If you've been disconnected from the news this week, catching up might feel like stepping into a time machine. Donald Trump's inauguration as the 47th President of the US has set off a whirlwind of changes, with each day bringing unprecedented shifts in the political landscape. Between this historic transition, the buzz from Davos, and a tsunami of AI announcements and funding rounds, it's been almost dizzying to keep up.
In this climate of rapid change, we are especially excited to share an incredible resource from the great Contrary VC: a 300-slide analysis of tech trends. It provides captivating insights into the technological and societal transformations we have experienced over the past two years (which, frankly, feel more like decades).
Next week, we'll return with Part 2 of our annual predictions and some fresh, original analyses. Meanwhile, don't miss out on securing your spot at VC Central 2025! Our annual conference is set for May 22nd, and we've got an incredible lineup of speakers to announce.

MHM (Might Have Missed) News
Memecoins are having a week
- A memecoin called $TRUMP was launched on January 20th, the day of the presidential inauguration, and at one point reached a market cap of USD 15 billion. Later, on January 22nd, another coin named $MELANIA was launched, peaking at a market cap of USD 2 billion.
- 80% of $TRUMP tokens are owned by CIC Digital LLC (a Trump Organization affiliate) and Fight Fight Fight LLC.
- The coins are described as "digital collectibles" rather than investments.
OpenAI is having a week... again
- Operator can perform complex computer tasks independently, including web browsing, document creation, and basic software operation using a Computer-Using Agent (CUA) model based on GPT-4o, simulating human website interactions.
- Available to US users on the $200/month ChatGPT Pro plan, it helps with shopping, delivery, dining, and travel but has limitations in handling complex tasks.
- OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle launched "The Stargate Project," a $500 billion AI infrastructure initiative in the U.S.
- The initial facility is to be built in Abilene, Texas, with plans for 20 locations by 2029.
- The project is expected to create hundreds of thousands of jobs and secure America's leadership in AI development.
- OpenAI collaborates with Retro Biosciences on the GPT-4b micro model to potentially extend the human lifespan by 10 years.
- The model focuses on re-engineering Yamanaka factors to convert skin cells into stem cells.
- This project, backed by Sam Altman, aims to advance biological research and may lead to developing organs and replacement cells.
ByteDance (TikTok's parent company) has released Doubao-1.5-pro, an upgraded version of their AI model
- Reportedly outperforms OpenAI's o1 in AIME benchmark tests, which measure AI's ability to understand and respond to complex instructions.
DeepSeek, a Chinese AI company, has released DeepSeek-R1, a new AI model that matches or outperforms OpenAI's latest models but at 90% lower cost (around $5M to train)
- The model is openly available, with free access through their website and mobile app, plus affordable API pricing - making high-end AI capabilities much more accessible than competitors.
- While there are some concerns about Chinese censorship in the model, its open-source nature and ability to be run offline has caused significant discussion in Silicon Valley about its potential to disrupt the AI industry's current power structure.
New VC Funds
🇨🇾 33East - €26M - Fund Close
Cyprus-focused VC firm 33East has secured €26M to invest in pre-seed and seed-stage startups connected to Cyprus. The fund plans to make initial investments of €100K to €1M in companies building businesses in or from Cyprus. Founded by Demetrios Zoppos (former founder of onefinestay) and Yiannis Eftychiou, 33East aims to accelerate Cyprus's technology ecosystem and become the go-to investor for Cypriot founders and non-Cypriot teams with a Cyprus nexus.
🇫🇷 4elements - €27.4M - Studio Fund
Paris-based startup studio 4elements has secured €27.4M to launch climate change-focused startups. The studio, founded by Cédric Favier (ex-Elaia) and Jean-Baptiste Goffart in 2023, plans to launch around ten startups within 5 years, providing up to €6M per startup. Their portfolio already includes three companies: Bluefins (ship propulsion system reducing fuel consumption), Cedrus Solutions (AI for real estate decarbonization), and Netcarbon (satellite data for carbon storage optimization). The funding comes from the European Investment Fund (EIF), France 2030 French Tech Acceleration 2 Fund managed by Bpifrance, Greenpact, and family offices.
🇮🇹 Algebris Investments - €60M - First Close
Milan-based Algebris Investments has secured €60M in the first close of its inaugural climate tech venture fund, targeting a final close of €100M. The fund, part of the firm's green transition unit launched in 2021, will invest in 15-20 climate tech and deep tech companies across energy, materials, industrials, and food sectors. Key investors include Italian pension funds and CDP Venture Capital through its Technology Transfer Fund and Green Transition Fund-PNRR, which invests EU NextGenerationEU assets.
🇵🇹 AgileGTM Blockchain Fund - $2M - First Close
Lisbon-based AgileGTM Blockchain Fund has secured its first close of $2M as part of a planned $10M pan-European VC fund focused on pre-seed B2B blockchain startups. The fund plans to make 40-50 pre-seed investments, with initial deployments to three to six companies selected from over 500 candidates. Led by General Partner Filippo Chisari, the fund targets commercially-focused entrepreneurs building blockchain businesses with validated B2B revenue and impact focus.
🇳🇱 QDNL Participations - €25M - First Close
Amsterdam-based quantum-focused VC firm QDNL Participations has secured €25M in the first close of its planned €60M fund targeting early-stage quantum technology startups globally. The firm, which previously focused on Dutch startups with a €15M fund, has expanded its team with notable additions including quantum computing pioneer Chad Rigetti as venture partner and Kris Kaczmarek as investment director. Investors include family offices, high-net-worth individuals, funds-of-funds, endowments, and the Quantum Delta NL Foundation. The funding comes as quantum computing investment dropped 50% in 2024, though government spending is expected to reach $40B over the next decade.

New VC Rounds
🇬🇧 AdClear - £510K - Pre-Seed
London-based AdClear has secured £510,000 in pre-seed funding led by Haatch, with participation from Force Over Mass and Founders Capital. The regtech startup automates marketing compliance for rapidly scaling fintech businesses operating under FCA regulations, particularly those in high-risk categories like investments, loans, and crypto. The platform eliminates manual reviews by providing instant, contextual feedback on compliance levels, serving clients including Plum, Creditspring, and Trade Nation.
🇩🇪 alteva - €1.7M - Pre-Seed
Cologne-based alteva has secured €1.7M in pre-seed funding led by HTGF, with participation from UnternehmerTUM, NRW.BANK, and angel investors. The startup develops battery cells targeting the decarbonization of global transport, particularly for aviation, long-distance, and heavy goods transport. Building on German Aerospace Centre (DLR) research, the funding will support prototype development, with series production projected within the next two to three years.
🇬🇧 Amplience - £32M - Debt Financing
London-based Amplience has secured £32M in senior secured investment from AshGrove Capital. The company provides headless content management solutions, including Content Management Systems (CMS) and Digital Asset Management (DAM) that integrate with customer tech stacks. Their platform helps enhance customer experience, drive sales conversion, and reduce content production costs.
🇮🇸 Arctic Therapeutics - €26.5M - Series A
Icelandic biotech startup Arctic Therapeutics has secured €26.5M to advance its anti-amyloid treatment for dementia. The company's lead program, AT-001, has received EMA approval for a phase IIb/III clinical trial targeting Hereditary Cystatin C Amyloid Angiopathy (HCCAA), a rare form of familial dementia. The oral treatment is designed to prevent harmful amyloid protein aggregation in the brain.
🇬🇧 Aslan - $5M - Seed Round
London-based Aslan has secured $5M in seed funding led by Notion Capital, with participation from Redstone and angel investors. The company develops next-generation financial wellbeing solutions for employees, with the oversubscribed round aimed at supercharging their employee pay platform.
🇩🇪 Audavis - €1.1M - Seed Round
Munich-based Audavis has secured €1.1M in seed funding led by High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), with participation from Martin Ostermayer and private investors from the BayStartUP network. The company provides a cloud-based platform to access and analyze data from ERP and accounting systems, with plans to further develop its AI-based 'Artificial Auditor' as a co-pilot for auditing.
🇭🇺 Axoflow - €6.7M - Seed Round
Hungarian-founded, US-based Axoflow has secured €6.7M in seed funding led by EBRD Venture Capital, with increased participation from existing investors Credo Ventures and e2vc. The cybersecurity startup, founded by Balázs Scheidler (creator of syslog-ng), develops a security data curation platform that automates data collection and handling from various security sources. Their AxoRouter technology helps reduce data volume by 50% while maintaining data integrity, serving clients including a large US government organization and a global telecommunications company.
🇬🇧 BeZero Carbon - $32M - Series C
London-based BeZero Carbon, a carbon ratings agency, has secured $32M in Series C funding led by Temasek-founded GenZero. The company provides ratings and analysis for the voluntary carbon market, helping organizations assess and validate carbon credit quality. Notable clients include major financial institutions, exchanges, and corporations involved in carbon credit trading and offsetting.
Boardy AI - $8M - Seed Round
AI networking startup Boardy has secured $8M in seed funding led by Creandum, just months after their $3M pre-seed round. The company's AI platform has facilitated over 9,000 calls and made more than 10,000 phone calls since its October launch, helping startups secure partnerships and investments. CEO Andrew D'Souza notes that investors reached out organically after trying the product, speaking with Boardy's AI before connecting with the team.
🇪🇸 Brickken - $2.5M - Seed Round
Spanish startup Brickken has secured $2.5M in seed funding at a $20M valuation. The company provides a SaaS platform for tokenizing real-world assets, enabling businesses to tokenize equity, debt, and revenue-sharing models. Since launching its Token Suite in March 2023, Brickken has tokenized over $250M in assets across 14 countries and achieved EBITDA-positive status.
The round saw participation from American investors Psalion and Ergodic, Asian investors SNZ Capital and Blue Bay Ventures, and European investors Mocha and Hodl Ventures. Funding will support international expansion and platform enhancements, including API integrations and AI agent implementation.
🇫🇷 DFNS - $16M - Series A
Paris-based DFNS has secured $16M in Series A funding to expand its crypto wallet infrastructure platform for institutional clients. Two years ago, the company shifted its wallet-as-a-service platform focus to institutions. It now serves over 130 clients and supports 10 million wallets with $1B in monthly transactions. With 300% year-over-year growth since 2021, DFNS plans to expand across the EU, UK, UAE, and US markets, targeting banks, payment services, trading platforms, and government treasuries.
🇬🇧 Domna - £70M - Growth Round
London-based Domna (formerly Hestia) has secured £70M from private equity firm Leon Capital in one of Europe's largest first-time raises for a female founder team. The company provides energy retrofit services and software solutions for housing portfolios, helping achieve up to 40% energy cost savings and 20% property value increases post-retrofit. Through recent acquisitions of The Warmfront Team and Osmosis ACD, Domna now delivers 15,000 domestic retrofits annually, resulting in 20+ kilotons of CO2 emissions reductions.
🇩🇪 ecoplanet - €16M - Series A
Munich-based ecoplanet has secured €16M in Series A funding led by EQT Ventures to develop its energy orchestration platform for businesses. The company provides energy management software that integrates on-site processes and machines with the energy market, delivering automated processes and data-driven decisions. Their platform currently manages over 2 TWh of energy consumption across 2,000+ sites.
🇬🇧 Egregious - $1M - Pre-Seed
UK-based Egregious has secured $1M in pre-seed funding to develop AI-powered defense solutions against malicious AI use. The company provides Social Media Intelligence tools and Narrative Intelligence solutions that help organizations detect and counter AI-driven deception and disinformation. Their platform serves various sectors including national security, finance, marketing, and cybersecurity, focusing on protecting against AI-powered bots and agents that can manipulate systems and undermine trust at scale.
🇩🇪 ENAPI - €7.5M - Seed Round
Berlin-based ENAPI has secured €7.5M in seed funding led by Voyager Ventures, with participation from Project A, Seedcamp, and Helloworld VC. The company provides a platform that streamlines EV charging transactions and data exchange between charge point operators and mobility service providers. Following a €2.5M pre-seed round in early 2024, this brings total funding to €10M. The investment comes as 70% of EV drivers report dissatisfaction with public charging infrastructure.
🇵🇱 Fudo Security - €9M
Fudo Security has raised €9M to advance its Privileged Access Management solutions, which enhance control over privileged account access and help organizations meet regulatory compliance requirements. By reducing potential entry points for attackers, their solutions enable faster responses to unauthorized access attempts to IT systems and sensitive data. The round was led by bValue.
🇬🇧 Fundment - £45M
London-based Fundment has secured £45M in funding led by Highland Europe, with participation from ETFS Capital. The company provides a technology platform for financial advisers that integrates core platform services, back-office tools, and discretionary investment management solutions. Their marketplace platform offers access to investments from major providers including Legal & General, BlackRock, and HSBC, covering OEICs, Unit Trusts, Investment Trusts, ETFs, and equities.
🇪🇪 Fusebox - €2.6M
Estonian startup Fusebox has secured €2.6M in funding led by Soulmates Ventures, with participation from SmartCap, Eneco Ventures, and PKO Bank. The company provides SaaS solutions that help power utilities and commercial/industrial companies integrate renewable energy, storage, and consumption management. Their technology enables hybrid site management and can scale into Virtual Power Plants (VPPs). Already operating in 13 global markets, Fusebox helps clients reduce energy costs by up to 35% while increasing revenue by 40%.
🇩🇪 Green Fusion - €12M - Series A
Berlin-based Green Fusion has secured €12M in Series A funding led by HV Capital and XAnge, with participation from BitStone Capital, Übermorgen Ventures, kopa ventures, Vireo Ventures, and Brandenburg Kapital. The company provides AI-powered software that monitors and optimizes heating systems in apartment buildings, reducing energy costs and carbon emissions. Their platform helps housing companies achieve an average 16% reduction in heating expenses, translating to €233,000 annually for 100 heating systems. The funding will support equipping 3,000 apartment buildings with their solution by 2025 (300% increase) and expansion into France and Benelux. Green Fusion currently serves over 100 housing companies managing 800,000 apartments, including major clients like Gewobag and Rheinwohnungsbau.
🇪🇸 H2SITE - €36M - Series B
Spanish hydrogen equipment company H2SITE has secured €36M in Series B funding led by Hy24 and SC Net Zero Ventures, with participation from Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Enagas Emprende, Equinor Ventures, Exergon, Ezten, and MassMutal Ventures. The Bilbao-based company develops membrane reactor technology that converts hydrogen carriers and separates hydrogen gas blends into fuel cell purity hydrogen, addressing the hydrogen transport challenge. The funding will support scaling up to multi-tons per day reactors by 2026.
🇭🇷 Hypefy - $1.75M - Seed Round
Croatian startup Hypefy has secured $1.75M in seed funding for its AI-powered influencer marketing automation platform. Their software analyzes past performance data, audience metrics, and market factors to optimize marketing campaigns end-to-end. The funding will support team growth, software development acceleration, and expansion into US and European markets. Prior investors Fil Rouge Capital and BA Dražen Pehar participated in the round.
🇫🇷 Hyperline - $10M - Seed Extension
Paris-based Hyperline has secured $10M in seed extension funding led by Index Ventures, with participation from Adelie Capital. The company provides an automated billing platform that helps small and medium-sized businesses manage revenue processes. It supports various payment models, including AI features, usage-based, and outcome-based pricing. The funding, which brings the total seed investment to $14M following a $4.4M round in June 2023, will support scaling distribution to more businesses.
🇬🇧 Infinity - £5M - Debt
London-based call tracking and analytics provider Infinity has secured £5M in corporate debt financing from CIBC Innovation Banking. The company's platform helps businesses track and analyze customer phone calls, providing insights into marketing effectiveness and customer interactions.
🇧🇪 IntelliProve - €1.25M - Seed Round
Belgian startup IntelliProve has secured €1.25M in seed funding led by Miles Ahead, with participation from The White and Yellow Cross, imec.istart fund, and business angels. Founded in 2021, the company develops software that measures health parameters like heart rate, respiratory rate, and stress through optical face scans via smartphone cameras. Operating across Belgium, Netherlands, UK, Italy, France, Germany, and Denmark, their CE-marked medical device platform serves clients including Helan and Neutraal Ziekenfonds Vlaanderen.
🇬🇧 Intryc - $3.1M - Seed Round
London-based Intryc has secured $3.1M in seed funding led by General Catalyst, with participation from Sequoia scouts and existing investors Episode 1 and 500 Emerging Europe. The company provides an AI-powered platform that automates quality assurance for customer service interactions, analyzing millions of conversations through direct integration with help desk systems. Early enterprise adopters include Deel and Blueground. The funding, which brings total investment to $4.2M, follows the company's completion of Y Combinator's Summer 2024 cohort.
🇳🇱 Klearly - €6M - Seed Round
Dutch fintech Klearly has secured €6M in seed funding to develop its SoftPOS solution for hospitality businesses and mobile vendors. Their embedded payment product enables businesses to accept contactless payments using smartphones or tablets, eliminating the need for expensive traditional POS hardware. The platform allows businesses to retain existing bank accounts and acquirers or easily switch providers, with particular focus on restaurants, clubs, fast food businesses, and mobile vendors.
🇫🇷 Kraaft - €13M - Series A
Paris-based Kraaft has secured €13M in Series A funding led by Dawn Capital to advance its construction management app. The platform, often described as "WhatsApp for construction," combines simple group chat functionality with AI-powered project management tools, including planning, photo geolocation, and safety checks. The company has gained significant traction with over 20,000 active users and 1,000+ clients across five countries. Notable clients include major European construction companies like SAUR, NGE, SPIE CityNetworks, Ramery, Serfim, Sade, and Gagneraud.
🇭🇷 Lebesgue - €2.9M - Seed Round
Zagreb-based Lebesgue has secured €2.9M in seed funding led by Interactive VP, with participation from Fil Rouge Capital, K20, Bridge Investments, and U.S.-based investors. The company provides an AI CMO platform that analyzes competitor trends, market patterns, and customer behaviors to optimize marketing strategies for ecommerce businesses. With over 10,000 users and $2B in advertising spend analyzed through their platform, Lebesgue plans to use the funding to scale sales and marketing efforts while expanding operations in the U.S. market.
🇬🇧 LemFi - $53M - Series B
London-based LemFi has secured $53M in Series B funding led by Highland Europe, with participation from Left Lane Capital, Palm Drive Capital, Y Combinator, and Endeavor Catalyst. The fintech platform, designed for immigrants, enables diaspora communities to send money to emerging markets across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. With over 1M active users, LemFi processes $1B in monthly payment volumes, showing particular strength in Asian corridors which generate $160M monthly and grow 30% month-on-month.
The company recently expanded into Europe through a partnership with Modulr and plans to secure its license next month following an acquisition in Ireland. Total funding reaches $85M, with the fresh capital supporting payment network expansion and talent recruitment across Europe, North America, Africa, and Asia.
🇫🇷 Loft Orbital - €170M - Series C
San Francisco-based Loft Orbital has secured €170M in Series C funding co-led by Tikehau Capital and Axial Partners, with participation from Bpifrance, Foundation Capital, Temasek, and Uncork Capital. The company provides "space-as-a-service," allowing organizations to deploy missions in space without managing satellites or ground operations. Their platform has deployed over 25 customer missions across five satellites, serving clients including NASA, Microsoft, Anduril, and BAE Systems.
The funding follows over $500M in bookings achieved on just $160M of prior capital, with 100% year-over-year revenue growth for two consecutive years. The company will use the funds to scale from launching a handful of satellites annually to ten-plus per year and expand their virtual missions capabilities.
🇷🇴 lumen - €5M
Romanian startup .lumen has secured funding from EIC Fund and other investors for its AI-powered glasses that help visually impaired individuals navigate independently. Their technology uses Pedestrian Autonomous Driving (PAD AI) to emulate guide dog functionalities. The company, founded in 2020 by Cornel Amariei, has tested its solution with over 300 blind individuals across nearly 30 countries. Total funding to date reaches €13M through grants and equity investments. The fresh capital will support bringing their Glasses for the Blind to market and advancing their PAD AI technology.
🇬🇧 Lupa - $4M - Seed Round
London-based Lupa has secured $4M in seed funding led by firstminute capital, with participation from 2100 Ventures and Vento by Exor Ventures. The company provides an AI-powered platform for veterinary practices that automates administrative tasks and clinical documentation. Their technology helps reduce the 10-20 hours per week vets typically spend on administrative work, while providing diagnostic suggestions and streamlining client communications. The startup, whose engineering team includes former Google, Amazon, and Palantir employees, has partnered with Vetsure, the UK's largest vet buying group.
🇩🇪 Matchory - EUR 6 Million
Matchory has secured €6M in seed extension funding, led by Capmont with participation from existing investor Earlybird-X. Founded in 2019, the company develops a cloud-based AI-driven procurement platform that centralizes supplier information along the supply chain. The platform is already used by major manufacturers including DMG Mori, Tesa, Bosch, and Jungheinrich.
🇨🇭 Metafuels - $9M - Growth Round
Swiss sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) startup Metafuels has secured $9M in funding from Celsius Industries, RockCreek, Fortescue, and Verve, with existing investors Energy Impact Partners and Contrarian Ventures also participating. The company develops technology for sustainable aviation fuel compatible with existing aircraft. Having recently secured a $5M grant from the Swiss Government's Federal Office of Energy, total funding reaches $22M.
The company has partnered with European Energy to build an e-SAF facility in Denmark that will produce 12,000 liters of sustainable aviation fuel daily. The funding will support completing demonstration programs and industrial scale-up of their e-SAF technology.
🇸🇪 Neko Health - $260M - Series B
Stockholm-based Neko Health has secured $260M at a $1.8B valuation in a Series B round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from General Catalyst, O.G. Venture Partners, Rosello, Lakestar, and Atomico. Co-founded by Spotify's Daniel Ek and Hjalmar Nilsonne, the company operates AI-driven body scanning clinics that provide comprehensive health assessments. Their £300 one-hour exams use proprietary hardware and software to generate millions of health data points, analyzing everything from skin conditions to metabolic health risks.
The funding will support US market expansion, where the company sees significant demand, and development of their diagnostic capabilities. Neko has already scanned 10,000 patients across clinics in Stockholm and London, with a waitlist exceeding 100,000 people.
🇩🇪 Nelly - €50M - Series B
Berlin-based Nelly has secured €50M in Series B funding led by Cathay Innovation, with participation from Notion Capital and existing investors. The company provides healthcare digitalization solutions that automate receivable management for medical practices, enabling GDPR-compliant digital processes from patient intake to payment. The platform has already digitized 30 million paper documents and processed over 2 million patients, reportedly saving an average of 10 minutes per patient interaction.
🇩🇪 NEURA Robotics - €120M - Series B
A Metzingen-based cognitive and humanoid robotics company NEURA Robotics has secured €120M in Series B funding. The company develops commercially viable cognitive robots. The round saw participation from BlueCrest Capital Management, C4 Ventures, Delta Electronics, HV Capital, InterAlpen Partners, L-Bank, Lingotto Investment Management, and Volvo Cars Tech Fund.
🇱🇹 Nexos.ai - $8M - Seed Round
Lithuanian startup Nexos.ai has secured $8M in seed funding led by Index Ventures, with participation from Creandum and Dig Ventures, plus angel investors including CEOs of Datadog, Klarna, Supercell, and Wix. Founded by Nord Security (NordVPN) founders, the company provides an AI orchestration platform that helps enterprises manage AI deployments, costs, and security. Their platform offers access to 200+ AI models through a single API, with intelligent caching and automatic provider switching if services go down.
The funding marks Index Ventures' first investment in Lithuania, with the platform set to launch by March 2025. The company already has a team of 30 people and is working with beta customers and design partners.
🇳🇱 NXP Semiconductors - €1B - EIB Loan
Eindhoven-based NXP Semiconductors has secured a €1B loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) with a six-year duration and approximately 4.75% interest rate for dollar-denominated tranches. The semiconductor company will use the funding to support research and development of power electronics devices, microprocessors, microcontrollers, and energy efficiency improvements. The investment aligns with the EU Chips Act and Dutch National Technology Strategy to strengthen European semiconductor capabilities.
🇸🇪 Open Payments - €3M
Stockholm-based Open Payments has secured €3M in funding led by Alfvén & Didrikson, with participation from Industrifonden and existing investors including Sony Financial Ventures, Global Brain, Luminar Ventures, and Brightly Ventures. The company provides an open banking platform for B2B payments, combining Open Banking API connections with ISO-based payment integrations for managing domestic and cross-border payments. The platform, built on PSD2 directive principles, enables streamlined financial operations through ERP system integration, serving clients including Monitor ERP, Treasury Systems, and Juni Technologies.
🇬🇧 Origen - $13M - Series A
London-based Origen Power has secured $13M in Series A funding led by Barclays Climate Ventures, with participation from Shell Ventures, Exascale Fund, Elemental Impact, and Hatch. The company specializes in limestone-based direct air capture (DAC) technology to remove carbon from the atmosphere. Recently, Origen partnered with the Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC) to capture 1,000 tonnes of CO2 per year at a facility under construction in North Dakota.
🇬🇧 Owlstone Medical - $27M - Series E First Close
Cambridge-based Owlstone Medical has secured $27M in the first close of its Series E funding led by Ventura Capital, with participation from Aviva Ventures, Horizons Ventures, and the Gates Foundation. The company develops Breath Biopsy® technology for early disease detection and precision medicine. The funding will support ongoing development of their proprietary platform and commercialization of diagnostic tests and point-of-care devices under their patient-centric brand OMED Health.
🇬🇷 Progressive Robotics - €1.55M - Seed Round
Greek startup Progressive Robotics has secured €1.55M in seed funding led by Marathon Venture Capital. The company develops no-code automation software that enables operators to configure and reprogram robotic arms without technical expertise. Their flagship product includes a mixed-case palletizer that optimizes space utilization and ensures stability in fulfillment centers.
🇩🇪 Project Eaden - €15M - Series A
Berlin-based Project Eaden has secured €15M in Series A funding led by Planet A and REWE Group, with participation from DeepTech & Climate Fonds, Happiness Capital, AgriFoodTech Venture Alliance, and existing investors Creandum and FoodLabs. The company uses textile industry-inspired fiber-spinning technology to create ultra-realistic plant-based meats from wheat, pea, and fava bean proteins.
Their first product, plant-based ham, will launch in thousands of REWE supermarkets across Germany in early 2025. The company claims their technology produces more realistic meat alternatives than traditional extrusion or emulsion processes. Having raised a total of €27M to date, Project Eaden aims to make switching from animal meat "a no-brainer" through superior taste, texture, and nutrition.
🇮🇹 Qomodo - €13.5M - Series A
Milan-based Qomodo has secured €13.5M in Series A funding led by RTP Global. The company provides payment solutions for physical merchants, serving over 2,500 businesses, including beauty centers, dental practices, veterinary clinics, and auto repair shops. Its technology optimizes revenue collection and supports business growth. Other investors include LMDV Capital, Fasanara Capital, Proximity Capital, and Primo Capital, as well as Italian family offices and institutional investors.
🇳🇱 Recharge - €45M - Debt Facility
Amsterdam-based Recharge, specializing in online prepaid payments, has secured a €45M facility from ABN AMRO. The company reported 30% year-on-year revenue growth in 2024 and aims to reach €1B in sales by 2025. Following its acquisition of Dutch startup StartSelect in 2023, Recharge plans to use the funding to pursue two to three additional European acquisitions in 2025.
🇬🇧 Recfindr - £300K - Pre-Seed
London-based Recfindr has secured £300K in pre-seed funding led by SFC Capital, with participation from angel investors, including Ezequiel Canestrari, European COO of Clearbank. Founded by Romanian-British entrepreneur Alexandra Chirica, the company provides a platform connecting employers with boutique recruitment agencies. The platform streamlines agency procurement, legal contracts, and performance tracking while integrating with ATS systems. Already serving 160+ recruitment agencies, Recfindr aims to transform how companies manage and collaborate with specialist recruiters in high-demand sectors like fintech, AI, and biotech.
🇨🇿 Safetica - €3.84M
Czech-based Safetica has secured €3.84M in funding from Impulse Ventures, founder Jakub Mahdal, and investors Ondrej Smolar and Michael Poplar-Rostock. The company provides software for corporate data protection, serving clients including Doosan, DPD, and McDonald's. The funding will support strengthening customer support, sales, and marketing teams in the US and Canada.
🇩🇪 Sereact - €25M - Series A
Sereact has secured €25M in Series A funding led by Creandum, with Point Nine and Air Street Capital participating. The company develops AI software that enables robots to adapt to new situations without explicit training through zero-shot visual reasoning. Their flagship product, PickGPT, can be deployed within a day and allows robots to analyze and solve unfamiliar situations in real-time, moving beyond rigid programming to situational adaptability. The company serves major manufacturers including BMW, Daimler Truck, Bol, and Active Ants, with their systems continuously improving through real-world deployment data rather than relying primarily on synthetic training.
🇫🇷 Shippeo - $30M
Paris-based Shippeo has secured $30M in funding led by Woven Capital to advance its real-time multimodal transportation visibility platform. The company's technology enables Transport Process Automation™, integrating with over 228,000 carriers and 1,100 TMS, telematics, and ELD systems. Their platform serves global brands including Ahold Delhaize, AkzoNobel, Amazon, Barilla, and Coca-Cola HBC, tracking more than 90 million shipments annually across 150 countries.
🇬🇧 StormHarvester - £8.4M
Belfast-based StormHarvester has secured £8.4M in funding led by YFM Equity Partners and Emerald Technology Ventures. The company uses AI to help wastewater utilities prevent flooding and pollution through predictive analytics and anomaly detection. Its platform, which serves 75% of UK wastewater utilities, combines machine learning and rainfall forecasting to optimize network management. The funding will support doubling the company's 50-person workforce over three years and accelerating expansion into Australasia and North America.
🇪🇸 Sycai Medical - €3M
Barcelona-based Sycai Medical has secured €3M to advance its AI-driven digital medical device for early cancer detection. The company's technology analyzes medical imaging to detect early cancer and premalignant lesions in the abdomen without invasive testing. Their solution helps healthcare professionals better understand and quantify patients' response to treatment while providing more accurate definitions of benign lesions.
🇬🇧 Synthesia - $180M - Series D
London-based Synthesia has secured $180M in Series D funding led by NEA, with participation from WiL (World Innovation Lab), Atlassian Ventures, PSP Growth, and existing investors GV and MMC Ventures. The company, now valued at $2.1B, provides an AI platform for creating avatar-based videos from text documents for enterprise customers. Their technology serves 60,000 businesses with over 1 million users.
The funding will support hiring, particularly for APAC expansion and product development to enhance avatar capabilities, including more realistic motion, environmental interactions, and user engagement features. Total funding reaches $330M, reflecting strong enterprise demand for AI-generated video content.
🇬🇧 TalentMapper - £2M
London-based TalentMapper has secured £2M in funding from Mercia Ventures and Haatch. The company provides a platform that helps organizations identify and develop skills within their workforce, with clients including Dunelm, Danone, and Mountain Warehouse. Launched 18 months ago, the company has reached £700K in annual recurring revenue.
🇩🇪 Tapline - €20M - Pre-Series A
Berlin-based Tapline has secured €20M in pre-series A funding through a combination of equity and debt financing. The company provides non-dilutive financing to B2B SaaS and subscription companies by pre-financing future receivables. The equity portion was led by Karim Beshara of A15 Venture Capital and Accelero Capital, with participation from Antler and angel investors, while WinYield provided the debt facility. The company's AI-driven credit technology enables funding for companies with as little as €15K MRR, currently serving clients across Germany, Estonia, the Czech Republic, and Poland, with further expansion planned.
🇧🇪 Trustup - €5M #Belgium
Belgian startup Trustup has secured €5M from Rise PropTech Fund, Brick & Mortar Ventures, Noshaq, and InvestSud. The Liège-based company connects homeowners with certified construction and renovation professionals while providing software for contractors to manage administrative tasks and project tracking. The platform serves over 20,000 professionals across Belgium and France, with 160,000 monthly visitors. The funding will support the recruitment of 50 additional employees and expansion in Flanders, where they opened a Leuven office in 2024.
🇬🇧 Vertice - $50M - Series C
London-based Vertice has secured $50M in Series C funding led by Lakestar, with participation from Perpetual Growth, CF Private Equity, and existing investors Bessemer Ventures and 83North. The company provides an AI-powered spend optimization platform that helps enterprises manage procurement workflows and SaaS spending. Their platform has processed over $3.4B in software and cloud expenditure, helping customers achieve up to 30% cost savings and reduce purchasing cycles by half.
🇬🇧 Vizgard - £1.5M
London-based Vizgard has secured £1.5M in funding led by Sure Valley Ventures, with Midwich Ignite and Focal participation. Founded in 2021 by former Royal Navy submariner Alex Kehoe, the company develops AI-powered automation for defense optical systems and security cameras. Their proprietary FortifAI solution combines traditional computer vision with deep learning models for reliable real-world performance. The company has secured contracts with the Ministry of Defence, HMGCC Co-Creation, and multiple police departments. They're also part of a £12M Innovate UK consortium developing a 165-mile drone superhighway, and recently won a Home Office contract for portable knife-detection technology.
🇪🇸 Weecover - €4.2M - Seed Extension
Spanish insurtech Weecover has secured €4.2M in funding led by Swanlaab Venture Factory, with participation from existing investor Nauta Capital and others including La Roca Capital, Bankinter, Prosegur, and Íope Ventures. The company provides APIs and technology solutions that enable retailers, e-commerce platforms, and financial institutions to offer embedded insurance products. Their platform integrates insurance distribution, contracting, and after-sales operations, recently incorporating generative AI to optimize customer service. Current clients include major retailers PcComponentes, FNAC, Decathlon, seQura, and insurers Mapfre and Línea Directa.
🇳🇱 Workwize - $13M - Series A
Amsterdam-based Workwize has secured $13M in Series A funding for its global IT hardware asset management platform. The company's software automates procurement, deployment, retrieval, and disposal of IT equipment for distributed teams, reducing administrative time from hours to minutes. Currently operating in over 100 countries, Workwize manages more than 100,000 devices for 25,000+ users, serving clients including Elastic, EQT, and HelloFresh.
Wultra - €3M #Czechia
Czech cybersecurity startup Wultra has secured €3M in funding led by Tensor Ventures, with participation from Elevator Ventures and J&T Ventures. The company develops post-quantum authentication technology for financial institutions, with plans to expand into Western Europe and Southeast Asia, including opening a Singapore office in 2025. Founded in 2014 by Petr Dvořák, Wultra anticipates growing demand as quantum computing advances threaten current authentication systems.
🇨🇭 ZuriQ - $4.2M - Seed Round
ETH Zurich spin-off ZuriQ has secured $4.2M in seed funding led by Founderful, with participation from SquareOne, First Momentum Ventures, OnSight Ventures, and QAI Ventures. The company is developing a novel trapped-ion quantum computing architecture that allows ions to move in all spatial directions, unlike traditional approaches limited to one-dimensional chains. Their technology combines electric and magnetic fields to enable better scalability, aiming to demonstrate their first prototype with dozens of ions in a reconfigurable 2D grid by late 2025.
🇪🇸 Zynap - €5.7M
Spanish cybersecurity startup Zynap has secured €5.7M in launch funding from Kibo Ventures and Kfund. The company leverages generative AI to combat cybercrime, developing standardized solutions that integrate with existing security frameworks while offering customization for specific client needs. Zynap aims to address sophisticated challenges, including ransomware attacks, social engineering schemes, and state-sponsored cyber operations.