Swiss electronics startup Minysa has secured €163,000 (CHF150,000) from Venture Kick to accelerate the development of its next-generation gallium nitride (GaN) control chips for high-performance power electronic systems. Founded by Salem Abid, Minysa develops GaN gate-driver integrated circuits that help manufacturers control GaN power devices more safely, efficiently, and compactly. The technology aims to reduce integration complexity while enabling smaller, cooler, and more reliable power systems for applications including satellite power conversion, motor drives, actuators, robotics, and industrial electronics. GaN-based power devices offer significant advantages over traditional silicon technologies, including higher power density, improved energy efficiency, and reduced heat generation. However, wider adoption has been constrained by complex control requirements, reliability challenges, and demanding qualification processes. The company's technology aims to address these barriers and support the deployment of GaN devices in high-reliability environments. The company is initially targeting the European space power electronics market, where efficiency, reliability, and technological sovereignty are increasingly important. Minysa has already built a customer pipeline in the space and high-reliability electronics sectors, including four space industry customers and two European Space Agency-funded programmes focused on power-management chips for power conversion systems and compact motor drives. The funding will support the development of Minysa's first GaN gate-driver ASICs for space and other high-reliability applications.

A London-based startup founded by a former Palantir healthcare executive who worked in NHS hospitals during Covid has raised £9.7m in a funding round. The funding round in Frontier Health was led by Atomico, the European VC firm, with participation from XYZ Venture Capital and Firstminute Capital. Frontier Health, which has raised £11.9m in total, is leveraging AI to carry out administrative tasks which are burdening patient care in the NHS. The startup, founded in 2024, points to projected figures showing healthcare systems facing a 10m worker shortfall by 2030, saying that fixing the administrative burden behind patient care can reduce this worker shortfall. It was founded by Rachel Finegold, who worked as Palantir healthcare lead at 40 NHS hospitals during the Covid-19 pandemic. She said she spent years working alongside NHS teams and saw first-hand how administrative bottlenecks impact patient outcomes. Finegold, its CEO, told The Times: “There physically weren’t enough administrators to support this integral machinery that needs to happen to keep patients moving through the system and to get patients their care.” Frontier Health has developed an AI agent, called Juno, which works with NHS administrative staff, helping teams navigate systems, complete routine tasks, such as booking appointments, identify risks, and keep patients moving safely through care. The tech will call on a human during a case if it does not understand something. According to its website, one client is East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust. The startup will use the funding to try to increase its presence across NHS trusts and increase the size of its 12-strong team. Over 50 per cent of NHS trusts in England are using Palantir software to reduce waiting lists. However, the BMA has called for the NHS to ditch Palantir, citing its use by the US immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Atomico said: "As healthcare systems face growing demand and limited resources, we believe supportive AI can become critical infrastructure, augmenting frontline teams and improving care delivery."

European transportation companies attracted significant investment in 2025 as investors backed technologies reshaping how people and goods move. Funding was concentrated around electrification, autonomous systems, logistics infrastructure, and shared mobility, with companies developing EV charging networks, digital freight platforms, micromobility services, and next-generation transport technologies securing some of the year's largest rounds. Germany emerged as the leading hub for transportation investment, accounting for several of the largest deals, while the UK, Sweden, and Spain also saw strong activity. Debt financing played an important role alongside venture capital, particularly for asset-heavy businesses such as fleet operators and infrastructure providers. The year's largest transactions underscored a broader shift toward sustainable and software-driven transportation. From electric vehicles and cargo drones to rail freight and remote driving technologies, investors continued to support companies building the infrastructure and platforms powering the future of mobility (for more detailed analyses of the European technology ecosystem, check out Tech.eu’s annual report: European Tech 2025 -The Big Picture). Here are ten transportation companies that raised the most in 2025. Amount raised in 2025: €1B Finn is a car subscription platform that offers flexible, all-inclusive vehicle access as an alternative to ownership or leasing. Customers can subscribe to cars online with insurance, maintenance, and registration included in a single monthly fee. The company aims to simplify car ownership through a fully digital experience while promoting sustainable mobility through an expanding fleet of electric vehicles. FINN operates across several European markets and serves both consumers and businesses. In 2025, Finn secured €1 billion ABS financing for fleet expansion. Amount raised in 2025: €300M Spotawheel is a Greek automotive marketplace that uses technology to simplify the buying, selling, and leasing of used cars. The company operates a fully digital platform offering pre-inspected vehicles, transparent pricing, financing options, and doorstep delivery. Active across multiple European markets, Spotawheel aims to make used car ownership more accessible and trustworthy through data-driven processes and customer-centric services. In 2025, Spotawheel raised €300 million in equity and debt financing to expand across Europe and grow its used car subscription fleet as demand rises for flexible alternatives to car ownership. Amount raised in 2025: $200M Polestar is a Swedish electric vehicle manufacturer focused on premium electric performance cars that combine Scandinavian design, advanced technology, and sustainability. The company develops a range of fully electric vehicles and aims to accelerate the transition to sustainable mobility through innovation and transparency. Polestar has set ambitious climate goals, including reducing emissions across its value chain and advancing the development of climate-neutral vehicles. Polestar raised $200 million in 2025 to support working capital needs and general corporate purposes as it continues to expand its electric vehicle portfolio and global operations. Amount raised in 2025: $100M Einride is a freight technology company that develops electric and autonomous solutions for road transport. Its platform combines connected heavy-duty vehicles, charging infrastructure, and AI-powered software to help businesses optimise logistics operations and reduce emissions. Operating across Europe, the US, and the Middle East, Einride aims to accelerate the transition to more sustainable and efficient freight transportation. Einride raised $100 million to expand its Saga platform, scale autonomous vehicle deployments, and accelerate international growth amid continued investor interest in Nordic deeptech. Amount raised in 2025: £65M Connected Kerb is an electric vehicle charging company that develops and operates public charging infrastructure for local authorities, businesses, and communities. Its solutions combine charging hardware, software, and data services to make EV charging more accessible, reliable, and future-proof. Focused on on-street charging, Connected Kerb aims to accelerate EV adoption by expanding charging access for drivers without home charging options. Connected Kerb raised £65 million in 2025 to accelerate the expansion of its public EV charging network across the UK and support the deployment of charging infrastructure at scale. Amount raised in 2025: $85M Dott is a micromobility company that operates shared e-bikes and e-scooters in cities across Europe and the Middle East. Following its merger with TIER in 2024, the company has become one of the region’s largest micromobility operators, providing sustainable transport alternatives designed to reduce congestion and emissions. Dott works closely with cities to integrate its services into urban mobility networks and promote cleaner, more accessible transportation. In 2025, Dott raised $85 million in new funding to expand its fleet of e-bikes and e-scooters, refinance existing debt, and support general corporate growth. Amount raised in 2025: $60M Upway is a mobility startup that operates a marketplace for refurbished electric bikes, making e-bikes more affordable and accessible. The company sources, inspects, and refurbishes pre-owned e-bikes before reselling them with warranties through its online platform. By extending the lifecycle of electric bikes, Upway aims to accelerate e-bike adoption and support a more circular and sustainable mobility ecosystem. Upway raised $60 million in Series C funding in 2025 to expand its refurbishment network across Europe and the US, scale its circular mobility platform, and achieve its goal of refurbishing and selling more than one million e-bikes annually by 2030. Amount raised in 2025: $60M Vay is a German mobility company developing teledriving technology that enables vehicles to be remotely operated by trained drivers. Through its platform, users can summon electric cars that are delivered driverless and then driven manually by customers. By combining remote driving with autonomous mobility technologies, Vay aims to make transportation more convenient, efficient, and less reliant on private car ownership. In 2025, Vay secured a $60 million investment to expand its remotely operated vehicle service and scale its teledriving technology platform. Amount raised in 2025: €32.9M Helrom is a rail freight and technology company that enables truck trailers to be transported by rail without the need for specialised terminals. Using its patented wagon technology, the company helps shift long-haul freight from road to rail, reducing emissions while maintaining the flexibility and reliability of road transport. Through digital tools and integrated logistics services, Helrom aims to make rail freight more accessible and support the decarbonization of supply chains across Europe. In 2025, Helrom secured a €32.9 million green loan for the sustainable decarbonisation of rail freight transport. Amount raised in 2025: €30M Dronamics is a cargo drone company developing and operating long-range unmanned aircraft for same-day freight deliveries. Its flagship drone, the Black Swan, is designed to transport cargo over long distances more quickly, efficiently, and sustainably than traditional air freight. By building a network of drone operations and infrastructure, Dronamics aims to transform middle-mile logistics and improve access to remote and underserved regions. In 2025, Dronamics secured up to €30 million in equity funding to advance its cargo drone technology, scale operations, and accelerate the deployment of its drone logistics network across Europe.

Ghent-based fintech startup Warren has raised €10 million in a seed funding round led by Motive Ventures, the venture arm of transatlantic investment fund Motive Partners. The round also included F Capital and follow-on investments from Entourage, Syndicate One, and 100IN. Founded to address shortcomings in Belgium’s supplementary pension system, Warren operates a workplace pension platform and financial coaching service designed to help employees better understand and grow their long-term savings. The company obtained an Institution for Occupational Retirement Provision (IBP) licence in 2025 and now manages its own pension fund, Warren Pension Fund OFP. The company believes that low yields, inflation, fees, and limited transparency can reduce the long-term effectiveness of traditional supplementary pension products. The vast majority of Belgians save for their retirement in financial products that erode their purchasing power year after year, even though retirement is by definition a long-term horizon. This is an enormous social problem whose severity remains chronically underestimated. It's not just about our pension. It's about our prosperity, today and for future generations, says Cedric De Vleeschauwer, co-founder and CEO of Warren. The company's pension fund invests through a diversified portfolio of equity and bond exchange-traded funds. According to Warren, employers can switch to the platform without increasing their existing pension budgets, while employees retain the full investment return, with no entry, exit, or assets-under-management fees. In addition to its pension offering, Warren provides a financial coaching platform that combines AI-powered guidance with access to human advisers. By integrating data from sources such as pension records, employee benefits, and banking information, the platform helps users make informed decisions about retirement planning, mortgages, insurance, and personal finances. According to the company, around 100 Belgian businesses, including Lighthouse, Yuki, Wintercircus, and Poppy Mobility, have adopted the platform, with thousands of employees actively using the service. The newly raised capital will support Warren’s continued expansion in Belgium and prepare the company for entry into additional European markets. The funding will also be used to grow its team, further develop its pension and financial coaching products, and scale its platform to serve a larger employee base across Europe.

Zurich-based agritech company OneSoil, which develops AI-driven solutions for precision agriculture, has secured €1 million in funding from existing investors, including Yury Melnichek, serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Cyprus-based venture fund Melnichek Investments. Founded in 2017, OneSoil has developed a platform that enables farmers to monitor fields, analyse productivity, create variable-rate application maps, conduct soil sampling, and run field trials. Over the years, the company has built extensive expertise in satellite imagery analysis and accumulated large datasets that now underpin its latest innovation. The company recently launched AI Agronomist, an AI-powered assistant integrated into the OneSoil app. Designed to process large volumes of field data, the assistant provides farmers with daily summaries of field conditions through a natural-language chat interface. AI Agronomist can identify areas requiring attention, such as zones affected by flooding or at risk of pest outbreaks, and recommend appropriate actions. Farmers can also query recent field changes or compare seasonal performance, with the system generating responses based on satellite imagery and real-time observations. AI Agronomist is essentially an additional brain for a farmer that remembers everything, calculates quickly, and provides the information needed to make operational decisions, explained Stepan Zulynskyi, CEO of OneSoil. From a technological perspective, AI Agronomist operates as a multimodal AI agent that combines multiple large language models and vision-language models. The system integrates publicly available technologies with proprietary models developed by OneSoil to identify field boundaries, detect crops, and analyse productivity zones across agricultural areas. The assistant is trained on data accumulated by the company since its founding. The newly raised capital will support the further development of AI Agronomist, expanding OneSoil’s precision agriculture platform with AI-driven capabilities aimed at helping farmers make faster and more informed operational decisions.

Earlybird and AVP have announced the launch of E2D, a €500 million growth-stage fund focused on defence and dual-use technologies. The fund will invest in European defence and deeptech companies and represents a collaboration between the two firms. Its limited partners include major financial institutions and corporates, with a first close scheduled for June 30. The launch comes amid a significant increase in defence spending across Europe. France has committed €76 billion to defence investments, Germany €152 billion, while the European Union has outlined an €800 billion defence plan. Against this backdrop, E2D seeks to address a longstanding funding gap for European defence and dual-use companies, which have often relied on overseas investors to secure growth capital. AVP and Earlybird bring complementary capabilities to the partnership, combining AVP's growth-stage and transatlantic investment experience with Earlybird's long-standing track record in European deeptech investing. The fund's team includes investors who have been active in the defence and dual-use technology sector for more than a decade. European defence is at a historic turning point, requiring a new generation of technology champions to safeguard sovereignty. By partnering with Earlybird in this Franco-German alliance, we will be able to move fast and invest in the companies that will have the greatest potential impact. The best European defence companies need investors who bring real sector conviction and pan-European reach; that's exactly what this partnership delivers, said Benoit Fosseprez, General Partner at AVP. E2D plans to invest in approximately 20 companies, with an average ticket size of around €25 million. The fund will focus on growth-stage businesses operating across key domains including space, air, land, maritime, and subsurface technologies, supporting both defence-focused and dual-use applications. We look forward to backing the best European high-growth, deep tech companies that will be instrumental in closing defence capability gaps while also addressing commercial markets, delivering decisive and persistent operational gains to European armed forces as well as primes. This will foster a more resilient and sovereign European ecosystem and ultimately unlock superior value for investors, added Roland Manger, co-founder of Earlybird. Beyond capital, the partnership aims to provide portfolio companies with access to a network of technology experts, operators, defence leaders, military procurement channels, and major industry players. The fund is also supported by an international strategic committee comprising military and industrial leaders from NATO, armed forces, and leading European defence companies.

Legal technology startup Turbo Law has raised $3.8 million in seed funding in a round led by Revo Capital, with participation from existing investors Treeo VC, BridgeX Ventures, Alchemist Accelerator, Gokul Rajaram, and several technology executives and litigation partners across the United States. Founded in 2025 by Jay Sarmaz and Ozgur Bora Gevrek, Turbo Law develops an AI-powered litigation platform designed for defence law firms and insurance carriers handling complex legal matters, including medical malpractice, insurance defence, and tort litigation. The platform connects to existing case files and transforms large volumes of legal records into a structured, continuously updated view of a case, enabling legal teams to manage matters from initial review through resolution. Unlike general-purpose legal AI tools focused primarily on research and document drafting, Turbo Law is built specifically for defence litigation workflows. The platform helps attorneys analyse records, draft legal documents, identify key facts and inconsistencies, assess case exposure, and support strategic decision-making through a continuously updated view of each matter. Defence litigation is one of the most operationally complex areas of legal practice. Teams review enormous volumes of information, make high-stakes decisions under tight timelines, and reassess strategy every time new evidence arrives. The hard part is holding a single, accurate picture of the matter as it changes. We build that picture and keep it live, so attorneys spend their time on judgment and strategy instead of reassembling the record, said Jay Sarmaz, co-founder and CEO of Turbo Law. Turbo Law is designed specifically for legal workflows, incorporating privilege protection, ethical walls, full auditability, and enterprise-grade security for confidential matters, attorney work product, and sensitive client information. Developed in collaboration with legal professionals, the platform aims to reduce administrative burdens and allow attorneys to focus more on legal judgment and strategy. In its first year, the company has gained traction among US-based defence law firms, processing millions of pages of legal records and supporting more than 1,800 active matters. According to the company, firms using the platform have reduced non-billable work and improved operational efficiency across litigation workflows. The newly raised capital will be used to expand Turbo Law's engineering, product, customer success, and go-to-market teams, further develop the platform's capabilities, and accelerate adoption among defence law firms, insurance carriers, and litigation-focused legal organisations across the United States.

Logistics technology company Cargofy has raised $11 million in a Series A funding round, consisting of $6 million in primary capital and $5 million in secondary transactions. The round was led by u.ventures, Toloka, and Movens Capital, with participation from Des Traynor, co-founder of Intercom, and several angel investors. Cargofy develops AI-powered digital workers that automate freight operations for logistics companies across Europe, the United States, and the Caspian region. The company spent several years embedded in freight operations, collecting large volumes of proprietary data before pivoting in 2023 to build AI agents trained on that data. Today, Cargofy provides AI agents designed to replicate the workflows of freight professionals without requiring companies to change their existing processes. The platform integrates with more than 70 logistics tools, including transportation management systems, ERP platforms, load boards, compliance systems, and communication channels. Its AI agents can handle tasks such as carrier communication, document processing, dispatch coordination, and follow-up activities around the clock across multiple languages and markets. According to the company, the technology enables logistics teams to increase operational efficiency significantly, allowing individual dispatchers to manage larger fleets and helping customers reduce operating costs. We're not building logistics software - we're building AI infrastructure where companies can hire digital employees for their operations. One person can now do the work of ten, and revenue per employee grows. That's how we see the future of this industry, said Stakh Vozniak, CEO and founder of Cargofy. The new funding will support the company's international expansion, including the launch of new operational hubs across Germany, the Netherlands, France, Spain, and additional regions in the United States. Cargofy also plans to expand its presence into new markets, strengthen its global team, and further develop its AI agents by extending automation capabilities from customer-facing processes to back-office functions such as billing, compliance, and carrier coordination.

Danish biofuel startup Kvasir Technologies has raised €10 million in a Series A funding round, attracting a new investment from European Energy alongside participation from existing investors EIFO, Mærsk Growth, and Footprint Fund. The funding is accompanied by a strategic partnership between Kvasir Technologies and European Energy. Together, the companies are establishing KVEEN Biofuels, a new venture focused on developing a commercial-scale biofuel production facility based on Kvasir Technologies’ patented technology. Kvasir Technologies, a spin-out from research conducted at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), has developed a process that converts non-edible lignin-based residues from agriculture and forestry into refined biofuels for the maritime sector. The resulting climate-neutral fuel is designed to serve as a direct replacement for conventional marine fuels without requiring modifications to ship engines or existing infrastructure. This investment round enables us to take the next crucial steps in developing and scaling our technology. At the same time, it underlines that there is still strong support for solutions that can deliver real climate impact in the maritime sector, says Joachim Bachmann Nielsen, PhD in Chemical Engineering and CEO of Kvasir Technologies. The company believes its technology addresses a key challenge for the shipping industry, where long asset lifecycles and significant capital requirements can slow the adoption of new fuels. By enabling the use of renewable alternatives within existing infrastructure, Kvasir aims to simplify the transition away from fossil-based marine fuels. The newly raised capital will support the continued scale-up and commercialisation of the technology. Part of the funding will be used to expand operations at the company’s test facility in Fredericia, which can produce up to two tonnes of biofuel per day. In parallel, development work will begin on Kvasir Technologies’ first commercial-scale plant in Aabenraa, southern Jutland, where the technology will be demonstrated at industrial scale.

German AI translation startup DeepL has acquired a US audio streaming startup whose tech helps attendees at conferences and sports events get the same sound experience regardless of where they are sitting. DeepL has acquired San Francisco-based Mixhalo for an undisclosed sum, as it looks to improve its AI translation offering. The acquisition, which follows DeepL axing around 250 employees last month, means that DeepL will have its first office in San Francisco. Cologne-based DeepL, last valued at $2bn, is known for its AI text translation and writing tools. It has also recenlty moved into voice-to-voice translation. It says more than 200,000 businesses use its translation tech. Founded in 2016 by two musicians and a technologist, Mixhalo provides AI-powered, real-time sound, including in numerous languages, at live events such as major sports, entertainment and conference events. Event attendees install the Mixhalo app, connect it to the concert, and plug in their headphones to get the same sound quality wherever they sit, Mixhalo says. Its tech has been used at Metallica and Sting gigs as well as MLB and NASCAR events, and by brands Verizon and T-Mobile. Describing the rationale behind the deal, DeepL, which Mixhalo already uses as its main translation provider, said it was “integrating ultra-low-latency audio infrastructure” into its offering at large-scale events. It added: “This enables translated speech and captions to reach audiences clearly and instantly, from smaller live settings to tens of thousands of attendees, while preserving the pace and natural fluency of live speech.” Mixhalo has raised nearly $40m, including seed investment from Pharrell Williams, and investment from Founders Fund, Fortress Investment and Cowboy Ventures. Jarek Kutylowski, founder and CEO of DeepL, said: "The team has solved one of the hardest problems in live audio, which is delivering high-fidelity sound to thousands of people at once with basically zero latency.  "Together, we're building the real-time Language AI layer for communication, so people can understand each other naturally wherever they are interacting, whether that's in team meetings, customer calls or even major international events."

Ukraine and France are officially launching BRAVE FRANCE, a major joint defencetech initiative. Ukraine's state defence cluster, BRAVE1, alongside the French Defence Innovation Agency (AID), has established a joint €20 million budget — contributing €10 million from each side — to fund breakthrough military solutions.This joint grant program will unite Ukrainian and French companies to co-develop cutting-edge technologies that directly address our most critical frontline challenges. With individual grants reaching up to €1 million, the first call for projects will launch this September. The primary focus will be placed on advanced missile technologies, unmanned systems, and next-generation aerial countermeasures.All solutions developed through the program will undergo rigorous validation in real combat conditions via BRAVE1's Test in Ukraine platform. According to Mykhailo Fedorov, The Minister of Defence of Ukraine: "The deal represents a highly strategic, win-win format of international partnership: Ukraine gains immediate access to battlefield-changing European technologies, while France secures a unique opportunity to adapt its defence innovations to a high-intensity modern war." The agreement was signed today by AID Director Patrick Aufort and Brave1 Operations Director Iryna Zabolotna, with the participation of French Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin.

Lithuanian defence engineering company PDKINEMATICS has raised a €2 million Seed round co-led by Coinvest Capital and Iron Wolf Capital.  The round also includes defence-focused angels and experienced founders from technology and high-growth industries. Modern drone warfare is at an inflection point. NATO allies are rapidly scaling drone capabilities as the foundation of their military posture, and the EU has launched the European Drone Defence Initiative as a strategic flagship under the Defence Readiness Roadmap 2030. Five European allies have already agreed to jointly develop UAV-based strike capabilities drawing on Ukrainian battlefield experience. Without precision guidance systems, however, their combat potential remains limited. PDKINEMATICS was purpose-built to develop, deliver and scale precision guidance capability at the speed and cost that modern drone warfare demands, bridging battlefield-validated technology into NATO defence supply chains.  The portfolio includes both end products and enabling technologies for precision guidance and strike systems, serving UAV manufacturers, defence integrators, and European armed forces. The company built significant operational momentum ahead of the seed round. It has already signed a strategic partnership with Bavovna.ai, one of Ukraine's largest bomber-class UAV manufacturers.  PDKINEMATICS’ systems are now integrated into Bavovna’s platforms and deployed in battlefield conditions. This has created a framework for the system’s deployment across Ukraine and NATO, with pilot milestones already completed on both sides.  Beyond Ukraine, the company has partnered with SiraLab, an Italian UAV manufacturer, as part of its European go-to-market strategy.  PDKINEMATICS’ systems were also selected for Iron Wolf 2026, Lithuania's largest international military exercises, validating its performance in a NATO-standard operational context.  According to Rapolas Markevičius, CEO and Co-Founder of PDKINEMATICS, the team began working on precision guidance for UAVs because the battlefield demanded something that did not yet exist: precision at altitude, at the cost and form factor of a mass-produced drone munition.  “The most capable guidance science in history was developed for large aircraft and expensive programmes that only superpowers could afford.  We are rebuilding it for the platforms that actually dominate today's battlefield, applying modern R&D on top of those proven guidance principles and packing them into manufacturable, deployable systems for modern UAV warfare. With this comes scale, deployment speed and cost-to-effect advantages for operators at significantly lower size and cost thresholds." Gannet, the company’s flagship product, is a low-SWaP-C (size, weight, power, cost) precision-guidance system for UAVs that enables operators to fly up to 700 metres, up to six times higher than with unguided munitions, without sacrificing accuracy.  In Ukraine alone, approximately 300,000 drone-deployed munitions are dropped monthly, almost all unguided. On top of this, the Gannet system is jam-resistant, platform-agnostic, capable of operating in challenging weather, and designed to integrate across diverse UAV types in under four weeks from handshake to first flight. Viktorija Trimbel, Managing Director of Coinvest Capital, co-founder and board member of Defence Angels European Network, said:  "Precision guidance is becoming the foundational capability of modern drone warfare, and PDKINEMATICS is building it at the cost and speed the market demands.  This company was first brought to our attention by experienced defence angels in our network. Together with the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union we invited the team to The Flaming Shield to stress-test the solution and gather direct feedback from military end-users. That is when we started putting the deal together.  This is exactly the kind of company the Baltic defence ecosystem needs to be producing: deep technology, battle-validated, and with a clear path to NATO-scale deployment.” Žygimantas Susnys, Founding Partner of Iron Wolf Capital, said: "Precision-guided systems are the future of modern warfare. The PDKINEMATICS team combines entrepreneurial drive with deep engineering talent and moves at the speed this moment demands. They have earned credibility in Ukraine, and we believe it positions them to become a defining defence technology company for NATO allies."  Alongside Gannet, PDKINEMATICS is developing a portfolio of proprietary engineered components for integration by UAV manufacturers: a proximity fuse for armoured-target engagement to be integrated into loitering munitions and interceptors, and a suite of counter-EW components. Looking ahead, the company aims to become a main precision guidance technology provider for NATO-aligned UAV manufacturers, bridging battlefield-validated technology from Ukraine into European defence supply chains.  A NATO member state naval deployment is already in the pipeline, marking the first naval application of the system and a landmark for Baltic defence technology. The capital will be used to scale manufacturing and expand deployments of the company’s precision guidance systems for UAVs across Europe and Ukraine.

Berlin road freight startup NexDash today announced €2.5 million in funding from EIT Urban Mobility. The investment is a pre-Series A commitment securing EIT Urban Mobility’s Series A participation. Road freight is one of the hardest sectors to decarbonise. Heavy-duty trucks account for more than a quarter of road transport emissions in the EU, yet the industry remains highly fragmented, with thousands of small and medium-sized carriers operating diesel fleets under constant margin pressure. While electric truck technology is maturing and regulatory pressure is increasing, adoption remains slow. For most operators, the transition requires capital, operational expertise, and the ability to manage a fundamentally different fleet model. NexDash is building the foundation for a new generation of logistics: acquiring established mid-sized trucking companies, transitioning their fleets to electric vehicles, and operating them through its proprietary AI platform, NexOS.  The startup is spun out of Platform Horizons (P6N), the investment platform built by Michael Cassau, founder and longtime CEO of tech-rental unicorn Grover.  The collaboration with EIT Urban Mobility marks a key step in advancing sustainable logistics at scale.  By combining NexDash’s operational model with EIT Urban Mobility’s pan-European ecosystem and mission to foster greener, more efficient urban mobility, the initiative aims to accelerate the transition to zero-emission freight while strengthening supply chain resilience across Europe. "We welcome EIT Urban Mobility on board. Their investment fuels what we do best: electrifying freight - fleet by fleet, route by route, across Europe," said Michael Cassau, Founder and CEO of NexDash. "NexDash represents a new generation of freight operators in Europe, combining technology and operations to accelerate electrification at scale. We’re excited to back this strong team on their journey ahead,” said Johannes Kirschner, Investment Manager at EIT Urban Mobility. Following closely on the company’s first acquisition, March Transporte in Rheinbach (NRW), the newly secured funding will accelerate the conversion and expansion of its fleet across its core markets.

Solar Foods has secured €77.8 million in grant and loan financing to support the construction and commissioning of Factory 02. The funding package comprises a €39.6 million grant and a €38.1 million R&D loan, awarded under the company's participation in the Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI) programme, which was approved by the European Commission. Solar Foods has developed a proprietary microbe that feeds on carbon dioxide (CO²) and hydrogen to grow a high-protein food ingredient called Solein.  Detaching food from agriculture, Solein can be grown anywhere, taking just 0.1 per cent of the land and 1 per cent of the water that a similar amount of beef would. Solein is a nutrient-rich and versatile ingredient that can replace protein in virtually any food. Solein can also be used as a fortifier to complement the nutritional profile of various foods: it can be a source of iron, fibre and B vitamins, and it can also bring different techno-functionalities into food products. “We are pleased with Business Finland’s funding decision. Solar Foods has executed its financing plan, communicated in October last year, with determination, and this funding decision is a significant part of the total financing in line with the company’s strategy”, says Rami Jokela, CEO of Solar Foods. According to Lassi Noponen, Director General of Business Finland: “Our role is to raise the level of ambition in Finnish R&D by sharing risk with companies pursuing transformative innovations. Projects like this carry risks, but they are exactly the kind of high-ambition, high-expertise investments Finland needs to create entirely new industries and future growth.” Earlier this month, Solar Foods also announced that it had received an order for Solein from an unnamed US-based lifestyle company. The order will be used for product development, with the partner planning to launch consumer products containing Solein in the United States. The grant will be used for the implementation and ramp-up of Factory 02 in co-operation with strategic partners, as well as Solein’s large-scale commercialisation and the development of scalable business solutions and the expertise generated in the project. The loan is intended to be used to upscale and optimise Solein’s production process at Factory 02 and to achieve the targeted productivity, energy efficiency, and optimal product characteristics.

Tryll, the company behind an on-device AI engine for video games, has raised a $600,000 pre-seed round from Early Game Ventures, reaching a valuation of $6 million. The funding will be used to further develop the product and expand the company’s go-to-market efforts ahead of a broader launch. Alongside the funding announcement, Tryll has launched the closed alpha of Tryll Engine, its platform that enables game developers to run AI models directly on players’ hardware. By processing language models, speech recognition, and speech synthesis locally on a player’s device, the engine allows studios to build AI-powered game experiences without relying on cloud infrastructure or incurring per-message costs. Tryll Engine is designed to simplify the integration of AI into games. Through plugins for Unity 6 and Unreal Engine 5, developers can add conversational characters and voice interactions while running AI workloads locally on players’ GPUs. Commenting on the announcement, Aleksandr Glotov, CEO and co-founder of Tryll, said that one of the company’s goals is to reduce the technical complexity of implementing AI in games, allowing developers to focus on creating gameplay experiences rather than managing AI infrastructure: The catch is that the AI behind all this is hard to build and run, and that's exactly what we take care of at Tryll Engine. We handle everything on the AI side so developers can use it as creative material and stay focused on what only they can do - designing mechanics, inventing genres, working in prompts and systems instead of infrastructure. The company plans to continue developing its platform as it prepares for a wider release later this year and expands access to developers exploring new forms of AI-driven gameplay.

A London-based AI startup founded by three former Palantir employees, which is looking to modernise ERP systems, has raised $60m in new funding. The Series A investment in Conduct was co-led by new investors Index Ventures and Iconiq, with a strategic investment from another new investor, SAP, with participation from existing investors Creandum, Lucid Capital and Booom. Conduct has raised around $72m in total, following a $12m seed round last year. Conduct is an enterprise AI startup that helps companies understand, operate and modernise complex legacy ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems, particularly SAP ones, which is the dominant ERP provider. Its software analyses code and configurations across enterprise systems, then uses AI to leverage that data to help companies better understand ERP systems, speed up software changes, support SAP migrations, and cut IT maintenance, it says. Conduct’s customers include Daimler Truck, Heidelberg Materials, and DHL. The 2024-founded startup says it will use the new funds to expand engineering and go-to-market teams among other areas. Conduct employs around 35 people in London and is hiring in the US. Jan Philipp Haas, CEO and co-founder of Conduct. “Every major enterprise is being asked where its AI results are? "The honest answer, in most organisations, is that the systems AI needs to work on today cannot be fully comprehended by humans. “Decades of customisation have made them opaque, even to the people running them. "The same opacity that slows people down stops agents entirely, because an agent can only act on a system it understands. Conduct makes those systems legible and operable. That is the foundation everything else depends on."

Flagright, the AI operating system for financial crime compliance, has raised a $12.5 million Series A funding round led by Infinity Ventures, with participation from Sella Bank and continued backing from existing investors including Frontline and Y Combinator. The funding will support Flagright’s continued growth as it expands explainable AI capabilities across compliance operations and strengthens its presence in the United States market. Financial institutions are facing growing pressure to manage increasing transaction volumes, evolving financial crime threats, and rising regulatory expectations, while AI is rapidly becoming part of everyday compliance operations. Yet much of the existing compliance infrastructure was not built for this environment. Many organisations still rely on rigid legacy systems or fragmented point solutions that create operational complexity and limit adaptability. Flagright was built to address this challenge. The company provides a unified AI operating system for financial crime compliance that brings together transaction monitoring, watchlist screening, risk scoring, case management, AI forensics, investigations, and governance workflows within a single platform. By combining enterprise-grade compliance infrastructure with explainable AI, Flagright enables compliance teams to improve alert investigations, optimise monitoring systems, strengthen decision-making, and enhance operational efficiency while maintaining transparency, auditability, and human oversight. Baran Ozkan, co-founder and CEO of Flagright, said: The financial crime compliance stack is being rebuilt, and Flagright is the company to define the operating system layer for this category. Regulated financial institutions need a system that gives them speed, control, explainability, and auditability in one place. This round helps us accelerate our position as the enterprise standard for financial crime compliance by expanding explainable AI use cases across compliance operations and increasing our US market presence. Highlighting the role of explainable AI in modern compliance operations, Madhu Nadig, co-founder and CTO of Flagright, said financial institutions increasingly require integrated systems that bring together monitoring, screening, investigations, governance, and AI within a single environment. We are building the system of choice for sophisticated institutions that need AI they can trust, audit, and operationalise at scale. Today, Flagright serves more than 100 fintechs and banks across 30 countries. Its unified platform brings together transaction monitoring, watchlist screening, investigations, and governance in a single audit-ready system. Designed for modern compliance teams, it combines no-code controls, dynamic risk profiling, and explainable AI to support efficient, transparent, and governed compliance operations. As the industry moves toward a more unified and intelligent compliance infrastructure, Flagright aims to help shape the next generation of compliance technology. The new capital will support that effort by expanding AI capabilities across investigations, alert intelligence, rule optimisation, decision support, and audit-ready workflows, while growing its enterprise presence among banks, fintechs, credit unions, and other regulated financial institutions seeking to modernise legacy or fragmented compliance infrastructure.

NeuralTrust, a platform for securing AI agents, has raised a $20 million seed financing round, led by Alstin Capital, with participation from VentureFriends, Seaya, Kibo Ventures, Banc Sabadell, EA Ventures Plug and Play Fund, and Finaves, the venture capital fund of IESE Business School. NeuralTrust also receives public support from the European Innovation Council and Spain’s State Research Agency (AEI). The investment comes as enterprises expand the use of AI agents across business functions. As these systems are deployed across multiple teams, platforms, and vendors, organisations are placing greater emphasis on visibility, governance, and security. Industry analysts expect governance and oversight requirements for AI agents to become increasingly important as adoption continues to grow. Founded by Joan Vendrell (CEO), Victor Garcia (CTO), and Alejandro Domingo (COO), NeuralTrust provides a unified platform that enables organisations to discover, monitor, govern, and secure AI agents across their environments. The company currently inspects millions of AI agent interactions every day. Approximately 1.2 per cent of these interactions require intervention, including attempts to extract sensitive data, manipulate tools, or bypass operational controls. These threats are identified and mitigated in real time. Joan Vendrell, co-founder and CEO of NeuralTrust, said that as AI agents become increasingly integrated into enterprise operations, organisations are working to establish the controls and governance mechanisms needed to support their use. He added: Our mission has not changed since day one: turn AI security into a strategic advantage for the enterprises that will define the next decade. NeuralTrust’s platform combines three products: TrustGate, which manages agent traffic across models and tools; TrustGuard, which provides runtime security for AI agents; and TrustLens, which offers visibility into agent deployment and behaviour. Together, they provide a unified approach to AI agent governance, security, and monitoring. The company also contributes to AI security research and has identified and documented new attack techniques, including the multiturn jailbreak method known as “Echo Chamber” and the multimodal attack vector “Semantic Chaining,” both of which have been incorporated into the OWASP AI Security Project taxonomy. The new funding will be used to further integrate the company’s platform, expand its engineering team, and broaden support for the growing range of AI models, tools, and platforms being adopted by enterprises.

Good Tape, the Copenhagen-based creator of the novel security-first AI-powered transcription tool, has announced today the launch of its global initiative Names. The Names  campaign signifies Good Tape’s transition from a transcription utility into a champion for physical safety, mental health and professional integrity of journalists and truth-tellers worldwide. The campaign arrives at an era where press freedom faces growing challenges. According to the data from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a record number of 129 journalists and media workers were killed worldwide in 2025  — with Israel responsible for 2 of 3 deaths — more than any other year since the CPJ began collecting data in 1992.  Entering mid-2026, that number reached over 140 deaths since 2025 started, marking the second consecutive year-on-year record for press deaths in modern history.   Beyond physical fatalities, global media workers also experience severe censorship, surveillance, and a staggering 85 per cent rate of impunity for crimes committed against them. "When there's an increase in the killing of the ones that are out there trying to tell us the truth of what's going on, that's much bigger than anything we can do," shares Lasse Finderup, CEO and co-founder of Good Tape.  "The journalists that are on the front lines are not there for any reason of their own. They're there to do good... they're actually there to help and to inform and to bring a message on. So for those to be targeted and to be killed is tough. We need to protect journalists, because they are the truth tellers”. Founded in 2022, Good Tape has already been trusted by 2.97 million users worldwide while having transcribed more than 14 million files. Good Tape is renowned for its exceptional security, accuracy, and user-friendly interface. Check out an earlier interview with  Lasse Finderup, CEO and co-founder of Good Tape. To bring justice to those truth-tellers who are forever silenced, Good Tape has released an unconventional 8.5-minute video statement on YouTube and other Social Media channels, in which Good Tape CEO Lasse Finderup, alongside award-winning war correspondent and author Nagieb Khaja, reads aloud the names of journalists killed in the line of duty since 2025.   "Behind every name there is a person with a family, with a life, with beloved ones who are left... and behind every name you have a person who has risked their lives, and paid the ultimate price for telling us about what is happening”, said Nagieb Khaja, award-winning war journalist and documentary filmmaker.  "They're not in it for the money. They're not in it for fame. They're in it to convey the truth, showing how the world looks like. And if we don't understand how the world looks, we won't be able to act on it in the best way." As an extension of this campaign, Good Tape has introduced the Good Tape Grant. This new micro-funding initiative provides up to €500 in support to independent journalists and storytellers, along with the opportunity to have their pieces published on Good Tape’s homepage, which is visited by millions of people worldwide. While designed to fill the gap and primarily to empower media workers in developing countries, the grant is open to anyone who is working on a meaningful story and lacking the funds. With the Names campaign, Good Tape also honours, acknowledges and encourages its global community to support the vital work of NGOs International Media Support, The Rory Peck Trust and the Global Center for Journalism and Trauma, which support media workers with emergency financial aid, mental health care, professional development in crisis and life-saving safety training.

BAE Systems is committing €50 million to VC funds focused on backing European defencetech startups. The investments will expand on the Company’s longstanding approach to investing in future technology and forms the second stage of its recently announced Launchpad programme, which aims to accelerate disruptive innovation. Launchpad aims to address the challenge of moving defence technologies beyond prototype development by funding early-stage ventures or spinning them out as independent startups. This aligns with key priorities across Europe and the UK.  The programme is designed to leverage BAE Systems’ position as a technology innovator to support national priorities, including rapid technology incubation, sovereign capability and economic growth.  It also provides startups with access to customers across a broader range of sectors, like energy and advanced manufacturing. €25 million will be invested in two funds led by Expeditions and Lakestar, who are both working to help shape the future of European defence innovation by backing founders and technologies that aim to deliver next-generation capabilities for allies across the continent. According to Dave Ewing, Head of Technology Commercialisation at BAE Systems, the company has always valued the capabilities and ingenuity that early-stage founders bring to the table. “Building on our long-standing investment in innovation, we recently set up Launchpad as a win-win, aiming to spin out some of our own defence technologies to commercial markets while also backing start-ups who can bring something new to defence. This latest step means we’re full steam ahead on making that a reality.” Klaus Hommels, Founder and Chairman of Lakestar, said: “Europe is at a pivotal moment in redefining its security and technological sovereignty, and supporting the next generation of defence-tech founders will be critical to that effort. BAE Systems’ investment is significant as it brings together capital, deep sector expertise and access to markets to accelerate the development and deployment of the capabilities Europe needs to remain secure in an increasingly complex world.” According to Dr Mikolaj Firlej, co-founder and General Partner of Expeditions: “European defence-tech can drive the most transformative shift for our continent in a generation and Expeditions has been investing with this conviction for years. Our security can no longer be assumed; it has to be built. Its architects will be the founders deploying innovative products at scale, in weeks and months rather than years, drawing on lessons from the frontline.”