Grenoble-based Scintil Photonics, a company developing integrated Photonic System-on-Chip (PSoC) solutions for AI infrastructure, has closed a $58 million Series B round. The funding will drive global hiring, accelerate production, and expand its international footprint as it launches the industry’s first single-chip DWDM light engine. Built on its proprietary SHIP™ (Scintil Heterogeneous Integration Photonics) process, Scintil’s technology integrates lasers, photodiodes, and modulators onto a single chip, replacing dozens of discrete components to deliver higher performance, efficiency, and density for next-generation co-packaged optics (CPO). Drawing on more than 15 years of research at CEA-Leti, one of Europe’s leading semiconductor institutes, the company has a strong head start in heterogeneous silicon photonics. The Series B funding supports the commercial ramp of LEAF Light™, the industry’s first PSoC DWDM-native light engine, aligned with next-generation co-packaged optics (CPO). DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing)-native means the single-chip device can output many precisely spaced wavelengths, dramatically increasing bandwidth while lowering energy use. By reducing power per bit, LEAF Light™ also helps cut the carbon footprint of AI data centres. Matt Crowley, CEO of Scintil Photonics, shared: This investment marks a pivotal moment for Scintil as we move to full-scale deployment. Our SHIP™ technology enables integrated photonic solutions with the scalability, energy efficiency, and integration density required to power next-generation compute infrastructure. This efficiency not only reduces data centre operating costs but also contributes to lowering the carbon footprint of AI infrastructure. With LEAF Light™ entering high-volume production, we’re expanding from our base in Grenoble into the international markets, including the US, to support the world’s most advanced AI factories. Built on Scintil’s SHIP™ platform, LEAF Light™ enables low-power, high-density optical connectivity, delivering 6.4 Tbps/mm edge bandwidth density today, at roughly one-sixth the power consumption of conventional pluggable solutions. It’s designed for scale-up GPU clusters and emerging AI systems, with reference packaging and integration support to accelerate deployment. The round was led by Yotta Capital Partners and NGP Capital, with strategic participation from NVIDIA and continued backing from global and regional deep tech leaders. Existing investors Supernova Invest, Bpifrance, and Innovacom also joined, alongside prior strategic backers Robert Bosch Venture Capital (RBVC), Applied Ventures, and ITIC-Taiwan, reaffirming their strong confidence in Scintil’s technology platform and market potential. Vincent Deltrieu, Managing Partner at Yotta Capital Partners, said: Scintil exemplifies the kind of innovation leaders we look for, combining advanced manufacturing, deep-tech leadership, and meaningful impact on the energy demands of AI infrastructure. Scintil’s integrated photonics platform is essential to scale the next generation of AI factories. We’re excited to support their global growth as they move to high-volume shipments. Bo Ilsoe, Managing Partner at NGP Capital, added: Integrated photonics is becoming a foundation of all AI infrastructure, and Scintil is turning that future into reality. Their technology delivers the bandwidth density and energy efficiency AI factories require with global scalability. We’re excited to support Scintil as they scale deployments and become a leading player in building the next wave of compute and data infrastructure. The funding will allow Scintil to accelerate hiring and strengthen its US presence while continuing to build from its strategic base in Grenoble. Situated at the centre of Europe’s advanced semiconductor ecosystem, the company benefits from close ties to institutions like CEA-Leti and leading global players in the region, giving it access to top talent and a collaborative innovation environment. Backed by leading investors and trusted by industry pioneers, Scintil is well-positioned to provide the integrated optical technologies required by next-generation AI factories.

Embedded finance provider finmid has expanded its reach to 30 European markets, transforming growth options for over 32 million SMES across the region. finmid has added Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, France, Hungary, Ireland, Malta, Romania, Iceland and Switzerland to the list of countries it is serving,  providing a single, easy-to-access service right across the EU and neighbouring countries.  Historically, platforms struggled to offer financing across Europe due to a complex patchwork of local regulations and infrastructure. This created an uneven playing field, where a company's access to capital was determined by its location, not its growth potential. But finmid’s single financial layer for the single market achieves a goal that EU regulators and policymakers have struggled with for decades.  “Europe’s dream of a single market has been held back by a financial system that stops at borders,” said Alexander Talkanitsa, Co-founder of finmid.  “Embedded lending has always had the potential to change that, but the reality was fragmented and slow. With this rollout, any platform can, for the first time, offer capital to its customers everywhere in Europe.” Embedded lending has become a lifeline for small businesses in recent years, with the decline of local banking networks and traditional lenders still relying on outdated credit scoring. Difficulties in securing finance have created a €400 billion financing gap for Europe’s SMEs.  finmid’s integration gives platforms the ability to extend capital to new markets on equal terms, no matter where businesses are based, at the touch of a button.  According to Max Schertel, co-founder of finmid:  “At finmid we’re solving the problems that hold back SME businesses, often small family-run companies, from growing, even when demand for their product is there. I’ve never been prouder than seeing the companies we support able to open new premises or buy essential equipment.  finmid’s embedded finance is not only achieving the key European ambition of a borderless, single financial layer for the single market but delivering for those businesses that create jobs and deliver prosperity.”  Since launch, finmid has extended more than €4 billion in capital offers to European SMEs via partners including Wolt, Glovo (Delivery Hero), Bolt, and more.  Data from its network has shown that platforms offering finmid’s embedded finance can increase Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) by up to 45 per cent and reduce churn by 70 per cent.  However, fewer than one in ten SMEs benefit from embedded lending, but finmid’s technology will make it easier for many more underserved small businesses to increase revenues by giving them access to capital on terms that suit their cashflow. Existing partners Wolt and Glovo are already planning to extend their financing solutions in the newly enabled markets, using finmid’s speed and ease-of-use to open new countries quickly and without friction.  “For us at Wolt, the success of our merchants is at the heart of what we do,” says Anniina Heinonen, Managing Director, Payments at Wolt.  “We’re always looking for new ways to empower them, and access to additional financing has been a clear need across many of our markets. By working with finmid, we can now meet that need and help local businesses across Europe grow without delays.” Lead image: finmid. Photo: uncredited.

Mistral, the French AI company, has bagged a €1.7bn funding round, more than doubling its valuation to around €11.7bn, in a funding round which sees the Dutch chip equipment firm ASML take a major stake in Mistral as part of a strategic partnership. Mistral is seen as a French rival to the US frontier model companies like OpenAI and Anthropic and the funding comes at a time when massive funding rounds in frontier model companies show no signs of abating as companies battle for supremacy. The funding round in Mistral also marks something of a victory for European tech sovereignty, as the EU looks to become less dependent on Silicon Valley. ASML ploughed €1.3bn into the funding round, with other investors in the round including existing investors Nvidia, DST Global, Andreessen Horowitz, Bpifrance, General Catalyst, Index Ventures and Lightspeed. The new valuation of around €11.7 billion more than doubles Mistral’s previous €5.8bn valuation last year during its €600m funding round. The strategic partnership between Mistral and ASML, which now becomes Mistral's biggest shareholder owning 11 per cent, will see Mistral’s AI models leveraged across ASML’s portfolio as well as for research purposes. According to Bloomberg, ASML is the producer of lithography equipment used by semiconductor equipment firms to make chips for products like Apple iPhones. Christophe Fouque, ASML CEO, said: “The collaboration between Mistral AI and ASML aims to generate clear benefits for ASML customers through innovative products and solutions enabled by AI, and will offer potential for joint research to address future opportunities.  “We believe that this strategic partnership with Mistral AI, which goes beyond a traditional vendor-client relationship, is the best way to capture this significant opportunity. We also believe that this collaboration is value-enhancing to Mistral AI.” Arthur Mensch, Mistral CEO, said: “We're back to school! Very proud of our team accomplishments, and honored to partner with ASML in our next phase. We're very excited to push frontier AI capabilities in science and technology, with exciting releases ahead."

If I were thinking of an issue that would get Berliners up in arms, it wouldn't be a bunch of coffee shops. It would be Berlin's rental crisis, cuts to arts and culture, the 3.2 km extension of the Berlin Autobahn at a cost of over €720 million, or the police assaulting people protesting Israel's genocide in Gaza.  LAP Coffee (short for Life Among People), founded in Berlin in 2023, has quickly made waves with its stripped-down, highly automated approach to speciality coffee service, stirring debate across the city's café scene. In less than two years, the company has opened 15 locations in Berlin and four in Munich, and is hiring for its launch soon in Hamburg. Its rapid expansion, backed by venture capital funding, has drawn strong criticism from some journalists and locals. At the heart of the backlash? It's complicated, but it largely boils down to the fact that a couple of VC-backed migrant entrepreneurs built a fast-scaling coffee brand that offers cheaper, higher-quality coffee than you'll find at McDonald's or Starbucks in urban neighbourhoods — and more, and built a community. I spoke to CEO and co-founder Ralph Hage to learn more about the controversy and why LAP fills a gap in Berlin's cafe culture. Confessions of a Melbourne coffee snob Before I get into a deep dive into LAP, I should put my bias upfront and centre. I am from Melbourne, Australia, which means I am a terrible coffee snob. I'm currently drinking homemade cold brew made with a gadget from Japan, accompanied by a dash of milk and large ice blocks. I've lived in Berlin for almost a decade, and when I moved here, I was stunned by the poor local coffee offerings — mostly bakeries selling burnt, bitter coffee from machines alongside sweaty meat and salad rolls and factory-baked pastries and bread housed in glass cabinets full of wasps. God forbid you asked for iced drinks, and you could only pay cash.  There were  — and are — of course plenty of cafés, but they are usually crowded, and many don't open until 10 am or later.   I drink LAP coffee.  LAP is a café community that aims to provide decent coffee at an affordable price on the move. It aims to disrupt the market held by McDonald's McCafe, as well as the aforementioned bakeries and spätis (convenience stores). LAP's microstores target people seeking a to-go coffee, and it's cheap: an espresso costs €1.50, an Americano €2, and a latte €3. Alternative milks and ice are FREE. It also offers speciality drinks flavoured with matcha and yuzu and a selection of health-focused drinks that contain ingredients like collagen, protein, and mushroom extract. It uses coffee roasted by Berlin's 19 grams (I also buy their beans to use at home).  Why two entrepreneurs think Germany deserves better coffee Image: LAP co-founders, Tonalli Arreola and Ralph Hage. LAP was founded by Ralph Hage and Tonalli Arreola in 2022.  Ralph Hage is a seasoned entrepreneur with a background in operations, finance, strategy, and brand development. Prior to LAP Coffee, he founded Yababa, a Berlin-based online grocery delivery startup focused on delivering speciality Turkish and Arabic groceries — otherwise hard to find through mainstream channels — directly to customers.   Previously, he was the VP of Operations & Finance at wefox Group and held senior roles at Omio, Delivery Hero, and Quandoo. He began his career in finance at Standard Chartered Bank before moving into brand management at Red Bull. Co-founder Tonalli Arreola previously worked at Flink as a GTM and Rider Operations, and stints at GM, and head of growth at Lime.  Hage has spent about seven years in Berlin with work experience in the US, Asia, and the Middle East. "For me, coffee is a daily product: consistently high quality, always affordable, consumed multiple times a day with friends and family. It's not only a luxury item. Like wine or olive oil, you can have a range of quality, but there should always be decent quality at a decent price." Like myself, Hage admits, "My expectation when I came here to Berlin was very different from the low-quality bakery coffee I found. Shouldn't standards evolve? That question makes some people uncomfortable." According to Hage. "Germans drink more coffee per capita than anyone in Europe, but mostly at home. Speciality coffee consumption is the lowest in Europe.  So the market is particular: lots of low-quality bakery coffee and only a small niche of high-quality coffee shops." Small shops, big strategy: how LAP scales coffee differently LAP micro-retail spaces are compact, with minimal seating. Branding is a distinctive blue and white. While young professionals characterise LAP customers in their 20s and 30s — mobile, active, lifestyle-focused, the pricing attracts construction workers, police officers, all kinds of people looking to grab a coffee.  When you dig into LAP, you see a circularity of tactical decision-making that benefits other aspects of the business.  According to Hage, supply chain challenges are significant for coffee shops and cafés in Germany. "In the US, companies like Odeko manage logistics for cafés: "Everything from beans to cups to cleaning supplies, ordered from one dashboard. That doesn't exist here. Most independent cafés waste time chasing 20 suppliers instead of focusing on customers." Then there's real estate: big prime locations aren't profitable. And most menus contain too many SKUs.  He explained: "We simplified operations, centralised prep, automated processes, and chose smaller locations. That allows us to deliver quality at affordable prices." According to Hage, the company began with the assumption that high prices are no longer effective.  "People are making less money, inflation is up, and the masses have less disposable income. If you build a €5 cappuccino business, you're targeting a tiny slice of the market. Instead, we aim for volume — everyday consumption at affordable prices. That's why we can survive alongside speciality cafés charging double " One of the main criticisms of LAP is that it's seen as at risk of replacing independent cafés. For example, Philipp Reichel, who runs Isla Coffee in Neukölln, told German media RBB:   "I think that LAP Coffee will become more and more present in the next few years and will displace many stores." However, Hage counteracts: "By driving traffic into neighbourhoods, we also help other cafés on the street. Since we opened on Rosenthaler Platz, three other coffee shops opened on the same street — all doing well, including us. In Südkreuz, more cafés have opened nearby, too. Why? Because we drive traffic. The latte economy we create helps the whole neighbourhood." In an interview with the migrant-focused magazine Berliner, Hage pointed out that "in a city with thousands of cafés — 2,270 in Berlin compared with 1,200 Spätis — LAP's shops account for only 0.5 per cent of the market." But it hasn't stopped the ire of its detractors. The stores are criticised on Google Maps, received aforementioned negative press, and dedicated anti-LAP social media campaigns dig into everything from investors backing dual defence to the lack of seating while another journalist slated a social media video featuring people visiting the Kreuzberg Kotti Fotoautomat because "it is typically occupied by people struggling with active addictions looking for a concealed spot to use drugs."  Hage admits he was shocked by the journalistic backlash to LAP. "Articles were written without ever contacting the company, and he reveals, "And these weren't just false stories — they had repercussions. Our stores were vandalised, our people attacked. I'm from the Middle East, born during war, so I know what rough looks like. But seeing a teammate crying in a corner because of this? That's not normal." Few new coffee giants emerge, which is exactly why investors want LAP LAP Coffee has had two rounds of funding: initially from Roundtable, Origins Fund, HV Capital, FoodLabs, and more recently, New York's Insight Partners — this was, of course, also criticised by its detractors.  But LAP is no cash cow; the early days were brutal, admits Hage. "I burned through my own cash, ran out personally. German banks don't lend to small businesses.  So, I turned to my entrepreneurial friends and people back home. It was more of a community fundraiser. FoodLabs supported us with a convertible. Later, a family office joined the team, followed by additional investors once we achieved product-market fit. We never planned to be a "VC story." We didn't even announce rounds. Deutsche Startups just dug through registers and turned it into a VC story." According to Hage, when it came to VC money, Germany's thirst for coffee, and the economics of LAP appealed from its microstores to digitisation and automation. "We provide smaller, affordable spaces with a focus on product. Once you scale many of those, you have a large customer base. Then you can diversify: put special drinks in cans, sell them in supermarkets. That scalability is what attracts investors." Hage's background in the food and beverage industry has given him a strong network within the sector, but he acknowledges the difficulty of breaking into an established consumer category. "When was the last time you saw a new competitor to Red Bull or Coca-Cola?" he asks. "Or a new global coffee brand? Maybe Blank Street in the US or Luckin in China — but there are very few." And that scarcity, he notes, is precisely what draws investor interest. (Author's note: speaking of Cola, I've been watching Gaza Drinks make a splash at home in Melbourne with interest — and now Germany is home to Palestine Cola. )  Why automation lets LAP pay baristas more, not less What about the tech behind LAP? Well, LAP's coffee-making configuration is something that– you guessed it …  really upsets its detractors.  LAP also distinguishes itself by paying staff fully on the books — a rarity in a sector where it's common for employees to be partly off the record and paid cash in hand, and it's all down to its digitisation, automation and other efficiencies that make it possible to offer baristas higher wages without inflating staff numbers. Hage explained: "We designed equipment with Eversys and Ubermilk. Machines automate grinding, tamping, and milk frothing. That ensures consistency, reduces waste, and saves barista time. Multiply that across 150 drinks, and you save hours of paid labour." "Our baristas earn above market, plus sales-based bonuses. In busy stores, they can make up to €17 an hour. Even in the worst case, it's higher than the average. We also give extra holidays, benefits, and training. Some baristas have grown into area managers. For us, barista work isn't a side job — it's a profession." The LAP model has the potential to be applied to other product categories, such as ice cream, burritos, and bagels. Hage contends that  "any high-frequency consumer product: ice cream, burritos, bagels, is possible." When coffee meets culture: inside LAP's social playbook Image: Daniel Nguyen. One thing that most interests me about LAP is its successful community building. From the beginning, LAP was all about community, admits Hage.  "We even designed our first deck like an Apple keynote — the brand story was personal, from the Mediterranean blue colour to being an immigrant building a community." LAP turns the idea of Ray Oldenburg's third place coffee shops on its head by creating virtual-physical community fueled by a vibrant presence on social media with 27k followers and counting, and partnerships with brands and influencers in sports, music, and fashion.  Think Sol de Janeiro, Highsnobiety, Bumble, Adidas, On Running, and Lululemon. It hosts running clubs, impromptu DJ sessions, pop-up vintage markets, and 'Bring Your Dog' parties. Kanye West turned up at its first store opening block party.  To be clear, the microstores are not coffee shops to linger on couches or conduct Zoom calls — laptops are banned at almost every coffee shop in Berlin anyway — but more of a quick-stop or a meeting place to get things started.  Hage contends: "Community isn't about square meters. It's about moments. We've hosted free music festivals, parties, brand collaborations, and run clubs. Customers who come for a coffee on a Tuesday will come back for those events. Community is the ability to send one message — "come to our event" — and people show up because they feel connected." It's a trend that local Berlin entrepreneurs are further embracing with a new wave of tricked-out spätis, like SUPERSPÄTI, which has a dedicated TikTok page and offers stand-up comedy shows and live MCs, while Gen-Z-founded SPÄTI BOOTH shows a changing of the guard. It makes sense as more and more nightclubs are closing due to the changing interests of younger generations who drink less alcohol.  So what's next for LAP? Digitisation and loyalty Hage contends that its current stamp card program works, "but we want to evolve it through tiers, baskets, and app integration. Technology — both back-of-house and customer-facing — will be crucial for scaling. That's one of my main projects, once I find more time away from current distractions." Ultimately, the backlash against LAP highlights Berliners' uneasy relationship with change. As Hage puts it: "At the end of the day, we're just making coffee more innovative and more fun. Turning that into a critical story is ridiculous." But I, for one, will be looking forward to my next coffee.

Stockholm-based Saltfish, a startup building the video engagement layer for websites and software products, has raised $730,000 in its first round. Its technology enables companies to embed personalised, interactive video experiences into their sites and products, boosting engagement and conversion across the customer journey. The internet is undergoing its biggest transformation in two decades. With LLMs reducing organic traffic, each website visit matters more than ever, yet over half of visitors still drop off within the first 10 seconds. Saltfish addresses this with personal, 1:1 interactive video embedded into websites and software, capturing attention instantly, adapting to each visitor, and guiding them through the funnel. In its first months, the platform has powered hundreds of thousands of experiences for companies such as Bokio, Contrast, and OtterlyAI, delivering double-digit lifts in engagement, activation, and conversion. Co-founder Simon Blackman explained: For the last 20 years, websites and products have been static, one-size-fits-all, forcing the audience to adapt to the content. “In every other interaction in life — whether you’re explaining something to a friend, giving a demo, or making a pitch — you adapt to the person in front of you. We’re bringing that same adaptability to all digital touchpoints with personalised, interactive video, making the web more dynamic, personal, and engaging. The round was led by Antler, with participation from angel investors including Martin Koiva (Klaus), Juha Valvanne (Nosto), and Moaffak Ahmed. Tobias Bengtsdahl, Partner at Antler, commented: The UX of the future will be human and personal,  and that's exactly what Saltfish is making real today. We're super excited to be the first backers of this AI rocketship, led by a stellar founding team with deep engineering experience from Spotify and SeenThis. Saltfish was founded by Simon Blackman, Magnus Friberg, and Henrik Eriksson, a team with expertise in video, AI, and data science. Their track record includes pioneering work in natural language processing and building advanced video streaming tools used by publishers worldwide. The new funding will accelerate the development of Saltfish’s video generation platform and support collaborations with global teams to deliver more engaging and personal digital experiences.

Swedish EcoDataCenter has secured €600 million in debt financing from Deutsche Bank Private Credit and Infrastructure to enable further growth and continue driving progress in advanced digital infrastructure. EcoDataCenter is an operator and European leader in high-performance digital infrastructure, serving the most demanding cloud and AI applications. Founded in 2014, the company designs, builds, and operates state-of-the-art facilities that combine technological excellence with one of the lowest carbon footprints in the industry. Peter Michelson, CEO of EcoDataCenter, shared: AI infrastructure is a new base industry, and we are building one of Europe’s most exciting companies in the sector. We are proud of the trust placed in us and look forward to continuing our journey toward becoming Europe’s leading player in high-performance data centres. EcoDataCenter has rapidly emerged as a leader in digital infrastructure. In 2024, the company entered a collaboration with AI hyperscaler CoreWeave to build one of Europe’s largest AI clusters in Falun. Shortly thereafter, it acquired the Kvarnsveden paper mill in Borlänge to establish additional data centre capacity. Since 2023, EcoDataCenter and its owner, Areim have secured a total of approximately €1.8 billion in financing. The new capital will primarily be used to continue the expansion of the Falun and Borlänge campuses. Johan Rydmark, CFO of EcoDataCenter, commented: Our platform attracts partnerships with world-leading companies, and we have a proven ability to deliver the scale and flexibility our customer’s demand. The fact that we can attract financing of this magnitude is a testament to the strength of our business model and the confidence the market has in our team and strategy. Now it’s full speed ahead. EcoDataCenter launched its first facility in Falun in 2019 and has since expanded with data centres designed for high compute capacity. Its technological expertise and commitment to sustainable development have attracted the trust of global clients, including BMW, DeepL, and CoreWeave.

Architect AI, a startup pioneering the world’s first agentic website platform, has closed a $4.75 million seed round. The funding will accelerate product development, grow the engineering team, and scale go-to-market efforts across Europe and North America. Founded in 2024 and headquartered in London and San Francisco, Architect AI enables businesses to deploy autonomous web agents that generate content, interact with customers, and optimise workflows in real time. Most websites remain static, digital brochures that don’t adapt to each visitor. Architect AI changes that by transforming any site into a self-learning AI agent that observes behaviour, generates context-aware content, and automates workflows in real time. The result is a dynamic, personalized experience where two people visiting the same page may see entirely different content tailored to their needs. Ted Eltringham, Co-founder and CEO of Architect AI, shared: We call it giving your website a brain. Because that’s literally what we’re doing. And once you see a website that can think, you can’t go back to one that can’t. We’re on a mission to turn every website into a tireless AI collaborator. This seed investment turbocharges our roadmap, allowing us to push the boundaries of what websites can do and bring agentic experiences to businesses around the globe. Co-founded by Ted Eltringham (CEO), Luke Ramsden (CPTO), and Chris Nicolas (COO), the team combines deep technical expertise with proven experience in scaling high-growth startups, bringing together entrepreneurial drive, advanced technical knowledge, and operational excellence. Visitors can already interact with Architect AI–powered sites: ask questions, challenge the content, and watch as the site reorganizes itself in real time. Every conversation makes it smarter, every visit teaches it something new. Luke Ramsden, Co-founder and CPTO of Architect AI, added: Bringing Architect AI from prototype to production in under 12 months has been an incredible journey. With this fresh capital, we’ll grow our London engineering hub, deepen strategic partnerships, and open a larger U.S. office in early 2026. The seed round was led by Project A, with participation from Concept Ventures, early backers of Eleven Labs, and strategic investor Insiders Ventures. Malin Posern, Partner at Project A, commented: Architect AI’s agentic web technology represents the next frontier in digital engagement. Their rapid execution and visionary team convinced us they’re set to redefine how companies interact with online audiences. Early clients are already seeing transformative results. Michael Hoy, CEO of Atlas, highlighted: The platform’s ability to understand visitor intent and dynamically create content on the fly is extraordinary. We’re not just seeing better engagement metrics; we’re having more meaningful conversations with our customers because the website itself can think and adapt. It’s a complete paradigm shift for what we thought a website could do. Over the next six months, Architect AI will focus on building its enterprise sales pipeline and hiring AI engineers and product managers to support growing demand.

Alkmist, a platform designed to bring structure and clarity to disorganised documents and communication, has raised €1.8 million to further develop its platform, strengthen its marketing, and accelerate its European expansion. In financial and legal workflows, inefficiencies in communication consume nearly a third of professionals’ time. Hours are lost chasing updates, sending reminders, and requesting documents, with a single audit generating, on average, 2,000 emails. Data security and transparency add to the concerns. Seventy-four per cent of auditors and financial professionals say they are unsure where their information actually ends up. With Alkmist, teams and external partners can finally work together in a clear and efficient way. The platform brings everything into one overview, from planning and tasks to approvals. Behavioural science plays a key role. Insights such as loss aversion and positive feedback nudge users towards timely follow-up and smoother interactions. Collaboration speeds up by as much as a third. The system is independent and available as white-label, allowing organizations to keep their own identity. The team is also building a central knowledge base where all information is bundled and preserved, even when staff change. Since June, Alkmist has been ISO 27001 certified, confirming the highest standard for data security and management. Dr. Mathias Celis, co-founder of Alkmist, shared: The way organizations collaborate today on audits, acquisitions, or tax files is still stuck in old habits. Crucial documents drift around in inboxes, status updates vanish, and processes are barely automated. That lack of oversight and efficiency weighs heavily on everyone involved. Alkmist is also building smart agents that automatically check, link, and fetch documents. They verify information, connect data dumps to the right requests, and pull files directly from systems like OneDrive. Clients instantly know which documents are already taken care of. Toto De Brant, co-founder of Alkmist, said: With Alkmist, we’ve built a modern tool that radically simplifies collaboration in complex processes. Interest from abroad is growing fast. Demand is so high that we’ve even had to start a waiting list. This capital injection allows us to meet that demand. Within five years, we want to be the standard for multi-party collaboration, the default workspace where everyone has clarity and control. The round is led by Network Venture Partners, with additional participation from Lighthouse executives Ivo Minjauw, Peter De Moor, and Eva Metsu. Ivo Minjauw, Chief Product Officer at Lighthouse, commented: I’m impressed by how Alkmist’s AI agent vision manages to streamline complex collaboration in one of the most conservative markets. It’s rare to see such an innovative solution that not only brings technological progress but also helps transform an entire sector through psychological insights. The strong demand from the market, with major pilots and a waiting list of dozens of interested parties, shows just how relevant and scalable this product is. With this funding, Alkmist plans to expand its platform beyond audit into broader domains such as accounting, finance (M&A, PE, banking), insurance, tax, and legal. At the same time, the startup is developing smart AI agents to streamline collaboration in conservative markets.

Vienna-based AI startup fonio.ai has acquired Linz-based AI phone assistant fluently in an asset deal. With this transaction, fonio.ai integrates its largest competitor in the Austrian market to date, further cementing its leading position in Voice AI solutions. Daniel Keinrath, CEO and co-founder of fonio.ai, said: AI phone assistants are one of the most natural applications of artificial intelligence, and we were fortunate to start very early in the DACH market. That head start has given us tremendous momentum in recent months. The acquisition of fluently marks a major step forward. We anticipate further consolidation in the market. Fluently, launched by Linz-based digital agency softwarebude.at, offers a conversational AI platform that manages inquiries, books appointments, and integrates with calendars and CRMs. Fully customizable to each business’s tone and compliant with GDPR and the EU AI Act, Fluently quickly became one of Austria’s leading AI phone assistant brands, serving around 450 customers and emerging as a key competitor to fonio.ai. Moritz Weibold, Founder of fluently, explains: We decided to sell in order to focus on further growing our digital agency. Scaling fluently in parallel would have required shifting our entire focus to the AI business. Given the speed at which technology and the market are evolving, and the pace of fonio.ai, it simply wasn’t feasible for us. As part of the asset deal, fluently will be integrated into fonio.ai, while softwarebude.at will continue operating independently and serving its clients on fonio.ai’s infrastructure. In addition, the agency will become a strategic partner, distributing fonio.ai’s AI solutions and developing tailored automations and integrations, for example, linking fonio.ai with platforms such as HubSpot, Salesforce, or SAP. Founded in Vienna in 2024, fonio.ai provides AI-powered phone assistants that automate customer communication 24/7. The platform answers calls, forwards inquiries, books appointments, and integrates with CRM and ERP systems, while every interaction is transcribed and can be stored, shared, or connected to existing tools. In under a year, fonio.ai has grown to over 2,000 customers and now automates more than 800,000 calls monthly with a team of just eight. With average monthly growth of about 30%, the company is on track to reach 5,000–8,000 customers by year-end, establishing itself as the leading AI phone solution provider in the DACH region. The market for AI phone assistants is only just beginning to take shape. As the DACH market leader, fonio.ai is playing a central role in defining it. Our next step is international expansion, with the clear goal of becoming a global player. We want to prove that it’s possible to build an international tech leader out of Austria, concludes Keinrath. Lead image: Matthias Reiner, Moritz Weibold, Daniel Keinrath | Photo: Kurt Keinrath

Amsterdam-based OAASIS, a company that uses AI-driven software to make advanced supply chain management and optimisation accessible to SMEs and mid-market firms, has raised €2.9 million and is officially entering the Dutch market. OAASIS was founded by Dutch entrepreneurs Wouter Samama and Lucas Koster, who together bring over 25 years of senior experience in supply chain management and technology at multinational companies, including Procter & Gamble and Kraft Heinz. With OAASIS, they have developed an AI-powered, modular platform that unites advanced technology with expert services in a single end-to-end solution. Their mission is to make supply chain management and optimisation at the level of large corporates accessible to SMEs and mid-market companies in the consumer goods industry. Wouter Samama, CEO of OAASIS, shared: Compared to large international corporates, smaller companies often lack the right software, processes and expertise for optimal supply chain management. The complexity means that many opportunities for optimisation remain unknown and untapped, while they could have a major impact on results. With OAASIS, we bridge this gap and enable these companies to operate at the same level with ease. The platform uses advanced AI models to optimise complex supply chain operations into an efficient and transparent ecosystem. It provides users with instant visibility across the entire chain and supports smarter decisions in purchasing, production, inventory, and logistics through data insights, scenario analysis, and forecasting. This is what sets OAASIS apart from other providers in the same price segment. Samama explains that OAASIS is nothing like a traditional inventory management platform: It’s a tool that calculates all possible scenarios for optimisation, even when there are constraints or trade-offs to consider, such as how much inventory is needed to ensure high customer service levels. Another distinctive feature of the platform is the support provided by experienced supply chain planners, managers, and engineers, who can be engaged by clients as needed.  OAASIS not only provides world-class technology but also offers additional support when needed. This allows our clients to get the most out of the software and complement the expertise of their in-house teams. This combination of ‘software and services’ enables supply chains to transform for maximum efficiency and optimal results, says Samama. Finally, its modular, plug-and-play design ensures OAASIS can be up and running within a month and easily scaled as the company grows. The use of the platform promises a minimum ROI of 300 per cent, can boost customer satisfaction by up to 99 per cent, improve inventory accuracy by up to 30 per cent and reduce annual operational costs by up to 10 per cent. OAASIS has secured funding from HGT Invest to develop its platform and build a strong team of 11 professionals, with Pieter de Haas joining Wouter Samama (CEO/CFO) and Lucas Koster (CTO/COO) as CCO. Arie Thomassen, Director at HGT Invest, commented: By combining smart technology with hands-on support, OAASIS provides significant value to smaller companies looking to continuously optimise their supply chains. We have complete confidence in the team, led by experienced management with a proven track record, and are excited to contribute to their growth. In the coming months, the company will focus on further growth within the Benelux, with the aim of expanding within two years to the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, followed by wider European growth and entry into other continents. The official launch of OAASIS is also marked by the onboarding of its first customers, including e-Luscious, Marcel’s Green Soap, Senza Tea, The Nice Company, and Élala.

Espoo-based Agate Sensors, a startup developing smart sensors for material analysis, has raised €5.6 million. The funding will help commercialise a breakthrough that shrinks spectroscopy from suitcase-sized lab equipment to a single pixel smaller than a grain of sand, integrated into a chip compact enough to sit on a fingertip. The round includes €4 million in seed funding led by Voima Ventures and LIFTT, along with an additional €1.6 million in grants from Business Finland. Founded in 2024 as a spin-out from Aalto University, Agate Sensors is pioneering chip-scale spectral sensing technology that merges photography, hyperspectral imaging, and biosensing into a single platform. Backed by leading scientific research and patents, the company enables light-based intelligence across healthcare, defence, environmental monitoring, and consumer electronics. Unlike conventional cameras limited to three colour bands, Agate’s sensors distinguish hundreds simultaneously, giving machines “superhuman” vision to reveal details invisible to the human eye. As demand grows for richer environmental awareness in AI and autonomous systems, Agate’s platform expands machine vision into new domains. Its smart sensors capture spectral data and, powered by AI, classify materials and objects in real time. This unlocks applications ranging from health monitoring in wearables to counterfeit detection, environmental hazard identification, and smart agriculture. By sharing this intelligence across networks, machines gain a deeper, more coordinated understanding of their surroundings, surpassing human vision. Tommi Leino, CEO of Agate Sensors, said: We’ve taken a spectrometer once confined to specialised labs and made it small and affordable enough to live inside everyday devices. One sensor can shift between functions entirely through software — from diagnosing a health condition to detecting, identifying, and classifying objects and materials — changing how we interact with the physical world. Initial chip production is expected by year-end, with proof-of-concept demos in 2026 and the first commercial smart wearables planned for late 2027. This funding allows us to commercialize a technology that fundamentally changes how machines perceive the world, added Mikael Westerlund, CBO of Agate Sensors.  We’re not just building sensors, but enabling a new layer of light-based intelligence. Agate Sensors’ software-defined spectroscopy platform reads the “spectral signatures” of materials through light analysis.  Dr. Andreas Liapis, CTO of Agate Sensors, explained: This technology is the result of over a decade of research in semiconductor physics and nanotechnology at Aalto University. For the first time, we are able to bring laboratory-grade spectroscopy to an integrated form factor suitable for mass market use. Niko Elers, Investment Director at Voima Ventures, added: Agate Sensors’ platform is a leap forward in hyperspectral sensing: software-defined, scalable, and truly high-performance. It holds immense potential to reshape industries that rely on precise optical measurement, and we are very excited to support the company on the journey ahead. Defense is among the earliest market-ready applications. For example, the sensors can distinguish between real foliage and synthetic camouflage materials, or identify specific vehicle types through their paint signatures. Pierluigi Freni, Project Manager at LIFTT, commented: We believe this innovation will play a critical role in strengthening Europe’s technological sovereignty in defense and security. For the first time, we have a technology capable of mass deployment that allows machines to understand what they see. This changes everything we know about spectral data usability and usage. We confirm our trust and belief in the Finnish innovation ecosystem, in which we have decided to continue investing together with LIFTT Euroinvest, the investment vehicle we share with the European Investment Bank. The funding round will accelerate production of chip-scale sensors that give any camera the ability to instantly analyze what it sees, from food and health checks to counterfeit detection and critical defense applications.

ElevenLabs, the UK AI unicorn, has confirmed that it is carrying out an employee share sale at a $6.6bn valuation, double its valuation of nine months ago.The UK startup also says it has hit over $200m ARR (annual recurring revenue) in less than three years after being founded.Founded by two Polish entrepreneurs, ElevenLabs leverages AI to convert text into speech which sounds like it’s being read by human voices.The AI startup says it's carrying out a $100m employee tender co-led by Sequoia & ICONIQ at a $6.6bn valuation. Andreessen Horowitz, Smash Capital, and World Innovation Lab are also participating. Reports of the planned employee share sale emerged last week. The offer will allow staff who have worked at the startup for more than a year to cash in on their shares.In January this year, its valuation tripped to $3.3bn, after it raised $180m.In a LinkedIn post, CEO and co-founder Mati Staniszewski said: “Earlier this year, we surpassed $200 million in ARR and we expect to top $300m by year end. “We’re also rapidly approaching a 50/50 revenue split between our enterprise and self-serve customers, with enterprise revenue having grown more than 200% in the last year. “We feel it’s extremely important to give our people the chance to realize some of the value they’ve created and earned today. "We’re building for the long term with the aim of creating a generational company. Continuous liquidity opportunities will help our whole team align on that goal."Founded in 2022, ElevenLabs says its AI tools are capable of replicating voices with high accuracy. For example, the tech allows users to hear the voices of late Hollywood icons like Judy Garland and James Dean narrating books, articles, and other digital content. 

Stevenage-based biotech startup NRG Therapeutics has closed a £50 million Series B funding round as it moves towards clinical trials for its pipeline of treatments targeting mitochondrial dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases. The round includes an £8 million investment from the British Business Bank, alongside lead investor SV Health Investors’ Dementia Discovery Fund (DDF) and follow-on funding from M Ventures, Novartis Venture Fund, Criteria Bio Ventures, and existing backers Omega Funds and Brandon Capital. The Series B funding will support NRG’s transition from pre-clinical to clinical stage, with a particular focus on clinical proof-of-concept in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neurone disease (MND). The company also plans to generate initial clinical data in Parkinson’s disease. Founded to address the growing burden of neurodegenerative diseases, NRG Therapeutics is developing a new class of small molecule inhibitors targeting the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP), a mechanism associated with cell death and neuroinflammation. Its lead candidate, NRG5051, has shown strong neuroprotective effects in pre-clinical models of ALS/MND and Parkinson’s disease, including reducing neuroinflammation. Having completed IND-enabling studies, NRG5051 is on track to enter first-in-human trials in early 2026. “The pathological proteins in Parkinson’s and ALS/MND are toxic to mitochondria and contribute to the mitochondrial dysfunction which is a common underlying pathology in neurodegenerative diseases,” the company stated. “Inhibition of mPTP opening has been shown to protect mitochondria from this gain-of-function protein toxicity and to preserve neurons in pre-clinical models.” Neurodegenerative diseases remain one of the most challenging areas for drug development. Despite high failure rates in clinical trials, the growing prevalence of conditions like ALS and Parkinson’s, particularly in aging populations, continues to attract investors seeking scalable scientific innovation with long-term impact. “Developing new drugs to treat neurological diseases is very challenging but is receiving increased interest given the high unmet medical need and growing prevalence in aging populations,” said Dr. Neil Miller, co-founder and CEO of NRG Therapeutics. “These new funds provide the runway to advance our lead programme through PoC in ALS/MND, and to develop our portfolio of small molecule candidate drugs for other indications including Parkinson’s, offering new hope to the growing number of people and their families impacted by ALS/MND and Parkinson’s.” “We seek to back the best of UK life sciences, helping to turn breakthrough research into world-leading, fully commercial companies,” said Leandros Kalisperas, Chief Investment Officer at British Business Bank. “Like many of our life sciences investments, our investment in NRG Therapeutics is especially rewarding because it has the potential to help find a solution to one of the world’s largest healthcare challenges.” As part of the Series B transaction, Emma Johnson (British Business Bank), Laurence Barker (SV Health Investors), Charlotte Kremers (M Ventures), and Florian Muellershausen (Novartis Venture Fund) will join NRG’s board of directors, bringing added industry expertise as the company heads into clinical development.

AI-powered renewable energy forecasting company, Renewcast, has secured a €1 million SAFE  investment from 2C Ventures Fund I, marking a strategic extension of its 2024 SAFE round. Founded in 2020, Italy-based Renewcast delivers AI-powered forecasting solutions for the renewable energy sector. Leveraging proprietary digital twin technology, the company models complex weather patterns and asset conditions to provide intra-day, day-ahead, and multi-day forecasts. These insights enable utilities, grid operators, and renewable asset managers in Europe and the US to optimise operations and trading efficiency. With more than 1.8 GW of installed renewable capacity under active clients, Renewcast is rapidly expanding its footprint across key energy markets. The company currently runs over 10 pilot programs and serves four commercial clients in Europe and the US, with further growth aimed at India and Asia. Having already scaled more than 2.5x year-on-year, Renewcast is preparing for a Series A round in late 2026. Fabio Nicolò, CEO and Founder of Renewcast, said: This new investment is a vote of confidence in our long-term vision. Our team is growing, our commercial engine is ramping up, and our technology has proven it can deliver measurable value. We aim to be among the top 5–10 renewable forecasters globally within the next one to two years. With this funding, we will consolidate our tech team, scale our commercial efforts across Europe, the US, Latin America, and Asia, and prepare the company for institutional growth. The SAFE round remains open for additional investors up to €1 million, offering a unique opportunity to join Renewcast at a moment of accelerating growth, strong product validation, and market demand. Renewcast's platform, powered by proprietary AI and real-time data modelling, delivers best-in-class forecasting performance. Across client portfolios, Renewcast has consistently outperformed legacy systems, delivering 20–40 per cent improved accuracy and generating millions in annual value through reduced balancing costs. Hendrik Reimand, Founding Partner at 2C Ventures, commented: Affordable renewable energy is the foundation of transitioning to a sustainable economic model and ensuring energy independence. However, the rapidly increasing volumes and accelerating electrification of the economy make accurate forecasting ever more critical. We believe that Renewcast has the ingredients to become a global leader in energy intelligence – technical depth, early traction, and a clear commercial roadmap. This new funding will accelerate Renewcast’s global commercial rollout and reinforce its position among the world’s top renewable forecasting technology providers.

OpenAI has inked a deal with the Greek government, aimed at boosting the country’s startup ecosystem as well as rolling out its AI tools in schools.The deal will see Greece becoming one of the first countries to use a tailored version of ChatGPT, called ChatGPT Edu, designed for educational establishments.Greece will launch a pilot this year, with the first phase focused on AI literacy, helping teachers boost productivity and integrating AI responsibly with their work.Meanwhile, the US AI company is launching a Greek AI accelerator programme, which will prioritise AI startups focused on education, public services, healthcare and climate.This is the first accelerator programme that OpenAI has undertaken in Europe that's backed by the government.Chris Lehane, chief global affairs officer, OpenAI, said: “From Plato’s Academy to Aristotle’s Lyceum—Greece is the historical birthplace of western education. With millions of Greeks using ChatGPT on a regular basis, the country is once again showing its dedication to learning and ideas. “Recognising that nearly 60% of these users are under the age of 35, the Greek Government is opening a new educational chapter that prepares its people to seize the economic opportunities of the Intelligence Age. We are proud to stand alongside Greece as it pioneers how nations can bring AI into education for the next generation.” Greece has one of the highest percentages of STEM graduates in Europe, providing a strong educational foundation for AI skills and careers.  Last month, OpenAI launched its much-hyped GPT-5 model and two open-weight models.

Barcelona-based Integra Therapeutics has closed a €10.7 million pre-Series A round to advance its gene writing technologies designed to improve the safety, precision, and efficacy of advanced therapies. Founded in 2020 by Dr. Marc Güell and Dr. Avencia Sánchez-Mejías as a spin-off from Pompeu Fabra University, the company has developed FiCAT, a platform that combines CRISPR-Cas accuracy with an engineered piggyBac transposase to address major limitations in gene therapy, including payload size, stability, and accuracy, with applications in genetic, oncological, and autoimmune diseases. Avencia Sánchez-Mejías, PhD, CEO and Co-Founder of Integra Therapeutics, shared: Thanks to the support of our investors, we will continue leading innovation in cell and gene therapies and are getting closer to transforming the treatment of complex diseases like cancer, autoimmune diseases and rare diseases. The round includes €4 million from the EIC Fund and €2.7 million from CDTI Innvierte of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and University, alongside continued backing from AdBio Partners, Columbus Venture Partners, Invivo Partners, and Takeda Ventures. Svetoslava Georgieva, Chair of the EIC Fund Board, commented: We are happy to announce EIC Fund’s investment in Integra Therapeutics. We empower them to accelerate the development of groundbreaking therapies that have the potential to transform lives and advance the field of gene therapy on a global scale. The funding will support the integration of new advances into the FiCAT platform, preclinical validation of next-generation CAR-T therapies, and expansion of cell engineering capabilities to facilitate technology transfer to the pharmaceutical industry. In parallel, the company is developing its first gene therapy for a rare pediatric liver disease, supported by an EIC Accelerator grant.

Helsinki-based DataCrunch, a provider of high-performance AI infrastructure, has raised €55 million in a Series A round to scale its compute platform and advance its ambition to become Europe’s first AI cloud hyperscaler. The round was led by byFounders, Skaala, Varma pension fund, and Tesi, with participation from J12 Ventures and angel investors. Debt financing came from Nordea and Armada Credit Partners, alongside Danske Bank, Norion Bank, and Local Tapiola. With this raise, DataCrunch’s total funding reaches €76.5 million since its founding in 2020. The company already serves major enterprises and innovators, with customers including Sony, Freepik, Schibsted, 1X, Unbabel, and several leading educational institutions. One-stop AI platform DataCrunch provides affordable access to compute clusters optimised for AI workloads, supporting research, training, and inference at scale. It is among the first globally to deploy NVIDIA’s HGX B200 systems, with B300 and GB300 integration to follow, ensuring enterprise users access to the most advanced hardware. The platform is rapidly evolving with innovations such as: Instant Clusters for distributed AI workloads, awarded bronze by SemiAnalysis’ GPU Cloud ClusterMAX™ — matching Google Cloud and outperforming 100+ providers. Serverless Containers, enabling high-volume, low-latency inference, already processing hundreds of millions of requests monthly. Addressing European AI Independence Europe’s AI market is projected to hit $1.4 trillion by 2033, yet US hyperscalers dominate nearly 70 per cent of the continent’s cloud market, while Europe’s largest provider holds only 2 per cent. This dependency raises concerns around sovereignty, compliance, and rising costs. Operating out of Finland and Iceland, DataCrunch is tackling this gap with a sovereign, scalable AI cloud powered 100 per cent by renewable energy, combining high performance, sustainability, and data locality. Ruben Bryon, CEO and Co-founder of DataCrunch, explained: European organisations are facing a critical choice: continue depending on foreign cloud providers or invest in local infrastructure that offers true data sovereignty. This funding enables us to accelerate our vision of becoming Europe's first AI cloud hyperscaler, providing enterprises with cutting-edge infrastructure that keeps their data secure, their operations compliant, and their environmental impact minimal. As regulatory, environmental, and technological forces converge, the company aims to become the default platform for enterprises seeking high-performance, compliant, and sustainable AI compute in Europe. Looking ahead, DataCrunch is strengthening its one-stop AI development platform with new features and upgrades. Upcoming releases include Managed Kubernetes for cluster management, geographically distributed Object Storage, and Managed Inference Endpoints with custom acceleration for cutting-edge generative models. In parallel, the company will enhance existing capabilities with improvements to Identity Access Management (IAM), APIs, serverless container cold starts, broader OS image support, and advanced network automation.  Securing EU-backed AI gigafactory In partnership with Latvia and international investors, DataCrunch has submitted a proposal to the European Commission to develop an AI gigafactory equipped with around 100,000 AI accelerators. Located in Latvia, with potential for additional EU sites, the facility would provide secure, regulation-compliant compute capacity for startups, SMEs, and research institutions, fully powered by renewable energy. Funded by DataCrunch’s investor partners, this project will further demonstrate DataCrunch’s competence as a provider of large-scale, secure, and energy-efficient computing infrastructure.  Henrik Rosendahl, board member in DataCrunch, commented: DataCrunch exemplifies the type of European tech leadership that’s essential today. As AI becomes increasingly integral to business operations, European enterprises are seeking infrastructure partners who not only grasp complex regulatory landscapes but also share their sustainability values. DataCrunch delivers on both, while providing access to the most advanced AI compute on the market. By maintaining 100 per cent renewable operations at scale, DataCrunch is positioning itself not just as Europe’s first AI hyperscaler, but also as a global leader in sustainable, regulation-ready AI infrastructure.

In August, European tech companies secured €3.2 billion across 189 deals, reflecting a 66 per cent drop in investment volume and 47 per cent fewer deals compared to July 2025. Despite this month-on-month slowdown, the market showed far greater strength than a year earlier, with investment levels up nearly 70 per cent year-on-year from €1.9 billion in August 2024, even though deal count fell slightly from 203 to 189. The UK led the way with €907.9 million in investments, followed by Italy (€504.8 million), Switzerland (€467.9 million), Germany (€331.1 million), and Sweden (€202.2 million), highlighting both the UK’s continued dominance and the growing role of other European hubs. By industry, energy (€746.9 million), software (€633.1 million), and healthtech (€514 million) stood out as the strongest sectors, underscoring investor appetite for long-term, transformative technologies. Simone Lavizzari, Investment manager at Join Capital, commented on the August numbers within the European tech investment landscape in our August Tech.eu Pulse, a compact version of the monthly report: Europe is bursting with talent, ideas, and the ability to lure back those who once left. But if we want real scale-ups and true category leaders, we need more than talent and capital. We need bold structural change: a true single market, and a single stock exchange. Until then, Europe will keep producing brilliance, just not enough breakthroughs. For his more detailed review and more in-depth analyses of the European tech ecosystem, including industry and country performance, exit activities, and more, check out our August report. Here are the 10 largest tech deals in Europe from August, accounting for approximately 59 per cent of the month’s total funding. Amount raised: €500M Bending Spoons is a Milan-based technology powerhouse that develops and operates a portfolio of widely acclaimed mobile apps, including Evernote, komoot, Meetup, Remini, StreamYard, and WeTransfer, used by hundreds of millions worldwide. The company combines design excellence with strong engineering, leveraging proprietary technologies and a highly data-driven, creative mindset to power its products. Bending Spoons secured over €500 million in debt financing to accelerate its acquisition strategy and strengthen its position in the technology, media, and telecommunications (TMT) sector. Amount raised: $300M Energy Vault pioneers long-duration, utility-scale energy storage using gravity- and kinetic-based systems. Their flagship "gravity battery" harnesses the potential energy stored in towering stacks of heavy composite blocks, releasing electricity when needed via reversible cranes. Their solutions span multiple technologies, from proprietary gravity storage and traditional batteries to hybrid configurations involving hydrogen, supported by advanced orchestration software to optimise performance across both operational and commercial metrics. Energy Vault raised $300 million to launch Asset Vault, a new subsidiary focused on building and operating energy storage assets. Amount raised: £220M Pulse Clean Energy is a UK-based leader in energy storage solutions, focused on stabilising and optimising clean energy networks through ethical and sustainable practices. Their innovations help overcome renewable energy’s inherent variability by advancing energy storage and grid optimisation. Notably, they developed the UK Storage Asset Emissions Impact Calculator, an open-source tool enabling real-time tracking and certification of battery storage systems’ carbon impact. Pulse Clean Energy secured £220 million in green financing to fuel the construction of six new ready-to-build BESS sites. Amount raised: €200M Ortivity is a German outpatient orthopaedic care platform, a physician-led network dedicated to revolutionising non-surgical orthopaedic treatments. Operating over 100 sites across three regional clusters (Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Baden-Württemberg), Ortivity unites top-tier practices under a shared philosophy of medical excellence, seamless patient experience, and operational innovation. By pooling resources across its network, Ortivity enables clinics to access cutting-edge equipment, advanced treatment methods, and digital tools, creating a unified ecosystem that enhances patient access, elevates treatment standards, and fosters sustainable growth. Ortivity closed €200 million funding round to scale its integrated outpatient model across Germany. Amount raised: €150M Aira is a Swedish clean energy technology company on a mission to decarbonise homes across Europe one at a time. With a vertically integrated model, from R&D and manufacturing in Sweden and Poland to end-to-end installation and service in markets like the UK, Germany, and Italy, Aira makes intelligent heat pumps accessible via affordable monthly plans with no upfront cost. Its solutions can reduce household heating bills by up to 40 per cent and cut CO₂ emissions by up to 75 per cent, supporting the transition off gas toward a cleaner, smarter energy future. Aira secured a €150 million investment to accelerate its operations and expand its intelligent clean energy technology offering. Amount raised: €150M Greenvolt Group is a Portuguese renewable energy company that generates power from forest residues, wind, and solar. Listed on Portugal’s PSI-20, it develops and operates projects across Europe, North America, and Asia, with activities structured around three business areas: Sustainable Biomass, Distributed Generation, and Utility-Scale projects. Greenvolt Group has raised €150 million to fuel its growth strategy, with a focus on expanding large-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS). Amount raised: £125M GoFibre is an independent broadband provider dedicated to bridging the rural digital divide across Scotland and northern England. By investing millions in state-of-the-art full-fibre infrastructure, the company delivers ultra-fast, reliable broadband, up to 1 Gbps, to underserved towns and villages. Driven by local teams and communities, GoFibre combines swift installations, UK-based customer support, and a commitment to environmental sustainability and community development. GoFibre has raised £125 million to support the rollout of two Project Gigabit contracts in South and North East Scotland. Amount raised: €106.2M Oculis is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to “rethinking ophthalmology to save sight and improve eye care.” Its pipeline includes innovative, non-invasive eye drop treatments for conditions such as diabetic macular oedema (OCS-01), dry eye disease (OCS-02), and acute optic neuritis (OCS-05), all built upon its proprietary OPTIREACH® drug delivery technology and designed to address stubborn unmet needs in eye health. Oculis has expanded its loan facility to provide up to €106.2 million in flexible financing, intended to support regulatory activities and late-stage clinical trials for its three core ophthalmic and neuro-ophthalmic asset candidates. Amount raised: $100M CuspAI is a UK-based frontier AI startup transforming materials science with its “search engine for materials.” The company harnesses generative AI, deep learning, and molecular simulation to discover breakthrough materials in months instead of decades, drastically accelerating innovations in sectors like carbon capture, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing. CuspAI has raised $100 million to drive growth, expand its platform, build partnerships, and scale hiring, paving the way for breakthroughs in material science. Amount raised: $100M Framer is a no-code website design and publishing platform that combines a fully flexible visual design canvas with built-in CMS, animations, SEO, A/B testing, analytics, and enterprise-grade security. Trusted by designers and high-performance teams, it makes it easy to create, collaborate on, and launch complex, high-traffic websites without writing code. Framer has closed a $100 million Series D, boosting its valuation to $2 billion and raising total funding to over $160 million.

Germany-based unmanned aerial systems (UAS) specialist Quantum Systems has announced a major strategic expansion into the UK market, committing up to €50 million in investment over the next five years. The expansion follows Quantum Systems' full acquisition of Nordic Unmanned UK, a move that solidifies its local footprint and underscores its intention to support the UK Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) 20-40-40 strategy. "Our mission is clear. The UK is investing in autonomy, resilience, and next-generation unmanned intelligence. With our UK hub, our acquisition of Nordic Unmanned UK, and the leadership of Vito Tomasi, Quantum Systems is committed to being the trusted partner delivering these capabilities for Britain’s defence and security," said Martin Karkour, Chief Revenue Officer of Quantum Systems. Quantum Systems plans to invest in local infrastructure, engineering, and industry partnerships, with an emphasis on building sovereign capabilities through the development of Service, Support, Training, and Logistics Center (SSTLC) capabilities on demand. The model is based on its localisation work in Ukraine, where the company has built forward-operating capacity for drone operations and maintenance. The company also plans to formalise a Memorandum of Understanding with Skyports at DSEI UK 2025, aimed at integrating drone logistics and transport solutions, further embedding Quantum Systems within the UK tech and defence ecosystem. The company has also appointed former Royal Marines officer Vito Tomasi as Managing Director of its newly established subsidiary, Quantum Systems Ltd. UK, as it aims to strengthen its position in the UK defence sector. A former Royal Marines officer with operational deployments in Afghanistan, Tomasi later worked in investment banking at Goldman Sachs and as an investor in deeptech at Speedinvest. "Quantum Systems is here to stay and deepen our investment in the UK. By investing in British talent, infrastructure, and partnerships, and by delivering our proven, battlefield-ready aerial intelligence systems, we will contribute to the UK’s defence priorities and even exceed expectations," said Tomasi. Headquartered near Munich, Quantum Systems has built a reputation as a leader in AI-powered VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) drone systems. Its drones are already in use across defence, emergency response, and industrial markets in Europe and the United States. The company’s expansion into the UK reflects growing European interest in strengthening domestic unmanned systems capabilities amid geopolitical uncertainty and evolving warfare demands.

Czech mental health platform Hedepy has acquired HearMe, a Polish provider focused on workplace mental health support. Active in nine markets across Central and Eastern Europe, Hedepy offers comprehensive services for individuals and businesses and plans to strengthen its position by consolidating the European market and integrating new brands. Founded in 2020, Hedepy is an online psychotherapy platform delivering mental health and psychiatric support to individuals, workplaces, and schools through an app with self-help tools. Within its first years, the company expanded into eight other European countries, including Poland. Lukáš Krčil, CEO and co-founder of Hedepy, commented: We’ve been active in Poland for three years, helping thousands of people, and we now see strong demand from companies in particular. Acquiring HearMe is a strategic step for us. It allows us to specialize further in corporate care, while also offering HearMe’s clients access to our services abroad. These synergies make perfect sense to us. Equally important is that we align on a human level and share the same vision of what modern mental health care should look like, not only in companies. HearMe, also founded in 2020, supports employers and HR teams by providing employees with psychological support through video and chat sessions, webinars, educational resources, and tailored well-being programs. Talks about the transaction began last autumn, with the final agreement reached in the first half of this year. Following the merger, both platforms will operate under the Hedepy brand and expand corporate services under Hedepy for Business, which will include employee therapy, mood tracking, webinars, and educational content. HearMe will enhance these offerings with locally tailored content and improved app functionality. Katarzyna Gryzło, co-founder of HearMe, shared: Merging with Hedepy is a logical step that opens doors to new markets while preserving the personal approach, high expertise, and quick accessibility, that our Polish clients value most. We considered several options but chose Hedepy because we share a similar company culture and a strong commitment to business with purpose. Hedepy plans to replicate the successful Polish model in other markets. Poland was crucial for us as it’s the largest market in our region with a highly developed mental health sector. We also greatly value having Katarzyna and Adam join our team. Adam brings extensive experience in consolidating the CEE market, and Katarzyna has deep expertise in providing corporate mental health care, adds Lukáš Krčil. The company expects to break even by the end of 2025 with a projected GTV of €13 million and is preparing for a new investment round. We are pleased that Hedepy continues to confirm its strong market position and prove it is moving in the right direction. The successful merger with the Polish platform has created a solid foundation for developing corporate services and paves the way for further acquisitions, says Jan Davídek, partner at Purple Ventures, one of Hedepy’s regular investors. Hedepy already leads the online psychotherapy market in Slovakia, Romania, and Greece, and is among the top providers in Slovenia, Hungary, Lithuania, and Ukraine. The platform works with around 1,000 therapists, delivering hundreds of thousands of sessions annually. Looking ahead, Hedepy plans to combine online and in-person care while responsibly integrating artificial intelligence into its services. AI represents a major technological advancement and is increasingly finding its place in mental health care. That makes it all the more important to approach its use thoughtfully and responsibly. This is exactly what we are working on now, says Lukáš Krčil. The acquisition adds over 80 corporate clients and more than 120 professionals, including psychologists, psychotherapists, coaches, nutritionists, and physiotherapists. HearMe’s founders, Adam Radzki and Katarzyna Gryzło, will join Hedepy’s leadership team, with Radzki driving business development in Poland as Head of Sales and Gryzło leading B2B marketing across the group.