Stockholm-based Stilla has emerged from stealth with $5 million in pre-seed funding to develop an intelligence layer designed to support collaboration between humans and AI within product teams. The round was led by General Catalyst, with participation from a group of angel investors. As organisations accelerate the adoption of AI across workflows, coordination has become an increasing challenge. Information is often distributed across tools and teams, while individual productivity continues to rise. Fragmented context, time-intensive alignment processes, and the parallel use of multiple AI agents can make it difficult for organisations to maintain a shared view of priorities and progress. Stilla is designed to address these challenges by providing an infrastructure layer for collaboration. Rather than operating as an individual AI assistant, the platform connects core workplace tools (including Slack, Linear, GitHub, and Notion) to maintain a continuously updated understanding of what teams are working on, why decisions are made, and how work progresses. By distributing relevant context across teams and AI systems, Stilla aims to support coordinated execution as organisations scale. The company was founded by Siavash Ghorbani and Kaj Drobin, who previously contributed to the development of Shop and Shop Pay at Shopify. Commenting on the shift toward organisations where both people and AI systems contribute to decision-making, Ghorbani said: Without real-time shared context, speed creates chaos. Getting everyone aligned — humans and AI alike — is now the single biggest unlock for companies. Stilla is already in use at companies including Spotify, Ramp, Lovable, and Legora. Anton Osika, CEO of Lovable, described the platform as an early indication of how work may evolve, noting that it captures context automatically and translates it into coordinated action. Legora CEO Max Junestrand added that in AI-driven environments, speed is essential, and said Stilla helps reduce communication overhead by maintaining alignment across teams, likening it to an AI-enabled chief of staff. The company plans to use the capital to further build its core infrastructure, enabling better coordination between human teams and AI agents as organisations scale their use of AI. The funding will also support continued integration with existing workplace systems and the expansion of the platform’s capabilities based on early adoption by product teams. 

Cancilico, an AI diagnostics startup specialising in blood cancer, has raised €2.5 million in Seed funding.  The Dresden healthtech startup was founded in 2023 as a spin-off of the EKFZ for Digital Health at TUD Dresden, University of Technology, and University Hospital Dresden.  The company develops AI-driven diagnostic solutions for haematology to automate and improve the accuracy of blood and bone marrow analysis.  The founding team includes Markus Badstübner, Dr Moritz Middeke, Tim Schmittmann, Sebastian Riechert, Dr Jan Eckardt, Dr Karsten Wendt, and Angel Investor Prof. Gerhard Ehninger. Its MyeloAID uses advanced AI to analyse bone marrow samples with unprecedented speed and accuracy. The technology can be implemented on any standard imaging microscope or scanner, allowing laboratories to upgrade their current diagnostic capabilities without replacing existing hardware infrastructure.  The underlying data model for Cancilico’s AI diagnosis is based on a large, validated dataset of various malignancies, as well as data from healthy individuals.  Partnerships with haematopathology centres further enhance the data model, and cooperation with pharma partners has yielded initial results in accelerating the development of biomarkers and therapeutic options for haematological malignancies."We are facing a global shortage of haematologists, yet the complexity of diagnostic cases is rising," said Markus Badstübner, CEO and Co-Founder of Cancilico.  "Our goal is to democratise access to expert-level diagnostics. This investment allows us to navigate the FDA and CE-IVDR regulatory landscapes and bring a tool to market that integrates seamlessly with existing lab hardware to improve patient outcomes without heavy capital expenditure." The investment was led by a strong consortium comprising High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), TGFS - Technologiegründerfonds Sachsen, GEDAD GmbH (an investment vehicle of the Ehninger family), and ROI Verwaltungsgesellschaft (Roland Oetker). "We are convinced to invest in a winning team and a superior technology that has already gained commercial traction with its 'Research Use Only' data models," said Dr Jörg Traub, Principal at HTGF.  "The team combines entrepreneurial spirit with deep technical and clinical knowledge. Cancilico has established a convincing AI model using training data that includes not only diseased patient samples but also healthy datasets, allowing for better and faster classification." The funding will accelerate Cancilico’s mission to establish its AI-based diagnostic software MyeloAID as a routine tool to improve the standard of care for blood cancer patients worldwide and to accelerate digital biomarker development in haematological malignancies.

A Munich-based drone maker, backed by Lakestar, has come out of stealth, trumpeting its sovereign defence production credentials. Called Twentyfour Industries, the startup, incorporated in late 2024, has raised $11.8m from Lakestar, OTB Ventures, and 468 Capital.  It says it has moved from product design to production and field deployment of European drones in less than a year. The startup, which produces and designs drones, says it has manufactured and deployed hundreds of units of its first product, a 10-inch “cost-efficient, mass-manufacturable” quadcopter drone, which, it says, is now being operated daily by European soldiers. The startup also says it has signed contracts generating revenues across multiple countries. The startup is touting its European sovereign credentials. It says: “Modern warfare increasingly depends on unmanned systems at scale to deter aggression and defend democratic societies. "Today, Europe lacks sovereign drone production capacity and has too few trained operators – leaving the continent dependent on vulnerable supply chains, foreign components, and external know-how. Twentyfour Industries was founded to close this critical capability gap." The startup's announcement comes amid President Trump threatening tariffs on countries not backing a US takeover of Greenland. Asked about the importance of being Munich-based, a spokesperson for the startup said: "The core team is based in Munich, where we operate our office and conduct day-to-day engineering, operations, and execution. "Munich, of course, is an important hub for the European tech and defence space, with an excellent ecosystem across industries." Asked which countries are using its drones, the spokesperson said: "Beyond confirming active use by European customers, we won’t go into further detail." The spokesperson also would not divulge details regarding contracts. Clemens Kürten, co-founder and CEO, said: “Our mission is clear – enable European and allied partners with an end-to-end approach: product, training, and life-cycle management. We are building the organisational and industrial muscle to design, manufacture, and deliver unmanned systems faster, more reliably, and at better economics than anyone else in Europe.” Erik Linden, co-founder and chief commercial officer, said: “From day one, our focus has been prioritising execution over complexity and proving capability through delivery. By working directly with operators in the field, we ensure every product iteration is driven by real-world needs – enabling us to move faster and deliver more value to our customers.”

The Isle of Man Government has officially launched its National AI Office (NAIO) digitalisleofman.com/naio, a new function designed to help the Island harness AI in a practical, sustainable and responsible way. This marks a significant step in establishing a clear, coordinated national approach to the responsible adoption of artificial intelligence. Backed by a £1 million government investment, NAIO will serve as the Island’s single point of national coordination for AI adoption across government, industry, and the wider economy. This builds on the success of the Isle of Man’s Activate AI initiative,a programme supporting businesses with tools and training on AI. In 2025 alone, the Activate AI programme generated an estimated £2 million in productivity savings, demonstrating the value of a coordinated approach to AI adoption across the Government, economy, and society. NAIO brings together existing functions and expertise, led by Digital Isle of Man, an executive agency in the Department for Enterprise supporting tech businesses, which will be centred on advancing economic growth, improving public sector efficiency through AI-enabled services, and building AI literacy across society. The National AI Office will focus on six key deliverables in the first year: Developing a national AI strategy, shaped by government, industry and community input. Delivering a coordinated AI literacy programme, supporting people and businesses to use AI responsibly, build capability and understand risk. Accelerating practical AI adoption across the economy to help businesses improve productivity, scale and competitiveness. Providing clear guidance for safe and responsible AI use, supporting ethical, secure deployment and building public trust. Driving AI-enabled improvement in public services,delivering services that are faster, simpler and more cost-effective. Supporting a future-ready workforce through reskilling opportunities and expanded access to AI training and expertise. Chief Minister, Alfred Cannan MHK, commented:  “There is no doubt that artificial intelligence is already transforming our economy and society. The National AI Office will enable us to respond to that change in collaboration with industry, recognising that public and private sectors must work in lockstep if we are to realise the full benefits of this rapid technological change. That same principle is central to our wider Efficiencies Programme. We are serious about reform, and AI must be part of how we deliver faster, simpler and more cost-effective services for our community.” According to the Minister for Enterprise, Tim Johnston MHK, the National AI Office brings together existing functions, resources, skills and expertise into a focused operating model that builds on strong foundations already in place. “Digital Isle of Man has already delivered free AI training and AI solutions support to thousands of people through its Activate AI programme, and this is a natural next step, taking a more coordinated, strategic approach to harnessing AI for the benefit of our community, our economy and the way government operates. Our initial £1 million investment will be focused on delivering the six priority areas over the first 12 months, making best use of the resources, partnerships and capability we already have, while laying the groundwork for long-term impact and productivity gains felt right across the economy.”

Belfast-based sports technology company TeamFeePay has completed a £9 million equity funding round to support expansion into new markets and planned recruitment. The round was led by investments from YFM Equity Partners and the Investment Fund for Northern Ireland (IFNI), managed by Clarendon Fund Managers. Additional participation came from Techstart and a group of private investors. TeamFeePay was founded in 2021 by Liam McStravick, drawing on more than two decades of experience in grassroots coaching at clubs including Cliftonville, Linfield, and Ballyclare Comrades. The company was established in response to the administrative demands faced by coaches, such as managing player fees, which can reduce time available for coaching. The company has developed a software platform that supports grassroots football clubs and coaches with fixture planning, training sessions, event management, attendance tracking, and administrative tasks, helping teams stay organised while allowing coaches to focus on on-field activities. Commenting on the investment, Liam McStravick, CEO and co-founder of TeamFeePay, said the funding will support the company’s plans to modernise the operational side of grassroots football across the UK, Ireland, and Europe by reducing administrative workloads and helping clubs operate more sustainably. Over the next two years, we will be increasing our presence on the ground, investing in new technology, and continuing to improve the service and club development support provided by our expert team, McStravick added. TeamFeePay plans to use the new investment to support growth across the UK, expand further into Europe, and advance product development. The strategy also includes the creation of up to 75 new roles over the next two years across the UK and Europe, spanning sales, marketing, and product development functions.

The Tech.eu Summit London 2026 is set to take place on 21–22 April at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre, bringing together leaders from the global startup and investment ecosystem. Over two days, the event will host in-depth discussions, high-level networking opportunities and collaborative sessions, placing London once again at the centre of Europe’s technology landscape. There are only two days left to secure Super Early Bird tickets for the Tech.eu Summit London 2026. This discounted ticket tier is approaching its deadline, after which pricing will move to the next phase. Super Early Bird Tickets Available Until 21 January 2026 On 21 January 2026, Super Early Bird tickets will transition to the Early Bird ticket phase. Currently, Super Early Bird tickets are available for £375 + VAT. After 21 January, the price will increase to £400 + VAT under the Early Bird category. Planning to attend with colleagues or friends? Group ticket options are also available during the Super Early Bird phase, offering reduced per-person pricing compared to individual tickets. These group rates will be updated in line with the new Early Bird pricing after 21 January. The Tech.eu Summit London 2026 will bring together founders, investors, executives and policymakers from across Europe and beyond. The programme will feature keynote sessions, panel discussions and curated networking opportunities focused on topics such as artificial intelligence, fintech, SaaS, sustainability and emerging technologies. Attendees can also download the Tech.eu Events app via the App Store and Google Play to start connecting ahead of the summit. The app enables participants to browse attendee profiles, arrange meetings, explore the full agenda and manage their schedule in advance. It will also be used for fast and easy on-site access through QR code check-in. Get your tickets today! Secure your ticket today and take advantage of the current pricing while it lasts. Prices will increase after 21 January, so now is the best time to confirm your attendance. Join us at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre on 21–22 April for two days of insight, networking and collaboration with some of the most influential voices in technology and investment. We look forward to welcoming you in London.

Ananda Impact Ventures has completed a €73 million first close of its fifth Core Impact Fund, exceeding its €50 million target and representing the largest first close in the firm’s 16-year history. The fund is backed by a mix of returning and new investors, including the European Investment Fund (EIF), NRW.BANK, Investcorp-Tages, Mercator Foundation, and more than 40 family offices across Europe. Founded in 2009, Ananda Impact Ventures is a European impact venture capital firm focused on early-stage, technology-driven startups addressing social and environmental challenges. The firm manages €270 million across five funds and invests in areas such as climate, healthcare, biodiversity, and social inclusion. Ananda V continues this strategy, focusing on early-stage technologies aimed at addressing long-term societal and environmental challenges across Europe. Over sixteen years and four prior funds, Ananda has established a track record in impact investing, including the successful return of its first fund to investors. The fifth fund builds on this experience with a long-term investment perspective. Ananda’s investment strategy emphasises systems-level thinking rather than a narrow sector focus. Drawing on its experience since 2009, the firm views major human, social, and environmental challenges as interconnected and more effectively addressed through integrated approaches rather than isolated solutions. This perspective underpins Ananda’s focus on interdisciplinary business models designed to deliver both long-term impact and sustainable returns. This approach is reflected in Ananda’s portfolio, which includes European founders addressing structural societal and environmental challenges. The firm has backed companies such as OroraTech, IESO, and NatureMetrics, as well as investments spanning biology-enabled industry, nature-informed healthcare, and education-driven entrepreneurship through Differential Bio, Resistomap, and OneDay. Commenting on the fundraise, co-founder Johannes Weber said that Ananda’s strategy reflects a commitment to independent thinking and alignment with founder values, noting that consistency in approach has helped differentiate the firm amid shifting venture capital trends. Co-founder Florian Erber added that Ananda has built a multidisciplinary team with expertise spanning science, engineering, and entrepreneurship, enabling the firm to assess challenges at a systems level and engage deeply with founders. Through its fifth fund, Ananda Impact Ventures aims to continue supporting European founders developing scalable, technology-driven solutions to interconnected social and environmental challenges.

UK-based deeptech startup Anzen Industries has raised $2.2 million in pre-seed funding, led by LocalGlobe and Creator Fund, with participation from strategic angel investors across the UK, EU, and US, including Konstantin von Unger and early-stage investor Cory Levy. Founded by scientists Amy Locks and Pedro Lovatt Garcia, Anzen Industries is a biomanufacturing company focused on producing high-value chemicals using cell-free enzyme systems. The company develops reusable, low-infrastructure enzyme reactors designed to manufacture complex molecules more efficiently than traditional chemical synthesis, plant extraction, or fermentation-based methods. Its goal is to improve the resilience, scalability, and economic viability of global supply chains for critical chemicals across multiple industries. Anzen’s platform combines proprietary enzyme reactor technology, enzyme immobilisation techniques, and AI-driven design to enable biochemical reactions outside living cells. This first-principles approach allows highly specific and tunable enzymes to operate within small, modular reactors, supporting more flexible and cost-effective scaling while reducing reliance on capital-intensive infrastructure. Co-founder and CTO Pedro Lovatt Garcia outlined the company’s technical vision, saying: We started Anzen Industries because we believe that, from first principles, the future of manufacturing will be cell-free. If enzymes can be kept robust outside of the cell, we can carry out the same manufacturing reactions at a fraction of the infrastructure, energy and cost. Existing approaches to manufacturing complex chemicals face several constraints. Organic synthesis can be difficult to scale, plant extraction depends on variable agricultural supply, and fermentation typically requires significant infrastructure and downstream processing, leading to high capital costs. Anzen’s cell-free system is designed to address these limitations by improving efficiency and shortening time to market. Commenting on the investment, Julia Hawkins, General Partner at LocalGlobe, said Anzen is rethinking how critical molecules are produced from first principles, to improve speed, resilience, and control across global supply chains. CEO and co-founder Amy Locks highlighted the role of Europe’s scientific ecosystem in the company’s early development, noting: Europe’s strong scientific heritage and innovation community allowed us to take our breakthrough from scientific discovery to a viable commercial venture. She added that the United States offers an environment well-suited to the company’s next phase of growth, as Anzen looks to scale its technology globally. The company plans to use the funding to relocate operations to the United States, establish its first manufacturing facility, and expand industrial collaborations and partnerships as it scales its biomanufacturing platform.

It’s not often I meet an early-stage investor who tells me that they are looking for “weird and crazy ideas.” But Andreas Klinger, founder of PROTOTYPE,  is not just any investor. He is deeply embedded in Europe’s tech ecosystem as an early-stage investor and former founder and operator, having served as CTO at Product Hunt, VP Engineering at CoinList, Head of Remote at AngelList, and CTO at On Deck — and as a tireless advocate for Europe’s startup ecosystem through EU-Inc. But for Klinger, investing in people with crazy ideas has paid off. PROTOTYPE enters 2026 with strong momentum across its funds and the launch of Fund III. First-round bets power $1B+ in portfolio funding in 2025 All of PROTOTYPE’s current vehicles rank in the global top 1–5 per cent by performance, with: Fund I (2019) at 4.9x MOIC (Multiple on Invested Capital) and 0.95x DPI total capital paid in,   The Growth Fund (2022) at 5.6x MOIC and 2.75x DPI, and Fund II (2022) at 2.4x MOIC. (the latter two figures representing lower-bound estimates as several rounds are currently closing). In 2025 alone, PROTOTYPE’s first-round-focused portfolio raised well over $1 billion, with the firm backing 15 European startups, primarily in robotics, automation, and physical or frontier AI. Against this backdrop, Fund III closed in record time and was upsized by 25 per cent due to strong demand from a predominantly European LP base of family offices, founders, and operators. And, in an unusual example of radical transparency, PROTOTYPE publishes all its fund updates and builds in public. “I only invest if I want to talk about this problem for 10 years” Fund III embodies a portfolio situated at the frontier of automation, robotics and deeptech. So, where does Klinger place his bets? Simply put, he’s looking for founders obsessed with their ideas, not people who spreadsheet their way into a market.” He asserts: “I want people who cannot stop thinking about their problem. People who work on it even if nobody is paying them yet. I also need to be genuinely excited myself. I can’t fake interest. If I’m not intellectually and emotionally engaged, the founder will feel it immediately. I only want to work with people where I think: "I would love to spend the next ten years talking about this problem with you.” According to Klinger, some of their most interesting investments came from people who were just obsessively building something "because it had to exist,” not because the market spreadsheet said it should." If you’re working on something hard, technically ambitious, and slightly insane, we’re interested.” Prototype Capital’s portfolio comprises a broad set of early-stage technology startups pushing the frontier of automation, deep tech, developer tools, and hardware-enabled innovation. It includes: Hyperdrives, a deeptech company developing mass-producible, high-performance electric drive systems with advanced cooling technology for industrial-scale electrification applications and the autonomous tractor market, Voltrac. Check out our earlier interview with Hyperdrives' CEO Robin Renz. There’s robotics and autonomy startups like Sunrise Robotics, Rollo Robotics, Isembard,  and Sensmore autonomous mining machines, and HIGHCAT reconnaissance drones. On the software and AI side, the fund backs multimodal and AI tooling ventures like LUMA, Dust, and DX, as well as developer and infrastructure platforms such as ZED, Fly.io, and Cal.com. There’s also connectivity innovation like Willo wireless charging technology. The value of thematic focus Klinger attributes part of the firm’s success to being thematically focused, not just  in investment strategy, but also in branding around that theme to create a synergistic effect between the portfolio companies: “For example, Fund III is mainly robotics and automation, because that’s what we’ve been investing in over the last two years. That means, in practice, we can literally introduce companies to each other where they actually need each other. There’s real cross-pollination.” It's a practice he recommends to smaller VCs; however, he notes, “You need genuine competence in the theme. The focus has to be real.” Luma AI was the standout performer in PROTOTYPE’s portfolio over the past year, marking the second company in the fund’s history to cross a billion-dollar valuation. “They started with video AI models and are now building multimodal world models – video combined with other sensors, text, and physics. They’re basically creating systems that can ingest any kind of data. It’s a true frontier lab,” he said. What particularly impresses Klinger is the founding team's mindset. “When you talk to them, you don’t get the feeling they’re trying to build ‘better software’. They say the job is to build the thing after the software. That’s a very particular kind of founder – a bit crazy in a good way. And now imagine that with a billion-dollar balance sheet.” From a performance perspective, Klinger describes Luma as “easily the biggest success of last year” for the fund. At the same time, he notes that rapid scale can be a double-edged sword. He admits that, as an early-stage investor, he's always a bit nervous when companies grow very big, very fast. "I’ve worked in hyper-growth companies before. Raising huge amounts of capital can also be dangerous – it can make companies explode.” However, he is confident that Luma’s growth has been both measured and sustainable. “They’ve grown into this scale over several years and are actually very capital-disciplined compared to other AI frontier labs. For some of those, a billion dollars is basically a seed round. So with Luma, I’m actually quite confident.” Why robotics, automation, and simulation now define the cutting edge The last few years have seen a shift in terms of frontier tech. Klinger asserts that in 2019, developer tooling was leading frontier tech. “Then it was AI models. Now it’s physical AI: robotics, automation, simulation, embodied intelligence. What excites me personally is that the frontier has moved into areas I care deeply about: robotics, hardware, and industrial systems. It makes my job much more fun.” When it comes to robotics, Klonger cites the importance of breakthroughs in perception and reasoning. “On the perception side, computer vision has leapfrogged. You can take an image, turn it into a video, reconstruct a 3D world from that video, simulate that world, and then train systems inside the simulation. That loop is insane. Ten years ago, this would have sounded like science fiction. On the reasoning side, systems are no longer completely rigid. Classic industrial robotics only works if everything is in exactly the same place every time. That makes automation expensive and inflexible.” The result is robots that can deal with variation: slightly different objects, slightly different positions, and dynamic environments. They can learn tasks, generalise, and repeat them. According to Klinger, this enables something that was previously basically impossible: small-batch manufacturing automation. He sees this as critical for Europe because most European manufacturing is not mass automotive production: "It’s small batch and constantly changing. Until very recently, robotics didn’t work there. Now it does.” Image: Sunrise Robotics.  An example in the Prototype portfolio is Sunrise Robotics, a Ljubljana-based industrial robotics startup founded in 2023. The company builds intelligent, autonomous robotic cells that combine dual robot arms, advanced perception, and AI trained through simulation rather than hand programming. This enables rapid deployment and flexibility across diverse manufacturing environments. Unlike traditional factory robots, which take months to install and only work in high-volume production lines. The startup emerged from stealth in 2025 with a significant seed round led by Plural, with participation from Seedcamp, Tapestry, Tiny.vc and PROTOTYPE, and has already deployed early units with partners across Europe. An activist investor for Europe’s tech sovereignty Klinger’s role as an investor is underpinned by a relentless commitment to scrutinise the state of European tech. I won’t mention too much about EU-Inc, as you can check out some of our earlier commentary, He celebrates European tech, champions its startups, and lobbies politicians. He’s outspoken about Europe’s opportunity and the need for technological sovereignty. When it comes to robotics, Klinger contends that Europe has made a massive strategic mistake by selling core industrial assets and supply chains, especially in robotics, to China. “Once supply chains move, they don’t come back. Network effects lock them in. Robotics is one of the last areas where Europe still has deep industrial ecosystems, mainly because of automotive and machinery. If we lose that, rebuilding will be almost impossible.” It's a timely warning. Last year marked a major blow to European independence with ABB selling its Robotics division to SoftBank Group and Arduino acquired by Qualcomm. That’s why Fund III is so focused on vertical robotics, automation, and their supplier ecosystems. Not just software, but motors, sensors, power electronics, manufacturing processes – the whole stack. He warns that if those capabilities leave Europe, “then even European startups will have to build in Asia because that’s where the networks are. And once that happens, you’re done.” Beyond the hype of humanoid robotics When asked about the surge of interest in humanoid robotics, Klinger offers both a bear case and a bull case. On the downside, he argues, “if I know exactly what task I want to solve, a purpose-built machine will almost always be cheaper, more reliable, and better. I don’t want a humanoid in my bathroom washing my clothes with two hands – I want a washing machine. Building an artificial human just to replicate a single appliance is insane in terms of complexity and cost.” For most stable, clearly defined tasks, he adds, specialised machines will continue to win. The upside, however, lies in flexibility and scale. The first element is what Klinger calls the “last-step problem.” “In many industrial processes, you can automate 90 per cent per cent with specialised machines, but the final 10 per cent still requires flexibility, dexterity, or problem-solving in an unstructured environment. Suddenly, you need a human anyway. At that point, instead of buying three different robots and still needing a person, it might make sense to have one generalist system that can do the whole chain.” The second argument is an analogy with consumer technology. “A digital camera is better than the camera in my phone. A walkie-talkie is better at communication. A GPS device is better at navigation. But I already have an iPhone. It’s good enough at all of them, and it benefits from massive economies of scale. So you build apps on top of it.” Hacker houses, real hardware, failing fast, and next-gen founders Klinger sees hacker culture as critical to building a frontier-tech pipeline in Europe. He asserts that Europe needs more  self-selecting spaces for “highly technical, slightly crazy people: hacker houses, robotics clubs, student labs, informal research groups.” “These places produce more outliers than most heavily funded government programmes, because they are driven by intrinsic motivation, not grants. People work nights and weekends because they love it, not because it’s in a project plan.I’ve seen this in Austria, in Armenia, in parts of Germany. When you put young people into environments where they can build real hardware, real software, real systems – and you let them fail and try again – you get extraordinary results.” Backing makers of tech that “shouldn’t exist but must exist” In terms of outreach, PROTOTYPE, like most investors, prefers warm introductions, but his public presence means it's easier to get on his radar compared to some other investors. Klinger stressed:  "Talk to us even if you’re not sure your idea is a company yet. Especially in robotics, automation, energy, space, and physical AI – many of the best companies start as “this probably shouldn’t exist, but it has to exist.” PROTOTYPE wants to change the innovation narrative. Klinger asserts that while Europe has talent, science, and the requisite industrial base, it often lacks the confidence and coherent storytelling around frontier technology. “World-class robotics, automation, hardware, and physical AI can be built here – and that they don’t have to move to the US or China to become global leaders. Fund III focuses on reindustrialisation, robotics, automation, and sovereignty-relevant technologies. But beyond capital, it’s also about changing how people perceive what’s possible in Europe. There is a generation of founders here who are deeply technical, deeply obsessed, and building extraordinary things. Our job is to back them early, provide the network they need, and ensure they can scale without leaving the continent.”

Vanagon Ventures, a German deeptech venture capital firm, has reached the final close of its €20 million Fund I. The fund is backed by Allocator One, alongside additional limited partners including family offices and high-net-worth individuals, senior technology executives from companies such as Apple and Google, and unicorn founders from the Munich ecosystem. Vanagon Ventures is further supported by the law firms Orbit and Bird & Bird and fund administrator ACE Alternatives. Based in Munich, the fund focuses on backing B2B startups at the pre-seed stage that address system-level challenges and develop new categories enabled by AI and deeptech. Vanagon Ventures was established to support companies that follow development paths beyond traditional software-as-a-service models, targeting founders with deep domain expertise in established industries who apply advanced technologies to re-architect these systems from the ground up. The strategy addresses a gap in early-stage venture capital, particularly at the pre-seed level, where AI-native and deeptech companies with significant long-term economic potential often require different scaling approaches than conventional software businesses. Vanagon typically invests up to €500,000 initially in teams developing technologies that contribute to Europe’s sovereignty and sustainability, with a focus on areas such as spatial and artificial intelligence, quantum computing, robotics, and frontier software addressing large, long-term markets. AI changes everything – also VC investing: the steepest value creation is shifting to the earliest stages, our sweet spot. Yet many VCs shy away from pre-seed as they still rely on SaaS playbooks that don’t fit the scaling logic of DeepTech and AI-native disruption in B2B, said Susanne Fromm, General Partner at Vanagon Ventures. Vanagon Ventures is managed by three General Partners, Axel Roitzsch, Sandro Stark, and Susanne Fromm, who bring combined experience in venture investing and technology-driven transformation across multiple industries. The fund frequently acts as a first institutional or lead investor, supporting portfolio companies with follow-on fundraising through its network and providing hands-on support in areas such as round structuring, go-to-market strategy, and customer access. Fund I is targeting a portfolio of approximately 30 companies and has already invested in several early-stage businesses positioned as category builders, including Holy Technologies, ExoMatter, and The Landbanking Group. Additional investments span areas such as glass-based data storage for long-term, sustainable archiving, AI-powered visual inspection for manufacturing quality control, and AI-driven demand forecasting for the chemical and textile industries.

CoolSem Technologies, a semiconductor thermal management company, has closed a pre-seed funding round led by High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), with participation from KBC Focus Fund NV, the Brabant Development Agency (BOM), and TTT Green Tech B.V. (SHIFT Invest). As chips become an increasingly critical resource, pressure on raw materials is rising, and heat management remains a persistent constraint on performance. CoolSem Technologies aims to address these challenges by improving energy efficiency, extending hardware lifetimes, and enabling the reuse of scarce materials, supporting a more sustainable and circular semiconductor industry. Founded in 2025 and headquartered in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, CoolSem Technologies develops wafer-level thermal management solutions for advanced semiconductor and photonic devices. Its WaLTIS multilayer stack replaces conventional substrates with an engineered structure designed to improve heat dissipation, mechanical stability, and device reliability, enabling higher performance and longer device lifetimes. Commenting on the funding, CoolSem Technologies’ CEO, André van Geelen, said that thermal constraints are increasingly limiting semiconductor performance, particularly in RF, photonics, and power applications, where traditional materials and packaging approaches are nearing their physical limits. Olaf Joeressen, Senior Investment Manager at HTGF, added that the technology has the potential to become a core component of future chip thermal design, as thermal management becomes ever more critical to semiconductor performance. The company will use the funding to advance its WaLTIS technology from concept to engineering samples, with validation by leading customers in RF, power, and photonics, supporting qualification activities and real-world performance testing.

Sinpex, an AI-powered platform for KYB / KYC lifecycle management, today announced its €10 million Series A financing round. Sinpex streamlines business client onboarding and continuous KYB compliance, empowering companies to meet the regulatory demands of the 2027 EU Anti-Money Laundering (EU AML) Regulation. Sinpex is an all-in-one platform that unifies every stage of the customer and regulatory lifecycle. The SaaS solution is recognised for redefining digital client onboarding for businesses, including document acquisition, UBO identification, risk assessment, AML screening, ID&V, and ongoing reviews. It combines an extensible KYB data model across multiple jurisdictions with AI-driven register and ownership analysis, resulting in fully audit-ready reporting and gold-standard compliance outcomes. I spoke to the CEO and founder, Dr Camillo Werdich, to learn more. Werdich founded Sinpex in 2019 after seeing first-hand the limits of existing compliance technology while working as a project lead in financial services at Deloitte. Involved in selecting KYC tools for large banks, he found that most solutions failed to address the core problem: institutions were still burdened with highly manual, document-heavy processes, from ownership verification to data extraction. Poor data quality, slow workflows, and repetitive work left both banks and compliance teams frustrated. “Everyone in the process was unhappy — the banks because the data was poor, the compliance teams because the work was incredibly repetitive. That was the moment I realised technology should be able to fix this: improve efficiency, improve data quality, and remove a huge amount of manual effort at the same time. So I left Deloitte, started my PhD, and founded Sinpex.” Financial institutions such as Otto Payments, Enpal, IKB, Bybit, Scayle Payments and KfW rely on Sinpex. Turning fragmented corporate data into audit-proof compliance While most people are familiar with KYC (Know your customer), it differs from KYB (Know your business). According to Werdich, KYC for individuals, such as passport verification, was solved mainly 10 years ago. But KYB — onboarding corporate customers — is an entirely different problem. “We focus 100 per cent on business clients. That means commercial registries, shareholder lists, contracts, ownership structures, documents in different languages, formats, and jurisdictions,” he explained. These documents are often scanned, unstructured, and use different legal terminology across countries. The platform enables teams to extract precise information from heterogeneous document sets. But what is critical is not only extracting data, but also providing evidence. "We don’t just say, “This is the beneficial owner.” We show exactly where in which document this information was found, shared  Werdich. “That auditability is essential for compliance.” This empowers compliance teams to significantly reduce manual work while increasing consistency and regulatory robustness, including preparedness for the EU AML Regulation and support for KYB and transparency obligations across frameworks such as AMLD5/6, PSD2/3, DAC7, and the Supply Chain Transparency Act. ​ “On average, we reduce business onboarding time by around 80 per cent,” shared Werdich. “For large marketplaces and payment platforms, that makes a huge difference. " Merchant onboarding used to involve a lot of back-and-forth, manual document checks, and long waiting times. Now, the platform automatically collects documents, verifies information, analyses ownership, and structures evidence in the background, dramatically improving the customer experience and allowing compliance teams to focus on exceptions rather than routine work. How tougher AML enforcement is turning compliance into a growth-critical issue Werdich asserts that geopolitically, “we see more sanctions, more enforcement, and much stronger expectations that financial institutions truly know who they are doing business with." “The European Union decided a few years ago to harmonise the AML framework across all member states, as it remains fragmented today. Germany, France, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands each had different rules, which created loopholes. This will change with the new framework that will fully come into force by 2027. A lot of things will become stricter, especially around Ultimate Beneficial Ownership and control structures. It will no longer be enough to look up a name in a database. Institutions will need documentary proof. They will need to show evidence. That means far more work — unless it is automated.” From growth caps to multimillion-euro fines: the real cost of AML failures The consequences of non-compliance are significant to institutions and customers. For example, regulators stop institutions from onboarding new customers. For example, In 2021, Germany’s financial watchdog, BaFin (Federal Financial Supervisory Authority), imposed a cap on N26’s customer growth due to deficiencies in its AML processes. Processes. Then, in May 2024, Germany’s financial regulator BaFin fined N26 €9.2 million for systematically filing suspected money-laundering reports late in 2022. According to Werdich, “When I worked with a bank at Deloitte, the CEO once said: a money-laundering scandal is as bad for a bank as an aeroplane crash is for an airline. The trust damage lasts for years.” In terms of investment, Werdlch sees an enormous transformation ahead in how financial institutions handle rising client expectations and regulatory demands in AML, KYC, and KYB. “This investment allows us to accelerate our mission: delivering truly intelligent automation that meets rising regulatory requirements while enabling payment service providers, e-commerce platforms, banks, leasing, factoring companies, and asset managers to grow with confidence while meeting customer expectations for a seamless business relationship. The round was led by BlackFin Capital Partners with participation from existing investors ACE Ventures and TX Ventures. “We see the same need across all regulated industries we operate in, and regulatory scrutiny is bound to increase in the coming years. As such, we were looking for the right combination of sector expertise, depth of product and execution skills,” said Romain Grimal, Investment Director of BlackFin. Europe as a regulatory first-mover advantage The new capital will accelerate growth, reinforce Sinpex’s position as a category-defining Know Your Business (KYB) automation platform in Europe, and support expansion into key international markets. Werdich said the company’s core market today is Central Europe, but it is increasingly working with international customers operating in the region who need to comply with European regulations. “Europe is interesting because in areas like AML and compliance, regulation is often more advanced here than in the US or Asia. That gives European companies like ours a first-mover advantage. If you can meet European standards, you’re usually very well positioned globally.” As the company scales, hiring remains a key priority, with team-building seen as just as strategic as product development. “People make the difference,” he shared. “Compliance technology is complex, regulated, and mission-critical. You need strong engineers, deep domain expertise, and a resilient team culture. For us, building the right team is just as important as building the right product.” ​

A big week for European tech, with two new unicorns and a deep dive into one of the continent’s most promising ecosystems: Armenia. Alongside the week’s top funding rounds, we’ve also curated the most important industry stories you need to know. Our 2025 Annual Report is live, a fast, data-driven deep dive into the deals, sectors, and forces that defined Europe’s tech ecosystem this year. Full of commentary from VCs, startupsm and ecosystem players, it’s the essential snapshot of where Europe is accelerating next. If you like to listen to the news, check out our latest podcast where we revisit some of the most-read Tech.eu stories of 2025, told by the people behind them. 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 ??  Parloa raises $350M, tripling valuation to $3BN ??  Harmattan AI hits unicorn status after raising $200M, as it strikes deal with French aerospace group ??  Sustainability software outfit osapiens becomes unicorn, following $100M raise ??‍?? Noteworthy acquisitions and mergers ??  Haydale acquires SaveMoneyCutCarbon in £24 million deal ??  Choice31 acquires online school IAMPM ??. Helsing’s Keybotic acquisition signals Europe’s push for defence autonomy ??  FAB STUDIO acquired by influencer marketing world leader YKONE ??. Haemonetics acquires Vivasure Medical

Global investment management platform DTCP today announced the launch of “Project Liberty”, its eighth fund and its first dedicated exclusively to defence, security,  and resilience technologies. The fund is independently managed by DTCP and targets institutional investors, family offices, and corporate investors. Its objective is to support the growth of high-performing European defence and dual-use technology companies and to contribute to Europe’s long-term technological capability and security resilience. ​ While Europe remains the clear investment focus, “Project Liberty” may also selectively invest in defence and security technologies from NATO member states and close allies where such investments are strategically relevant to European security interests. DTCP has been investing successfully in IT and security technologies for more than a decade. Its existing portfolio focuses on cybersecurity and AI companies, including Arctic Wolf, Axonius, Zenity, Anomali, and Ox Security. This is complemented by dual-use companies such as the German defence tech unicorn Quantum Systems. According to Vicente Vento, CEO of DTCP: “Project Liberty represents a highly consistent extension of our role as a specialist investment platform. Defence and resilience have been converging with technology and infrastructure investing for more than a decade—precisely where DTCP, through DTCP Growth and DTCP Infra, has deep expertise and numerous touchpoints with the defence industry.” ​ He cites a compelling long-term investment opportunity, sharing that for decades, Europe has underinvested in defence while geopolitical risks have steadily increased. ​ “In parallel, we are witnessing a profound technological transformation across the entire value chain — surveillance and sensing to software-defined systems, advanced materials, autonomous platforms, and satellite and communications infrastructure. As major Western governments have now embarked on a long-term and irreversible path to modernise their defence capabilities, we are highly confident in the structural growth prospects of  this sector for decades to come.” Up to 30 investments in defencetech planned with Project Liberty DTCP is actively investing in European defence and dual-use technology companies across Series A to C financing stages. The fund plans to invest in up to 30 companies, with average investments of approximately €20 million. The investment focus is on companies that complement existing defence and security systems or advance them through new technological approaches. Key areas of focus include software solutions, cyber defence, artificial intelligence, and autonomous systems.

Ukraine-based HOLYWATER has closed a $22 million financing round led by Horizon Capital, with participation from US-based investors including Endeavor Catalyst and Wheelhouse. The financing follows an earlier investment from Fox Entertainment in October 2025. (check out our earlier interview with Anatolii Kasianov, co-founder and co-CEO of HOLYWATER) HOLYWATER is a technology company applying AI to content creation and distribution within the entertainment sector. Its portfolio includes several digital platforms across video and publishing, such as My Drama for vertical streaming, My Passion for digital books, My Muse for AI-assisted vertical series, and Freebits, an ad-supported streaming service offering free access to premium content. The company operates across multiple segments of the entertainment technology market. Its flagship app, My Drama, received the People’s Voice award for Best Streaming Service at the 2025 Webby Awards and recorded strong revenue growth during the year. HOLYWATER’s AI-powered app, My Muse, is also active within the AI streaming category. Commenting on the investment, co-founders and co-CEOs Bogdan Nesvit and Anatolii Kasianov said the round reflects continued momentum around premium short-form storytelling and its potential as a scalable content format. They noted that vertical series are increasingly being adopted as a long-term storytelling medium across multiple genres. The new funding will support HOLYWATER’s plans to further develop its mobile-focused vertical video streaming platform and expand its AI-driven content ecosystem. This includes exploring AI-supported formats such as comics and animation, as well as strengthening its IP development and distribution capabilities across additional content categories.

When you can, it’s always worth taking a look outside of your comfort zone to find the next big thing in tech. I’ve been interested in Armenia for a number of years, and now it seems the rest of the world is catching up. ​ I gained first-hand access by visiting Yerevan for the 20th annual Digitec conference. Unicorns, diaspora, and a global tech presence At the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, Armenia has a population of around 3.08 million, while an estimated seven million Armenians or more live outside the country — making its global diaspora one of its greatest strategic assets. The ecosystem is anchored by unicorns Picsart and ServiceTitan. This year Gecko Robotics founded by Armenian-American entrepreneur Jake Loosararian, raised a $125 million Series D round at a $1.25 billion valuation. Armenia is also home to a dense concentration of global technology R&D and engineering operations, including major centres run by NVIDIA, Synopsys, AMD, and the Microsoft Innovation Center Armenia. Multinational companies such as National Instruments, Oracle, VMware, Cisco, Mentor Graphics, TeamViewer, and D-Link maintain substantial engineering offices in the country. Since the mid-2010s, Armenia has built one of the most attractive policy environments for tech startups in the region. The government introduced tax exemptions and reduced income tax for IT companies and employees, then reinforced this with the creation of a dedicated Ministry of High-Tech Industry in 2018. By 2025, this framework had evolved into a comprehensive package of incentives, including preferential tax regimes, grant programmes, and support for hiring both local and foreign technical talent. Armenia’s race to build sovereign AI infrastructure Armenia opened its first supercomputer centre in 2024, and also acquired an NVIDIA supercomputer for use at the Yerevan State University (YSU). AI and advanced technologies. The year opened with a cooperation agreement with France’s Mistral AI to strengthen national AI infrastructure, followed by the launch of the AI Virtual Institute, in partnership with AWS and the Ministry of High-Tech Industry, to train and upskill local practitioners. In July, AI cloud company Firebird unveiled a vision for a $500 million public-private partnership with the Armenian government, with technical support from NVIDIA, which will fuel the development and growth of AI technologies in the country. Firebird plans to launch with thousands of NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs in 2026 and will be designed with the ability to scale to over 100 megawatts of capacity. Last year also saw the launch of HyGPT, the first high-quality large language model (LLM) specifically designed for the Armenian language. The model is freely accessible online. The challenge of building Armenia’s global tech brand Addressing what Armenia’s global tech brand is today and what it is built on, Adele Tuulas, Director of Business Development at Digital Nation (Estonia), argues that while Armenia has many bright individual success stories, it still lacks a single, unified narrative that the world can immediately recognise. She sees this as critical in the context of branding as soft diplomacy. “A clear and credible tech brand becomes a strategic tool: it communicates what a nation stands for, what unique value it offers, and why it matters on the global stage, building trust, visibility, and lasting relevance.” Catherine Jurovsky, Senior Expert at Business France, believes Armenia possesses the core ingredients of a compelling tech brand, but has yet to achieve the level of international recognition required to turn those assets into a coherent and widely valued identity: “Today, Armenia has the ingredients of a tech brand, but not yet the international recognition that turns those ingredients into a coherent, valuable identity.” She offers the example of LeFrench Tech as a way forward: France built “La French Tech” by first creating a community, then empowering it globally. More than 100 hubs worldwide now act as volunteer ambassadors. “The key was not advertising budgets, but mobilising entrepreneurs, investors, and institutions around shared values and visibility. Armenia’s strong diaspora could play a similar ambassadorial role if equipped with a unified narrative.” From talent supplier to sovereign AI builder ​ One of the key themes at the conference was the urgency of articulating a coherent national AI strategy. ​ Yesayan asserts that a national vision backed by serious capital allows Armenia to move from being a supplier of engineers to becoming a creator of platforms, IP, and globally relevant AI systems. “The $500 million initiative is not about one data centre—it is about anchoring an ecosystem.” According to Yesayan, it means sovereign-grade compute, open to startups, universities, and industry; it means research funding that allows Armenian teams to train frontier-scale models rather than just consume them. “It means creating economic gravity so that global AI talent can work from Armenia, not just with Armenia. The aim is not to replicate Silicon Valley, but to build a model suited to Armenia’s scale, security needs, and regional role. Inherent to this is not only building startups but anchoring “strategic industries whose core IP is developed and retained in Armenia.” The challenges of doing business in Armenia While Armenia is known as a place of business, especially for international companies with a local presence, building locally from the get-go is not so easy.  Tigran Petrosyan, co-founder of SuperAnnotate, sees commercialisation rather than technology as the primary constraint: “Selling globally from Armenia requires mastering enterprise sales, long procurement cycles, and relationship-driven business development — capabilities that are more readily acquired in the US or Western Europe.” The counterbalance, he says, is resilience. "Armenian founders and engineers tend to be unusually persistent, an asset in an industry where progress depends on years of iteration and infrastructure building." Picsart co-founder Artavazd Mehrabyan sees the challenge not in talent but in proximity to global knowledge networks: “Once you are deeply connected to global research networks, geography becomes secondary.” Arto Minasyan is the founder and CEO of10Web, co-founder and President at Krisp, and Partner at investment firm Big Story VC. He contends that Seed funding of €500k–€1M is increasingly available locally. “Given Armenia’s cost structure, that can fund meaningful product development. However, scaling to €20M, €50M, or €100M rounds still requires access to global VC ecosystems. Large checks come from Silicon Valley, London, and increasingly from global growth funds.” Gender parity persists, but Armenia is building education as infrastructure Women in Armenia account for nearly 40 per cent of the tech workforce, but their voices were notably absent from the conference as the vast majority of speakers and founders were male. ​This surprised me, as it is usual to see women founders and investors representing smaller ecosystems such as Lithuania, Latvia, and Moldova. That said, Aremia is betting on the next generation of tech innovators through initiatives such as TUMO (he TUMO Center for Creative Technologies)  a free, extracurricular educational program for teens which offers young people access to areas such as programming, robotics, game development, animation, filmmaking, graphic design, music, and AI through a mix of self-paced digital learning, workshops, and project-based labs, all focused on building real skills and portfolios rather than grades. What makes TUMO Armenia particularly distinctive is its scale and national ambition. Through large urban hubs and a growing network of “TUMO Boxes” in smaller towns and rural communities, it aims to reach tens of thousands of students every week across the country, positioning creative technology education as a form of national infrastructure. It’s now a global network of learning centers and satellite hubs. ​ This integration with the wider ecosystem was inherent at the conference with TUMO students showcasing their projects at the front of the venue – a location that would be hot real estate for any commercial conference –, while university students were embedded as volunteers, giving them early, hands-on exposure to founders, engineers, and investors and helping to knit education, talent, and industry into a single pipeline. Armenia is no longer just a source of strong engineers, but is laying the groundwork to become a creator of platforms, IP, and globally relevant AI systems. With sovereign compute, a deep diaspora, and a national talent pipeline, the pieces are in place. The remaining challenge is coherence: turning these strengths into a clear, recognisable global tech identity that can carry Armenian innovation onto the world stage. Armenian startups to watch AIP Scientific AIP Scientific focuses on developing orthopaedic implant technologies dedicated to supporting the end-to-end process of customised implant production, including modelling, mechanical reliability evaluation, optimisation, and fabrication of implants with complex shapes.  They utilise digital 3D design, additive manufacturing (metal & resin 3D printing), 5-axis CNC milling, and more. AIP Scientific also pioneers a bio-degradable material called BioCer, which is currently in animal trials. Their services involve the production of custom maxillofacial, cranial, and orthopaedic implants made of titanium and BioCer. ​ Argus AI Argus AI is a medtech startup developing AI-powered mixed-reality tools to support surgeons in planning and performing complex operations. The company turns MRI and CT scans into interactive 3D models that can be explored in virtual or mixed reality, giving clinicians a far more intuitive view of a patient’s anatomy than traditional 2D imaging. Using AI for image segmentation and analysis, Argus AI helps identify critical structures and plan surgical paths, with applications in pre-operative planning, intra-operative guidance, and surgical training. The platform is designed “by surgeons for surgeons,” with a particular focus on high-precision fields such as neurosurgery, where spatial understanding and accuracy are critical. ​ BlueQubit BlueQubit aims to make quantum computing accessible and practical for researchers, developers, and enterprises. It provides a cloud-based Quantum Software-as-a-Service (QSaaS) platform that enables users to design, simulate, test, and run quantum algorithms without their own specialised quantum hardware. The platform integrates with real quantum processors from industry providers and high-fidelity GPU emulators, enabling customers to experiment, prototype, and deploy quantum computing workflows for applications such as optimisation, machine learning, and complex simulations. Havnly AI ​ Havnly AI is building an AI-powered platform that automates the matching of temporary/insurance-related housing placements and property management for insurance carriers and relocation specialists. Foldink Foldink is a biotech startup focused on 3D bioprinting and tissue engineering. The company develops and supplies bioinks — specialised biological “inks” used in 3D bioprinting — as well as bioprinters and related materials that biomedical researchers use to fabricate living tissues and biological structures in the lab. Its products include hydrogel and freeze-dried bioinks designed to simplify and standardise bioprinting processes for scientists working in regenerative medicine, drug discovery, and other advanced life sciences research areas. Wav.am Wav.am is an AI audio platform that provides text-to-speech and speech-to-text services. Users can type or upload Armenian text and generate natural-sounding spoken audio in different voices, or record/upload speech and have it automatically transcribed into text. The platform is designed to support everyday use cases such as content creation, accessibility, and language learning. It also enables the creation of longer-form audio such as audiobooks, with options to export and download the generated files.

Parloa, the German-founded startup which develops AI voice agents for call centre work, has raised $350 million in a Series D funding round, vaulting its valuation threefold to $3 billion in seven months. The round was led by existing investor General Catalyst, with other existing investors, including EQT Ventures, Altimeter Capital, Durable Capital Partners, and Mosaic Ventures, also participating. The Berlin startup’s Series D round follows seven months after it raised $120m at a $1bn valuation. Malte Kosub, CEO and co-founder, took to LinkedIn to describe his surprise at carrying out Parloa’s Series D so soon after its Series C. Kosub said: "I didn’t expect to be writing about our Series D already today - just seven months after our $1bn Series C. “Two funding rounds in less than a year reinforce what we are seeing every day. Agentic customer experience is no longer a nice-to-have. "It is becoming the new standard. We are incredibly fortunate to be building at one of the fastest-moving and most exciting moments in the history of software.” Parloa has now raised more than $560m in less than four years.  The startup says it will use the funds to expand globally, with a focus on the US and Europe, including offices scouted in San Francisco and Madrid, a localised team in London, and a recently established US HQ in Manhattan. Parloa, whose customer base includes Allianz, Booking.com and SAP, is playing in a competitive field, going up against several startups, including UK startup PolyAI. Parloa’s platform combines automated speech recognition and natural language understanding to enable companies to build automated dialogues for phone, chat, voice assistants and messenger – all in one place. The company claims its AI setup understands the same amount of words and contexts as a call centre agent.

Cyprus-based AINA has raised $1 million in seed funding from a private angel investor to expand its AI-driven hiring platform, which aims to improve hiring efficiency and reduce recruitment costs. As competition in the job market intensifies, employers are receiving growing volumes of AI-generated applications, many of which are poorly aligned with open roles. At the same time, recruiters increasingly rely on AI to create job descriptions, screen candidates, and conduct automated interviews, yet many qualified applicants still fail to reach human review. With hundreds of candidates often competing for the attention of a single recruiter, this growing dependence on automation has introduced new challenges around efficiency, quality, and cost. Candidates are also navigating a more complex hiring environment. Many, particularly younger job seekers, use AI tools for career guidance, but a significant number continue to struggle to progress effectively through the recruitment process. AINA positions itself as an integrated AI-driven hiring platform designed to address these challenges for both employers and candidates. The platform focuses on improving efficiency and decision-making by automating repetitive tasks, enabling more precise candidate screening, and delivering actionable insights. This allows hiring teams to shortlist candidates more quickly, manage interviews more effectively, and reduce the risk of poor-fit hires. For candidates, AINA offers an AI-based career coaching system that builds personalised career pathways, recommends roles aligned with individual profiles, and provides interview simulations to support preparation for real hiring conversations. According to founder and CEO Natallia Mikhnovets, AINA has facilitated more than 2,000 interviews and helped fill over 300 positions, with clients now able to recruit for specialised roles much faster, often within hours or a few days. The new funding will support continued development of AINA’s platform, including further enhancements to its AI-based recruiting, candidate screening, analytics, and career coaching capabilities.

While many venture capital funds are optimised for speed, scale, and short fund lifecycles, High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) was built to address a structural gap in Germany’s innovation ecosystem. HTGF combines public mandate with private capital to back technically complex startups that require time, industrial grounding, and early conviction to succeed. I spoke to Dr Achim Plum (Managing Director) and Dr Tanja Emmerling (Partner) at HTGF to learn all about it.  From scientist to investor: Achim Plum’s path into venture Dr Achim Plum, one of the three managing directors, joined HTGF in January 2025, strengthening the firm’s life science industry expertisewithin management. He is a geneticist by training and began working in industry after completing his PhD. A defining strength of Plum’s profile is the combination of scientific depth with strategic business acumen.  Earlier in his career, Plum spent several years at Siemens in a specialised role focused on licensing research innovation. His role as Head of Diagnostics & BioScience Research contributed to strengthening the connection between Siemens’ research excellence and its core business, with the goal of translating innovation into long-term strategic value. His professional background includes roles at Epigenomics, Siemens, Curetis, Ares Genetics, SphingoTech, and InfanDx. He also brings a strong corporate finance track record, including involvement in two IPOs, and a clear understanding of financing dynamics across all stages of company development.  He’s since founded companies, scaled them, and also overseen liquidations — gaining first-hand experience of the full company lifecycle. He recalls:  “I’ve mostly been interested in smaller companies with disruptive ideas — diagnostics, medtech, life science tools, less classic pharma. Over the years, I’ve raised around €200 million, done two IPOs, and lots of follow-ons. At this stage, I thought changing perspectives and moving to the investor side would be interesting. And I don’t regret it.” Taking risk where it matters Tanja Emmerling has been at HTGF since 2014, after serving as Head of New Venture at a B2B publishing business with a value-investing family office.    “At some point, I felt that if you really want to change something, you need to be in the startup world — more risk-taking. So I switched to HTGF and started in the digital tech team. I built a portfolio of around 15 companies, most of which I’ve exited. The portfolio ranged from IT security to e-commerce, depending on what was popular at the time,” she recalled.  “In 2018, I helped build up the Berlin office, which has grown from a couple of people to about 17.” What makes HTGF different Most VC funds raise capital from limited partners, deploy it over a fixed fund lifetime, and are judged primarily on financial return. HTGF, by contrast, was created as a public–private partnership with a long-term mission to strengthen Germany’s — and Europe’s — innovation ecosystem. According to Plum, originally, when the fund started in 2005, Germany’s startup ecosystem was still in its early stages, and Seed financing had largely stalled. There were very few institutional investors willing to take the risk of backing tech founders at the idea stage. The fund was created to fix a funding gap. “Back then, it was seen as a public vehicle. The expectation was that the fund might lose money, 50 per cent research, 50 per cent loss. In reality, we’ve proven that early-stage investing can be both impactful and financially successful. We now have around 30 per cent private capital and 70 per cent public. There’s a misconception that public money limits us. It doesn’t. We can invest alone, set prices, and act like a normal VC. The only restriction is that we can’t match other public money.” Public mandate, private discipline HTGF’s capital comes from a mix of the German federal government, public institutions, and a large group of industrial partners. That structure gives HTGF a strategic and systemic role that goes beyond maximising short-term returns. While financial discipline matters, the fund is equally focused on technology transfer, industrial relevance, and helping research-driven startups cross the gap from lab to market. This also shapes how HTGF invests. It typically enters at the very earliest stages, often before a conventional VC would engage, backing companies that are still highly technical, capital-intensive, or long-cycle — particularly in life sciences, chemistry, industrial tech, climate tech, and deep tech more broadly. Many of these businesses require patient capital, strong operational support, and access to industrial networks rather than rapid scaling alone. Unlike many funds, HTGF is not tied to a single general partner model or a purely external-facing leadership structure. Each managing director is responsible for a specific investment domain and combines internal portfolio leadership with external ecosystem building — working closely with founders, corporates, research institutions, and later-stage investors. As well as anchor public investors like the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and KfW Capital, HTGF IV’s investor roster includes 45 companies from industry, including Adesso, Fraunhofer, Deutsche Bank, PwC and DHL, as well as SMEs and family offices.  HTGF’s ambition is to be financially successful — like any other VC — while keeping its political mandate in mind: investing early, taking risk, and crowding in private capital.  “Last year, for every euro we invested, about €14 came in from other investors, Plum asserts. “But we also need to be realistic. If we invest in something and no follow-on funding exists, that’s a problem. So we have to balance how far ahead of the market we go.” Emmerling agrees, asserting:   “We always have to think ahead of hype cycles. Topics come and go — blockchain, IoT, Industry 4.0, AI — but long-term you need a diverse portfolio that survives those shifts.”  The firm also thinks about follow-on funding: “If a topic isn’t attractive to later-stage investors, companies can struggle. So we have to balance technological conviction with market realities.” A Seed fund — with room to grow HTGF focuses on Seed investments, defined as tech companies younger than 3 years old.  Because HTGF specialises in Pre-Seed and Seed financing, most of its companies are very early-stage when it invests — so hitting billion-dollar valuations later is proportionally less common than for later-stage funds. Still, there have been notable exceptions, especially in life sciences: Cardior Pharmaceuticals, for example, reached a unicorn‑level outcome when Novo Nordisk agreed to acquire the company in a deal worth up to €1.025 billion. MYR is another example of an early HTGF success that later achieved a unicorn‑scale exit.  EGYM — a major standout in HTGF’s portfolio — officially became a unicorn in 2024 after raising around $200 million at a valuation. In addition, several HTGF companies raised major rounds in late 2025, including FMC, Neural Concept, and Tubulis, contributing to the €1.2 billion in follow‑on financing raised by the portfolio last year, with around 90% of that coming from private investors. HTGF’s portfolio: from space to biotech to cybersecurity Recent investments include: Marble Imaging: A Bremen Earth observation spacetech company developing a high-resolution satellite constellation and analytics tools to provide up-to-hourly data for defence, climate, and crisis response. Tubulis: A German biotech focused on next-generation antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) that secured a record-breaking €308 million Series C to advance its cancer therapy pipeline. TrustNXT:  A deep-tech spin-off developing cryptography-enhanced computer vision solutions to protect images and video from AI-driven manipulation and cyberattacks. SereneDB: A Berlin-based database startup building a unified search, analytics, and PostgreSQL engine to deliver real-time data insights without stitching together multiple tools.  RedMimicry: A cybersecurity startup offering realistic cyber-attack emulation to help organisations test and strengthen their defences against complex threats. nuuEnergy: A Munich-based energy startup combining digital planning and local craft installation to deliver high-quality heat pump solutions and simplify the energy transition for homeowners. Emerge Tech: A HRtech company founded by veteran founders from Babbel and WorkGenius that uses AI agents to greatly reduce recruitment costs and help SMEs enhance employer branding.  Acting as a bridge between startups and the Mittelstand A big part of HTGF's mandate is connecting startups with German industry.  “Many of our private LPs are Mittelstand companies,” shared Plum. “They often struggle to work with startups. We act as a bridge: they see our deal flow, co-invest, partner, and sometimes acquire portfolio companies.” Built for the long haul When asked how HTGF balances early-stage investing with the long innovation cycles typical of biotech and life sciences, the answer is patience backed by a broad portfolio. “We’re patient,” said Achim Plum. “Our first fund started in 2005, and we still hold around 30 companies from it. We don’t push for premature exits. Deep tech and biotech need longer cycles. Scientific breakthroughs, industrialisation and regulatory pathways don’t happen overnight. That’s why patience isn’t a luxury for us, it’s part of the model.” That long-term mindset is reflected in HTGF’s exit timelines. “On average, an exit takes around eight years.” Plum added. “Sometimes longer.” According to Dr Tanja Emmerling, HTGF’s ability to support long-cycle technologies is also a function of portfolio design. The fund invests at volume, allowing different technology sectors to mature at their own pace. “Our large portfolio helps,” Emmerling said. “We invest around 40 companies per year. Digital tech may move faster; life sciences take longer. But we can balance that.” Staying active in down markets While 2023 and 2024 reflected a downturn in funding across the sector, Emmerling revealed: “We never stopped investing — even during COVID. We stuck to our pace, which paid off. It also stabilises the market. When others pull back, we’re still active.” Plum agreed, asserting: “Consistency is a competitive advantage in downturns, and it creates opportunities. When others retreat, you can do great deals.” HTGF now has an Opportunity Fund that allows the team to invest up to €30 million into existing portfolio companies. The seed fund is capped at €8 million per company. “This helps us stay involved longer and avoid dilution,” explained Plum.  "We like the real challenges" Rather than chasing trends, HTGF uses a technology-first thesis investing in teams with deep technical insight and scalable innovation, across sectors such as industrial deeptech, life sciences and digital tech." Emmerling professed an interest in digital tech, proclaiming: “We like the real challenges, problems that are hard to solve, capital-intensive, and therefore difficult to copy.” “AI is everywhere, but we focus on concrete use cases: productivity tools, cybersecurity, health IT, legal and regulatory tech, and govtech.” At the risk of a massive understatement, Germany is very bureaucratic. Emmerling sees this as both a burden and an opportunity.   “Digitisation would change everything — even starting a company is still too slow here.” Category leaders, capital gaps, and Europe’s growth challenge For Plum, one structural weakness in Europe’s startup ecosystem is the tendency to exit too early — often before companies have a chance to become true category leaders. “We’d like to see more category leaders,” Plum said. “Too many exits happen too early.” A key driver, he argues, is the scarcity of late-stage capital in Europe. Without sufficient growth funding, startups are pushed toward early profitability at the expense of long-term scale. “Late-stage funding scarcity pushes companies toward early profitability, which kills growth,” he said. “In the US, companies grow aggressively while loss-making. Europe still struggles with that mindset.” In a significant shift for Germany’s venture funding landscape, the federal government has moved to integrate the DeepTech & Climate Fonds (DTCF) into HTGF, creating a more unified public–private VC platform spanning seed to growth-stage deep tech. The move is intended to reduce fragmentation between early and later-stage funding and give founders a clearer capital pathway as they scale. For HTGF, it reinforces its role as a central pillar of Germany’s — and increasingly Europe’s — deep-tech financing infrastructure. According to Plum;“With the vision of a joint investment platform, we are creating the public-private VC structure that Germany and Europe need right now: continuous innovation financing – from technological idea to market leadership. Companies like FMC and Proxima Fusion already show how seamlessly HTGF and DTCF complement each other. Talent isn’t the bottleneck — scale is While Europe is often framed as facing a talent shortage, both Plum and Tanja Emmerling see the issue differently. For Emmerling, the challenge lies in building a stronger market for innovation itself. “We need European buyers willing to pay for innovation,” she said. Plum is even more direct: “Talent isn’t the problem. Scale capital is.” He argues that Europe’s fragmented approach to growth financing and market building continues to hold companies back. “We need to think European, not national.” “Europe needs entrepreneurs willing to take risks” Looking ahead, Plum believes Europe must become more comfortable with risk — and with failure — if it wants to produce globally competitive technology companies. “Europe needs entrepreneurs willing to take risks,” he said. “Germany excels at incremental innovation — now we need disruption.” Failure, he added, should be seen as part of that process rather than an endpoint. “Failure isn’t the end. Founders who fail learn fast and often come back stronger.” Emmerling shares the optimism, pointing less to missing ingredients than to missing links.“The ingredients are all here,” she said. “We just need better connections between them.”

TaleMonster Games, an Istanbul studio founded by former Peak Games veterans, has raised $30 million in Series A funding led by Arcadia Gaming Partners and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with participation from Point72 Ventures and General Catalyst. The new round comes roughly eight months after the company closed a $7 million seed round. The company’s first game, Match Valley, combines traditional puzzle mechanics with elements from hero and tower defence genres. The game has shown strong early performance, including high user engagement and extended average playtime. Irem Sümer, CEO and co-founder, said the team is focused on expanding what casual games can offer: Today’s players are far more experienced than before. Having played mobile games for years, they now seek greater depth in their games. We see a significant opportunity to meet this shift in expectations at scale. While the global casual gaming market serves a very large audience, meaningful differentiation, particularly in the puzzle segment, has become increasingly limited due to common design approaches. TaleMonster’s strategy is to address this by developing games that offer broad appeal while introducing deeper and more distinctive gameplay. The Istanbul-based studio was founded by developers who previously worked on globally recognised titles such as Toon Blast and Toy Blast at Peak Games, which was acquired by Zynga for $1.8 billion. Sümer added: We are a team brought together by a passion for product and a deep love for games. Our mission is to create games that surprise players, challenge them, and evolve alongside them. Commenting on the investment, Akın Babayiğit, Founder and Managing Partner of Arcadia Gaming Partners, said that while early-stage companies often perform strongly in only a few areas, TaleMonster shows strength across multiple dimensions, including monetisation and retention. The company plans to use the new funding to continue developing and expanding its game portfolio.