning — and it’s what keeps us pushing forward.” ​ That context became reality overnight. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine changed everything. When everything escalated, the company's owners had a moment of: "What do we do now?" “It reached a point where it felt like a direct threat to Europe,” he explained. “That’s when my brother and I decided to launch a company focused on defence technology — specifically to help Ukraine." Neither of them came from the armed forces, so they relied on what they did have — their finances and technical thinking. They started with remote initiation systems — RISE-1 systems — something they understood better because of their background in technical communications. Speed: from concept to deployable product Within a few months, as a team of just three people, they had already developed rough 3D-printed prototypes being tested by the Lithuanian Armed Forces. After the first round of feedback, the second iteration was already deployed in Ukraine. Initially, the team approached the military with ideas around smart, remotely controlled munitions — essentially IoT-enabled systems. “They told us: that sounds great, but your time to market will be at least five years,” recalled ​​Milašauskas. If the goal was to help Ukraine win, they needed something deployable within 3 to 5 months. So RSI Europe pivoted to remote initiation systems — focusing on the “smart” part without the munition itself. That allowed it to get into the field quickly. RSI Europe stands out for its speed from idea to time-to-market. Milašauskas contends that if your development cycle is two or three years, your only option is to sell to NATO. “If you want to sell to Ukraine, it has to be two to three months — maximum. The battlefield evolves constantly, so you have to react quickly.” This is also about a shift in mindset: ”It’s not about having a perfect, polished system. It’s about whether it works. For example, a drone costing around €1,000 can destroy a tank worth several million. So the question becomes: do you want a perfect product, or an effective one?” Starting with a niche product According to Milašauskas, RSI Europe saw two paths — drones and remote initiation systems. “We chose the smaller, less competitive product. In 2022, there was no defence funding available. Competing in drones would have been unrealistic for a small team with no capital. So we focused on a system that had no real competitors. We started in Explosive Ordinance Disposal and expanded into broader military use — including special operations and intelligence units.” Today, those systems are widely used for unexploded ordnance (UXO) clearance — especially in heavily mined areas following Ukrainian counteroffensives — allowing operators to initiate explosives remotely while staying at a safe distance, sometimes up to 25 kilometres away. ​ Its technology stack extends to LoRa-based radio communications, autonomous and semi-autonomous drone capabilities, and FPV drones optimised for precision strike operations in high-electronic-warfare conditions. Image: An RSI Europe Shpak FPV drones. How RSI Europe’s technology works Technically, the system architecture is relatively simple. At its core, it’s an IoT device. There is some edge processing — for example, drones receive simple commands and translate them into real-time control across multiple axes. But the compute itself is relatively low. What really differentiates military systems is the networking layer: radio links must be highly resilient and capable of withstanding jamming and interference, using techniques such as advanced modulation and limited autonomy when signal conditions degrade. In addition, these systems operate at significantly higher power levels than consumer devices, ensuring more reliable connectivity in contested environments. “As we move towards more autonomous systems, compute requirements increase — but for now, many systems remain relatively simple,” explained Milašauskas. ​Profitable from year one The company was initially bootstrapped with a personal loan of around €40,000 — a modest starting point by startup standards, particularly in a market where early-stage companies often raise significant capital before generating meaningful revenue. Yet within its first year of operation, the business generated approximately €170,000 in revenue, establishing a strong commercial foundation from the outset. ​ “We’ve been profitable since year one,” shared Milašauskas. ​ The funds provided the flexibility to focus on the product and the end user, rather than investor pressure. Scaling challenges: logistics and deployment A key challenge for the company going forward is logistics. Milašauskas explained that Ukrainian companies can deliver within 1 to 2 weeks. “For us, exporting adds another two to three weeks. We also don’t always know where the product will end up — there’s often a gap between delivery and deployment. That’s why we maintain local teams in Ukraine to support users and gather feedback.” ​ From hardware to doctrine Beyond logistics, the challenge shifts from technology to application. Where do drones sit within the military structure — infantry, engineering, artillery? To address this, the company has worked closely with the Lithuanian Armed Forces to develop a playbook for integrating these systems into real operations. As a result, its offering now goes beyond hardware and software to include practical operational know-how. ​ Autonomy and real-world limits Tomas Milašauskas notes that some level of autonomy is already in use, including features such as terminal guidance, position hold, return-to-home without GPS, and early forms of swarm coordination. However, development remains cautious. “In a chaotic environment, control is critical. If you lose control, you risk unintended consequences,” he says. He adds that much of what is shown publicly does not reflect operational reality. “Many public demonstrations take place in controlled environments — they’re not representative of real battlefield conditions.” Looking ahead, Tomas Milašauskas points to two priority areas: building explosives capabilities — where he sees a clear gap in Europe — and advancing autonomy in drone systems. ​ Fragmentation, variety, and consolidation Drones are fundamentally reshaping defence procurement, shifting it away from standardised, single-platform systems toward a model where diversity of capabilities — not uniformity — defines operational strength. Tomas Milašauskas argues that, unlike traditional defence systems, drones require diversity rather than standardisation. “With something like a fighter jet, you invest in one platform — it’s extremely expensive to maintain, requires specialised technicians, and takes years to deploy,” he says. With drones, variety is the capability itself. Different systems perform differently depending on the environment. A drone that works in one part of the battlefield may be completely ineffective in another. This shift is likely to reshape procurement models. “Users will increasingly adopt a mix of capabilities rather than relying on a single system. That could mean multiple suppliers — or one supplier offering a range of specialised drones for different use cases.” At the same time, the market is evolving rapidly. “It’s a massive space, with many players and a lot of capital coming in,” Milašauskas adds. “Some are consolidating by acquiring smaller companies, others are building full ecosystems and trying to become the next primes. And many will simply disappear. In the first year, five companies were supplying the Lithuanian military. Now it’s down to one or two — and new players continue to emerge.” Startups should focus on specialisation Tomas Milašauskas advises founders to focus on specialisation rather than building yet another drone. “There are already many large players, and even more coming out of Ukraine at scale, so competing head-on with a new drone platform is very difficult,” he says. Instead, he points to opportunities in the gaps around the ecosystem. “There’s strong demand for specialised components, particularly as non-Chinese supply chains are still being built — and not yet fully there. Even basic elements, like magnets, often still come from China.” He adds that innovation can go far beyond the drone itself. “There’s a lot to be done with modular electronics, new components, and edge AI. It’s a strong market, but you need to be focused. Identify what’s already crowded, find the niche that isn’t, and build there."

A Finnish AI startup, co-founded by an executive whose previous startup was sold to US semiconductor giant AMD, has raised €25m in an angel round, giving it a €325m valuation, just months after its launch. Helsinki-based Qutwo was co-founded by Peter Sarlin, whose previous startup Silo AI was sold to AMD for $665m in 2024. Qutwo has raised the round from angel investors, which include Legora’s Max Junestrand, Hugging Face’s Thomas Wolf and co-founders and owners from Schwarz Group, Index Ventures and Atomico, amongst others, it said. Qutwo’s ambition is to build Europe's leading AI lab for the quantum era. Qutwo is building a software platform called Qutwo OS that, it says, helps companies get more out of AI, as quantum computing develops. It says it has secured more than €20m in contracted revenue since its February launch. Qutwo was founded by Sarlin, Kaj-Mikael Björk, Sarlin’s co-founder at Silo AI, and Kuan Yen Tan, co-founder at Finnish quantum outfit IQM. It says it already employs more than 50 scientists and engineers from the likes of Microsoft Research, UC Berkeley, and and Cambridge University. Sarlin said: “Qutwo’s angel round provides us more than just capital. We are at a moment that comes once in a generation. “We’re honoured to be backed by founders and investors who have built and backed category-defining global companies, as we build the platform for the next AI paradigm."

Antwerp-based social-impact startup Maurice & Nora has raised €1 million in funding to accelerate its growth and expand its platform for non-medical in-home assistance. The round includes backing from investors such as Coformaco (led by Conny Vandendriessche), Dries Buytaert, 100IN, Annemie Colruyt & Stef Goossens, Jan Delaere, Lorenz Bogaert, Toon Coppens, Piet Maes, Roeland Delrue, and the Shaping Impact Si3 Fund. The company connects families and seniors with students to provide flexible, non-medical support for everyday tasks. Seniors can access services such as grocery shopping, companionship, transportation, yard work, and light housekeeping, while families use the platform for after-school care, school holiday support, cooking, transport, and childcare. Matching is handled through a proprietary digital platform that uses AI to connect supply and demand more efficiently. Since launching one year ago, the company has screened more than 3,000 students across Flanders and Brussels, onboarded over 2,000 families and seniors, and secured more than 10 B2B clients offering the service as an employee benefit. The platform has evolved into a fully operational system that includes screening, matching, mobile applications, and communication tools. It has also introduced an AI voice agent to support scheduling and customer interactions, helping to simplify service delivery and improve scalability. Thomas Butstraen, co-founder and CEO, said that over the past year, the company has seen strong demand for dependable and flexible support services for both families and seniors: Our ambition is to make non-medical assistance as easy and accessible as ordering a meal or a taxi online, but with a genuine human connection at its core. We want to build a company that combines tangible social impact with strong economic growth. The company operates with a dual approach, serving both private individuals and businesses that offer the service as an employee benefit. In addition to supporting families and seniors, Maurice & Nora also provides flexible and socially meaningful job opportunities for students, enabling them to contribute financially while making a local impact. The newly raised capital will be used to drive commercial expansion, including increased investment in sales, marketing, and partnerships, as well as to strengthen the team and further develop the platform’s technology, including AI matching, voice capabilities, and enterprise-level scalability. Looking ahead, the company plans to expand its team and scale operations, with longer-term ambitions to grow across multiple European markets.

Renaissance Philanthropy, a nonprofit focused on accelerating scientific and technological breakthroughs by connecting philanthropists, researchers, and innovators, has mobilised more than $533 million in funding within its first two years. The milestone reflects rapid growth across the organisation’s platform, which now includes more than 20 active programmes and funds, as well as multiple government partnerships. Based in the United States, the organisation has also established a growing presence in Europe through partnerships with innovation agencies and research organisations, particularly in the UK and Germany. The organisation operates at a time of increasing momentum in science and artificial intelligence, where advances are accelerating discovery across fields such as healthcare and climate science. At the same time, rising levels of private wealth are creating new opportunities for philanthropic investment in high-impact innovation. There has never been more capital available to solve the world’s biggest problems, but there is a shortage of institutions that can deploy it effectively. We’re building the infrastructure to connect capital, talent, and ideas at the pace this moment demands, said Tom Kalil, CEO at Renaissance Philanthropy. Founded to address a gap between available capital and its effective deployment, Renaissance Philanthropy focuses on enabling philanthropists to support high-risk, high-impact scientific work. Its approach centres on time-bound, thesis-driven funds led by domain experts, structured programmes with defined goals and timeframes, where specialists direct funding towards the most promising ideas and teams. Unlike venture capital, which seeks financial returns, or government grants that can be constrained by bureaucracy and risk aversion, the model is designed to support high-risk, high-impact scientific and technical work that can advance entire fields. The organisation’s portfolio spans areas including AI-enabled science and education, climate innovation, energy, and health. Its initiatives include programmes focused on advancing AI research in mathematics, improving literacy through AI tools, developing climate interventions, and supporting large-scale scientific research design. Through its expanding network of programmes and partners, Renaissance Philanthropy aims to create a system that mobilises capital, talent, and ideas to accelerate progress across key scientific and societal domains.

Paris-based Davis has raised $5.5 million in a pre-seed funding round to accelerate its approach to early-stage real estate development and architectural design. The round was led by Heartcore Capital and Balderton Capital, with participation from Yellow, Evantic, and Entrepreneurs First, alongside angel investors from several technology companies. Founded by Mehdi Rais and Amine Chraibi, Davis is developing a platform designed to streamline early-stage real estate processes. The company aims to reduce timelines from months to days by combining proprietary AI systems with human expertise. Real estate development remains a large but traditionally slow-moving industry, with early-stage workflows often fragmented and reliant on legacy tools. Davis addresses this by integrating regulatory, technical, and market data to generate feasibility studies and architectural designs, including floor plans and spatial layouts. These outputs are then reviewed by human experts before delivery. At the core of the system is a generative modelling approach tailored to the built environment. Unlike traditional image-based methods, Davis produces structured architectural outputs, enabling greater control and alignment with real-world requirements. Real estate is one of the world’s largest asset classes, yet some of its most important workflows still move at a pace that no longer makes sense. We started Davis to set a new time standard for real estate development and ultimately to reshape how cities are designed and built, said Rais. Alongside the funding, the company has introduced Gaudi-1, its first proprietary model for automated architectural design under regulatory constraints, designed to generate compliant and optimised layouts across geographies and asset classes. The newly raised capital will support further development of its AI technology, expansion of the team, and scaling of operations. Davis also plans to increase adoption among developers as it supports a growing number of projects and continues to build its end-to-end platform.

AI-powered fleet safety and performance solutions provider Netradyne has acquired Moove Connected Mobility, a German-founded fleet intelligence and connected mobility company. By combining Netradyne’s AI-driven edge intelligence platform with Moove’s strong local presence, customer relationships, and operational experience, the company is creating a scaled, durable foundation to serve enterprise customers across the continent. Following the acquisition, Moove will become part of Netradyne Europe, serving as a central operating hub for regional sales, customer engagement, partnerships, and market development. “Europe is a critical pillar of our global strategy,” said Avneesh Agrawal, CEO and co‑founder of Netradyne. “This acquisition reflects a clear commitment to building long‑term presence, leadership, and trust in the region. By bringing together Moove’s local expertise and relationships with Netradyne’s AI platform, we are uniquely positioned to support European fleets at scale while staying deeply anchored in the region.” Jeroen Bruinooge, former CEO of Moove Connected Mobility, will assume the role of SVP & GM, Europe at Netradyne, focused on leading Netradyne’s European go‑to‑market strategy, regional partnerships, and customer success. Together, the combined teams will focus on delivering practical, intelligent solutions that help fleet operators improve safety outcomes, enhance driver performance, and gain consistent operational insights. The acquisition also strengthens Netradyne’s ability to support global customers seeking a unified, AI‑powered fleet platform across North America, Europe, and Asia.

The quantum processor company QuantWare has raised €152 million in a Series B funding round to support the development and scaling of its technology. The announcement follows the introduction of its VIO-40K™ architecture, designed to enable quantum processors with significantly higher qubit capacity than current systems. New investors in the round include Intel Capital, In-Q-Tel, and ETF Partners, alongside existing backers such as FORWARD.one, Invest-NL Deep Tech Fund, InnovationQuarter Capital, Ground State Ventures, and Graduate Ventures. Founded by researchers from QuTech, QuantWare has grown into a provider of commercially available quantum processing units, producing hardware at an industrial scale in Europe. The company develops modular quantum processors based on its proprietary VIO™ architecture, which enables scalable and energy-efficient system design. This open approach allows third parties to build and integrate their own designs, supporting broader industry development and collaboration. The promise of quantum computing can only be realised once it can be manufactured and deployed at scale. With VIO-40K and KiloFab, we are building both the technology and the production capacity needed to meet growing global demand, said Matt Rijlaarsdam, CEO and co-founder of QuantWare. As part of its expansion, the company is building KiloFab, a dedicated quantum manufacturing facility in the Netherlands aimed at increasing production capacity and strengthening Europe’s role in the global quantum computing value chain. The newly raised capital will be used to scale both the development and industrial production of QuantWare’s processors. This includes advancing its VIO™ architecture and supporting the build-out of KiloFab, with the broader goal of accelerating the transition of quantum computing from research to large-scale commercial deployment.

One of the UK’s most hyped AI startups today said it has added Nvidia, BlackRock and film stars Jamie Foxx and Eva Longoria to its investment roster, as it also announced it has completed its second employee secondary share sale in less than a year. UK-headquartered ElevenLabs, founded by two Polish entrepreneurs, made a name for itself by leveraging AI to convert text into speech which sounds like it’s being read by human voices. The startup, which is backed by Sequoia and Andreessen Horowitz, said today it had completed the third close of its Series D funding round.  The startup announced its $500m Series D in February this year, valuing it at $11bn. It said it has now raised more than $550m in the round. New institutional investors include BlackRock, Wellington, D.E. Shaw and Schroders, along with enterprises like the VC arm of Nvidia, NVentures, which has previously been reported, and Santander, ElevenLabs said. Foxx, Longoria and Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk are among a group of more than 30 actors, musicians, athletes, and entertainment executives investing in ElevenLabs for the first time, joining existing investors like Matthew McConaughey, it said. ElevenLabs also said it had surpassed $500m in ARR (annual recurring revenue) in the first quarter of 2026, a big jump from its 2025 year-end ARR of $350m. It said: "This growth is driven by enterprises deploying voice agents across their businesses, from customer support and sales, to hiring and marketing operations.” It also announced that it completed a $100m employee share sale, its second in less than a year, following its $100m employee share sale in September last year. The startup has evolved its proposition to areas such as dubbing and sound effects. It sells products to help businesses deploy voice and chat agents, with its clients including Meta, Salesforce, and Revolut.

London-founded Corvera, an agentic supply chain management platform backed by Y Combinator, today announces it has raised $4.2 million (£3 million) in Seed funding to accelerate its expansion and automate end-to-end operational workflows for consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands. The round was led by 6 Degrees Capital, with participation from over 20 venture capital and angel investors, including 20VC, Rebel Fund, Duke Capital Partners, and Multimodal Ventures. The raise follows Corvera’s participation in Y Combinator’s Winter 2026 cohort, where it also received backing from alumni founders. After witnessing agentic developments across other industries, Corvera was founded to empower CPG brands whose workflows remain manual, fragmented, and inefficient. The platform solves these issues by sitting on top of existing solutions and ERP systems, giving AI agents the autonomy to execute tasks that would otherwise be performed by humans.  This means orders get recorded, sent to fulfilment, and invoiced, all automatically, from inbox to delivery confirmation. The result is faster decision-making, improved margins, and reduced operational overhead. By offloading responsibilities to agents, brands can spend more time building their business while retaining live visibility into their financial performance, cash flow, and logistics, and benefiting from it. The company is based in San Francisco and led by CEO Chris Kong, who previously built the tempeh brand Better Nature, scaling distribution to 5,000 stores before stepping back in 2025. He is joined by CTO Dirk Breeuwer, former head of data and AI at Google; CPO Matthew Collins, former Head of Product at Rosemark (successor to Rosetta, acquired by Publicis for $575 million); and Founding Engineer Berk Güngör, an AI and machine learning specialist. “Everyday CPG brands spend countless hours on back-office workflows that could otherwise be handled autonomously and flawlessly by AI agents. We’re here to make this a reality, enabling brands to invest more time into what truly makes them special and valuable,” said Chris Kong, CEO and co-founder of Corvera.  “Our objective isn't to replace existing tools or force our customers to 'lift-and-shift' systems. Instead, we act as the bridge between various systems and automate the manual work required to operate them. By reducing the reliance on human middleware, we enable more resilient, proactive supply chains with fewer errors and better service levels.” According to Christina Franzeskides, Principal at 6 Degrees Capital, the Corvera team brings rare firsthand experience building and scaling CPG brands. “From day one, their clarity of thought and bias toward execution stood out. In today’s fast-moving AI landscape, speed of execution is the ultimate differentiator — and we believe Corvera has the team and product to lead this category.”   "We're excited to back Corvera and truly believe they will change the game for CPG Brands, allowing them to unlock more profit and maximise ease of doing business, ” shared Jared Heyman, Managing Director, Rebel Fund. The funding will be used to scale the startup’s platform, hire additional staff, and build the customer base. 

Monzo, the UK digital bank, is to launch in Spain, ramping up its European expansion plans, following its exit from the US market. Monzo has set up offices in Barcelona and Madrid, with over 50 employees, and plans to grow the team over the next year, it said. It has also appointed Francisco Sierra, a former Western Union and N26 banking executive, as country manager for Spain, who will report to European boss Michael Carney.   The neobank was given the green light to expand across the EU after winning a European banking licence from the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI), in December last year. The move into Spain marks Monzo’s second EU market, following its launch in Ireland, which is Monzo’s EU headquarters, where it launched in April, with “thousands of customers on its waitlist”, it said. Monzo, which has over 15m customers, already has a UK banking licence. The challenger bank has been vocal about its EU expansion plans. On products it will offer in Spain, Monzo said it would “start by listening to customers to better understand how to solve their pain points and create a localised offering”. It said product launches would be subject to regulatory approval. Monzo’s European licence means it can hold customer deposits, opening the door to income streams such as loans and mortgages. In Spain, Monzo, which exited the US market earlier this year, will go up against Santander-owned Openbank, Revolut and N26 as digital bank rivals. Carney said: “At Monzo we are passionate about making money work for everyone and the next step for us is bringing that to the Spanish market. After a hugely successful launch in Ireland, Spain is the latest milestone in our European expansion. People tell us they genuinely love Monzo and we can’t wait for other markets across Europe to experience that." Sierra said: “I’m delighted to be joining Monzo at such an exciting time as we bring a new way of banking to Spain. I look forward to listening and working closely with future customers to really understand how we can best serve the Spanish market and solve their everyday banking pain points."

Getaround Europe and GoMore have merged their European operations, forming the largest peer-to-peer carsharing network at scale across Europe.  The transaction follows Getaround Inc.'s decision to sell its European operations, thereby consolidating European carsharing under a strong, locally governed group.  This merger brings together two highly complementary players. Getaround Europe, based in Paris, is the market leader in France and firmly established across Western Europe, including Germany, Belgium, Spain, Norway and Austria, building on the legacy of Drivy and Nabobil, both acquired in 2019.  GoMore, headquartered in Copenhagen, is the front-runner in the Nordics — Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Estonia, and operates in Spain (under the Amovens brand), as well as in Switzerland and Austria, including key Alpine markets.  Together, the combined entity now operates across 11 countries, forming a unique carsharing network. By combining their geographic strengths, technology platforms and operational expertise, the new group is uniquely positioned to scale across borders and enable drivers and car owners to share vehicles seamlessly across Europe. The combined entity will serve more than 5 million users across more than 11 European countries.  Both companies show strong profitability and have a history of parallel development, shared values, and a common belief that cars are meant to be shared.  Getaround brings deep experience in connected car technology and large-fleet and business solutions. GoMore brings strong capabilities in long-term rentals and leasing services. Together, the merged group can address the full spectrum of mobility use cases, from private individuals to businesses.  A shared vision for shared mobility  Beyond operational and geographic synergies, this partnership reflects a shared ambition to rethink the role of car ownership in Europe.  By promoting shared usage over private ownership, Getaround Europe and GoMore address structural challenges: the overproduction and underutilisation of vehicles and the rising cost of car ownership, while contributing to a more accessible and sustainable mobility ecosystem.  Dense cities, evolving mobility habits and supportive regulatory environments are strong foundations for carsharing to thrive. With this merger, the companies aim to accelerate the transition towards more sustainable car use and to demonstrate that Europe can lead the next chapter of shared mobility.  The combined entity will be led by a joint executive team drawn from both organisations:  Matias Møl Dalsgaard, Founder of GoMore, will serve as Group CEO. Marie Reboul will lead Getaround’s European markets as General Manager, including France, which represents close to half of the combined entity’s revenue.  Thomas Christensen will assume the role of Group COO, overseeing operational integration and performance across markets.  For users and partners, there will be no immediate changes to services or applications. The immediate focus will be on building a stronger, unified platform and delivering increased value across Europe.  According to Matias Møl Dalsgaard, Founder of GoMore, the two companies have worked towards the same vision for years, following and learning from each other.  “Now we are joining forces to build an undisputed European mobility champion to take car sharing to the next level across Europe.”  Marie Reboul, CEO of Getaround Europe, shared:   “Together, we are better positioned to drive carsharing adoption at scale, serve our users, and the long-term vision we have each been building for shared mobility.”

Warsaw-based startup Elastics has raised $2 million in an oversubscribed pre-seed funding round to develop its AI-powered infrastructure for quantitative trading. The round was led by Frst, with participation from angel investors across the AI and crypto sectors, including operators and founders from leading technology companies. Founded by Szymon Pawica, a former Goldman Sachs professional, and Mateusz Brodowicz, a mathematician with experience in quantitative modelling, Elastics aims to make advanced trading tools more accessible to individual investors. Its system automates research, execution, and portfolio management, bringing capabilities typically associated with institutional environments to a broader user base. The company is building what it describes as an AI-native operating system for prediction markets, a segment of finance that is gaining increasing attention. Its technology enables users to interact with markets through natural language, allowing strategies to be defined conversationally and executed automatically. The product is currently in private beta, with early access available to selected users. Elastics is built around the idea that the future of trading will be conversational, with large language models acting as the primary interface between users and markets. Its “Trade with Words” feature allows users to describe positions in plain language, removing the need for traditional order forms or manual inputs. Interest in prediction markets has grown alongside rising valuations of platforms such as Polymarket and Kalshi, reinforcing their emergence as a distinct asset class. However, tooling for individual traders remains limited, which Elastics aims to address. Pawica noted that as AI-driven automation becomes more widespread in financial markets, manual trading is becoming increasingly challenging. He added that the company’s goal is to ensure access to automation is widely available rather than a limiting factor. The newly raised capital will be used primarily to expand the team, with a focus on hiring AI and quantitative talent, and to further develop the product. Over time, Elastics plans to extend its offering beyond prediction markets and continue building infrastructure for automated, AI-driven trading.

Legal technology startup Moritz has raised $9 million in an oversubscribed funding round following participation in Y Combinator. The round was backed by investors including 20VC, Urban Innovation Fund, and Inception, alongside a group of 20 unicorn founders. Founded by Pamir Ehsas and Stefan Mandaric, the company aims to address inefficiencies in legal services. Moritz combines artificial intelligence with a network of experienced lawyers to deliver commercial legal services more efficiently. Its platform allows clients to submit legal requests, after which automated workflows handle a significant portion of the work, with qualified lawyers reviewing and finalising outputs. The model is designed to reduce turnaround times and offer predictable pricing compared to traditional hourly billing. Our AI handles the majority of the work, while lawyers review and finalise it. Customers receive full legal accountability, fast turnaround, and transparent pricing, said Ehsas. He added that the company’s long-term goal is to make high-quality legal services widely accessible within minutes, describing the current stage as only the beginning of a broader strategy. Since launch, Moritz reports that it has supported more than 100 companies in closing agreements representing over $2 billion in aggregate contract value across Europe, the United States, and Australia. The company plans to use the funding to further develop its platform, expand its network of legal professionals, and scale operations across key markets. Over time, it aims to extend its services beyond commercial law to cover a wider range of legal use cases.

Quantum Machines (QM), a provider of hybrid quantum-classical control solutions, today announced the acquisition of Dutch company QHarbor and the opening of a new office in Delft, the Netherlands.  The move establishes a local base in one of Europe’s leading quantum ecosystems and supports the continued expansion of QM’s software platform. Quantum Machines develops the hardware and software systems that power QM’s Orchestration Platform, a comprehensive solution for real-time control of quantum processors. The platform is designed to lead the industry’s shift toward hybrid quantum-classical computing across all major qubit modalities, including superconducting, neutral atom, trapped ion, and spin-based platforms. The addition of the QHarbor team reflects Quantum Machines’ focus on building a strong presence in Delft by attracting top local talent and by working closely with the broader quantum community.  “As an American company, this step reflects our deep investment in Europe’s quantum future and our commitment to being an integral part of this thriving ecosystem,” said Itamar Sivan, CEO and co-founder of QM. “By establishing a home in Delft, we are investing our resources and expertise in one of Europe’s most significant quantum hubs.”  The QHarbor team will form the foundation of QM’s Delft office, contributing to the company’s work on software-defined experimentation, data management, and system-level integration for quantum computing. Joining Quantum Machines allows us to take our work further and integrate it into a broader platform used across the quantum ecosystem,” said Alberto Tosato, one of QHarbor’s co-founders, now joining QM.  “We look forward to contributing to the development of technologies that support the scaling of quantum systems.” The Delft office, located in Hubbz Delft, will support research and development activities and serve as a base for collaboration with local partners, including institutions within the House of Quantum and the wider Dutch quantum ecosystem. This expansion builds on Quantum Machines’ growing presence in Europe, with existing operations in Denmark, Germany and France. Together with Delft, these locations place QM within several of Europe’s key quantum hubs and enable closer collaboration across the region. Lead image: Freepik.