Renasens, a Stockholm-based deeptech company developing textile recycling technology, has raised €10 million in a seed funding round led by Extantia, with participation from Course Corrected VC and continued backing from Norrsken Launcher. Renasens is addressing a structural challenge in the textile industry, where more than 12 million tonnes of waste are generated annually in Europe, yet less than 1 per cent is recycled into new fibres. Existing recycling methods struggle to process blended and treated fabrics, which makes up the majority of post-consumer waste. The company aims to close this gap by enabling fibre-to-fibre recycling at scale and reducing reliance on imported virgin materials. Its platform uses modified supercritical CO₂ to separate and decolour blended textiles, recovering intact fibres without the use of water or the use of toxic chemicals. The recovered materials can be reintroduced into existing manufacturing processes without requiring new equipment, and the system is designed to be modular, allowing deployment within existing facilities across fragmented supply chains. Post-consumer textile waste has long been considered both technically and structurally unsolvable. We have developed a process that makes fibre recycling viable at industrial scale, and are now building the infrastructure and partnerships to support its adoption across Europe, said Dr Jade Bouledjouidja, founder and CEO of Renasens. The company has already begun supplying recovered cotton and polyester fibres to manufacturers in Portugal and Italy. Its development comes as EU regulations tighten, with mandatory textile collection systems introduced in 2025 and extended producer responsibility schemes are expected by 2027, increasing demand for scalable recycling solutions. The funding will support the development of a pilot plant in Borås, Sweden, and enable the company to begin supplying recovered fibres directly into European manufacturing.

PAVE Space, a Swiss space infrastructure company, has raised $40 million in seed funding to develop a new generation of spacecraft designed to move satellites rapidly between orbits. The round was led by Visionaries Club and Creandum, with participation from Lombard Odier Investment Managers, Atlantic Labs, Sistafund, b2venture, ACE Investment Partners, Ilavaska Vuillermoz Capital, and Pareto & Motier Ventures. The company is building a family of orbital transfer vehicles (OTVs) capable of transporting satellites from low Earth orbit to higher-energy destinations such as geostationary and lunar orbits in under 24 hours, addressing a growing bottleneck in the space economy. Today, satellites typically rely on onboard propulsion systems that can take months to reach their final orbit, delaying operations and increasing costs. PAVE’s flagship kickstage vehicle is designed to shorten mission timelines and reduce costs using storable bipropellants, while a smaller mobile platform is being developed for rapid, flexible satellite repositioning. As the number of satellites in orbit continues to grow, demand for faster and more flexible orbital mobility is increasing across both commercial and institutional markets. PAVE aims to provide a launcher-agnostic logistics layer compatible with multiple launch systems, supporting satellite operators, telecom providers and defence organisations. Julie Böhning, CEO and co-founder of PAVE Space, said that the space economy is moving into an industrial phase where logistics in orbit will become as essential as they are on Earth: Our ambition is to build the infrastructure that enables industries to move, operate and scale beyond Earth, while supporting Europe’s strategic autonomy in space. The company is preparing its first in-space demonstration mission and has already secured early reservation agreements with satellite operators. The funding will be used to accelerate development of its orbital logistics platforms, conduct initial demonstration missions, expand its engineering team and prepare for its first commercial deployments.

A Nick Candy-backed fintech founded by a “millionaire” who grew up on a council estate has gone into liquidation, leading to job losses, after investors pulled the plug on the payment app.   Staff at VibePay, a UK peer-to-peer payment app, were made redundant after the investment arm of the billionaire Reform UK treasurer and property mogul, called Candy Ventures, and other investors, pulled future investment, following a strategic review.   Around 10 staff were made redundant in an online call weeks ago, following around 30 redundancies in 2025, sources say. One axed staff member said: "I am very upset, we believed we had built a really strong product." Liquidators have been appointed to VibePay, in which Candy Ventures was the largest shareholder.   VibePay was founded by Luke Massie, who grew up on a council estate in Lancashire with an alcoholic and depressed mum. Massie, who according to The Sun was a millionaire, launched VibePay in 2019. The fintech facilitates account-to-account payments for businesses, content creators, and individual consumers using open banking. VibePay grew out of Massie’s previous venture Vibe Tickets.  Sources said a deal to buy VibePay by Bank of America-backed fintech Banked did not go through, despite a press release announcing the deal last year.    Sources said the deal failed due to issues arising out of the due diligence process carried out by Banked.  Neither Banked nor VibePay confirmed this. After this, investors carried out a strategic review and decided to pull the plug on future investment.   Massie, who set up his first business when he was 17, left VibePay in December last year. According to Pitchbook, VibePay has raised over £12m.  Its other backers include YouTube star and DJ Vikkstar, UK entrepreneur Scott Fletcher and Vela Technologies.   A spokesperson for Candy Ventures, which had invested millions in VibePay, said: “Following the departure of founder and CEO Luke Massie in December, the board of Vibe conducted a strategic review of the business and its funding requirements.   “The findings were shared with key investors in January, who decided not to commit further capital. As a result, and after exploring all available options, the board concluded that placing the business into liquidation was the only viable course of action. The board thanks the Vibe team, partners and clients for their support and contribution, and is working with the appointed liquidators to ensure an orderly process.”   Banked did not respond to a request for a comment. IMAGE: PIXABAY

Origin, an AI-native platform focused on managing global employee benefits, has raised $30 million in a Series A+ funding round, bringing its total funding to over $50 million within the past year. The round was led by Notion Capital, with participation from Felix Capital, Acadian Ventures and existing investors, alongside additional growth financing from HSBC Innovation Banking UK. The company aims to address inefficiencies in one of the largest and least visible areas of workforce spending: global benefits. Traditionally fragmented across countries, vendors and systems, benefits data is often dispersed across documents, platforms and languages, making it difficult for organisations to gain a clear understanding of coverage, costs and performance. Origin’s platform introduces what it describes as an Enterprise Benefits Intelligence system, using AI to aggregate and structure complex, unstructured data into a unified, actionable view. Its proprietary AI engine, Cuido™, is designed specifically for global benefits, enabling organisations to analyse policies, identify inefficiencies, and streamline operations across multiple markets. Chris Bruce, co-founder and CEO of Origin, noted that the primary challenge in global benefits has long been the absence of a single, reliable source of truth. AI now makes it possible to bring together fragmented, complex data into a system that gives organisations full visibility into their global benefits spend, so they can operate more efficiently and deliver better outcomes for employees. The platform has been developed in collaboration with large multinational organisations managing benefits across multiple jurisdictions, reflecting the increasing complexity faced by employers as healthcare and risk-related costs rise globally. With the new funding, Origin plans to expand integrations with human capital management systems to improve employee access to benefits information and to further develop its partner ecosystem, supporting brokers, insurers and consultants with enhanced tools and data-driven insights.

Galtea, a provider of AI evaluation infrastructure, has raised $3.2 million in seed funding to further develop its platform for generating high-quality, use case-specific test scenarios for generative AI agents. The round was led by 42CAP, with participation from Mozilla Ventures and existing investors including JME Ventures, Masia and ABAC Nest Ventures, bringing total funding to $4.1 million. The company addresses a key bottleneck in AI deployment: access to reliable and affordable test data. As enterprises adopt generative AI, many face challenges moving from development to production due to the cost and complexity of testing. Galtea aims to streamline this process by providing structured, scalable testing scenarios that support evaluation of performance, accuracy and security before deployment. Galtea’s platform offers continuous, dynamic testing and tailored evaluation metrics, enabling enterprise teams to assess and improve their AI agents. The solution is already in use by customers across sectors, and the company has introduced a self-service offering, including a free trial, to broaden access for developers alongside its enterprise packages. Jorge Palomar, co-founder and CEO of Galtea, noted that limited access to sufficient and cost-effective testing data continues to slow AI deployment: Galtea provides the infrastructure developers need to test, validate and deploy AI systems reliably and efficiently in real-world conditions. The company reports that its platform can reduce the cost and time associated with AI validation through automated scenario generation, supporting more efficient development workflows. The funding will be used to expand Galtea’s engineering and commercial teams and to further develop its platform, with the aim of making rigorous AI testing more accessible to developers globally.

Epoch Biodesign, a London-based company developing enzymatic recycling technology, has closed a $12 million strategic funding round with participation from lululemon, KOMPAS VC, Happiness Capital, Extantia, Leitmotif and others. The new investment brings the company’s total funding to over $50 million. Epoch is focused on advancing circularity in materials by enabling the recycling of nylon 6,6 without the need for virgin feedstock. Its process breaks down waste garments and other nylon-based materials into their original chemical components, such as adipic acid and HMDA, which can then be used to produce new, virgin-quality polymers and yarn. The company’s technology is designed to process complex materials, including blended textiles, coated fibres and mixed plastics, helping to address waste streams that are typically difficult to recycle. By working with existing yarn producers, Epoch aims to provide a drop-in solution that allows brands and manufacturers to improve supply chain sustainability without changing suppliers. The funding will be used to expand Epoch’s global commercialisation efforts and deepen partnerships across industries, including apparel and automotive.

INCIRT, an Aachen-based deeptech company, has closed a €4.8 million funding round led by Lifeline Ventures, with participation from High-Tech Gründerfonds. INCIRT is developing a new generation of data converters capable of delivering up to 100 times faster data conversion than conventional approaches. Instead of relying on increasingly smaller and more costly manufacturing nodes, the company’s technology addresses key semiconductor limitations through a new system architecture based on intelligent parallelisation. Data converters are a critical component in modern communication and sensor systems, determining how efficiently data is transferred between digital systems and real-world applications. INCIRT’s approach rethinks this building block from the ground up, focusing on architectural innovation rather than incremental improvements. Our architecture enables performance gains that are difficult to achieve with conventional semiconductor approaches, while demonstrating that high-performance chips can be realised using European manufacturing, said Oner Hanay, co-founder and CEO of INCIRT. The technology has already been implemented as a working silicon chip produced using 22-nanometer technology in Europe, enabling high-performance semiconductor production without reliance on advanced non-European nodes and strengthening the regional value chain for critical infrastructure. The company targets data- and energy-intensive sectors such as satellite communications and telecoms. Its technology enables higher data throughput with lower energy use in satellites, while in telecommunications, it supports increased network capacity, reduced costs, and readiness for future network evolution beyond 5G. The funding will be used to advance product development, validate the technology, and prepare initial customer projects and market entry, while supporting the commercialisation of INCIRT’s chip architecture and contributing to Europe’s digital sovereignty.

Biotech startup NanoZymeX has obtained €160,000 (CHF 150,000) from Venture Kick to advance a new platform for enzyme replacement therapy using lipid nanoparticles.  Spun out of research at the University of Basel, the technology aims to improve therapies for rare genetic conditions such as Pompe disease (a rare genetic disorder that affects how the body breaks down glycogen, leading to progressive muscle damage) by increasing therapeutic activity in affected tissues. Enzyme replacement therapies are used to treat several rare genetic disorders, but their effectiveness is often limited by poor delivery into diseased tissues. Many therapeutic proteins struggle to enter cells efficiently, reducing their activity in critical organs such as skeletal muscle. In addition, immune responses to repeated treatments can further limit long-term effectiveness. NanoZymeX is developing a lipid nanoparticle-based platform designed to transport therapeutic enzymes directly into target cells and lysosomes. By improving intracellular delivery and reducing immune reactions, the approach increases functional activity where it is most needed. Early preclinical studies show strong delivery efficiency and improved enzyme activity in relevant tissues. NanoZymeX’s technology targets lysosomal storage disorders, a group of rare diseases representing a multibillion-dollar therapeutic market.  The platform is designed to improve the performance of existing enzyme therapies and can be adapted to multiple diseases beyond Pompe. The company plans to partner with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies developing rare disease treatments to bring next-generation enzyme therapies to patients. “The support from Venture Kick comes at a critical moment when scientific discoveries need to transition into real companies,” highlighted Boris Sevarika, co-founder of NanoZymeX. “This type of early funding provides the flexibility needed for company building, business development, and preparing the next stages of financing. It fills a crucial gap between academic research and venture-backed biotech development.” The funding will help NanoZymeX further develop its lipid nanoparticle technology, conduct additional preclinical studies, and prepare for scalable manufacturing. This will support future fundraising and the transition toward clinical trials. Lead image: Freepik.

Stateful Robotics, an embodied AI company spun out of the University of Oxford, has raised $4.8 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Amadeus Capital Partners and Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE), with additional participation from angel investor Stan Boland. While advances in large language and other foundation models have significantly improved robots’ perception and contextual understanding, real-world deployments still face limitations when conditions change. Robots often struggle with disruptions such as unexpected obstacles, shifting lighting conditions, or evolving operational requirements. These systems typically lack the ability to retain and utilise historical context, such as prior task outcomes, recurring issues, or environment-specific behaviours, which is essential for reliable long-term performance. Stateful Robotics addresses this gap by continuously integrating real-time data, task progress, and historical performance into a unified AI model. This enables robots to recall past events, adapt to changing conditions, and plan more effectively over extended time horizons, moving beyond rigid, pre-programmed workflows. The company was co-founded by Kirsty Lloyd-Jukes (CEO), alongside Professor Nick Hawes, Professor David Parker, and Dr Bruno Lacerda. Their work builds on over a decade of research at Oxford in areas including autonomy, probabilistic verification, and decision-making under uncertainty. Kirsty Lloyd-Jukes, CEO and co-founder, noted that while robots are typically effective at handling immediate tasks, they often face challenges when it comes to planning ahead, especially when decisions need to be made over longer periods, such as hours or days: By maintaining a continuously updated model of each deployment, our platform enables robots and human-robot teams to operate more reliably and consistently in complex environments. The technology is already being tested with pilot customers in sectors such as infrastructure and logistics. The newly raised capital will be used to expand the company’s engineering team, further develop its performance engine, and accelerate go-to-market efforts with industrial partners.

Belgian drone traffic management company Unifly today announced the acquisition of EuroUSC-Benelux, a Dutch consultancy specialising in drone regulation, safety, and operational compliance across Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and France. The Unifly platform connects authorities, drone operators and stakeholders to digitise and automate airspace management, supporting the safe integration of next-generation aircraft. Through Unifly Consulting, the company combines Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) solutions with regulatory and safety. According to Andres Van Swalm, CEO of Unifly: “Building strong local capability is essential to Unifly’s mission to enable autonomous aviation.  As drone operations scale, organisations need trusted partners wth deep regulatory expertise on the ground. This acquisition strengthens our presence in a key European region and supports the safe, scalable deployment of advanced drone operations.  According to Michael Maes, Director of EuroUSC-Benelux, “Becoming part of Unifly allows us to scale our impact while preserving the independence and technical rigour that defines EuroUSC-Benelux. We will be even better positioned to support authorities, operators and manufacturers as drone operations grow in scale and complexity."

Zevero, a carbon management platform, has secured $7 million in new funding, bringing its total capital raised to $14 million. The round includes participation from Spiral Capital, Gazelle Capital, and Deep 30, and follows a period of rapid growth. The company provides an AI-driven platform that helps businesses measure, manage, and derive value from emissions data. It automates data collection and calculation across Scope 1, 2, and 3, enabling organisations to build structured datasets for ESG reporting and operational decision-making. By combining technology with in-house sustainability expertise, Zevero supports companies in identifying emissions hotspots, setting targets, and implementing decarbonisation strategies. Shigeo Taniuchi, CEO of Zevero, said that although businesses are increasingly expected to manage sustainability with the same discipline as finance, many still treat it as a recurring annual exercise rather than an integrated system. He added that the company aims to address this by providing tools and expertise to make climate data continuous, reliable, and decision-oriented, with the new funding supporting broader adoption across markets. According to George Wade, CCO and co-founder of Zevero, carbon data is increasingly shifting from a reporting function to a key input for operational and investment decision-making: Organisations don’t just need the software to collect the data; they need the guidance to help turn it into something the business can act on. That’s what Zevero is built around. Founded in 2021, Zevero operates across more than 20 countries with a team of around 50 employees, serving customers including Asahi Group, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and waterdrop. The company recently acquired sustainability advisory firm Inhabit, expanding its capabilities to help organisations move from measuring emissions to implementing practical decarbonisation strategies. The funding comes as sustainability reporting becomes more regulated, with frameworks such as the UK Sustainability Reporting Standards and Japan’s SSBJ Standards increasing requirements for transparency and governance. The new investment will be used to accelerate product development and support international expansion across Asia-Pacific and continental Europe, where demand for emissions management solutions is increasing.

A startup looking to ease the manual workload of finance teams through deploying AI agents has raised $3.6m in a seed funding round. The funding round in the London and San Francisco-based Zalos was led by Swiss VC 14Peaks Capital. Other investors include Cohen Circle, Harry Stebbings' 20VC and several angels, including Ian Sutherland, the CTO of business bank Tide, and Mike Lenz, CFO, Fedex. The startup is tackling the challenge of modern finance teams being run on what it says are the fragmented stack of ERPs, CRMs, spreadsheets, email, and banking platforms that, it says, were never designed to talk to each other.     It says APIs between these systems are incomplete, which means finance teams become the human API themselves, manually stitching data across systems to complete billing cycles, close the books, and produce reporting their business depends on.   Zalos believes the next leap in productivity will not come from replacing that stack, but from agentic software that can operate it the same way humans do and understands the deep business context. Zalos claims its AI agents, built in-house, are pioneering a new era in finance that seamlessly integrate into existing systems, tackling the manual workload that has burdened finance teams for years without needing to replace the systems CFOs have built their operations around.   It says its agents can log into systems with a username & password, then automating workflows, while preserving existing setups.   Unlike other solutions, it says its agents are designed specifically for finance, ensuring accuracy and reliability in high-stakes operations, and have finance-specific skills like Excel.   The startup was founded by William Fairbairn, CEO. and Hung Hoang, CTO, who met at Y Combinator, where they focused on specialised agents. Fairbairn said: "Finance teams have the systems, but they are still doing the work manually because the stack is not connected. We built Zalos on the belief that CFOs should not need to rip out their existing stack to adopt the latest in AI, we want to start by sitting on top of what is already there. Computer Agents that can log in and run the workflow end to end are the fastest path to real transformation in finance operations." The startup says it will use the funding to  improve its tech and target new customers, moving beyond midmarket ERPs, into targeting enterprise ERPs.

The 2026 European Deeptech Report, published by Lakestar, Walden Catalyst, and Dealroom, highlights a record surge in Europe’s deeptech ecosystem. VC-backed deeptech companies are now valued at $690 billion, with investment in the sector continuing to outperform the broader technology market. Deeptech is playing an increasingly important role in addressing global challenges, including climate, energy, defence, and productivity. Europe is entering a pivotal phase, supported by strong research capabilities and rising demand for sovereign technologies. The region hosts 30 per cent of the world’s leading deeptech universities and produces twice as many science and engineering graduates as the US, creating a substantial technical talent base. At the same time, geopolitical developments are driving investment into strategic areas such as AI infrastructure, semiconductors, space, and defence, positioning deeptech as a key contributor to economic growth and technological independence. Yoram Wijngaarde, founder and CEO of Dealroom, noted that deeptech is increasingly important for Europe’s competitiveness, sovereignty, and long-term growth. European deeptech now captures nearly a third of all venture capital, which would have been hard to imagine a decade ago. And yet, even with meaningful growth, investment still lags other markets, and there is a clear shortage of domestic capital willing to back deep tech ventures to scale. Europe has the talent and the breakthroughs, but it cannot afford to lose momentum when it matters most. Deeptech is where the puck is heading. Europe needs the conviction of capital to make sure we are in the game. The report outlines several key trends shaping the ecosystem. Deeptech investment in Europe reached $20.3 billion in 2025, representing a record 32 per cent of total venture capital, more than double its share a decade ago. While overall tech investment remains below its 2021 peak, deeptech funding has seen only a modest decline, indicating sustained investor confidence. Source: The 2026 European Deeptech Report In terms of geography, the UK attracted the largest share of funding, followed by France and Germany, with Paris emerging as Europe’s leading deeptech hub. Several cities, including Paris, Cambridge, London, Munich, Stockholm, and Zurich, now rank among the world’s top ecosystems. At the sector level, the Future of Compute segment recorded the fastest growth, while defence-related investment also increased significantly. Defence, security, and resilience now account for a substantial share of total funding, reflecting growing demand for sovereign capabilities. Other expanding areas include AI, computational biology and chemistry, as well as space, robotics, and energy. Source: The 2026 European Deeptech Report Despite this momentum, structural challenges remain. A significant share of late-stage funding comes from non-European investors, and companies tend to raise smaller rounds and scale more slowly than their US counterparts, contributing to a persistent growth-stage funding gap. In parallel, many deeptech companies originate from research spinouts, particularly in photonics and quantum, while relatively few founders have prior startup experience. Source: The 2026 European Deeptech Report The exit environment also remains constrained, with more than 80 per cent of exits driven by M&A and much of the value captured by US acquirers, while European public markets showed limited activity in 2025. Addressing the growth-stage funding gap and strengthening local capital availability will be key to enabling Europe to scale its next generation of deeptech companies.

Today sees the launch of a new venture targeting Europe's scaleup gap. Europe is losing too many of its most promising companies in the critical growth phase after seed funding; only one in four ever graduates to a Series A round.  In response, Team Scaleup, a newly launched platform, is building a bespoke accelerator that tailors its programme to each company's specific gaps, stage, and potential. Behind the initiative are Stella Futura co-founders Jonas Jonsson and Ulrika Tornerefelt – together with CEO Siavash Habibi, whose background includes McKinsey and European scaleup TechBuddy. Dahlgren Capital joins as a strategic investor and co-owner, and Oskar Gillström, CEO of Epicenter, is also an investor in the company. Team Scaleup is now launching its first cohort in Sweden, where a select group of growth-stage companies will work closely with the platform to strengthen their structure, strategy and capital readiness ahead of their next funding round. According to Siavash Habibi, CEO and co-founder of Team Scaleup, Europe has become very good at supporting early-stage companies.  “But when it's time to raise larger rounds and scale internationally, the support drops off sharply – just as investor demands increase. That's where many companies lose momentum.” "Scaling a company requires a fundamentally different kind of support than starting one – the right legal framework, the right technology, and a deep understanding of what investors are actually looking for. Most founders don't have the time or experience to navigate everything that's required at this stage. We identify the gaps and bring in the right expertise at the right moment, so that more European companies can grow globally from home,"  says Siavash Habibi. Despite a strong startup ecosystem, many growth-stage companies lack the structures and processes required to attract institutional investment. The result is often prolonged, inefficient fundraising, or companies relocating abroad to find the right support. Team Scaleup focuses specifically on this transition, where companies need to become investment-ready quickly to take the next step. The platform combines a proprietary AI-driven analysis engine with a network of operational experts, entrepreneurs and investors. By assessing a company's structure, strategy, and capital readiness, it identifies gaps to address ahead of the next funding round or expansion phase. This enables tailored programmes for each company, with relevant experts brought in to work alongside the founders for a defined period. Lead image: Jonas Jonsson, Siavash Habibi, and Ulrika Tornerefelt. Photo: uncredited. 

Last year, European fintech venture builder and investor 0TO9 (Zero to Nine) launched out of stealth with an ambitious aim. It wants to build 1,000 profitable fintechs by 2045. And today, one of those fintech startups, Flow & Partners, a financial services company providing working capital solutions for fast-growing European businesses, emerged from stealth and announced Jessica Sparrfeldt as its CEO. Flow & Partners provides European growth companies with access to cash flow-based financing and factoring solutions, helping unlock capital tied up in receivables, inventory, and payables — deals that have been completed but are not yet liquid. Working closely with large and mid-sized B2B companies across Europe, the firm finances transactions of up to €50 million and currently operates in four markets, with ambitions to scale to 21. Roughly €1.4 trillion in working capital sits unused across Europe’s 1,000 largest companies. This locks in cash that could otherwise fund investment, expansion and acquisitions. Further, the problem is compounded by Europe’s late payments crisis, where average payment periods now exceed 60 days in B2B transactions across the EU. By ending late payments, European SMEs could unlock over €100 billion in additional cash flow each year. I spoke to Siduri Poli, Partner and CMO at 0TO9, and Jessica Sparrfeldt, CEO of Flow & Partners, about the pull of entrepreneurship — and how to convince seasoned corporate leaders to make the leap. From banking frustration to a different kind of capital Sparrfeldt didn’t set out to join a startup — at least, not consciously. She spent two decades in senior banking roles across Sweden’s largest financial institutions, serving as Nordic Head of Business Finance at Avida Finans AB and Head of Business Banking at Northmill. Most recently, she held a senior position at PayEx, part of Swedbank. The move came almost accidentally, shaped by years of frustration with the same recurring issue. She contends, “Everything really started with my experience in banking and financial institutions,” she explains. “I kept seeing the same problem: there’s so much capital locked inside companies.” Throughout her career, Sparrfeldt worked across a range of financing solutions — from loans and revolving credit facilities to factoring. But the structural limitations of traditional banking became increasingly clear. “In large banks, it’s hard to unlock liquidity because they rely heavily on historical data. What you actually need is to be more future-oriented.” That realisation would eventually underpin her move into the startup world — even if she didn’t fully recognise it at the time. A “third path” to growth Flow & Partners operates as a distinct business unit within 0TO9.  0TO9’s model involves identifying structural gaps in financial services, then recruiting and backing operators who can build companies to fill them. Poli saw the need for working capital solutions from years of working alongside founders: “I’ve worked with entrepreneurs my whole life — helping them grow and bring ideas to life,” she says. “Usually, lack of capital means fundraising: equity, investments.” But working capital financing offered something fundamentally different. “It’s like a third path: instead of just organic growth or external investment, you can finance your growth journey — even if you’re not ‘bankable’ yet.” Curious, Poli tapped into her network across Sweden and Europe to better understand the space. “I kept asking: who is the best person to explain this? And everyone kept saying the same thing: ‘You have to talk to Jessica Sparrfeldt.’ It became almost ridiculous — her name kept coming up.” ​ The meeting that almost didn’t happen Determined to connect, Poli eventually secured a lunch with Sparrfeldt — though it didn’t come easily, offering a great case study in the importance of persistence in entrepreneurship. She recalled: “I finally managed to reach her and booked a lunch. She cancelled. Then she cancelled again — She was about to get rid of me — but I didn’t give up. I insisted on that lunch.“I really wanted to understand who she was — not just her expertise, but whether she could be the founder we were looking for.” By the end of that long-awaited lunch, the decision was made. “At the end of it, I asked her to join us.” At the time, the vision was still abstract. 0TO9 hadn’t yet launched, and there was little more than an idea to present. “She had a top position — and we didn’t even have anything concrete to show.” Sparrfeldt recalled: "You didn't actually offer me a job. We just had a really good conversation. We didn't even need to define the problem — it was obvious to both of us. I'd cancelled those lunches because I was stuck in internal meetings. I hadn't spoken to a customer in months. Then at lunch, we started talking about solutions. The food went cold. We were that deep in it. "She challenged me: do you want to keep explaining the problem—or do you want to solve it?" "My first thought was: I have a real job." So, how do you decide to go from business to entrepreneurship? ​ For Sparrfeldt, the appeal of startup life was the intellectual challenge. “Do I want to keep explaining why things are broken—or actually build the solution? I realised I couldn’t just sit there and complain anymore. I wanted to build a sustainable business that helps companies—especially European companies- build the future. At first, I told Siduri I could help as an advisor. But going back to my “real job” didn’t feel as attractive anymore. That was the tipping point.” ​ 0TO9 stands out because it has already solved many foundational pain points for new startups. It operates under European financial services licences, allowing its portfolio companies to launch regulated financial products immediately. According to Sparrfeldt, this proved “extremely” compelling: “Building a regulated financial product from scratch takes years—compliance, licenses, tech stacks. You might not even reach your first customer for one to three years. 0TO9 removes that friction entirely. It allowed me to step out of a corporate role and start executing immediately.” Poli contends: “We always say we want to inspire people to quit their day jobs—not in a reckless way, but to actually pursue their dreams. The leap into entrepreneurship is often too big, especially for someone like Jessica with a strong career. So we create a platform that makes that leap safer.” How to get corporate leaders to make the jump Getting experienced executives to leave the security of a corporate career for a startup is no small ask. Poli says there are usually three main barriers: financial risk, because people cannot afford to walk away from a stable income; identity, because not everyone sees themselves as an entrepreneur; and practical life concerns, such as family, time, and lifestyle. The solution, she argues, is to understand what is holding people back and address it directly. "That might mean creating transition paths: part-time roles, reduced financial risk, structured onboarding." Sparrfeldt admits that it's initially scary to start from scratch and take on all the responsibility. But that fear also becomes a driver. “You face it, and you grow.” Further, she notes that when  you reduce that risk through initiatives like 0TO9,  "the decision becomes much easier, especially later in your career.” I was curious what was most surprising about startup life. For Sparrfeldt, it was “ How fun it is.” “In a large organisation, there’s distance. Now I sit next to colleagues, look at their screens, and understand everything in detail. There’s no legacy, no bureaucracy. Everyone is focused on growth and customers. That level of engagement is incredibly energising.” Flow & Partners currently operates in Sweden, Norway, Poland and Germany, with Spain and Italy planned for later this year, and a further 21 European markets on the roadmap. Clients include Norwegian rail infrastructure company Onrail, which replaces 100,000 truck journeys by shifting cargo from road to rail each year, generating approximately €34 million in annual revenue, with additional customers in the pipeline across the infrastructure, industry and city development sectors. Sparrfeldt shared: “Europe’s fastest-growing companies need a partner that understands their sector, sits close to their owners, and can move quickly when opportunities arise, whether that’s an acquisition, a new market, or a major contract win. Companies have come to expect flexible financing to support their growth and boost liquidity, and that’s the role we’re here to play.” Long term, Sparrfeldt asserts that Flow & Partner is not just building another financing or factoring company. “We’re building a unified European liquidity layer, a single partner that can support companies operating across multiple countries. We want to solve financing across jurisdictions, so companies can come to one place and get everything they need.” And in terms of 0TO9’s aim of 1,000 fintechs by 2045, according to Poli: “We’re on track. We’re launching 7 to 10 companies in the near term. But it’s not just about numbers, it’s about creating a blueprint for Europe." With a nod to EU-Inc, she asserts: “We want companies to scale across Europe as one market, not 27 separate ones." Lead image: Jessica Sparrfeldt, CEO of Flow & Partners and Siduri Poli, Partner and CMO at 0TO9. Photo: uncredited. 

Foreverland, a Milan-based foodtech company developing cocoa-free chocolate alternatives, has secured €6 million in a new funding round, bringing its total capital raised to €9.4 million. The round includes follow-on investment from Kost Capital and Maia Ventures, alongside new investors, including CDP Venture Capital, Linfa agrifoodtech fund (managed by Riello Investimenti SGR), and Newtree Impact. Foreverland develops sustainable, cocoa-free ingredient solutions designed to reduce supply chain risks in the confectionery industry. Its flagship product, Choruba, is made from Mediterranean crops such as carob and is designed to replicate the taste and functionality of chocolate while offering more stable pricing and lower environmental impact. The company addresses key challenges in the cocoa market, including price volatility, supply shortages, and climate-related pressures. By providing industrial-scale alternatives, it enables manufacturers to maintain production stability while reducing dependency on traditional cocoa. Massimo Sabatini, co-founder and CEO of Foreverland, said the funding reflects the company’s progress not only as a foodtech innovator but also as a dependable industrial partner for confectionery manufacturers. With IFS Food certification in place and demand accelerating, we’re scaling commercial growth across Europe, strengthening key partnerships, and bringing in senior talent from the cocoa and chocolate industry to support manufacturers at scale, Sabatini adds. With the new funding, Foreverland plans to accelerate its expansion across Europe, strengthen partnerships with major confectionery players, and recruit senior commercial talent. The company is also expanding its product portfolio, including the development of an organic cocoa-free line to address growing demand in the segment.

Today, Credo Ventures announces Credo Stage 5, a $88 million fund that continues the firm's mission to be the first backer of the most ambitious CEE founders globally, both in the CEE region and in diaspora communities. Credo Ventures is a Prague and Krakow-based venture capital firm founded in 2010, investing in exceptional founders from Central and Eastern Europe and their diaspora at the earliest stages. Credo is doubling down on the Pre-Seed niche in CEE, where its track record, deep local networks, and unique investing culture give it an edge. The partners of the fund include: Maciek Gnutek, Jakub Krikava, Max Kolowrat-Krakowsky, Matej Micek, Ondrej Bartos and Jan Habermann. Over 15 years and across 4 funds, Credo has backed 100+ companies, including 2 decacorns, making it one of the most successful early-stage VC firms in Europe. Credo co-led or led the pre-seed rounds of two of the fastest-growing category-defining companies originating in CEE - UiPath and ElevenLabs. Credo is now launching their 5th fund - Credo Stage 5. ​ According to the firm, Credo Ventures positions itself as a first-cheque investor backing the most ambitious founders from Central and Eastern Europe and its diaspora. “We partner with the best founders from CEE and its diaspora, being the first check in their companies. We seek serious technical builders with global ambitions and work closely with them.” The firm highlights the scale of the opportunity, pointing to a region of 170 million people and a combined GDP of $2 trillion, alongside a strong track record of producing high-quality technical talent. Credo also underscores its early role in backing breakout companies from the region. “CEE has already produced global outliers such as UiPath and ElevenLabs, where Credo was the first cheque and (co-)lead investor in both cases. While the ecosystem is maturing, fragmentation and cultural divergence remain significant barriers for outsiders—creating a structural advantage for us.” The firm points to the strength of the CEE diaspora — particularly in hubs like San Francisco and London — as a key sourcing advantage. “The CEE tech diaspora is strong, and we leverage preferential access through our networks. After 15 years and four funds delivering top-percentile performance, the new generation of GPs is reinforcing Credo’s position as the leading fund for CEE founders.”

What began as a simple walking route created by a frustrated parent has grown into a global movement platform. In Lithuania, Walk15 has reached around 31 per cent of the population. Last year, it generated around €1 million in revenue. Founded by Lithuanian entrepreneur Vlada Musvydaite Vilciauske, Walk15 is rethinking how people engage with health, sustainability, and community, by turning steps into currency. From one route to a platform Vilčiauskė was born in Ukraine, but lived most of her life in Vilnius.  She was originally an athlete, a 400-metre runner, and became a Lithuanian and European-level champion. “Sport has always been part of my life,” she recalled. “My mother was a 100-metre champion, and my father ran 800 metres. So I was almost like a 'designed' 400-metre runner. Growing up, everything felt like a competition. But the most important lesson came from my mother — she always told me that the most important thing in life is whether you are happy, not how much money you make. That philosophy stayed with me, and it’s one of the reasons I created Walk15.” The idea for Walk15 emerged from a very simple, personal problem. As Vilčiauskė recalls: “In 2016, I felt like a bad mother because I didn’t know where to walk with my kids.” So she created a 15,000-step walking route together with a woman from a regional park. In the process, she realised that walking with a clear goal transforms the experience. “You stay engaged, you stay motivated,” she says. One participant even lost 15–20 kilos simply by following the route—“that was a big moment for me.” It also raised a new question: how could she share this with others? The answer was to build an app, initially centred on that single 15,000-step route. “Maybe one day it will be international… so let’s call it Walk15.” After the app, they started organising physical walking events where people could come with their families, friends, or dogs and walk 15,000 steps together. How Walk15 turns steps into value From a user perspective, the app is  simple: you connect your phone or wearable device, your steps are tracked—without collecting location data—and they accumulate in a digital “step wallet.” Users can then join challenges created by companies, cities, or organisations, ranging from workplace wellbeing initiatives to large-scale public campaigns, all designed to motivate participation rather than competition. Why motivation — not tracking — is the core product Vilčiauskė quickly realised something important: motivation is everything. “You can promote anything, but if people are not motivated, it doesn’t work.” So she created the idea of a “steps market” where you could exchange your steps for something tangible, like fruit or vegetables. With the steps market, everyday movement becomes something valuable: users can exchange steps for rewards such as discounts, products, or experiences — for example, trading 20,000 steps for a grocery discount on healthy items, or unlocking perks like airport fast-track access and discounts at Adidas through challenge milestones. A platform for companies, cities, and communities Walk15’s aim is to motivate people — “especially children and teenagers, where around 80 per cent don’t move enough every day,” shared Vilčiauskė. However, the startup also has a clear business model. Companies and organisations pay to create step challenges for their employees or communities. Behind the scenes, the platform operates primarily as a B2B and B2G solution, enabling organisations to run customised, goal-driven campaigns that combine health, sustainability, and behavioural change at scale. In just five years, the team has impacted over 1,500 companies and 1,000,000 app users worldwide, helping them improve their well-being, change mobility habits, and create a positive environmental impact, and has expanded with an additional company formed in Berlin. Walk15 recently launched a large initiative with the European Central Bank. People walk while receiving educational content, such as financial literacy topics explained in a simple, accessible way. At the end, users from different countries compete based on total steps. Walk15 also creates community-driven initiatives, like: Walking challenges that support animal shelters Dog-walking competitions Campaigns tied to donations Vilčiauskė is at pains to clarify that Walk15 is not a step counter. “We are a motivation and initiative platform. What we realised is that every organisation — whether it’s a company, a city, a sports club, or even a government — has the same challenge: how do you engage people?” In response, they created initiatives that allow people to walk for the city, school, or cause. It works like a social platform — but instead of posting, you participate by moving. Vilčiauskė asserts, “For me, this is very important because it connects movement with education. I always say: 10,000 steps are for your health, 5,000 steps are for your education. This is where we can really create impact.” The challenge of categorisation But scaling the platform hasn’t been without its challenges. For Vilčiauskė, the biggest challenges have been fundraising and positioning. “We are not a typical SaaS company, and we’re not a simple consumer app either. That makes it difficult for some investors to categorise us. Some see us as a community project, others as a health app — but we’re building something different. That said, we do have investors who believe in the long-term potential.” A global movement, one step at a time Walk15 is further building out its B2B platform to integrate AI, so companies can automatically create campaigns. “For example, an HR manager could request a challenge, and our system would generate everything — from messaging to engagement. We already know what motivates people, so we can use that data to improve outcomes,” explained Vilčiauskė. It is also working to further support NGOs with donation features so that people can contribute to causes through their activity. Long-term, Vilčiauskė wants to create a global movement. “We want people everywhere to move more, feel part of a community, and contribute to something meaningful. It’s not about walking 15,000 steps. It’s about taking the first step—and changing behaviour over time.”

Interloom, an enterprise operations platform that captures expert knowledge and converts it into a persistent memory layer for AI agents, has closed a $16.5 million seed funding round. The round was led by DN Capital, with participation from Bek Ventures and existing investor Air Street Capital. The company addresses a key limitation in enterprise AI adoption: the lack of operational context. While AI agents can process information, much of how work is actually performed remains undocumented. Interloom’s platform captures this knowledge from real-world workflows, enabling both employees and AI systems to access past resolutions and apply them to new cases. Fabian Jakobi, founder and CEO of Interloom, said that as AI agents move into operational roles, their effectiveness is limited without access to company-specific knowledge, reducing their ability to provide accurate responses or enable automation. We ground their decisions in successful resolutions from the past, ensuring their work is guided by real operational experience and governed through expert oversight, creating a memory that stays with the company. Jakobi added. Interloom builds a continuously evolving “context graph” that stores decisions and outcomes from past work. This allows AI agents to operate based on accumulated experience rather than static documentation, supporting more effective automation of complex processes. The platform also addresses knowledge loss driven by workforce changes by preserving expertise within the organisation. With the new funding, Interloom plans to further develop its platform and expand its capabilities in enterprise AI and workflow automation.

Job search platform Adzuna has acquired the jobs businesses of Trovit and Mitula, two market-leading search engines operated by the Lifull Connect group. The acquisition marks Adzuna’s third acquisition in four years, further strengthening its position as one of the world’s leading global job search platforms. Founded in 2006, Trovit and Mitula operate in more than 50 countries, centralising thousands of classified ads spanning jobs, real estate, and cars, with a strong presence in key European and international markets. The acquisition strengthens Adzuna’s footprint in high-growth international markets, including Spain and Italy.  For Trovit and Mitula Jobs’ global user base, the Adzuna acquisition brings continuity while introducing a smarter job search experience through its groundbreaking AI search technology and a suite of AI tools. For employers, the acquisition brings a wider audience and more quality applications worldwide. Doug Monro, CEO and co-founder of Adzuna, comments:   “We are excited to welcome users from the Trovit Jobs and Mitula Jobs to the Adzuna group. This acquisition represents a significant step forward in our strategy to grow our global portfolio and deliver smarter job search at scale.  The acquisition gives us the ability to connect millions of extra jobseekers in Europe, the US, Asia and Latin America with the right opportunities using our AI search and tools, delivering even more high-quality matches and greater hiring efficiency for employers." Carlos Ruiz Comes, Vertical Search General Manager from Lifull Connect, shared:   “Adzuna has established itself as a global leader in online job search, and I firmly believe that Trovit Jobs and Mitula Jobs users will benefit from Adzuna’s technology and recruitment expertise and continue to grow and innovate under its leadership.”