Espoo-based deeptech startup Reduciner has raised €3.6 million in a funding round to commercialise its carbon conversion technology. The round includes equity investment from Voima Ventures, Lifeline Ventures, and the Mikko Kodisoja Foundation. In addition, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has contributed the underlying technology and intellectual property as an in-kind investment. Reduciner is commercialising a high-temperature thermochemical process that converts captured carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide using renewable electricity and biogenic carbon. The resulting carbon monoxide can be used directly in existing industrial systems, enabling companies to reduce emissions without requiring major infrastructure changes. Most technologies that seek to replace fossil fuels with more sustainable ones require rebuilding of infrastructure. Reduciner’s technology converts CO₂ into CO, which is compatible with existing machinery, allowing the solution to be deployed faster and more cost-efficiently, said Johanna Grönroos, co-founder and CEO of Reduciner. She added that the company differentiates itself from other deeptech firms developing sustainable fuel solutions by achieving environmental benefits while remaining economically viable from the outset. The company’s process also produces activated carbon as a co-product, contributing to overall economic viability. This material is widely used in water and gas purification and is expected to see increased demand due to tightening environmental regulations. The technology is particularly suited for emissions-intensive sectors such as lime, cement, steel, and pulp, where it can enable circular use of carbon by converting captured emissions into fuel for reuse within the same process. Eemeli Tsupari, co-founder and CTO of Reduciner, noted that global emissions from the lime and cement industries exceed those from the aviation and maritime sectors combined. With this technology, it is possible to replace fossil fuels site by site, depending on the availability of green electricity, while also improving cost competitiveness. The funding will support further development and commercialisation of the technology, including pilot and demonstration projects. Initial industrial deployments are planned in Finland, with broader international expansion targeted in the coming years.

German deeptech company eleQtron has raised €57 million in a Series A funding round to accelerate the industrial scaling of its trapped-ion quantum computing technology. The investment was led by Schwarz Digits, the digital and IT arm of the Schwarz Group, with participation from the European Innovation Council Fund. Additional investors include existing backer Earlybird, alongside new participants such as Ankaa Ventures, Precitec, NRW.BANK, and IFB Hamburg. The funding package also includes grants from the European Union and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Founded in 2020 as a spin-off from the University of Siegen, eleQtron develops trapped-ion quantum processors based on its proprietary MAGIC (Magnetic Gradient Induced Coupling) technology, enabling precise and scalable control of qubits using microwave methods. The company combines research-driven innovation with a focus on industrial scaling and commercialisation. As quantum computing becomes an increasingly important component of digital infrastructure, this investment is expected to support eleQtron’s transition from laboratory development to industrial deployment and strengthen its market position. Quantum computing is transitioning from a research-driven technology to an industrially usable infrastructure. With this funding, we are accelerating that shift and developing systems designed to address real-world industrial challenges, said Jan HenrikLeisse, CEO and co-founder of eleQtron. With more than 100 employees and partnerships with leading European research and computing centres, the company is positioning itself as a provider of scalable quantum computing systems for industrial use. The newly raised capital will be used to build scalable production capacity, expand cloud-based access to its systems, and further advance its hardware platform.

Sweden-based mobility app Detecht has secured €395,000 (SEK 4.5 million) in funding to support its international expansion and further development of its technology. The investment includes backing from Chalmers Ventures, alongside existing shareholders. Detecht has developed a solution that combines crash detection, navigation, and social features for motorcycle riders. Using a smartphone’s built-in sensors, the app can detect accidents such as falls or collisions, while also offering GPS-based route planning. Unlike traditional navigation tools, it allows users to prioritise scenic and curvy routes, enhancing the riding experience. It also functions as a social network where riders can share routes, statistics, and experiences. The company’s core crash detection technology is based on research from Chalmers University of Technology, and the founding team emerged from the Chalmers School of Entrepreneurship. This combination of academic research and entrepreneurship has contributed to the product’s technical maturity and scalability. Niklas Ohlsson, CEO and co-founder of Detecht, said that continued support from existing investors and Chalmers Ventures reflects confidence in the company’s growth trajectory. Today, we are one of the world's largest motorcycle apps where safety, navigation, and community are integrated into a single platform. Now we are focusing on honoring that trust and scaling operations further." With more than 25,000 subscribers globally and an established presence in the United States, the company has demonstrated growing demand for digital services focused on road safety. The funding will be used to accelerate expansion across North America and Europe, while continuing to invest in product development.

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.

Glasgow-based life sciences company EnteroBiotix has secured £19 million in funding to support the advancement of its microbiome-based therapies, including a large-scale clinical trial targeting irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The round was led by Thairm Bio and the Scottish National Investment Bank, with participation from existing investors. The company has raised more than £65 million to date. Founded in 2017 by Dr James McIlroy, EnteroBiotix develops microbiome-based therapeutics designed to address underlying disease biology. The newly raised capital will primarily support a Phase 2b clinical trial of EBX-102-02, the company’s lead candidate for IBS. The study, involving approximately 300 patients, is already underway, with topline efficacy data expected in the second half of 2027. IBS affects a significant proportion of the global population and represents a substantial unmet medical need. EnteroBiotix’s approach differs from conventional probiotics by aiming to restore the microbiome more comprehensively, with the goal of improving patient outcomes at scale. Our clinical data indicates that EBX-102-02 has the potential to deliver meaningful outcomes for patients with IBS. Our goal is to address the underlying causes of disease and improve standards of care in gastrointestinal health, said Dr James McIlroy, founder of EnteroBiotix. The company has established a number of strategic partnerships and research collaborations, including with Imperial College London, as it continues to advance its development programmes and expand its presence in the global biopharmaceutical sector. The funding will also be used to advance EnteroBiotix’s broader clinical pipeline, scale manufacturing capabilities, and support ongoing research and development efforts.

France-based Nabu has raised €3 million in funding to accelerate its expansion across Europe and strengthen its position in digital customs clearance. The round includes participation from Getlink, alongside existing investors such as Maersk Growth, which continues to support the company following its initial pre-seed round in 2022. Founded in 2022 and operating between Paris and Strasbourg, Nabu provides a platform that automates customs formalities for freight forwarders, customs brokers, and international trade companies. Its technology converts client documents and instructions into compliant declarations and automated workflows, helping streamline cross-border operations. As international trade becomes increasingly complex, driven by shifting geopolitical dynamics and evolving regulations, the need for efficient customs processes is growing. Nabu addresses this challenge with an AI-based system that reduces manual workload while improving speed and accuracy. According to the company, declarations can be handled significantly faster and with fewer errors, allowing teams to focus on higher-value tasks. The platform is used by a wide range of organisations, from independent customs brokers to large international transport groups, reflecting its ability to support diverse operational needs. A growing share of activity already takes place outside France, underlining early traction in international markets. Every shipment that crosses a border generates considerable administrative complexity. Our ambition is to absorb it and make it manageable, anywhere in the world, in a harmonised, reliable, and transparent way, said Arnaud Doly, CEO and founder of Nabu. The newly raised capital will be used to expand Nabu’s presence in existing European markets and support entry into new ones. The company also plans to further develop its product, enhancing automation, performance, and user experience, while gradually extending the platform beyond customs declarations to cover additional cross-border formalities.

Italian regtech company A-Cube has secured €4 million in funding to expand its platform for automated digital tax compliance across international markets. The round was led by P101 SGR, with participation from Sella DirectVentures. Founded in 2018, A-Cube develops an API-first platform that enables end-to-end management of tax and document flows, connecting business systems, financial institutions, and public administrations within a single interoperable architecture. Its technology supports real-time electronic invoicing, e-reporting, and compliance processes across multiple regulatory environments, helping organisations manage increasingly complex international requirements. The broader European regulatory landscape is increasingly shaped by harmonisation efforts and the rollout of continuous transaction control models, driving demand for digital tax infrastructure. Within this context, A-Cube aims to evolve from a compliance solution into a broader technology layer for integrated digital trade, enabling closer alignment of tax, financial, and operational data. Antonino Caccamo, co-founder and CTO of A-Cube, said that global taxation is undergoing a significant transformation, driven by the convergence of regulatory changes and technological innovation toward more digital and integrated reporting systems. He added that Italy has been at the forefront of this shift, particularly with recent electronic payment mandates that came into effect in April. This trend is now sweeping across Europe, with the VIDA (VAT in the Digital Age) directive set for 2028, real-time tax reporting will gradually become the standard. In this scenario, we want to provide the infrastructure capable of supporting companies through increasingly complex multi-country environments, turning compliance into an integrated and strategic process. The newly raised capital will be used to strengthen A-Cube’s presence in key European markets and accelerate the development of its platform, including the integration of artificial intelligence capabilities. The company also plans to expand its product offering into adjacent areas of digital tax reporting, addressing evolving regulatory frameworks and the needs of multinational companies operating across jurisdictions.

Munich-based startup Mobility Signage has raised €1.8 million in a pre-seed funding round to advance its digital infrastructure platform for public transport. The round was led by High-Tech Gründerfonds, with participation from 2bX. Founded in 2023, Mobility Signage addresses a growing challenge faced by transport operators: legacy, fragmented IT systems that struggle to meet rising demand for real-time, reliable passenger information. Rather than replacing existing infrastructure, the company provides a central data architecture that integrates with current systems. Its platform acts as a unified data and integration layer, structuring data flows, standardising interfaces, and enabling consistent information delivery across multiple channels, including departure boards, mobile applications, and public address systems. The system is modular, scalable, and hardware-independent, allowing operators to modernise incrementally without overhauling their IT landscape. Transport operators don’t need additional standalone tools - they need a unifying system. Our approach replaces fragmented solutions with an integrated and scalable platform, said co-founder Stefan Rademacher.  Co-founder Dominik Nouri added that the goal is to create a reliable foundation for real-time information while enabling operators to continue using their existing systems. Mobility Signage’s platform is already deployed across a range of operators, from regional networks to large transit authorities, and the company has established partnerships with hardware manufacturers, reflecting broader industry adoption of its open and integrable architecture. The platform’s initial modules automate key operational processes such as construction site notifications and real-time disruption management, contributing to reduced complexity and improved passenger communication. The company plans to use the capital to expand its team and accelerate development of its Data Hub and application layer.

Frankfurt-based smart city startup ENVIOTECH has secured €1 million in pre-seed funding to advance its intelligent retrofit solutions for public street lighting. The round was led by Jürgen Fitschen, with participation from Joachim Drees. The company was founded by Adrian Rhaese alongside Linh Pham following a personal experience that highlighted the risks associated with outdated public infrastructure. After a close friend was injured in a cycling accident linked to streetlights being switched off due to rising electricity costs, Rhaese began questioning why critical systems such as public lighting are often among the first to be compromised under financial pressure. What began as a personal concern evolved into ENVIOTECH, which develops retrofit kits that enable municipalities to upgrade existing street lighting without requiring full replacement. We started ENVIOTECH after seeing firsthand the consequences of insufficiently managed infrastructure. Street lighting is fundamental to safety, quality of life, and public trust, and we believe it can be managed more intelligently, said Rhaese. The company’s technology can be installed in under 15 minutes and allows cities to monitor, dim, and manage lighting more efficiently. According to the company, this approach can reduce energy consumption by up to 80 per cent while improving safety and lowering operational costs. ENVIOTECH has also received early recognition through its acceptance into the EWOR Fellowship, a competitive program supporting early-stage founders. With the newly raised capital, ENVIOTECH plans to expand pilot projects with municipalities and infrastructure partners, further develop its technology, and prepare for its next phase of growth. Its broader objective is to improve the efficiency and manageability of urban infrastructure, beginning with street lighting.

Last week, we tracked more than 65 tech funding deals worth over €2.2 billion, and over 5 exits, M&A transactions, rumours, and related news stories across Europe.Click to read the rest of the news.

European defence technology company Intelic today announced the launch of Intelic BASE, a new procurement hub designed to strengthen European defence sovereignty by helping Ministries of Defence across Europe identify and deploy European unmanned systems faster, significantly shortening procurement timelines for mission-ready drones. At launch, the platform already connects drone and unmanned systems manufacturers from ten European countries - France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, the Netherlands, Portugal, Latvia, Luxembourg, Lithuania and Czechia - providing governments with direct visibility into interoperable capabilities available across the European defence industrial base.  The initiative is already being developed with input from several European Ministries of Defence.​ ​ The platform brings together a strong group of named European partners, including Acecore Technologies (Netherlands), Airvolute (Slovakia), Avy (Netherlands), Beyond Vision (Portugal), DeltaQuad (Netherlands), Height Technologies (Netherlands), Highcat (Germany) and TAF Industries (Ukraine). Together, these partners represent a broad geographic spread across Europe and Ukraine, combining expertise across ISR, strike, and counter-UAV systems. In addition to these named partners, the consortium includes several Ukrainian partners who cannot be identified by name. These partners collectively produce more than 100,000 UAVs per month, spanning ISR, strike, and counter-UAV systems, and generate over $1.5 billion in sales. Their inclusion underscores the depth of operational experience and industrial capacity that the Ukrainian defence ecosystem brings to the consortium. Europe’s first defence procurement platform aims to fast-track drone deployment The platform is the first of its kind in Europe, inspired by procurement models emerging in Ukraine that allow defence ministries to identify and compare drone systems in one place, significantly shortening the time between operational need and deployment. As European governments increase defence spending in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ability to rapidly identify interoperable capabilities from within Europe’s own industrial base has become a strategic priority. Yet procurement across the continent remains fragmented, slowing deployment and limiting visibility into available systems. “Europe already has the industrial capacity and battlefield-proven drone technologies it needs,” said Maurits Korthals Altes, CEO of Intelic. “What has been missing is a shared operational layer that makes those capabilities visible, interoperable and deployable across borders. Strengthening that connection is essential for a stronger Europe.” Interoperability as a foundation for European capability readiness Intelic’s flagship C2 software, Nexus, is a platform-agnostic layer for unmanned systems control and has been deployed in Ukraine since 2025.  A central feature of the procurement hub is integration with Nexus, which has been deployed in operational conditions in Ukraine since 2025, allowing coalition drone systems to function cohesively across manufacturers and mission types. By ensuring interoperability before procurement decisions are made, the platform reduces integration risk and shortens deployment timelines for Ministries of Defence. This approach supports a broader shift across Europe toward coalition deployment and stronger coordination within the European defence industrial base. Unlike traditional procurement channels, which often require governments to evaluate vendors individually and resolve interoperability challenges afterwards, the platform enables Ministries of Defence to explore systems that are already prepared for coalition deployment. By improving direct connections between governments and European manufacturers - without intermediaries or reseller structures - the platform supports faster capability discovery and contributes to a more responsive European security architecture. Lead image: Maurits Korthals Altes, Jeroen Lappenschaar, and Marc Derksen.

This week, we tracked more than 65 tech funding deals worth over €2.2 billion and over 5 exits, M&A transactions, rumours, and related news stories across Europe. If email is more your thing, you can always subscribe to our newsletter and receive a more robust version of this round-up delivered to your inbox. Either way, let's get you up to speed. ? Notable and big funding rounds ??  Ineffable Intelligence launches with record-breaking $1.1B seed round ?? Ebury financing of over £550M ?? Robotics startup Sereact raises $110M ??‍?? Noteworthy acquisitions and mergers ? Nebius buys US AI inference startup Eigen AI in $643M deal ??  Rivage raises €50M and acquires Infoclip to build a major managed services and cybersecurity group ?? ECD International is acquiring a majority stake in Munich-based influencer marketing agency SC Media House ? Interesting moves from investors ? KOMPAS VC closes €160M Fund II for industrial tech startups ? EQT secures €3.1bn for European logistics fund ?  Earlybird closes €360M Fund VIII, doubling down on deeptech and long-term ownership ?️ In other (important) news ??  SPRIND launches €125M Next Frontier AI challenge to back new AI paradigms in Europe ?  UK to develop AI hardware plan ? Europe’s AI-native founders are building faster — and younger — than ever ??  Europe urged to become first “electro-continent” with 50% electrification target by 2040 ? Freepik rebrands as Magnific, unifying its AI creative stack as enterprise and “no-collar” growth accelerates ?? ManaMind secures $1.5M to develop autonomous testing for gaming ??  Always Friday raises €1.05M to automate corporate event planning with AI agents ?? Tapaya raises €1M pre-seed to power payments on any device ?? Qendra gets €162,000 to scale quantum computing systems ?? Atech raises pre-seed to unlock a new era of Physical AI builders with the "Lovable for hardware"

European AI infrastructure company Nebius has acquired a US startup which specialises in improving the performance of leading open-source AI models, it said today.   Amsterdam-headquartered Nebius has acquired San Francisco-based Eigen AI for approximately $643m in cash and stock.   Nebius, which is sometimes referred to as a neocloud, builds and operates data centres, packing them with GPUs, then offers access to these data centres to AI and enterprise companies needing compute power, as well as offering them specialised software to run AI applications.   Eigen AI’s tech helps improve the performance of leading open source AI models from the likes of Meta, OpenAI and Alibaba in inference, the process whereby a trained model is applied to real-world data to generate answers through reasoning.   Inference is the fastest growing part of AI and is forecast to account for around two-thirds of compute demands this year. Eigen AI's tech helps AI model performance by improving the yields from the data, also known as tokens, that AI models process, meaning the overall cost for enterprise customers will come down, Nebius said   Nebius also highlighted that by acquiring the 20-strong Eigen AI team, it was acquiring “elite inference research talent”, saying that Eigen AI’s founding team would set up an engineering and research presence in the San Francisco Bay Area.   Eigen AI’s co-founders Ryan Hanrui Wang and Wei-Chen Wang are alumni of MIT’s HAN Lab, led by Professor Song Han, a leading researcher in AI computing and model efficiency.   Nebius said Eigen AI tech will help alleviate bottlenecks in running AI inference, due to issues in memory, routing and compute.   Nebius said: “By integrating Eigen AI’s optimisation layer directly into Nebius Token Factory, Nebius removes this bottleneck across the lifecycle.”   It said its tech is designed to deliver “higher throughput and lower cost per inference without additional engineering overheads". It added: "As a result, Nebius Token Factory customers will benefit from faster time to production, significantly better unit economics, and the ability to adopt new models more quickly.”

This week sees the publication of the 4th annual Berlin Salary Trends report, published by Handpicked Berlin in partnership with Ravio and Factofly.   The 2026 edition is based on 4,627 cleaned responses from Berlin tech professionals (a 2.5× increase on last year's sample) of whom 4,138 are full-time employees.  Some of the key findings: AI roles surge into Berlin’s top pay tier as salaries rise The compensation data underlines the AI story. AI & Machine Learning Engineering debuts in the top 3 paid roles at a median of €95,000 (n=43), behind only Engineering Leadership (€115,000) and Legal & Compliance (€99,000). General Software Engineering sits at €88,000.  The median full-time salary across the dataset climbed to €80,000, up 4.6 per cent from €76,500 in 2025, recomputed on the full-time subset for a like-for-like comparison.  The average rose to €83,949 (+3.5 per cent).   For the first time, the report includes comparative benchmark data from Ravio, placing Berlin's self-reported numbers alongside live European market benchmarks.  The picture is "comparable, not premium": at the median, Berlin essentially matches Europe across executives (€179,515 vs €182,160) and managers (€115,345 vs €114,195), while Berlin Professionals earn slightly less than the European median (€83,950 vs €86,595).  That said, the self-reported data does not reflect the reality for most Berliners. The average gross salary is around €4,000 per month, significantly lower than tech benchmarks, reinforcing concerns about affordability and ongoing gentrification. AI is boosting productivity in Berlin — and amplifying job security fears However, one of the surprising findings is that Berlin tech workers are using AI more than their employers ask them to, and they're nervous about what that productivity means for their jobs.  87.5 per cent report using AI tools personally, 84.7 per cent say it has made them more productive, and only 7.6 per cent of their employers have no clear AI policy.  Yet 61.2 per cent are worried AI will affect their job security; only 22 per cent are unconcerned.  Berlin’s gender pay gap narrows on paper — but structural disparities persist Further, the gender pay gap narrowed but did not close. Women earn €70,000 at the median vs €85,000 for men — a raw gap of 17.6 per cent, down from 20 per cent+ last year.  After controlling for experience, role family, seniority and company size in an OLS regression, the gap shrinks to 6.6 per cent (n=3,955, p

Google DeepMind alumni have founded dozens of European startups or plan to launch startups in the past 18 months, new data shows. Ex-DeepMind luminary David Silver captured headlines last month when his new UK AI lab Ineffable Intelligence landed a massive $1.1bn seed funding round. But data shows that Silver is one of 112 alumni of DeepMind, which was founded in the UK, who in the past 18 months have launched a startup or are believed to be launching one. Many of the startups are focused on AI. The data has been sourced from Evertrace, a data firm which helps VCs and investors with investment decisions. Evertrace gathered the data from a range of public sources, including Companies House, patents and research grants. DeepMind doing for AI what Klarna and Spotify did for European tech Jacob Houlberg, Evertrace co-founder, said: “We are seeing that DeepMind is doing for AI what Klarna and Spotify did for European tech. “It's compounding into a founder factory. David Silver is the headline, but the pipeline behind him is the real story."   Of the 112 new startups identified, 70 have been identified as being in the US, 28 in the UK, three in Spain, two in Switzerland, Germany and Canada and one in Austria, Poland, Hong Kong, India and South Korea. Thirty-eight have started a new company, while 74 have moved into a "stealth" role. The startups identified each have a LinkedIn company page and an active website. A “stealth” role is a term typically used when an individual is launching a new startup, although Tech.eu has not ascertained fully whether each "stealth” role equates to a new startup.   One of the most prominent names identified is Saining Xie, an ex-DeepMind scientist and computer science professor at NYU, who began the research project that spawned the diffusion transformer in 2022.  Xie is now the chief science officer and co-founder at Advanced Machine Intelligence, the high-profile AI world model startup founded by former Meta chief scientist Yann LeCun.   Another DeepMind heavy-hitter is senior researcher Wojciech Marian Czarnecki who has joined Ineffable Intelligence as chief scientific officer, though he did not make the list as he is not a founder.   Meanwhile, ex-DeepMind scientist and Stanford professor of psychology and computer science Noah Goodman is the co-founder of US AI startup Humans&, which wants to empower people rather than replace them and which raised $480m in a seed funding round earlier this year.    UK startups   In the UK, examples include former DeepMind scientist Olivier Henaff, who is now the co-founder of Cursive, an AI foundation model startup. Cursive recently received backing from the government-backed VC fund Sovereign AI. Meanwhile, a trio of former DeepMind interns have set up tech companies.    Guanming Wang has set up vision-language-model AI startup General Instinct; Arhaan Shaikh has co-founded healthcare data infrastructure startup Wizzaid; and Abdul Raheem Nazir has co-founded tech research startup Experiqlabs.   Another notable DeepMind reinforcement learning researcher, Edward Hughes, is in a stealth role.   Across Europe   Across Europe, Alexander Taboriskiy, a former software engineering lead on Gemini at DeepMind, is the CEO and co-founder of Zurich-based Mentiora, which is building a “next-gen” AI platform.   Former DeepMind consultant Angelos Chionis has founded Paris-based FormalistAI, an AI legal outfit, and Ann-Kristin Balve, who received a scholarship from DeepMind, co-founded Munich-based defence tech startup Omnisent.   In the US   In the US, examples include former DeepMind Gemini scientist Pierre-Alexandre Kamienny, who is the co-founder of Kinro, which is building AI sales agents and Pouya Samangouei, former DeepMind search engineer, who has founded AI agent platform ROI-AI.

Featherless.ai, a platform for running open-source AI, has secured $20 million in Series A funding to give enterprises a new path to AI independence. The round was co-led by AMD Ventures and Airbus Ventures, with participation from BMW i Ventures, Kickstart Ventures, Panache Ventures, and Wavemaker Ventures. Featherless.ai is a serverless inference platform. Its goal is to make all AI models available for serverless inference. It offers a production-ready alternative to proprietary compute environments. The platform is built on deep research. The founding team created RWKV, a breakthrough open-source architecture designed to challenge the traditional dominance of transformers. Currently cited as the fastest-growing Hugging Face inference partner, Featherless.ai supports over 30,000 open models across language, vision, and audio, enabling developers to deploy production-grade AI instantly. It is a neutral layer for AI, unaligned with any hyperscaler, chipmaker, or proprietary ecosystem. By hosting its core infrastructure in the US and EU and maintaining a global team across Canada, Europe, the US, Singapore, and Australia, Featherless.ai is meeting a critical demand for sovereign AI that respects jurisdictional boundaries and data privacy. A core part of the Featherless.ai mission is hardware diversity. Through a strategic collaboration with AMD, Featherless.ai ensures that the world’s most popular open-source models run natively on AMD ROCm. This provides a competitive, auditable alternative to proprietary hardware systems, giving businesses a structural cost advantage. Featherless.ai also aims to protect the industry from the dangers of AI monopolies. By ensuring that state-of-the-art models remain accessible beyond proprietary ‘walled gardens’, Featherless.ai enables developers to build the next generation of applications with greater creative flexibility. According to Eugene Cheah, CEO and co-founder of Featherless.ai, when a few dominant players control the entire stack, it stifles competition and limits what developers can imagine. “We’re building the infrastructure that makes open-source AI practical and reliable at scale, ensuring that enterprises can build on a foundation they actually own rather than one they merely rent. This investment signals a turning point in the AI market. While the first wave of adoption was defined by proprietary, closed-door ecosystems, we provide a neutral ground for a second phase where companies can own and run their own models without being tethered to a single cloud provider or a restricted tech stack.” Sagi Paz, Head of AMD Ventures, said: “Featherless.ai is at the forefront of a critical new phase in the development of the AI industry. By providing a strong foundation for open-source AI, it helps expand access and supports a more competitive and diverse ecosystem. We are delighted to support Featherless.ai on their journey.” Kasper Sage, Managing Partner at BMW i Ventures, said: “As AI adoption accelerates, enterprises want more control over performance, cost, and where their data lives. Featherless.ai is making leading open models production-ready at scale. Being able to use a variety of different models is key for future enterprise AI use cases." Featherless.ai will use the capital to scale its global infrastructure, launch a dedicated marketplace for specialised open models and deepen its technical integration with diverse hardware architectures to continue driving down the cost of AI inference. Lead image: Eugene Cheah, CEO and co-founder of Featherless.ai.

There is something faintly gladiatorial about startups being ushered into Westminster, whether the House of Commons or the House of Lords. Not literally, of course, there are no lions behind Select Committee doors, but the dynamic is unmistakable… there’s going to be a fight of some kind. These founders, often operating at pace and under pressure, exchange their pitch decks for policy briefings (and excellent canapes) as they step into a political arena to explain how regulation shapes their ability to build and scale. All the while being watched over some of the most ancient symbols of democracy and status. Global App Economy Conference Earlier this month in London, that dynamic was on full display. As part of ACT's Global App Economy Conference (GAEC), 36 founders and startup leaders representing 30 UK companies gathered to engage directly with MPs, Peers, government officials… and this writer. For nearly two decades, (GAEC) has brought its startup and small tech members together for three days of founder-to-founder networking and direct engagement with policymakers on the rules shaping the digital economy. By giving startups, scaleups, and tech-driven small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) access and resources to share their stories directly with policymakers, its members can advocate for clear, streamlined rules that allow innovative companies to build and scale across borders as can be read in this 2026 UK policy document. Policy is critical Their objective is straightforward, if not simple: to ensure that the policy environment evolves in a way that supports, rather than constrains, innovation. This is where policy becomes critical. The UK is rightly regarded as a vibrant and diverse startup ecosystem. It generates substantial economic output and supports more than 400,000 jobs. Yet while the country has proven highly effective at fostering early-stage innovation, the transition from startup to scaleup remains a persistent challenge. The founders participating in this month’s discussions were not advancing abstract concerns. Their priorities are concrete and pragmatic: improving access to finance, clarifying regulatory frameworks, reducing legal uncertainty and preserving the competitive dynamics of digital markets.  These are not new requests, but they remain unresolved in ways that materially affect growth trajectories. Access to capital is a case in point. The UK benefits from deep pools of investment, yet founders frequently encounter difficulties securing the right type of funding at the right stage.  Capital is not evenly distributed Early-stage capital can be unevenly distributed, particularly outside London, while growth-stage financing often leads companies to seek investment abroad. This creates a structural challenge: a strong pipeline of startups that struggles to convert into globally competitive scaleups. Intellectual property frameworks present another layer of complexity. Standard-essential patents (SEPs), while technical in nature, are increasingly relevant for companies operating in fields such as artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things. For smaller companies such as SMEs, the current system can appear opaque and disproportionately litigious. Calls for greater transparency and reduced litigation costs are calls for a more accessible and predictable operating environment. Artificial intelligence regulation adds further nuance. The UK has signalled its intention to adopt a risk-based approach, seeking to balance innovation with appropriate oversight. In principle, this is a constructive direction.  Compliance needs to be unambiguous In practice, however, implementation will determine its effectiveness. Ambiguity around definitions of risk, compliance requirements, and enforcement mechanisms can introduce uncertainty, particularly for startups that lack the resources of larger organisations. Overly complex or burdensome frameworks risk consolidating innovation within a smaller number of well-capitalised firms. The structure of the digital marketplace is also under scrutiny. Policymakers are increasingly focused on addressing the dominance of large technology platforms, often through broad regulatory interventions.  While the intent is to promote fairness and competition, there is a risk that such measures may inadvertently impose disproportionate burdens on smaller companies. Startups operate with limited margins for error; regulatory shifts that lack precision can create additional friction at critical stages of growth. Strong encryption is essential Privacy and security considerations, particularly around end-to-end encryption, represent another area of tension. Governments continue to weigh public safety concerns against the need to protect user data. For startups, especially those operating in sectors such as health technology, financial services and communications, strong encryption is not merely a technical feature but a cornerstone of user trust. Weakening these protections could have far-reaching implications, both for individual businesses and for the broader digital economy. Taken together, these issues illustrate a broader point: the relationship between startups and policymakers is often shaped less by intent than by execution. Governments rarely set out to hinder innovation. However, complexity, ambiguity, and incremental policy decisions can collectively create an environment that is difficult for small companies to navigate. Against this backdrop, the importance of direct engagement becomes clear. Bringing founders into conversation with policymakers serves multiple purposes. It provides legislators with practical insights into how regulations operate in real-world contexts, moving beyond abstract conceptions of “the tech sector.”  Entrepreneurs need clear parameters At the same time, it offers entrepreneurs a clearer understanding of the constraints and trade-offs inherent in policymaking processes. While such dialogue does not eliminate disagreement, it can lead to more informed and balanced outcomes. There are indications that UK policymakers are increasingly receptive to this approach. The language of a 'collaborative, pro-growth regulatory framework is becoming more prominent, suggesting a recognition of the need to align policy with the realities of innovation-led growth. Whether this rhetoric translates into substantive change will depend on the consistency and clarity of future actions. For founders, this remains an open question. Nevertheless, the presence of startup leaders in Westminster this month reflects a broader shift. Rather than operating at a distance from policymaking, they are seeking to participate in shaping the environment in which they operate. This is not simply advocacy; it is a recognition that regulatory frameworks are integral to business outcomes. The UK does not lack entrepreneurial talent or ambition. Its challenge lies in ensuring that these strengths are matched by a policy environment that enables companies to scale effectively. Misalignment between intent and implementation can undermine even the most promising ecosystems. If last month's discussions in the UK parliament achieve progress, it is likely to be incremental rather than transformative. However, even modest improvements in clarity, access, and proportionality can have meaningful effects over time. For the startups involved, the objective is not preferential treatment or reduced scrutiny. It is the creation of conditions in which innovation can develop without unnecessary obstruction. They do not require government endorsement or even a gilded invitation to enter the Houses of Parliament; they require a framework that allows them to grow.

Invest Europe has published the seventh edition of its Private Equity at Work report, highlighting continued job creation by private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC)-backed companies across Europe. The report shows that PE- and VC-backed businesses increased employment by 4 per cent in 2024, marking the seventh consecutive year of net job growth and outperforming overall European employment trends. In total, these companies created 295,312 net new jobs during the year, roughly equivalent to the working population of Riga. Job creation was recorded across all regions, ranging from 2.3 per cent growth in the Nordics to 5.6 per cent in Central and Eastern Europe, with several countries reporting significantly higher increases, including Belgium (11.9 per cent), Bulgaria (11.6 per cent), Poland (11.1 per cent), Austria (10.7 per cent) and Greece (9.7 per cent). Source: Invest Europe, Private Equity at Work report By the end of 2024, PE- and VC-backed companies employed 11.4 million people across Europe, representing around 5 per cent of the continent’s total workforce of 244 million. Employment was concentrated in major markets, with more than 3 million workers in France, 2.38 million in the UK and 1.45 million in Germany, together approaching the combined working populations of Finland and the Netherlands. Source: Invest Europe, Private Equity at Work report The report also highlights sector and investment-stage dynamics. Key industries such as ICT, Energy & Environment, and Financial & Insurance Activities all recorded job growth above the 4 per cent industry average. Venture-stage companies led with an 8.7 per cent increase in employment, followed by growth-stage firms at 4 per cent and buyout-stage businesses at 3.8 per cent. Eric de Montgolfier, CEO of Invest Europe, said: When we first published Private Equity at Work, our aim was to show that private equity and venture capital-backed companies create jobs, rather than destroy them. We have unambiguously proved our point. Today, what also emerges is how our industry supports people and communities, while developing skills for a more innovative, competitive and sustainable Europe. The findings also challenge common assumptions about workforce reductions following investment. Companies backed by PE and VC firms recorded a 35 per cent job creation rate in their first year of ownership, reflecting the hiring needed to support expansion and strategic execution. While job growth moderates over time, it remains positive, with a 10 per cent increase still recorded in the fifth year of ownership.

Mosaic SoC, which builds dedicated perception chips that bring spatial intelligence to energy-constrained devices, has raised a $3.8 million Pre-Seed round led by Founderful with participation from Kick Foundation. The next wave of consumer devices won't capture the world; they'll understand it. Spatially aware AR glasses, always-on computer vision, and persistent AI features all depend on something most hardware still can't deliver: real-time perception within a tiny power budget. Today, those capabilities are largely confined to systems that can afford power-hungry application processors and often GPUs, putting truly wearable form factors out of reach.  Devices are gaining cameras and sensors faster than they're gaining the intelligence to use them. The compute needed to interpret those signals still sits behind heavy processing stacks that drain batteries and force compromises in size, heat, and industrial design.  For Original Design Manufacturers (ODMs) building next-generation AR and mobile hardware, adding more compute often means adding more complexity. Mosaic SoC takes a different approach: a dedicated perception chip that provides a baseline layer of spatial intelligence, with a full application layer that ODMs can integrate and build on.   The company was founded by duo Moritz Scherer and Alfio Di Mauro, both PhDs from ETH Zurich with deep expertise in system-on-chip architecture.   “Spatial intelligence shouldn’t require an application-class processor and a GPU,” said Alfio Di Mauro, CEO and co-founder of Mosaic SoC. “We built Mosaic SoC to deliver real-time perception at a fraction of the energy, so battery-powered devices can understand their environment without compromising form factor.”   Mosaic SoC builds integrated circuits that process visual and positional sensor data to give devices a real-time understanding of where they are and what's around them. The company describes it as turning space into signals. The Mosaic SoC chips are designed to be small enough and efficient enough to make smart glasses indistinguishable from regular glasses, while still delivering full spatial awareness. The goal is to unlock device form factors that until now simply weren't viable.  The chip lets a device build a local map of its surroundings and the objects within them, enabling features like recalling where an item was last seen or generating a floorplan on the fly. In smartphones, Mosaic SoC can act as a co-processor for the front camera, running always-on tracking and classification at a fraction of the power. That means a device can trigger recording only when a specific event occurs or a certain object appears, delivering continuous awareness without draining the battery.    Mosaic SoC’s core differentiation is architectural. Where competing approaches rely on single- or dual-core ARM-based designs, Mosaic SoC uses a proprietary multi-core architecture with eight or more cores, engineered to maximize performance per watt and make always-on perception viable in energy-constrained devices. But the company sees hardware as just the starting point.  In its first year, Mosaic SoC has already generated meaningful revenue through NRE contracts with ODM partners. As its chips reach the market, the company expects its revenue profile to shift from engineering engagements toward scalable product revenues tied to chip sales.     Antonia Albert, Investor at Founderful, added: “The next billion smart devices will see and understand the world around them. Mosaic SoC's product is the chip that makes that possible at scale. Moritz and Alfio have the architecture, the platform vision, and the team to make it happen. We are proud to back them with Founderful on their journey to define the spatial computing era.”   Mosaic SoC is building AI deployment toolchains and compilers that let firmware developers fully leverage the architecture, with plans to evolve from a chip provider into a platform supplier where applications are developed, deployed, and optimised around its silicon. Lead image: Mosaic SoC founders Alfio Di Mauro and Moritz Scherer, CREDIT Daniel Kunz.

SPRIND has launched the Next Frontier AI challenge, inviting up to ten teams from across Europe to develop new approaches that expand current paradigms in artificial intelligence. The selected teams will receive seed funding from SPRIND totalling €125 million. To date, the most capable AI models have come almost exclusively from the US and China. In Europe, there are hardly any companies that can compete at this level. This leaves Europe at risk of falling behind in one of the most important future technologies and of cementing technological dependencies. "Europe produces top AI talent, but has so far failed to translate technological expertise into world-leading AI companies. The 'Next Frontier AI' Challenge aims to create an environment in which technological expertise, entrepreneurial excellence and funding combine to ensure the next generation of leading AI companies comes from Europe," explains Jano Costard, Head of Challenges at SPRIND. SPRIND is looking for approaches that go beyond simply improving existing AI models or their practical application.  The new SPRIND Challenge aims to catalyse the development of significantly more efficient training methods, novel architectures, disruptive agent-based systems or new concepts of intelligence. The technologies developed should be broadly applicable and commercially viable. Teams will be supported with seed funding for up to 24 months and by integration into networks of stakeholders in areas such as compute infrastructure, industry and finance. The Challenge rolls out across three stages. In the first stage, beginning in July 2026, teams must provide technical proof of their concepts. After seven months, a jury selects the best six teams for the second stage. In the third and final stage, three teams remain. By the end of June 2028, they should be in a position to raise up to one billion euros in additional capital. Teams from across Europe can apply until 1 June 2026. The ten winning teams will be selected on 24 and 25 June.