A Swedish startup leveraging AI to improve sales productivity has raised €600k pre-seed funding, backed by high-profile names across Europe's tech ecosystem. The funding round in Spiich Labs was led by Ampli Ventures, with backing from Tandem Health CEO Lukas Saari and Creandum co-founder Stefan Lindeberg. One of the founders of Lovable and a European OpenAI executive are also backing the startup. Johan Torssell, CEO and founder of Stockholm-based Spiich, claimed he turned down a role at Palantir to launch the startup. The startup says its AI assistant automates CRM updates, meeting preparations, and follow-ups. It says its first AI assistant eliminates over eight hours of weekly admin work. The assistant integrates natively with HubSpot, and Google Workspace, allowing reps to update CRM records through text or voice commands from anywhere. It automatically generates daily meeting briefs by synthesising CRM data, email threads, and company research, then drafts personalised follow-ups based on conversation context. The startup says it already has customers in five countries.Torssell said: "I turned down Palantir to build Spiich after watching startup founders and their sales teams lose entire days to admin work that could be automated."Sales reps should be building relationships and closing deals, not populating fields in a CRM. We built the product that we wished existed - one that works wherever the sales rep is, through simple conversation. The traction in our first four months proved the market was desperate for this, and we’re just getting started."

Berlin-based CERPRO, a startup for industrial quality assurance, has raised around €2 million in a pre-seed funding round. The round was led by seed+speed Ventures, with D11Z as co-lead, and participation from EIT Manufacturing and Techstars. In many factories, engineering, quality assurance, and production still operate in silos. Documentation for incoming inspection and quality control is often created and checked manually in paper binders or Excel, leading to months-long backlogs. With labour gaps, higher costs, and stricter standards, manufacturing needs automated, measurable workflows. Compounding the issue, up to 30 per cent of production problems originate not on the shop floor but in insufficiently specified technical drawings. Founded in 2023 by Frederik Frei, Sascha Müller, and Henrik Pitz, CERPRO is building an intelligent platform to standardise and automate quality processes. Its first product, QualiSpec, automatically detects, interprets, and structures features from technical drawings to generate digital inspection plans in a fraction of the time. Since launching in December 2024, more than 100 SMEs in aerospace, medical devices, and mechanical engineering have adopted the software, reporting over 80 per cent faster quality processes, markedly fewer errors, and implementations completed in days. Beyond speeding inspection, CERPRO is extending its AI from inspection into design and engineering to flag potential issues earlier, shifting teams from reactive checks to predictive quality. The company’s roadmap connects quality data across OEMs and suppliers to create a shared foundation for transparency and traceability. Frederik Frei, CEO of CERPRO, said: Few areas in manufacturing are as data- and documentation-driven as quality assurance, which makes it perfectly suited for the use of AI. Together with our new partners, we aim to scale our technology across the industry and establish it as the unifying quality standard between OEMs and suppliers. The new capital will accelerate product development (including design-for-manufacture and predictive capabilities), expand sales, and scale CERPRO’s European market presence and partnerships, establishing a standardised, legally compliant quality workflow that links stakeholders across the supply chain.

Euler, the Icelandic software startup, has closed a €2 million seed funding round co-led by Iceland’s Frumtak Ventures and Nordic industrial tech investor Kvanted. Frumtak Ventures Partner Ásthildur Otharsdóttir and Kvanted Partner Eerik Paasikivi join the Euler board. Valued at over $20 billion, the global 3D-printing industry is positioned to enhance production by enabling lighter, more complex parts, reducing material waste and emissions, and complementing traditional manufacturing. However, large-scale adoption has been constrained by challenges in meeting stringent safety and performance standards, particularly in regulated sectors such as aerospace and defence, where minor disruptions can cause print failures and, without real-time monitoring, defects are often detected only after production, leading to costly rework or scrap. Euler’s platform introduces automated, real-time monitoring that flags potential defects before they occur, helping manufacturers save time and resources and produce more reliable parts at scale. A spinout of the Technical University of Denmark, Euler applies deep AI and process expertise to enhance fault detection for laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) and selective laser sintering (SLS). The system integrates with leading 3D printers, using built-in camera data and AI algorithms for analysis without additional, costly monitoring hardware. Additive manufacturing has yet to live up to its hype, despite its disruptive potential. Challenges around cost, scalability, and quality assurance remain. Euler is already helping manufacturers overcome these issues, and this investment will enable us to continue our growth and expand exponentially, solidifying additive manufacturing as a reliable production process, said Dr Eythor Runar Eiriksson, co-founder and CEO of Euler. Euler’s customers include Alloyed (the additive manufacturing startup), KMWE (serving aerospace, semiconductor, healthtech, and industrial markets), and research organisations such as the Danish Technological Institute and the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology. In a white paper with the Danish Technological Institute, Euler reported a 77 per cent reduction in time spent on failed builds, and more than a 20 per cent increase in revenue through improved overall equipment effectiveness. Euler will use the investment to accelerate platform rollout, expand its team, and scale product development. The company has also begun protecting its core technology, initiating trademark registrations and filing three patent applications.

After years of R&D, energy startup Synergi today launched Finland’s first EV virtual power plant. Synergi is the first company in Finland to aggregate thousands of electric vehicles via its consumer app, effectively creating a virtual power plant that supports grid balancing when needed. For consumers, this means the ability to earn rewards with home EV charging. Synergi‘s free mobile app is already trusted by over 10,000 households.  Check out our earlier interview with Antti Hämmäinen, CEO and co-founder at Synergi. With the launch of its new smart charging service, EV drivers in Finland can now participate in grid balancing directly through their home charging and earn monetary rewards in return.  Smart charging automatically schedules EV charging during the cheapest and most grid-friendly hours, allowing drivers to earn rewards from home charging.   Synergi’s smart charging feature automatically schedules EV charging to the most affordable hours of the day when the grid is least congested.  Fine-tuning EV charging in real-time Traditionally, smart charging has optimised charging based on hourly market prices, but Synergi’s new service goes further by fine-tuning the charging of thousands of vehicles in real time – for example, by pausing or resuming charging when the grid is over- or underloaded. Drivers receive monetary incentives determined by two factors: the duration of charging and the total energy consumed (kWh). This structure rewards users not only for energy usage but also for providing grid flexibility by keeping their vehicles connected for extended periods.  “By becoming Finland’s first virtual power plant for EVs and launching a new smart charging service, we’re laying the groundwork for a model where households can play a more active role in the energy transition and benefit from smart and flexible electricity use. Across Europe, there are already many demand response solutions where households can earn tens of euros per month in rewards,” says Antti Hämmäinen, Founder and CEO of Synergi.  New solutions for energy transition  Enabling household flexibility is a critical part of the energy transition. As society becomes increasingly electrified and renewable energy sources become more common, the electricity grid requires more flexible consumption from all users. New solutions, such as Synergi’s software-based remote control of devices, make it possible to integrate household flexibility into grid operations. Promoting demand response among households also supports the use of renewable energy sources.  Piloted reward system improved the driver's charging experience  Synergi’s new smart charging service was piloted with over 100 EV drivers earlier this year. Pilot results demonstrated that the reward system improved the driver's charging experience and that grid balancing events did not interfere with their routines. It also encouraged them to plug in earlier and stay connected longer, helping to maximise the availability and capacity of energy flexibility. Users simply set a desired charging completion time in the app, and grid balancing happens automatically within that time window.  The Synergi app currently supports all major EV brands, including Tesla, BMW, Volkswagen, Volvo, Audi, Hyundai, ŠKODA, and more. Vehicles are connected via the manufacturer’s cloud services using the user’s credentials. Therefore, households do not need to buy special chargers or pay for costly installation work to start charging at home and earning rewards. Currently, grid balancing operates only by starting or stopping charging — energy is never fed back from the car battery into the grid. Rewards are available for EV drivers in Finland, but Synergi plans to expand the service to include heating, cooling, and home battery systems, with a broader rollout across Europe in the future.

Self.co, the digital health company helping people better understand and manage allergies and food intolerances, has raised €2.56 million in a combined grant and venture funding round.  The funding round of €1.2 million was led by Iron Wolf Capital, with participation from Coinvest, NGL Ventures, and several angel investors. Self.co received a €1.36 million grant from Innovation Agency Lithuania to improve its testing technology. The pooled funds will now support expansion into new markets and further development of Self.co's proprietary testing technology and long-term management tools. Allergies and intolerances affect between 30 and 40 per cent of the global population, a number expected to climb to nearly 4 billion people by mid-century. Despite this prevalence, diagnosis remains one of healthcare's biggest blind spots. Around 45 per cent of individuals with allergy-like symptoms in the EU are either misdiagnosed or never diagnosed at all.  Many of these people confuse allergies with other immune or digestive conditions such as intolerances or sensitivities, leading to years of uncertainty and ineffective treatment. The problem is compounded by long waiting times, often more than six months for specialist testing in public systems, and prohibitive costs. Layers of intermediaries, low test throughput, and provider costs create markups on a single molecular allergy test of between €200 and €400. This puts accurate diagnoses prohibitively out of reach for millions. As a result, people continue to live with fatigue, skin rashes, or digestive symptoms without real answers, while healthcare systems absorb billions in avoidable costs each year. Self.co's digital service tackles this with a holistic and scientific approach. Its core products are two proprietary microarray tests that analyse 98 allergens and 220 food sensitivities using a simple blood sample that people can take at home or in a partner clinic. Once evaluated by professional lab technicians, Self.co provides users with a detailed avoidance plan and connects them with supplements and treatments as needed through partnerships with local healthcare providers. Self.co is one of the only companies in the world currently manufacturing molecular allergy tests with around 100 analytes. By controlling the entire testing process, from technology development to lab analysis, and eliminating intermediaries, Self.co offers the same laboratory-grade testing for €69–€99, only a fraction of the traditional €200–€400 cost. According to Tautvydas Gylys, co-founder and CEO of Self.co, millions of people live with allergy-like symptoms but without a real understanding of what's causing them or what to do about it.  “We've taken advanced diagnostic technology and built a simple test system that gives anyone clear, medically valid answers without the high cost or long wait. Now the funding will help us bring our product to new markets like the UK, Ireland, Austria, and Germany, and deepen ongoing collaboration with healthcare systems in Poland and Lithuania." Self.co's testing technology, developed by allergists and lab specialists, achieves molecular-level precision through microarray innovation. Advanced calibration methods tailor measurements for each allergen, ensuring accuracy even at very low levels, while sensitive fluorescence detection identifies the smallest immune responses. AI then merges clinical data and expert review to deliver a personalised, actionable report. Kasparas Jurgelionis, Managing Partner at Iron Wolf Capital, says: “As deep tech investors, we back technologies with the potential to transform established industries - and that’s exactly what Self.co is doing in allergy diagnostics and care. This is a large, fast-growing market still underserved by current solutions.  Tautvydas and the team combine exceptional industry insight with strong execution, giving them a rare founder-market fit. Self.co’s platform addresses long-standing pain points for patients and clinicians, positioning the company to redefine allergy care globally.” Self.co will use the new funding to develop a comprehensive digital health platform that serves as an entry point for people experiencing allergy-like symptoms. The platform will include advanced symptom questionnaires to pinpoint conditions, expanded test offerings, and better integration with traditional healthcare systems. Lead image: Self.co. Photo: uncredited. 

London-based FALKIN, a digital safety company that helps prevent scams before payments occur, has raised $2 million in pre-seed funding led by TriplePoint Ventures, with participation from Notion Capital, BackFuture Ventures, Aviva/Founders Factory, Haatch, Found Capital, and Founders Capital. The round also includes fintech and cyber investors such as Pierre Decote (Group Chief Risk Officer, Revolut) and Ben Enckevort (CTO and co-founder, Metomic). Scams are a growing financial risk in the AI era. In the UK, more than seven million people were affected last year, yet 71 per cent did not report incidents, and prosecution rates remain below 1 per cent. Despite significant spending, most controls activate only when funds move, missing the manipulation that initiates scams. Once legal fees, fines, remediation, and staff time are included, the total cost per incident can exceed four times the amount stolen. AI further elevates the threat through voice cloning, deepfakes, and advanced text generation that enable convincing impersonation at scale. FALKIN provides an embedded, AI-driven protection layer for digital banking. Its platform analyses behavioural and digital risk signals to detect deception early, enabling banks to protect customers proactively and reduce fraud losses. The company is expanding its integration ecosystem so financial institutions can embed this protection directly into digital-banking journeys and communications. FALKIN’s tools have been used by bank innovation teams and tens of thousands of consumers in the US and UK. In user feedback, 78 per cent reported greater confidence online, and more than half said prevention is more valuable than reimbursement, indicating that engaging consumers before payments are made can reduce risk and strengthen trust. The platform’s capabilities are embedded within familiar touchpoints, such as mobile-banking apps and customer-service portals, so customers are protected before funds leave their accounts. The funding will support hiring, product development, and deeper integrations with financial institutions, and will also launch Safety Labs, giving community banks and credit unions a structured, low-lift way to deploy and evaluate customer-facing scam-prevention tools.

Liverpool-based Enteral Access Technologies (EAT) has raised £500,000 in a bridging round led by British Design Fund, with participation from existing investors. Founded in 2018, EAT develops tools to make nasogastric and orogastric tube placement safer and simpler. Its flagship product, DoubleCHEK, combines CO₂ and pH measurement in a single device to reduce the risk of misplacement and enable quicker, more accurate tube placement across care settings without special equipment or tube types. By addressing misplacement and radiation-exposure risks associated with current insertion and confirmation methods, EAT aims to improve patient safety and streamline workflows. EAT is seeing growing adoption in the UK as providers align with updated guidance supporting combined CO₂ and pH verification. Internationally, EAT is also scaling rapidly. In the United States, interest increased after a leading children’s hospital adopted DoubleCHEK in January and further accelerated following the withdrawal of a comparable product. In Europe, rollout is underway, with Italy among the early adopters. Repeat orders and strong initial uptake indicate emerging traction as hospitals seek safer, more reliable enteral access solutions. Commenting on the new round, George Gallagher, CEO of EAT, said that the investment demonstrates strong backing for the company’s mission to enhance patient safety globally. He added that growing interest in DoubleCHEK reinforces EAT’s focus on expanding access to safer enteral technologies. With this new funding, the company will advance the development and accelerate the international rollout of its enteral access patient safety device.

LexDo.it, an Italian digital platform for starting and managing new businesses, has raised €1.7 million in a pre–Series A round to advance its mission of simplifying business creation. The round included selected business angels, with participation from Invitalia and fintech company Viceversa. Notable investors include Roberto Spada (founder, Spada Partners), Luca Orsini (founder, Antares European Fund), and Roberto Lombardi (business angel and investor). Founded in 2015 by CEO Giovanni Toffoletto, LexDo.it offers a single digital platform for online incorporation and end-to-end management of accounting, contracts, and consultancy. Users can also access a team of professionals and complementary tools, including business bank accounts, POS payment systems, grants and subsidised finance options, and a range of digital products and services. The platform serves more than 400,000 users and has supported the launch of over 6,500 businesses, reducing first-year costs by up to €3,000 compared with traditional channels. This is significant in a market where average opening costs and administrative requirements can exceed €4,000 and where starting a business remains complex and costly. Entrepreneurs are the beating heart of the economy. We created LexDo.it because starting a business is still too difficult without facing bureaucratic obstacles. Today, we are proud to be the go-to partner for thousands of entrepreneurs who launch and manage their businesses entirely online with us, said Giovanni Toffoletto. The new funding will support team expansion through 2025 and accelerate the technology roadmap, including AI- and automation-driven features to further digitalise and streamline management processes for SMEs and professionals.

Pre-Seed investment startup Ada Ventures has launched an AI-powered pitch deck review tool for founders that allows them to access VC-grade feedback before they share their materials with prospective investors. Developed by Ada Ventures Principal and Head of Product Michael Tefula , Deck Genius https://www.deckgenius.ai is a free platform that gives founders VC-quality feedback on their pitch deck in a fraction of the time it may take an investor to respond. The announcement comes just 12 months on from the launch of the firm’s inaugural AI review tool, AdaGPT —  see our earlier interview — which has been used by over 200 founders per month since launch.   Building on this success, Deck Genius will give founding teams an even deeper analysis of their pitch content, including slide-by-slide holistic analysis and actionable recommendations for improvement. To use the platform, founders simply upload a PDF copy of their pitch deck. Within minutes, they’ll receive a comprehensive analysis of the fundamental business elements of their proposal, as well as insights on the design and story-telling qualities of the pitch deck. Once complete, founders have the option to delete their pitch deck from the system or choose to have their analysis securely stored, allowing them to revisit the feedback in the future. By helping teams stress-test their proposals before they formally seek funding, Deck Genius will provide founders with the guidance and confidence they need to have the best chance of success when they eventually present their ideas to investors. Ada’s goal is for Deck Genius to analyse 500 pitch decks per month, more than double the amount processed by AdaGPT. Once their proposals have been analysed and refined, teams that wish to engage further with Ada Ventures will also have the option of reaching out directly to the investment team, via the firm’s existing portal. Michael Tefula, Principal and Head of Product at Ada Ventures, commented on last year’s AdaGPT experiment: “To our surprise, hundreds of founders engaged with the product shortly after launch, and we were quite taken aback by the uptake.  But while the appetite was encouraging, AdaGPT was too Ada-focussed, and we were keen to build something that could help all founders, regardless of whether or not they ultimately wanted to approach us for investment.” Deck Genius is the product of a team that has reviewed thousands of pitch decks a year, with input from other VCs and experienced operators from top firms across the ecosystem. According to Tefula, “their feedback helped us refine the quality of the AI analysis, and we expect this to improve further as we hand the tool over to the wider community.” He stresses that while Ada Ventures will never outsource its decision-making to AI,  “Deck Genius is an effective medium through which we can engage and support prospective founders from the beginning." "The tool has been through a rigorous early testing process, including being vetted for bias, and we’re excited to now be sharing it with the wider community. We’ve already offered a term sheet to one startup that approached after running their deck through AdaGPT, and we hope our work on Deck Genius will help to surface and support even more high-potential founders going forward.” The product has now launched in beta, and the firm is actively encouraging feedback from entrepreneurs that will help improve the tool for future users.

Swiss-based deeptech company Delvitech has closed a Series B investment round of $40 million. The round was led by EGS Beteiligungen (EGSB), the Investment Company of the Ernst Göhner Foundation, together with CREADD Ventures, and joined by several prominent European private investors. Delvitech develops AI-native solutions for 3D Automated Optical Inspection (AOI) used in electronics manufacturing. Its platform features a modular, scalable architecture designed to evolve with industry requirements. The system aims to provide comprehensive detection across printed circuit boards, including transparent adhesives, micro-pitch connectors, and mechanical or plastic components, to support full-spectrum visibility and high precision. In addition to defect detection, Delvitech focuses on predictive capabilities intended to anticipate errors and improve quality control efficiency. Roberto Gatti, founder and CEO of Delvitech, explained: We have developed an AI-native platform built on a future-proof neural network architecture. Our flexible and agnostic system can be applied across multiple markets and industries. Moreover, thanks to our proprietary predictive technology, we are paving the way to prevent errors rather than merely detecting them. Delvitech competes at the forefront of the high-tech industry, driven by a unique combination of cutting-edge innovation and vision. Companies using Delvitech’s optical inspection for electronic board quality control, and, in future, semiconductors, operate in sectors such as automotive, telecommunications, EMS, IoT, pharmaceuticals, defence, and industrial automation. The system’s self-learning AI adapts to production dynamics, minimising manual programming and enabling faster deployment, higher precision in defect detection, and reduced operating costs. It is designed to classify and identify defects on challenging materials, including plastic components and transparent adhesives used in board assembly. Delvitech plans to accelerate its next growth phase, expanding its global presence with a focus on India. The company aims to open a manufacturing facility there in 2026 and target a production capacity of more than 200 machines per month by 2030.

Swedish soundtracking platform Epidemic Sound today announced the launch of Studio, the first AI-powered soundtracking tool that enables content creators to instantly match and place both human-made music and sound effects seamlessly within their video. Epidemic Sound offers an extensive catalogue in music and sound for content creation, featuring world-class artists, Hollywood-grade ambient noises to establish background atmosphere, and foley sound effects to heighten actions such as breaking glass.  I spoke to CEO Oscar Höglund to learn more.  From upload to fully synced soundtrack in seconds Studio provides content creators with a faster, smoother creative workflow while ensuring artists continue to reach new audiences and earn from their craft. According to Höglund, Studio fast-tracks the soundtracking process, saving creators time and toil and allowing them to focus more on the fun stuff: “More than a third are struggling with time pressures or burnout. And with 94 per cent saying it contributes to their content’s success, Studio helps them fully tap into the power of audio to elevate their productions with super high-quality, human-made tracks and sound effects that fit with their content.   After a creator uploads their video, Studio uses AI and data insights, informed by contextual patterns from over 3 billion daily plays across online platforms, to analyse its content and instantly deliver a cohesive, legally safe soundtrack seamlessly synced to the visuals, as well as alternative music and sound effects options to choose from.  The three creator workflows studio fixes The idea for Sound is driven by first-hand experience and talking directly with content creators for the last decade and a half.  Soundtracking a 1 to 3-minute video can take up to five hours. Sound saves creators time by helping with three key areas: inspiration, search, and editing. “We know the soundtracking setup has been somewhat broken. Essentially, creators often had to edit and re-edit their video to fit around audio. Finally, through Studio, we’ve been able to reverse that setup so that audio now fits around the video,” shared Höglund.  “For example, alongside music, it might see the flock of birds in the background and identify the opportunity to elevate the content through a sound effect and incorporate that into the soundtrack.  It’s a source of inspiration for all the opportunities to use sound to elevate the story, and this is particularly noticeable with sound effects as they’re such an underestimated mechanism to add creative depth." Secondly, Sound addresses the need to search, instantly adding the first draft of a full soundtrack, including music and sound effects. It saves the layer of time and effort that comes with searching repeatedly to get the perfect audio and includes it in the draft. And finally, it reduces the need to edit the audio, syncing it to the action, explained Höglund:  “For example, the romantic music begins with the kiss, or the sound of broken glass hits when the vase hits the floor - all trimmed so the audio starts and finishes logically.  And at the same time, it keeps creative control well in the hands of the creator, providing different audio options for them to explore, as well as a simple way to import the draft soundtrack into their chosen video editor for further refinement.” Höglund contends that Epidemic Sound's extensive catalogue has enabled the company to bring about “win-win scenarios, where everyone can benefit, and nobody has to lose.” “Our extensive data pool sets apart how it can design products and tools that enhance the creator experience, as well as dial into what tracks are trending and how the global demand is shifting so we can continue to bring top-quality, contemporary music into the catalogue.”  Further, he attributes the company’s success to that fact that it takes on just 0.3 per cent of all the people who reach out to them: “We’re able to set a really high-quality bar.” Crucially, Epidemic Sound’s user-friendly licensing model allows brands and creators to access music with full usage rights while providing tools to elevate their content.  The company partners with artists across all genres, providing them with financial support through a 50/50 royalty split, upfront payments, and bonuses.  Artists can also explore multiple projects simultaneously, making Epidemic Sound a flexible and artist-centered platform. The secrets to scale  Epidemic Sound’s subscription/licensing model gives unlimited downloads and global rights. I was curious how the company ensures this remains financially viable as usage scales across user‐generated content? For Höglund, understanding your customers better than anyone else is pivotal. The team realised pretty early on that by meeting the soundtracking needs of the best creators in the world, it drove standalone listening of its tracks on streaming platforms where it creates additional revenue for them and their artists via the 50/50 royalty split.  He asserts: “Scale powers this ecosystem where creators flourish, artists thrive, and our business grows.”   It’s  enabled Epidemic Sound to go from zero online footprint, to hitting 1.5 billion daily views across online video platforms in 2020, to over three billion daily views today, while more than doubling its revenue, and diversifying and growing its artist remuneration model.” Fairer remuneration for artists   Epidemic Sound has a strong track record of innovative remuneration models for artists, including pioneering a 50/50 royalty split and an annual Soundtrack Bonus that has grown in step with the company’s success.  “We’re also boosting bonus payouts by 43 per cent overall in 2026, including a new $1 million remuneration pool to reward AI-related adaptation, and an increase in the annual Soundtrack Bonus from $3.7 million to $4.2 million,” shared Höglund. And for Epidemic Sound, this is just the start as it rolls out a completely new way of soundtracking; one that’s super dialled in to creators’ needs and one that enhances human creativity, not replaces it. “We’re big believers in the value of feedback from our creative communities – it’s played a central role in how we’ve continued to develop our Adapt tool since launch to give more creative control. Get out there, try out Studio, and let us know what you think!” shared Höglund. “AI should empower, not replace, human creativity” Further, Höglund believes that the company is in “the perfect position to strengthen how we continue to capture value from scale: we continue to offer market-leading licensing safety, while leading the charge with AI-powered soundtracking for creators, and working directly with our artists to innovate in a way that empowers and rewards human creativity.” “We believe AI should empower, not replace, human creativity. Studio embodies that belief, giving creators more time and freedom to focus on their stories while continuing to help artists reach an audience and earn from their craft.” He asserts that transparency is central to this — creators using Epidemic Sound always know when a soundtrack has been AI-assisted versus human-created, and all music and sound effects originate from its verified catalogue of human-made works.  He explained:  “Our technology is designed to empower creativity: AI provides speed and cohesion, while clear labeling, licensing, and rights management ensure both creators and artists understand how content is made, used, and credited.  Every track remains legally safe, properly attributed, and financially rewarding for the artists behind it. Creators know that when they adapt a track with our AI-powered tools, the artist’s rights stay protected and they always have the ability to opt out of having their tracks adapted.”

Hamburg-based venture firm Oyster Bay has closed its second fund at over €100 million, dedicated exclusively to the future food market. Investors include the European Investment Fund (EIF) and KfW. The food sector, roughly a $10 trillion industry representing about 12 per cent of global GDP and 40 per cent of the workforce, also accounts for around one-third of global emissions and contributes to water scarcity and biodiversity loss. Yet only about 8 per cent of climate-focused venture capital goes to food and agritech, underscoring a sizable investment gap alongside substantial untapped potential. Oyster Bay's founder and Managing Partner Christoph Miller notes that while food is sometimes treated as a passing VC trend, it is in fact one of society’s most significant long-term challenges. Oyster Bay’s first fund ranked in the top 10 per cent of European VC funds and backed companies including Oatly, AirUp, True Gum, and GoodBytz. Fund II continues the same strategy, entrepreneurial investing that pairs returns with impact, supporting founders transforming the global food system. We are not traditional financial investors, but entrepreneurs with a successful track record. Less than 0.1% of startups that apply to Oyster Bay make it into the portfolio – our involvement is a seal of quality, adds Felix Leonhardt, Managing Partner of Oyster Bay. As large food companies contend with supply-chain pressures, startups addressing the value chain, from sustainable inputs and alternative proteins to data-driven logistics, are gaining importance. Miller emphasises that efficiency, transparency, and resilience in supply chains will determine the sector’s transition. Oyster Bay sees major opportunities in traceability technologies, AI-based demand planning, and solutions that strengthen supply-chain resilience, viewing these as core economic enablers.

The NATO Innovation Fund (NIF) today announced the appointment of Erin Hallock as Partner, reinforcing the Fund’s mission to accelerate the industrial adoption of deeptech and frontier technologies that are critical to the Alliance’s security, resilience, and long-term innovation capacity. The NIF is the world’s first multi-sovereign venture capital fund, established by NATO Allies to invest in early-stage startups and deep tech companies whose innovations can enhance operational readiness, resilience, and technological sovereignty. Through its investments, it aims to build the Alliance’s long-term capacity to adopt and scale critical technologies, ensuring they are available when and where they are needed most. Erin joins NIF from bp Ventures, where she led the full investment lifecycle in digital technologies, deep tech, and exploratory ventures as a Managing Partner.  Her portfolio work included guiding companies through regulatory, operational, and market integration challenges — skills directly aligned with the Fund’s focus on enabling dual-use technology adoption across the defence, security and commercial sectors.“We are thrilled to welcome Erin to the partnership,” said Professor Dame Fiona Murray, Chair of the Board of the Directors of the NATO Innovation Fund.  “Her track record in deep tech investing, combined with her operational acumen, will help the innovators we are backing move beyond proof-of-concept to industrial-scale deployment. This is necessary to close the innovation-to-adoption gap and deliver technologies that strengthen the Alliance’s technological edge.” “Joining the NATO Innovation Fund is an extraordinary opportunity to help shape the future of NATO's technological edge,” said Erin Hallock, Partner, NATO Innovation Fund. “Deep tech holds the power to redefine what’s possible - strengthening our collective security, unlocking new engines of economic growth, and safeguarding the Alliance. I’m excited to work with visionary founders and investors to turn breakthrough innovations into lasting impact.”

A new report by NordicNinja, Europe’s largest Japan-backed VC and backers of fast-growing tech companies including Bolt, Starship and Varjo, and Dealroom reveals that €33 billion of Japan-linked capital has flowed into Europe since 2019 as investors double down on the region’s deep tech advantage. Further, investors are on track for a further €3B by the end of 2025. The report shows that since the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) came into force six years ago, bilateral annual trade between the two regions has exceeded €200 billion. Japanese capital in 6 per cent of all VC European investment  Japanese capital, whether direct or through a Japanese-backed fund, has participated in 6 per cent of all VC investment in Europe. That includes €3.5 billion worth of deals in 2024 alone, with a further €2.4 billion deployed in the first ten months of 2025. The UK’s gain The UK has attracted the majority of this funding, accounting for €14.9 billion of the €31 billion total since 2019, including €2.5 billion of 2024’s volume. Germany follows with €4.8 billion from 2019, followed by France with € 3.4 billion. Deeptech and AI startups the biggest winners Of last year’s total, a record 70 per cent went to deep tech and AI, almost double 2021’s previous high.  In fact, Japanese-backed investment into deep tech and AI broadly has doubled since 2023, with deep tech consistently ranking as the top segment for Japanese investors. Climate tech follows close behind, while Resilience has grown to take 23 per cent of the share. Growth investment in mega-deals  Japanese investment in Europe has also evolved from a handful of headline-grabbing mega-deals, driven by the likes of SoftBank, into a more diverse flow of capital. The number of rounds featuring a Japanese investor has jumped 5.9 per cent since 2022, rising to 140 rounds in 2024. Last year also saw a record number of early and breakout stage deals involving Japanese investors, which has continued into 2025. Recent highlights also show how this strategic breadth is being paired with impact – from tozero’s €11 million Seed in circular battery recycling (NordicNinja) to HIVED’s €38 million Series B in zero-emission delivery (NordicNinja, Yamato Holdings and Marunouchi Innovation Partners). This focus aligns with Japan’s strategic priorities of securing supply chains, strengthening industrial leadership and accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy. With Europe producing over twice as many VC-backed startups and more than four times as many unicorns per capita as Japan, investing in Europe offers access to innovation that complements Japan’s industrial base. Symbiotic by design Corporates are not only investing in European tech, they’re increasingly active acquirers and partners. 2023 marked a record year, with 15 European VC-backed startups acquired by Japanese firms, from Asahi Kasei’s $1.3 billion purchase of Calliditas in pharma to Mitsubishi’s acquisition of Scibreak in grid hardware. This is on track to reach eight in 2025, double 2024’s figures. At the same time, cross-continental partnerships are now translating European innovation into global scale. In mobility, Wayve’s collaboration with Nissan and investment from SoftBank is bringing autonomous-driving systems to Japan’s roads. In robotics, the UK Atomic Energy Authority and Japan’s Fukushima Institute are creating robots for extreme environments. Meanwhile, IQM and TOYO Corporation, and Quantinuum and Mitsui & Co., are advancing quantum computing and distribution in the Asia-PaciAccording to Tomosaku Sohara, Co-founder and Managing Partner from Japan-Europe VC, NordicNinja,this is not capital tourism: “Japan has a long tradition of building enduring partnerships rather than one-off transactions. We see a rare window to turn cross-border collaboration into lasting strategic advantage. When Europe’s entrepreneurial drive meets Japan’s engineering excellence and industrial networks, scalable and resilient solutions emerge. At NordicNinja, we exist to make that bridge tangible, turning collaboration into long-term impact innovations.” Timo Toikkanen, CEO of virtual and mixed reality company Varjo, said: “Europe is where deep tech innovation takes shape, and Japan is where precision and scale turn that innovation into operational strength. For Varjo, bridging these capabilities means advancing mission readiness and transforming how modern defence forces can train and operate through mixed reality.” Aaike van Vugt, co-founder and CEO of advanced materials and deep tech startup VSParticle, said: “Europe has the science, Japan has the industrial scale. By connecting the two, we can accelerate the journey from breakthrough research to global production.” Sarah Fleischer, co-founder and CEO of battery recycling startup tozero, contends that Japan understands better than most the strategic importance of critical raw material independence for resilient supply chains: Partnering with Japanese investors gives us not only capital but also deep industrial know-how and a bridge into global markets that are critical for scaling deeptech technologies.”

Lithuanian medtech robotics company Sentante has successfully demonstrated a first-of-a-kind remote stroke procedure in Scotland — performed by specialist surgeons guiding the interventions from different hospitals in Florida, USA and Dundee, Scotland. Full end-to-end thrombectomies were performed on perfused non-living subjects with procedure-authentic pathology in the Image Guided Therapy Research Facility (IGTRF) Image Guided Therapy Research Facility (IGTRF) at the University of Dundee.  I spoke to CEO Edvardas Satkauskas to learn more.  Reinventing vascular care through remote robotics Sentante is a medical robotics company founded in 2017, building a haptic, device-agnostic endovascular platform that enables clinicians to perform complex vascular procedures remotely with full tactile feedback.  Designed to integrate with existing cath-lab infrastructure, Sentante aims to expand access, improve clinician safety, and elevate procedural consistency across peripheral vascular, neurovascular and cardiovascular applications. Closing the distance gap in time-critical stroke treatment   Satkauskas asserts that vascular or remote stroke procedures are one of the areas where remote intervention could bring the biggest benefit, because time is critical.  “The sooner you intervene, the better the patient outcomes.”  According to Satkauskas, for an ischaemic stroke, the difference between walking out of the hospital and a lifetime of disability can be just two to three hours. “Today, patients are often transported long distances to reach one of a limited number of thrombectomy centres.” The remote stroke procedure proves the potential of Sentante’s technology to save the lives and prognoses of patients suffering stroke episodes in remote settings; at present, only 212 patients received a Thrombectomy across Scotland in 2024. This represents only 2.2 per cent of the total number of people who had an ischemic stroke. Aiming for gold While medical robotics is a rapidly evolving field with numerous surgical robots currently being tested or showcased for remote interventions, according to Satkauskas, in the endovascular space, while several companies have attempted to introduce robotics, it’s challenging because one must control soft, flexible, and long instruments across diverse procedures.  “It’s complex. That’s why there’s no 'gold standard' robotic system yet in this field. But we’re working to bring that.At the same time, vascular procedures are among the least robotised today. There’s a huge need, but nothing truly usable yet. This is where Sentante aims to transform the way such patients are treated.” Sentante started prototyping after meeting a vascular surgeon—who is still a practising vascular surgeon — who had the idea and clinical need for this technology in his daily practice.  Satkauskas explained: “It came directly from a clinical problem. But, you know, it’s one thing to need something — like saying “we need flying cars”—and another thing to actually build it. We had an excellent technical team, we began prototyping, and at some point, we saw that yes, this could become a very exciting technology with real impact. And here we are, seven years later, treating patients.” Bringing “hands-on” precision to remote robotics With Sentante, the specialist comes to the patient over a secure network, and performs the entire procedure remotely—with the same tactile feel and control they have at the bedside. Surgeons are guided by two senses: visual—through X-ray imaging — and tactile — what they feel with their hands. According to Satkauskas: “If you take away one of those, you lose critical information.  For us, haptics were a must-have. We built the entire technology around it.” And the best way to perceive that feedback—which is digitally transmitted—is to perform the procedure the same way as in a manual operation.  Satkauskas contends that if you push a guidewire or catheter and feel resistance, you can interpret it immediately. “A joystick wouldn’t give the same understanding. Any vascular surgeon will tell you that they often anticipate what is happening before they see it on the screen, based on how it feels and how tension builds inside the vessel. Good physicians combine action, perception, and visualisation using both senses. If you give them a robot they can “control” but without tactile information, it becomes more like a video game — not a procedure. Without sensing what you’re doing, you risk injury because robots can be strong.” Further, the platform can be used for many diverse procedures: peripheral vascular, stenting, coiling, and embolisation. In most cases, the physician would control the robot from a control room. But that already brings major benefits: doctors avoid harmful X-ray exposure and no longer need heavy lead aprons, which cause back pain, orthopaedic issues, cataracts, cancer risks, and more. It also brings accuracy, precision, stability, safety, and fewer human-error-induced mistakes. “Once you can do the entire procedure from a room, that room can be in another hospital — then you can treat stroke patients remotely. And that’s what we demonstrated in this experiment,” shared Satkauskas. In terms of the demonstration, two distinguished operators performed remote stroke interventions. World-renowned endovascular neurosurgeon Ricardo Hanel, MD, PhD, co-medical director of the Stroke & Cerebrovascular Centre performed the transatlantic procedure, operating from Baptist Medical Center, Jacksonville on a unique, perfused human cadaver model located at Dundee University in Scotland. Professor Iris Grunwald, MD, PhD, an interventional neuroradiologist, also performed a remote stroke thrombectomy in the same location from a remote hospital in Dundee. She is a global leader in interventional stroke treatment training and pioneered the use of AI in diagnostic stroke imaging: “We were honoured to be a test site for this groundbreaking use of remote robotic technology," said Michael A. Mayo, DHA, FACHE, president and CEO of Baptist Health. "Dr Hanel and the team here at Baptist Health provide world-class neurosurgical interventions each day, and the potential for these life saving procedures to be delivered in a timely manner can bring new sources of hope and healing to a countless number of patients.” The University of Dundee is the official global training centre of the World Federation for Interventional Stroke Treatment (WIST), housing a unique surgical environment with human models for research and device testing under authentic conditions - before moving into patient trials. Solving latency in life-critical remote procedures As part of the demonstration, the procedure also evaluated network performance and latency over the transatlantic link, with Sentante partnering with Mischa Dohler, VP of Emerging Technologies at Ericsson, to establish multi-path connectivity and maintain a stable, secure connection for mission-critical use. As part of the Nvidia Inception Program, Sentante took advantage of state-of-the-art technologies purpose-built for developing healthcare robots, supporting low-latency robotic applications and future developments of autonomous robotic systems and Physical AI.  Sentante has developed a proprietary sensory system embedded in both the bedside robotic unit and the remote control station, enabling the transmission of high-resolution data multiple times per second. This architecture ensures that clinicians receive highly accurate, real-time feedback throughout the procedure. “If the two units are hard-wired, there is virtually no latency,” Satkauskas explained.  “Over the internet, of course, latency appears — but the real question is: what level is acceptable, what is noticeable, and what could impact safety? These are not high-speed movements, and in most of our testing, doctors don’t perceive any delay at all.”   Only when the connection quality drops significantly does latency become noticeable — but even then, it doesn’t affect the safety or efficiency of the intervention.  The company has also tested the tolerance limits.  “Latency is inherent to remote procedures, but we have several technological safeguards and solutions in place to manage it effectively.” Sentante has also completed a clinical trial in peripheral vascular interventions using the same core platform operated from a control room adjacent to the theatre. Sentante’s robotic system is currently advancing through regulatory pathways for peripheral vascular interventions, with market entry targeted for 2026. The aim is to help tackle growing workloads, staffing shortages, occupational hazards for clinicians, and variability in care quality. Remote stroke thrombectomy remains in the pre-clinical phase and is not yet approved; it will follow a parallel regulatory pathway as an extension of the platform, with the long-term goal of significantly improving patient access to timely stroke treatment. “ Remote stroke treatment is one of the strongest real-world cases in medical robotics,” said Satkauskas. “You need precision, stability, safety and teleoperation all at once. Our platform was built from day one to deliver exactly that.” Professor Iris Grunwald described the technology as a breakthrough for stroke care. She highlighted the realism of the procedure and its potential to reshape access to life-saving treatment. “This is one of the most exciting innovations in stroke intervention in the last decade,” she said. “What amazed me most was how tactile the experience was — my hands felt exactly as they would during a conventional thrombectomy. Remote robotics has the power to decouple expertise from geography, enabling specialists to perform complex neurovascular procedures from thousands of miles away.” Ricardo Hanel, MD, PhD, added: “Tele-neurointervention will allow us to decrease the gap and further our reach to provide one of the most impactful procedures in humankind—the thrombectomy — to more people. To operate from the US to Scotland with a 120 millisecond (blink of an eye) lag is truly remarkable.” Lead image: Sentante.

Copenhagen-based enterprise software company Arkyn has closed a €4 million financing round co-led by Compounding Capital and Trifork Labs. As part of the round, Kasper Grundtvig Knokgaard, owner of Compounding Capital, will join Arkyn’s Board of Directors to help shape the company’s growth strategy. Arkyn provides a digital platform for service and asset maintenance on SAP, integrating real-time ERP data into maintenance workflows, asset utilisation, and performance metrics. The solution is delivered through a modern frontline app suite fully integrated with SAP, from planning through execution and reporting, to support data-informed decisions, optimise maintenance strategies, improve asset performance, and increase reliability in the field and at the plant. Founded in 2020 by the partners behind Trifork Smart Enterprise (formerly Invokers), Arkyn builds on years of SAP mobile development experience. Its product suite includes tools for work-order management, asset history, time registration, and digital forms, all backed by the FastCloud middleware for real-time SAP interaction and rapid deployment (typically 2–4 weeks) across on-premise and cloud back ends. Arkyn’s partner-centric model includes collaborations with SAP platform partners, system integrators, and resellers. The platform serves large enterprises in asset-intensive industries such as manufacturing, utilities, transport, and oil and gas, helping empower frontline workers, improve data quality, reduce administrative burden, and accelerate maintenance workflows. The new financing will support Arkyn’s international expansion and product development, with a focus on AI-enabled features that further optimise planning and field execution.

October 2025 closed with €8.3 billion raised across 342 deals, slightly softer than September, down 1.2 per cent in value and 6.8 per cent in deal count. Year over year, activity was markedly stronger: investment volume more than doubled, and the number of deals rose 8.2 per cent versus October 2024 (€4.0 billion across 316 deals). Funding was broadly spread but led by ?? Finland (€1.63 billion), followed by ?? the UK (€1.55 billion), ?? Germany (€1.40 billion), ?? Italy (€842.5 million), and ?? France (€738.6 million). Together, these five made up about 56.6 per cent of the total capital. By sector, healthtech dominated with €1.7 billion, ahead of fintech (€1.1 billion) and software (€928.2 million), which together represented 44.9 per cent of the month’s volume. Giovanni Canetta Roeder, Founder & Managing Partner at Planven, commented on the October numbers within the European tech investment landscape in our October Tech.eu Pulse, a compact version of the monthly report: As a scale-up Pan-European investor, we partner with founders at the stage where the challenge shifts from building a product to building a global company. That means international expansion, go-to-market acceleration, and leadership scaling.Our focus is helping European companies become global category leaders, not regional players. For his more detailed review and in-depth analyses of the European tech ecosystem, including industry and country performance, exit activities, and more, check out our October report. Here are the 10 largest tech deals in Europe from October, accounting for approximately 56.6 per cent of the month’s total funding. Amount raised: $1B Nokia is a B2B networking technology company that empowers industries and enterprises with high-performance, secure, and intelligent networks. The company draws on its heritage of innovation to develop future-proof solutions spanning cloud and digital infrastructure, mobile and fixed access networks, and enterprise edge computing. Nokia has entered a strategic partnership with Nvidia, which includes a $1 billion equity investment from the US company. The collaboration focuses on applying artificial intelligence to enhance telecommunications networks and data centre development. Amount raised: $900M Oura Health is a health-technology company specialising in advanced wearable devices and insights. Founded in Finland, the company’s mission is to make health a daily practice, and it combines thoughtful design with cutting-edge sensors to create its flagship product, the Oura smart ring. The Oura smart ring tracks a wide range of biometric signals, sleep quality, readiness, activity levels, heart rate, body temperature, and stress metrics, providing users with personalised data and actionable insights via a dedicated mobile app. With a strong focus on data privacy and research-driven development, Oura maintains compliance with stringent standards and employs an interdisciplinary science team to ensure accuracy and trustworthiness. Oura has raised over $900 million in a new funding round, valuing the startup at “approximately $11 billion”, as reported. Amount raised: €700M Enpal is a Berlin-based German greentech company founded in 2017, offering integrated renewable-energy solutions for homeowners. The company provides solar-photovoltaic systems, battery storage, EV-charging wallboxes, heat pumps and a smart energy-management platform, all bundled into an all-in-one service. With a mission to make green energy accessible and affordable, Enpal lets customers rent or buy systems starting with no upfront deposit, aiming to reduce energy bills and reliance on fossil-fuel electricity. Enpal secured a €700 million ABS facility with M&G for residential solar and heating loans. Amount raised: $710M Bending Spoons is an Italian software company headquartered in Milan, founded in 2013. The company develops and publishes high-volume mobile applications and undertakes strategic acquisitions of established digital products. francescatabor.com Known for its data-driven approach to app monetisation, Bending Spoons builds commercially strong, subscription-oriented businesses rather than chasing rapid, VC-fuelled growth. Bending Spoons raised $710 million at $11 billion valuation, one day after buying AOL. Amount raised: €400M Younited is a fintech company specialising in instant consumer credit. Licensed as a credit institution under the supervision of the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR) and the European Central Bank, the company leverages a data-driven technology platform, open banking APIs and artificial intelligence to deliver seamless credit and payment solutions to households and merchants alike. Based in Paris, France, Younited now serves customers across multiple European countries (including France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal) and supports both direct-to-consumer lending and partner integrations for retailers and banks. The company secured €400 million warehouse financing from Citi to expand consumer credit in Europe. Amount raised: $433M Nscale is a company that specialises in high-performance computing and AI infrastructure. Nscale offers a vertically-integrated platform delivering GPU-cloud services, private AI clusters, and “AI-factories” powered entirely by renewable energy, designed for large-scale AI training, fine-tuning, and inference. The company’s emphasis is on sovereignty, control and sustainability, allowing enterprises and governments to deploy AI workloads in data centres owned and operated by Nscale, meeting both performance and governance requirements. Nscale has closed a $433 million funding round, just days after bagging a $1.1 billion funding round. Amount raised: €308M Tubulis is a Munich-based German biotechnology company developing next-generation antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for the treatment of solid tumours. Using proprietary platform technologies, including their “P5” conjugation chemistry and the “Tubutecan” linker-payload system, Tubulis designs highly stable, high drug-to-antibody-ratio ADCs aimed at improving delivery and reducing off-target toxicity. Tubulis has raised €308 million in a Series C funding round to advance the clinical development of TUB-040, its lead antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targeting NaPi2b, an antigen highly expressed in ovarian cancer and lung adenocarcinomas. Amount raised: €300M Return (formerly SemperPower) is a Dutch-based independent large-scale energy storage company headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The company develops, owns and operates utility-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) across Europe (including the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Spain) to help balance grids, integrate renewable energy and enable electrification. Its mission is to “make clean energy work for everyone” by providing flexible, smart, efficient storage infrastructure and enabling customers like grid operators, utilities, major consumers and traders to access storage-as-a-service. Return raised €300 million in growth capital to scale battery storage capacity. Amount raised: $200M Synthesia is a London-based AI company founded in 2017 that offers a platform enabling users to create professional-quality videos using synthetic avatars, voiceovers and text-to-video tools, without needing cameras, microphones or studios. The platform supports over 140 languages, is designed for enterprises (including much of the Fortune 100) and emphasises both rapid video production and responsible AI usage. Synthesia has closed a $200 million funding round that has valued it at $4 billion, as reported. Amount raised: $180M n8n is a Berlin-based software company founded in 2019 that provides a fair-code workflow automation platform. Its platform enables technical teams to build and automate complex, multi-step workflows by connecting apps, APIs and cloud services through a visual node-based interface, while also allowing custom scripting for added flexibility. The company supports both self-hosted and cloud-hosted deployments, making it suitable for organisations with heightened data control or governance requirements. N8N raised $180 million to expand its engineering offering, continue development of new features, and grow the team to support international expansion.

A tax on the assets of wealthy founders who build businesses in the UK then leave the country would tell entrepreneurs that “their ideas and innovations aren’t welcome" in the UK, over 150 founders and investors across the UK ecosystem have warned.The warning from founders and investors representing more than £10 billion in UK economic value follows rumours that the UK chancellor Rachel Reeves is considering a 20 per cent "exit tax" on the assets of wealthy founders who build businesses in the UK then leave the country for tax reasons. Those who have signed the letter include the founders of AI talent management platform Beamery and fintech Cleo and funds such as Dawn Capital and Harry Stebbings' 20VC. The chancellor believes the move will raise around £2bn to help plug a gap of up to £30bn in the public finances.The letter, written by lobby group the Startup Coalition, says: “We share the Government’s ambition for growth and sound public finances. Progress on these will only be achieved by making the UK the best place to scale the next generation of global companies, not by punishing those who choose to leave. “At a time when founders are being courted around the world, we should be building bridges, not walls. We should attract talent and capital, pool investment, and deliver policies that lower barriers and give globally minded founders every reason to build in the UK and scale to the world.”The letter highlighted the “painful burden” of taxes already shouldered by founders, including a rise in Capital Gains Tax.It added: "We should be under no illusions that these changes have made global tech founders and investors question the competitiveness of the UK. Instead of rebuilding trust with entrepreneurs, a potential exit tax sends the opposite message: the beatings will continue until morale improves.” Stebbings told the Times the tax would be the “final nail in the coffin” for founders.He said: “It shows the complete lack of understanding that we have already lost the most wealthy people, and this will be the final nail in the coffin that will make those few stragglers who remain — including me — leave.”In October this year, it was revealed that Nik Storonsky, the co-founder and CEO of Revolut, had abandoned the UK for the United Arab Emirates following rule changes around tax breaks.

Last week, we tracked more than 60 tech funding deals worth over €848 million, and over 15 exits, M&A transactions, rumours, and related news stories across Europe.Click to read the rest of the news.

Swiss-based YQuantum has received €161,000 (CHF 150,000) from Venture Kick to develop miniaturised hardware components for the next generation of quantum computers. Quantum computers offer substantial potential in drug discovery, materials science, and finance. Achieving this requires reliable control of thousands of quantum bits (qubits). Today’s systems often rely on bulky, complex hardware, which constrains scalability and delays commercial deployment. YQuantum develops miniaturised, high-performance cryogenic hardware aimed at improving scalability. Its components support high-fidelity superconducting and spin-qubit operations, enabling the construction of larger and more stable quantum processors. By reducing size and improving efficiency, YQuantum seeks to move quantum computing hardware from research settings toward practical use. YQuantum serves a broad range of customers advancing quantum systems, from academic labs researching new qubit architectures to startups and major technology firms scaling their platforms. The quantum hardware market is expected to expand rapidly in the coming years, driven by increasing investment and technological progress across the ecosystem. Projections suggest it could reach several billion euros as quantum computing moves from research to commercialisation. The new funding will strengthen YQuantum’s technology base and accelerate the commercialisation of next-generation products, while supporting R&D expansion, business development, and customer engagement.