A mix of AI infrastructure and defence dominate today, with Verda raising €100 million to scale its cloud platform. Alongside this, Europe’s push into strategic autonomy can be seen in Ukraine’s €160 million defence innovation programme for especially dual-use technology startups and scaleups, while Palantir’s discussions with the UK Met Police signal a deeper shift toward AI-driven intelligence work in public safety.
Let’s dive in.
💰 Funding rounds
Finland-based Verda (formerly DataCrunch) has raised €100 million in equity and debt financing to expand its AI cloud infrastructure and accelerate international growth. Read more here.
Paris-based HrFlow.ai has raised $6 million in a pre-Series A round to solve unemployment. Read more here.
London-based Cerca Magnetics has raised €4.3 million in Series A funding to expand its wearable brain imaging technology into clinical healthcare markets. Read more here.
Delft-based Foamlab has raised €3 million in growth capital to scale their sustainable bacterial cellulose-based foam materials. Read more here.
Paris-based Sillage has announced its official launch alongside €1.7 million in pre-seed funding to build an AI platform that turns buying signals into qualified sales pipeline. Read more here.
Sofia-based Quillon has raised $1.5 million in pre-seed funding to build audit-grade AI tools for technical accounting and financial reporting. Read more here.
💡 Other news
Dealroom ranking named Phoenix Court the best investor in Europe and 13th globally, based on the number of seed-backed companies reaching $100M+ revenue. Also European investors such as Point Nine, Index Ventures, HV Capital, Kima Ventures, and Balderton featuring high in the list. Check it out here.
Palantir Technologies is in talks with the Metropolitan Police over software that could automate intelligence analysis in criminal investigations, potentially expanding its AI role in UK policing. Read more here.
European Commission & Ukraine Ministry of Defence has launched a €160 million programme to support investment in defence innovation and dual-use technologies, expected to unlock up to €400 million in additional financing for Ukrainian startups and scaleups. Read more here.
🤝 M&A
UK-based Gett is acquired by Lyft to expand its London mobility offering and strengthen access to black cab and private hire services. Read more here.
German Cohere and Canadian Aleph Alpha have announced a merger to form a transatlantic AI company valued at around $20 billion, alongside a major $600 million commitment from Schwarz Group. Read more here.
🎧 Podcasts
The EU-Startups Podcast featured Ahti Heinla, co-founder of Estonian Starship Technologies, on building autonomous delivery systems and how lessons from Skype shaped his approach to scaling robotics for last-mile logistics. Listen to it here.
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