OpenAI Hits Pause on Flagship UK Data Centre Scheme
OpenAI has placed its flagship $500 bn Stargate AI data‑centre project on hold in the United Kingdom. The scheme, slated for a Tyneside site in partnership with Nscale and Nvidia, would have installed roughly 8,000 Nvidia AI processors. OpenAI cited soaring energy costs and an uncertain regulatory environment as the primary reasons for the pause. The delay comes after the project was announced as a cornerstone of the US‑UK technology partnership.
Sybol Raises €1M+ to Advance Its Corporate Digital Identity Wallet
Spanish startup Sybol, specializing in corporate digital identity and verifiable credentials, raised over €1 million (approximately $1.09 million) in a mixed public‑private funding round. The round was led by the Spanish Society for Technological Transformation and featured investors such as Repsol, Grupo...
Plume Raises €3.3M to Cut Years From Renewable Energy Development Timelines
Plume, a Franco‑American geospatial AI startup, closed a €3.3 million (≈$3.6 million) round led by AENU with participation from Y Combinator, Kima Ventures and others. The company’s platform consolidates more than 150 continuously updated geographic datasets and deploys AI agents that parse unstructured...
Handhold Raises €3M to Replace Fragmented Software Buying Journeys with AI Account Managers
Handhold secured €3 million (≈$3.3 million) seed funding led by Entourage Capital, joined by Inovia Capital, e2vc and prominent angels. The startup’s AI‑agent platform assigns virtual account managers to qualify leads, run demos, onboard users and handle renewals, aiming to replace fragmented...
Verne Launches Europe’s First Commercial Robotaxi Service in Zagreb
Verne has launched Europe’s first commercial robotaxi service in Zagreb, Croatia, allowing passengers to book autonomous rides via the Verne app. The fleet uses Pony.ai’s seventh‑generation autonomous driving system, with trained operators on board during the initial rollout. A strategic...
Funding Dips, but Fundamentals Hold: European Tech Raises €7.5B in March
European tech funding in March 2026 slipped slightly, with 292 deals raising €7.5 bn (~$8.1 bn), down 1.4% in deal count and 3.8% in capital from February. The month saw 13 companies each attract over €100 m (~$108 m), while 26 deals kept terms undisclosed....
Eilla AI Executes Europe’s First AI-Native M&A Deal
Eilla AI completed Europe’s first AI‑native M&A advisory deal, facilitating the acquisition of digital‑marketing firms CreateX and Native Digital by Sweden’s White Pearl Technology Group. The firm’s three‑year‑old AI platform automates buyer sourcing, CIM creation and outreach, shrinking a process...
Wearable Robotics Closes €5M Series A to Scale Development
Wearable Robotics, an Italian firm specializing in wearable robotics for neuromotor rehabilitation, closed a €5 million (approximately $5.5 million) Series A round led by CDP Venture Capital. The capital will fund international expansion, regulatory approvals, and the development of modular robotic solutions beyond...
Afreshed Acquires Etepetete as Food Waste Startups Consolidate in DACH
Afreshed, an Austrian organic fruit‑and‑vegetable rescue‑box service, has acquired German competitor etepetete, giving it a foothold across all German states. The deal follows a mid‑seven‑figure funding round—roughly $5 million—and brings a 25.1% stake from Raiffeisen‑Holding NÖ‑Wien, a strategic investor. Afreshed now...
Italy’s VC Ecosystem Matures Into €10B Engine — but Structural Gaps Still Hold It Back
P101’s tenth State of Italian VC report shows the ecosystem now generates about $10.8 B in output and employs roughly 62,000 people. Venture capital funding has quadrupled to $1.5 B annually in 2025, though the number of deals fell 35% and the...
Maguar Takes Significant Stake in GlobalSuite Solutions to Capitalise on Surging Demand for Compliance Tech
German investor Maguar has taken a significant stake in GlobalSuite Solutions, marking its first foray into the Spanish market. GlobalSuite, a GRC software provider with over 2,000 customers across banking, insurance, healthcare and telecom, aims to accelerate growth and innovation....
Midas Closes $50M Series A to Scale On-Chain Investment Products
On-chain investment platform Midas announced a $50 million Series A round, bringing its total funding to $58.75 million. The round was led by RRE Ventures and Creandum, with participation from major crypto investors including Coinbase Ventures and Franklin Templeton. Midas’ technology tokenizes institutional‑grade...
TerraSpark Advances Space-Based Solar Power with €5M Funding
TerraSpark, a space‑based solar energy developer, secured over €5 million (about $5.5 million) in a pre‑seed round led by Daphni, Better Ventures, the Hans(wo)men Group and angels. The company will first commercialise radio‑frequency wireless power transmission for industrial applications, using the funding...
Miros Raises €1.1M to Bring On-Demand Workpods to Public Spaces
Swiss startup miros announced the close of a €1.1 million (approximately $1.2 million) pre‑seed round, backed by a group of business angels. The funding will accelerate deployment of its connected workpods—private, bookable stations for mobile workers—targeting more than 100 units across Switzerland...
Credo Ventures Raises $88M Fund 5 to Double Down on Pre-Seed in CEE and Its Global Diaspora
Credo Ventures announced Credo Stage 5, an $88 million pre‑seed fund aimed at backing the earliest‑stage founders in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and its diaspora. The Prague‑Krakow firm, which has backed over 100 companies and two decacorns—including UiPath and ElevenLabs—will use...
From a 15,000-Step Walk to a Global Movement: How Walk15 Is Turning Steps Into Currency
Lithuanian startup Walk15 has transformed a 15,000‑step walking route into a global motivation platform, now reaching roughly 31% of Lithuania’s population and over one million users worldwide. The app tracks steps without location data, letting participants exchange them for discounts,...
Ventech Leads Bounti’s €4M Funding to Apply AI in the Physical Economy
Berlin‑based Bounti secured €4 million in a round led by Ventech, joined by IBB Ventures, Robin Capital, Common Magic and angels. The startup offers an AI‑powered platform that goes beyond analytics, automatically pinpointing operational issues for frontline teams in multi‑location hospitality,...
Ringtime Secures €1.8M to Improve Blue-Collar Hiring Processes
Ringtime, a Ghent‑based AI agent platform, closed a €1.8 million seed round led by Volta Ventures, with participation from several European investors. The funding will accelerate the company’s expansion into new European markets and bolster its recruitment‑automation technology. Ringtime’s solution automates...
Parallel Raises $20M to Scale AI Solutions for Hospital Administration
Paris‑based Parallel has closed a $20 million Series A round led by Index Ventures, following a $3.5 million seed less than a year ago. The startup’s AI agents sit on top of legacy hospital systems to automate administrative workflows, starting with medical coding...
Ukraine Launches World-First Programme Giving Startups Access to Real War Data for AI Training
Ukraine has launched a world‑first programme that gives startups access to real battlefield data for training AI models. The initiative, approved by Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, creates a framework linking the Ministry of Defence, Ukrainian firms and international partners. Startups can...
Ukrainian-Estonian Defencetech Black Forest Systems Raises $400K to Scale Infantry Drone Platform
Kyiv‑based Black Forest Systems secured $400,000 in seed funding from Front Ventures and Hede Capital Partners to accelerate its infantry‑focused drone platform, SHADOX. The company’s vertically integrated approach combines proprietary electronics, secure communications, and autonomous software, enabling soldiers to operate...
$3M for DEXTools’ PerpTools From DEXForce and Orderly
DEXTools has launched PerpTools, an on‑chain perpetual futures platform, after securing a $3 million seed round led by DEXForce and Orderly. The new service is built on Orderly’s liquidity layer and is embedded directly within the DEXTools interface, letting its more...
Kodree Raises $10M in User Acquisition Financing to Expand AI-Powered Edtech Platform Globally
Kodree, a Kyiv‑based AI‑powered edtech platform, secured $10 million in user‑acquisition financing from PvX Partners. The funding, provided as a non‑dilutive credit facility, will be used to scale marketing and accelerate global growth. Kodree is the inaugural product of Rist Labs,...
Deep Science Ventures Launches New Doctoral Cohort to Turn Science Into Startups
Deep Science Ventures (DSV) has funded the third cohort of its Venture Science Doctorate programme, launching five venture scientists in April. The cohort is backed by Germany’s SPRIND and Builders Vision, offering all‑expenses‑paid doctoral training that combines research autonomy with...
Radiant and Ori Merge to Deliver Sovereign AI Cloud at Utility Scale
Radiant announced a merger with Ori Industries, pairing Ori’s sovereign AI‑cloud software stack with Radiant’s utility‑scale compute, powered‑land assets, and long‑term capital. The combined entity enters its operating phase as the first compute deployment vehicle for Brookfield’s AI Infrastructure Fund,...
Thiax Secures PSV Hafnium Backing for Real-Time X-Ray Inspection Technology
Thiax, a Danish deep‑tech spin‑out, secured investment from PSV Hafnium to commercialise its real‑time X‑ray diffraction inspection system for polymers and composites. The platform merges multispectral X‑ray detectors with 3D measurement to deliver depth‑resolved, non‑destructive insight at industrial speeds. Initial...
Swiss CLIMATEX Secures €3.5M in Round Led by Collateral Good
Swiss textile‑tech firm CLIMATEX closed a €3.5 million financing round led by the Collateral Good Textile & Fashion Innovation Fund, with existing investors participating. The company develops patented, recyclable fabrics that enable design‑for‑disassembly and closed‑loop recycling across apparel and interior textiles....
