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Scaling Europe Daily - 5.5.

Daily · Substack · 5 May 2026

Scaling Europe Daily - 5.5.

A strong day for AI-led platforms, with Smartness leading the funding at €47m and smaller rounds across Europe alongside it. At the same time, SAP acquired Prior Labs, while Fractile is in talks with Anthropic to supply AI chips..

Let’s dive in.


💰 Funding rounds

  • Trentino-based startup Smartness raised €47m Series B to scale its AI-powered platform for hotel operations and revenue management. Read more here.

  • Glasgow-based startup EnteroBiotix secured £19m to advance its microbiome-based therapies, including a clinical trial targeting IBS. Read more here.

  • Milan-based startup A-Cube secured €4m to expand its digital tax compliance platform and integrate AI capabilities. Read more here.

  • France-based startup Nabu secured €3m to scale its digital customs clearance platform across Europe. Read more here.

  • Munich-based startup Mobility Signage raised €1.8m Pre-seed to build its digital infrastructure platform for public transport systems. Read more here.

  • Lisbon-based startup Ekiden secured €1.7m Seed to build blockchain-based trading infrastructure for institutional users. Read more here.

  • Frankfurt-based startup ENVIOTECH raised €1m Pre-seed to scale its retrofit solutions for public street lighting. Read more here.

🌱 Startup news

  • European defence technology company Intelic launched Intelic BASE, a procurement platform to help Ministries of Defence identify and deploy European drone systems faster. Read more here.

  • UK-based startup Fractile is in talks with Anthropic to supply AI chips using SRAM technology to improve inference speed and cost. Read more here.

🤝 M&A

  • Quantum Machines acquired Dutch startup QHarbor and opened a new office in Delft to expand its quantum computing platform in Europe. Read more here.

  • Freiburg-based startup Prior Labs got acquired by SAP to scale its tabular AI research and deployment across enterprise data. Read more here.

    🎧 Podcasts

  • The Scaling Europe Podcast featured Andre Retterath, General Partner at Earlybird Venture Capital, on how Earlybird sized its €360m early-stage fund. Listen here.

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Originally published on Substack.