- What's hot in 2025?
- New VC Funds: Capricorn Partners, Evercurious, Smartfin, Superhero Capital, YFM Equity Partners
- New VC Rounds: almost EUR 1.7B in new European VC rounds in the first two weeks of 2025
Hi there !
IIf you missed our recent news, we've started our newsletter again! We want to share the best updates about European venture capital with you.
Last week, we shared some news from December. This week, we asked some other VCs what they think will be important in 2025 (you can read their answers below!).
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Last week we asked several European VCs two questions:
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- which emerging trends and opportunities will define European venture capital in 2025?
- what topics should be discussed more right now but are not?
This week, we are publishing the first part of this prediction. One answer in particular has us looking down the rabbit hole:
Given the 10+ years investment period for early stage VCs, and given the arrival of AGI / ASI seems imminent, should we even be investing anymore?
I don’t know, but given how much has changed over the last 24 months, this question has never been more valid. To see who asked it, continue reading!
Which emerging trends and opportunities will define European venture capital in 2025?
Andreas Goeldi 🇨🇭
Partner @ b2venture
We think the re-emergence of service-driven businesses enabled by AI is very interesting (often called "Service-as-a-software"). SaaS by now is a very mature category that has filled every possible niche with relatively standardized tools. There now might be a wave of more complex solutions that are a mix of services and AI-first software that can help with a new category of problems. We have already made some initial investments in such companies, currently still unannounced.
Borys Musielak 🇵🇱
GP @ SMOK Ventures
- Alternative food companies that automate most of the production, like our recent investment Proteine Resources.
- Code verification software that checks if the LLM-generated software does what it was supposed to do.
Dan Lupu 🇷🇴
Venture Partner @ Earlybird
I believe that the adoption of AI will continue to be the prevailing theme in 2025. To clarify, it seems to me that the core AI technology and the models it generates made a significant leap in the last two years. That progress is not yet reflected fully in applications deployed and adopted by consumers and the enterprise. I expect more and more startups, along with established solution providers, to adopt specific AI models and incorporate them into full-blown solutions addressing specific needs in the market. For startups, the focus will be on product design and market adoption rather than technology development.
Danijel Višević 🇩🇪
GP @ World Fund
Two key opportunities are poised to define European venture capital in 2025: battery technology innovation and alternative proteins. Battery advancements will focus on delivering higher energy density, improved efficiency, and lower costs, supporting Europe's renewable energy expansion. Simultaneously, the meat alternatives sector, particularly mycelium-based products, is expected to see breakthrough developments with declining prices driving market adoption. These opportunities align with a broader strategic focus on European sovereignty and resilience across critical sectors, including e-aviation, quantum computing, and space tech.
Jakob Stein 🇸🇪
Vice President @ Creandum
In general, we are obsessed with the opportunities in:
- Embodied AI (commoditized hardware, general-purpose AI strategy);
- Integrated development environment tools;
- B2B energy management systems & grid operational excellence in light of Europe's energy transformation;
- Vertical agent solutions in $20bn+ markets.
Jeff Crusey 🇬🇧
GP @ 7Percent Ventures
We've seen the rise of deep tech and defense in the European region with many new funds being raised. Given the prospect of the war in Ukraine coming to an end with the change in the US administration, it will be a crucial moment for Europe to decide if they will continue to invest in and support these critical areas for better security, autonomy, and resilience in the future.
Jonė Vaitulevičiūtė 🇱🇹
GP @ Firstpick
Two areas stand out to us after digging more into AI:
- AI applications in biomedicine: drug discovery, diagnostics, and personalized medicine.
- Synthetic biology and bio-manufacturing: creating materials, food, and even medicines in entirely new ways.
Kamil Mieczakowski 🇬🇧
Partner @ Notion Capital
I'm very bullish on the changing landscape of cybersecurity, as all companies, regardless of size, are under increasing scrutiny from their customers and regulators in both the EU and the U.S. Aikido stands out in Europe as one of the fastest-growing SaaS companies, consistently achieving over 20% month-over-month growth since their Seed round.
Secondly, there are countless opportunities in highly vertical and specialist AI, with many globally successful companies coming out of Europe. In our own portfolio the examples are Resistant AI and Protex.
Marcin Hejka 🇵🇱
GP @ OTB Ventures
- Robotics and Automation: The demand for robotics and automation technologies is rising, driven by the need for efficiency and precision in manufacturing, logistics, and other industries. Investments in robotics startups that offer advanced automation solutions and robotics-as-a-service models are expected to grow. These technologies are not only enhancing productivity but also driving innovation in sectors such as manufacturing, healthcare, agriculture, and retail.
- Space Technology: The space sector is experiencing rapid growth, with advancements in satellite technology, space exploration, and space tourism. European venture capital firms are likely to invest in startups focused on space technology, including satellite communications, space debris management, and in-space services/manufacturing. This sector presents opportunities for groundbreaking innovations and sustainable solutions for global challenges.
Patrick Polak 🇳🇱
GP @ Newion Partners
I think that - unfortunately - we will (have to) invest more in defense-related technologies. We see a shift from LPs that rule out defense-related ventures to LPs that encourage it.
I also think that the "AI Hype" will be over soon ("AI is a given") and that the hyped valuations of AI companies will become more 'normal" valuations. At the end of the day, valuations are a reflection of future profitability.
Valentin Menedetter 🇬🇧
GP @ Vektor Partners
We see great opportunities in edge computing and tech around reducing the computational burden on cloud processing outside of data centers as well as more performant chips that are actually designed to process LLMs more efficiently.
Energy resilience and security will be the next topics we need to focus on. From a security perspective (cybersecurity), data centers and the energy consumption that is inherently linked to them pose a vulnerability to our global economy. On the other hand, we need to focus on driving efficiency within existing and growing energy systems (grid) to meet the growing demand for cloud computing.
The Rabbit Hole: what topics should be discussed more right now but are not?
Andreas Goeldi
Partner @ b2venture 🇨🇭
I find it quite fascinating how quickly fully AI-enabled startups can move compared to more traditional setups. For example, the best engineering teams seem to produce functionality at 5-10x the speed of traditional teams, and similar things are visible in marketing. I don't think we as an industry are talking enough about what that means for venture capital: will future software companies still need as much capital in the past? How do you build enduring moats if everybody can move so quickly?
Borys Musielak 🇵🇱
GP @ SMOK Ventures
Given the 10+ years investment period for early stage VCs, and given the arrival of AGI / ASI seems imminent, should we even be investing anymore? Will there be any startups left in 10 years time if any task could be completed by an advanced LLM?
Jakob Stein 🇸🇪
Vice President @ Creandum
The things that should be discussed more are:
- why Europe's talent is a key driver to start your company here vs. in the US?
- what are the updated requirements per company for the traditional milestones (Seed, Series A) in terms of team size, revenue per FTE, product maturity?
Jeff Crusey 🇬🇧
GP @ 7Percent Ventures
The U.S. has continued to surge ahead with mega multi-billion-dollar funds like General Catalyst, Lux Capital, a16z, and Founders Fund, while Europe remains stuck with sub-$50M funds, favored by risk-averse LPs. This widely used and outdated approach is rooted in poor data analysis of averages across decades of funds of different sizes, regions, and strategies. It fuels a brain drain, pushing founders to the U.S., where capital flows faster, takes bigger risks, and supports growth stages—virtually absent in Europe. Europe doesn’t need more emerging managers; it needs scale. Without bold action from LPs to evolve their strategies, European VCs will continue to lag, ceding ground to U.S. dominance and stifling innovation. The time to scale up is now, to capitalize on the very high quality of talent available at a fraction of the cost.
Joe Schorge 🇳🇱
Founder and Managing Partner @
Isomer Capital
Due to many factors, European VC is behind on exits/DPI, which presents both a need for action and an opportunity. VC firms should distinguish themselves by actively seeking liquidity in their portfolios and for their LPs rather than ride every investment to a very long-dated exit. If you are a fund manager, this is part of managing, and I don’t see enough of it in the European VC space. On the opposite side of the same coin, for investors in and out of funds, buying secondary positions to provide that liquidity is a great opportunity, including LP positions, company stakes, and GP economics.
Jonė Vaitulevičiūtė 🇱🇹
GP @ Firstpick
One topic that deserves more attention is regenerative agriculture. As the climate crisis escalates, technologies that support soil health and carbon capture are becoming essential. Another is the concept of AI alignment and governance - aligning AI with human values and ensuring governance frameworks.
Kamil Mieczakowski 🇬🇧
Partner @ Notion Capital
We're thinking a lot about how much of what exists today in the services market (approximately 100 times larger than the overall software market) will become part of the software market in the future, as AI and agentic products begin to offer viable solutions.
Marcin Hejka 🇵🇱
GP @ OTB Ventures
Late-stage funding has faced some challenges, both in CEE and across Europe. Underfunded investors are becoming more selective, making it more difficult for companies to raise follow-on rounds and scale. Addressing this issue is crucial for maintaining the momentum of growth and innovation in the European ecosystem. Strategies to bridge this funding gap could include increasing allocations to VC/PE by European asset managers and insurance companies and encouraging public-private partnerships.
Patrick Polak 🇳🇱
GP @ Newion Partners
The still high pre-money valuations in seed and early-stage funding, compared to current valuations, are more aligned with those of 2019. This will either reduce returns for early-stage VC or simply delay reaching the desired valuations. DPI versus TVPI will become an even more important metric for VCs raising funds. Many LPs are reluctant to invest in new GP relationships since they did not have distributions from exits. As a result, they attempt to fund (with smaller amounts) their existing GPs.
Valentin Menedetter 🇬🇧
GP @ Vektor Partners
We should talk more about the cross-border collaboration of EU member states when it comes to providing capital to tech companies, which can contribute to strengthening the EU through their capabilities as a whole. It seems as if there are a few countries who want to do more (Finland, Poland, Denmark) but they are insulated and still very much focused on their own ecosystems, whereas I think that we need to address our challenges on the level of the EU.
New VC Funds
🇧🇪 Capricorn Partners - €51 Million - First Close - Healthtech Fund II
Belgium-based Capricorn Partners has secured €51 million in the first close of its Capricorn Healthtech Fund II, focusing on digital health and medtech investments. The fund targets late seed to Series B stage companies with initial investments between €1-5 million, aiming to build a portfolio of 10-15 companies. Investors include Invest-NL, Sensinnovat, Quest for Growth, AG Insurance/Ageas, PMV, finance&invest.brussels, and KU Leuven Research & Development. The fund aims to reach €100+ million in total size and will invest in traditional medical devices, health software platforms, and applications across Europe, focusing on the Benelux region.
🇬🇷 Evercurious VC - €12.5 Million - First Close - First Fund
Greece-focused Evercurious VC has launched a €12.5 million fund targeting pre-seed and seed-stage deep tech startups, with plans to expand to €20 million in 2025. Founded by Alex Vamvakas (former CERN and Fairway Asset Management) and George Georgiadis (former Volkswagen executive), the fund aims to connect Greece's emerging deep tech ecosystem with European innovation hubs like Zurich, Munich, and Berlin. The fund will focus on companies at the intersection of hardware and software, particularly in MedTech, Robotics, Clean Energy, and Sustainable Mobility. Backed by the Hellenic Development Bank of Investments as anchor investor, Evercurious VC plans to build a portfolio of around 20 startups.
🇧🇪 Smartfin - €250 Million - Third Fund
Belgium-based Smartfin has secured €250 million for its third growth equity fund, with backing from the EIF through its ESCALAR program and other private and institutional investors. Founded in 2014 by Jürgen Ingels (co-founder of Clear2Pay), the firm invests €1-25 million in growth-stage B2B technology companies across Europe, focusing on fintech, enterprise software, and sustainability technologies. The fund has already made its first two investments: CrazyGames (browser-based gaming platform) and Emma (multi-cloud management platform).
🇫🇮 Superhero Capital - €50 Million - Fourth Fund
Helsinki-based Superhero Capital has launched its fourth fund, targeting €50 million to invest in early-stage software startups across Finland and the Baltics. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Company and Finnish state-owned venture capital company Tesi backed the fund. The launch includes strategic expansion into Lithuania with two new venture capital partners, Gytenis Galkis and Audrius Milukas, joining the team. The fund has already made its first investments in CyberUpgrade (€2.5M seed round) and Behavix (€1.6M co-led round).
🇬🇧 YFM Equity Partners - £75 Million - VCT Fundraise
UK-based YFM Equity Partners has closed its British Smaller Companies VCT fundraising at £75 million, surpassing the initial £50 million target in just one month. The total fundraise was completed in 11 weeks, capturing approximately 30% of all VCT funds raised nationally during this period. The British Smaller Companies VCTs will invest in 12-15 high-potential businesses annually across various sectors, focusing on value creation through sales growth and team expansion. Recent investments include Integrum ESG (ESG benchmarking platform), Spotless Water (water purification technology), and Ohalo (data governance). The fundraise brings the VCTs' total growth funds to £500 million, with £150 million available for new investments.
New VC Rounds
🇮🇪 Advise - €1.55 Million
Ireland-based Advise has secured €1.55 million in funding, led by Business Venture Partners through their EIIS fund, with participation from ACT Venture Capital and Elkstone. The company provides a SaaS platform that harmonizes sales, inventory, and customer data from multiple sources to help retail manufacturers and brand owners optimize revenues and margin growth. Current clients include Pilgrims Europe, Dr Oetker (Ireland), and Britvic.
🇬🇧 Altilium - $5 Million - Series B Extension
UK-based Altilium has secured $5 million in funding from Japanese trading group Marubeni Corporation as part of its Series B round. The company develops technology to recycle EV batteries and produce sustainable cathode active materials. The funding will support the development of the UK's largest planned EV battery recycling facility in Teesside, which will have capacity to process battery waste from 150,000 EVs annually and produce 30,000 MT of low-carbon CAM - enough to meet 20% of UK's CAM requirement by 2030. The company's EcoCathode technology can recover over 95% of battery metals from end-of-life EV batteries.
🇩🇪 Apheris - $20.8 Million - Series A
Germany-based Apheris has secured $20.8 million in Series A funding, co-led by OTB Ventures and eCAPITAL, with participation from Heal Capital and Octopus Ventures. The company develops federated computing solutions focused on the life sciences sector, with its Apheris Compute Gateway platform enabling ML-powered insights without centralizing data while maintaining compliance with data privacy, security, and governance requirements. The platform ensures only approved computations can be launched on data while enabling federation across organizational boundaries.
🇬🇧 Beams - $9 Million - Series A
UK-based Beams has secured $9 million in Series A funding, led by ETF Partners, with participation from Giant Ventures, firstminute capital, and Borusan Ventures. The company provides a managed marketplace for home renovations with proprietary software that predicts project costs and timelines using data from over 6,000 previous building projects. Founded by former renewable energy executive Hayden Wood, Beams uses 3D photographic and laser scans to build detailed home models for renovation planning. The company has sold over £4 million in projects and is currently managing 130 renovations.
🇳🇱 BIMINI Biotech - €3 Million - Seed Round
Netherlands-based BIMINI Biotech has secured €3 million in seed funding, led by Torrey Pines Investment, with participation from InnovationQuarter Capital, Libertatis Ergo Holding, and a business angel. The company develops first-in-class small molecule therapeutics targeting the Wiskott Aldrich Syndrome Protein (WASp) for treating aggressive blood cancers. Founded in 2019, BIMINI's preclinical-stage treatments focus on addressing unmet needs in lymphoma and leukemia treatment, particularly for elderly patients who cannot tolerate intensive therapies.
🇫🇷 Bioptimus - $41 Million
France-based Bioptimus has raised additional funding, bringing its total funding to $76 million. The AI foundation model company integrates data across multiple scales (molecules, cells, tissues, organisms) and modalities to provide a comprehensive understanding of biological systems. The company aims to create a "GPT of biology" by breaking down traditional research silos and enabling a holistic view of biological systems. Investors include Cathay Innovation, Pomifer Capital, Sunrise, and angels Emmanuel Cassimatis and Thomas Wolf.
🇬🇧 Cera - $150 Million
UK-based Cera has secured $150 million in a mixed debt and equity round, led by BDT & MSD Partners and Schroders Capital. The company provides AI-powered in-home healthcare services through a proprietary software platform that enables caregivers to log patient symptoms and predict health risks. The platform claims to reduce hospitalizations by up to 70%, cut patient falls by 20%, and accelerate hospital discharges up to five times faster. Cera covers about 30 million people with 10,000 caregivers and nurses, working with over 150 local governments and two-thirds of NHS Integrated Care Systems. The company became EBITDA-positive in 2023 and cash-flow positive in 2024.
🇫🇷 Coave Therapeutics - €32 Million - Series A
France-based Coave Therapeutics has secured €32 million in Series A funding, led by Novo Holdings A/S and Bpifrance, with participation from Invus, UI Investissement, and existing investors Seroba Life Sciences, Fund+, Kurma Partners, Omnes Capital, and Turenne Capital. The company develops genetic medicines using its proprietary ALIGATER™ platform to enhance targeting, specificity, efficacy, and manufacturability of genetic medicines targeting CNS, neuromuscular, and eye diseases. The platform addresses challenges in gene therapy delivery to extra-hepatic tissues.
🇮🇪 Dataships - $7 Million - Series A
Ireland-based Dataships has secured $7 million in Series A funding, led by Osage Ventures Partners, with participation from Lavrock Ventures and the Urban Innovation Fund. The company provides automated GDPR and CCPA compliance solutions for eCommerce businesses, helping merchants optimize consent language at checkout to increase opt-in rates and marketing contacts.
🇮🇪 Deciphex - €31 Million - Series C
Ireland-based Deciphex has secured €31 million in Series C funding, led by Molten Ventures with participation from ACT Venture Capital, Seroba, Charles River Laboratories, IRRUS Investments, HBAN Medtech Syndicate, and Nextsteps Capital. The company develops AI-powered digital pathology platforms that enable pathologists to work 40% faster while maintaining diagnostic accuracy.
🇺🇦 Deus Robotics - $3 Million - Seed
Ukraine-based Deus Robotics has secured $3 million in seed funding, valuing the company at $20 million. The company provides an end-to-end robotic automation solution with an AI platform that enables seamless integration and management of robots from any manufacturer for warehouse automation. With offices in Kyiv, UK, and US, Deus Robotics aims to make automation accessible to mid-sized warehouses by allowing them to effortlessly add or switch robots from different providers without additional integration costs. Their solution can be implemented within weeks rather than months.
🇫🇷 Dfns - $16 Million - Series A
France-based Dfns has secured $16 million in Series A funding, led by Further Ventures and with participation from White Star Capital, Hashed, Semantic, Bpifrance, Motive Partners, Motier Ventures, Wintermute, and TechStars. The company provides a wallet-as-a-service (WaaS) platform that helps fintech and enterprises manage digital assets and attract users to crypto. Its platform has created over 10 million wallets and secured $5 billion in transactions, serving clients including ABN AMRO, Fidelity, Zodia Custody, Bridge, and Stripe.
🇮🇪 Druid Software - $20 Million
Ireland-based Druid Software has secured $20 million in strategic growth capital, co-led by J2 Ventures (a national security venture capital fund) and HICO (a maritime-focused investment group), with participation from Accel Partners co-founder Arthur Patterson and Sobey Networks founder John Georges. The company provides 5G and 4G cellular core network technology for enterprise and industrial applications, with deployments in over 35 countries across healthcare, ports, manufacturing, logistics, government, defense.
🇱🇺 emma - $17 Million - Series A
Luxembourg-based emma has secured $17 million in Series A funding, led by Smartfin with participation from RTP Global. The cloud management platform helps organizations design, manage, and optimize virtual environments across multiple cloud providers including AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Alibaba, and Scaleway. The funding brings emma's total raised to $23 million
🇮🇪 FIRE1 - €115 Million - Series B
Fire1, a Dublin-based medical technology company, has raised €115 million to complete a clinical trial for its Norm heart failure management solution. Polaris Partners and Elevage Medical Technologies led the round, with participation from new investors Longitude Capital and Sands Capital. Fire1's technology includes a minimally invasive implantable sensor that identifies fluid build-up early in heart failure patients. The FIRE1 System aims to improve outcomes for people with chronic diseases by enabling remote monitoring of heart failure patients.
🇱🇹 Freya Cultivation Systems - € 0.5 Million - Seed
Freya Cultivation Systems in Lithuania secured €500,000 in seed funding from Coinvest Capital, BSV Ventures, Sofigama, Zunami Oy, and business angels Paulius Vilemas and Marko Lehtovaara. They develop advanced cultivation technologies, notably the Aeroframe system, a three-dimensional growing solution for greenhouses that doubles cultivation space and can triple profits by cutting costs. The funding will help build a demonstration greenhouse near Kaunas to showcase their technology.
🇪🇸 Genesy - €5 Million - Seed
Spain-based Genesy has secured €5 million in funding, led by Samaipata with participation from existing investors KFund and Itnig. The company develops AI-powered digital sales agents and a proprietary AI voice system that autonomously identifies, qualifies, and engages potential B2B clients. Founded in 2023 with offices in Madrid and Barcelona, Genesy has grown to over 20 team members in nine months and integrated over 30 data sources. The company claims to boost sales team productivity up to tenfold while reducing operational costs. According to the company, this marks the largest round in a Gen-AI native company led by a Spanish venture capital to date.
🇦🇹 HelloBello - €4 Million - Series A
Austria-based HelloBello has secured €4 million in Series A funding from entrepreneurs Michael Hurnaus (Tractive founder), Johann 'Hansi' Hansmann, Hans Peter Haselsteiner, AWS startup fund, and a Swiss family office. The pet tech company provides freshly cooked, individually tailored dog meals using local ingredients from Bavaria and Upper Austria, without artificial additives or genetic engineering.
🇫🇮 Hycamite - €44 Million - Series A
Finland-based Hycamite has secured €44 million in Series A funding, led by Sojitz Group and with participation from OMV Petrom, MOL PLUS, Holdix Oy, Turret Oy, and Stephen Industries Oy. The company produces low-carbon hydrogen and high-value solid carbon products through methane-splitting technology, using only 13% of the energy required for hydrogen production through electrolysis. The funding will support the commissioning of an industrial-scale demonstration unit in Kokkola, Finland, to demonstrate the commercial readiness of its technology for clean hydrogen and high-performance carbon products.
🇬🇧 Intelex Vision - £5.6 Million - Series A
Intelex Vision, a London-based AI video analytics company founded in 2017, has raised £5.6M in Series A funding. The company specializes in AI-driven video analytics for real-time surveillance, processing over 2 billion hours of video monthly through its platform. The funding round was backed by Acurio Ventures, Adara Ventures, and Inveready, among others.
🇮🇪 Jentic - €4 Million - Pre-Seed
Irish startup Jentic raised €4M in pre-seed funding to develop an integration layer for AI systems. The company builds infrastructure that helps developers securely connect AI systems to various APIs, focusing on managing complexity, reliability, and security for AI deployments. Elkstone led the round.
🇳🇱 Leyden Labs - $70 Million - Series B
Leyden Labs in the Netherlands has raised $70 million, co-led by ClavystBio and Polaris Partners, with contributions from Qiming Venture Partners and existing investors like GV, Casdin Capital, F-Prime Capital, Invus, Byers Capital, Bluebird Ventures, and Softbank Vision Fund 2. The company creates nasal sprays to defend against respiratory viruses, such as influenza and coronaviruses. Founded in 2020, Leyden Labs will use this funding to further studies on its PanFlu candidate, improve its Mucosal Protection Platform research, and support other projects. It has also acquired Singapore's CoV Biotechnology to boost its R&D in Asia.
🇬🇧 Mulder - £0,5 Million - Pre-Seed
Mulder, a London-based healthtech startup, has raised £500,000 in a pre-seed funding round. The company is developing a blockchain-based platform to improve transparency and traceability in the medical supply chain. SFC Capital led the round with participation from Innovate UK.
🇱🇻 Naco Technologies - €2.5 Million - Pre-Series A
Latvia-based Naco Technologies has secured €1.5 million in pre-Series A funding, co-led by Radix Ventures, Impact Ventures, and The Untitled Ventures. The company develops high-performance nano-coatings for hydrogen systems and green energy technologies using proprietary magnetron sputtering technology. The company's product range includes oil-enhanced, wear-protective, thermal-barrier, and liquid-repellent coatings for tooling, automotive, aerospace, and microchip industries. Founded in 2009, Naco will use the funding to establish a new manufacturing facility in Poland and advance R&D efforts to enhance their nano-coating solutions for the green energy sector.
🇩🇰 Neumirna Therapeutics - €20 Million - Series A
Denmark-based Neumirna Therapeutics has secured €20 million in Series A funding, co-led by Angelini Ventures and Invivo Partners, with participation from Innovestor's Life Science Fund and existing investors. The company develops RNA-based therapeutics targeting neurological disorders, with a focus on drug-resistant epilepsy and Parkinson's disease. The funding will advance its lead asset NMT.001 into clinical trials and expand its R&D capabilities. Founded in 2020 by Dr. Henrik Klitgaard, Prof. Sakari Kauppinen, and Lars Hellerung Christiansen, Neumirna was previously backed by Sunstone Life Science Ventures, Innovestor, and private investors.
🇮🇪 Nomupay - $37 Million - Series B
Ireland-based Nomupay has secured $37 million in financing, with the final $12 million tranche led by Endeit Capital and Uneti Ventures (backed by early Adyen employees). The company provides a unified payments platform that connects fragmented Asian markets through a single API, enabling online, POS, and payout capabilities across multiple Asian, European, and Middle Eastern markets. The platform leverages AI for data management and reporting, targeting international acquirers, merchants, Payment Service Providers (PSPs), and Independent Sales Organizations (ISOs).
🇬🇧 Nothing - £30 Million - Debt Financing
London-based Nothing has secured £30 million in debt financing from Santander in late December 2024. The smartphone maker, founded by former OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei in 2020, raised this funding after posting widening losses of £59.4m for 2023 (a 60% increase from the previous year). The company's revenue rose 12.1% to £50m, with 91.4% of sales coming from Europe and 8.5% from the UK. The debt raise follows a $96m equity round in June 2023 led by Google Ventures, EQT Ventures, C Capital, and Swedish House Mafia.
🇨🇭 Numab Therapeutics - CHF 50 Million - Series C Extension
Switzerland-based Numab Therapeutics has secured CHF 50 million in an oversubscribed Series C extension, bringing the total Series C to CHF 180 million. The round was co-led by Cormorant Asset Management, Forbion via its Forbion Growth Opportunities Fund, HBM Healthcare Investment, and Novo Holdings, with participation from BVF Partners, Octagon Capital Advisors, RTW Investments, and funds managed by BlackRock. The clinical-stage biotech develops multi-specific antibodies for immunology and oncology applications. The funding will accelerate the company's pipeline of clinical and pre-clinical best-in-class and first-in-class multi-specific antibodies in inflammation and oncology.
🇩🇪 Nsave - €18 Million - Series A
Berlin-based Nsave, a fintech platform focused on savings and investment products, raised €18 million in a Series A funding round. Nsave serves customers in high-inflation countries and has two main functions: providing secure and compliant accounts abroad for people in high-inflation regions and offering investment products to help customers grow their wealth.
🇬🇧 Oh - $4.5 Million - Seed
UK startup Oh has raised $4.5M in seed funding, led by Tangent, for its AI chatbot platform that facilitates adult conversations. The platform enables users to interact with AI-generated characters and licensed digital twins of real people. Oh provides a new monetization model for content creators, giving them 80% of the revenue from their AI characters. Offering 24/7 access to licensed and consensual content, Oh presents a lower-cost alternative to traditional adult platforms. This comes as the UK addresses non-consensual deepfakes, which Oh avoids by ensuring all content is licensed.
🇩🇰 Orbis Medicines - $93 Million - Series A
Orbis Medicines, a Danish biotech company focused on oral medicines, has secured $93 million in Series A funding. Pharmaceutical giants Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly participated in the round. Orbis Medicines is developing oral macrocycle drugs, a new class of medicines with the potential to revolutionize the treatment of various diseases.
🇬🇧 OXcan - $11 Million - Series A
UK-based Oxford Cancer Analytics (OXcan) has secured $11 million in Series A funding, led by Cross-Border Impact Ventures and We Venture Capital, with participation from Eka Ventures, Civilization Ventures, DigitalDx Ventures, Macmillan Cancer Support, and OKG Capital. The company develops liquid biopsy blood tests for early cancer detection, with a primary focus on lung cancer. The funding brings OXcan's total raised to $16.7 million and will support the development and global commercialization of their protein-based blood tests that use machine learning to identify molecular signatures in high-risk individuals.
🇳🇱 Photon IP - €4.75 Million - Seed
Netherlands-based Photon IP has secured €4.75 million in seed funding, led by Innovation Industries, with participation from Faber, Brabant Development Agency, and PhotonDelta's venture arm. The company develops technology to integrate III-V materials and silicon onto a single chip for more efficient photonic chips used in AI systems, data centers, and fiber-optic networks. Founded in 2022, the startup has previously raised €1.1 million from Vigo Ventures and secured €2 million in grant funding from the European Innovation Council. The funding will support team growth as the company prepares to announce its first photonic chip products later this year.
🇨🇭 RhyGaze - $86 Million - Series A
Switzerland and US-based RhyGaze has secured $86 million in Series A funding. The biotechnology company, founded on research from the Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel (IOB), develops gene therapies for retinal diseases causing blindness. The company aims to restore vision and transform the lives of patients worldwide.
🇫🇷 Robeauté - $28 Million - Series A
France-based Robeauté has secured $28 million in Series A funding, led by Plural, Cherry Ventures, and Kindred Ventures, with participation from LocalGlobe, Think.Health, APEX Ventures, and strategic investor Brainlab. The company develops rice grain-sized microrobots for neurosurgery that can navigate curved routes through the brain to perform biopsies, deliver molecules, implant electrodes, and collect cell samples. Founded by robotics expert Bertrand Duplat and Joana Cartocci, the company has filed over 50 patents and plans to begin human trials in 2026, with plans to establish US operations ahead of FDA approval.
🇬🇧 RocketPhone.ai - $10.5 Million
London-based RocketPhone.ai has secured $10.5 million to further develop its AI-powered voice processing platform for sales and customer service teams. Established in 2017, the company's technology listens to customer and sales conversations, records identifiers for follow-up activities, and automates actions.
🇬🇧 Sandfield Capital - £600 Million - Debt Facility
Liverpool-based Sandfield Capital has secured a £600 million debt facility from Perspective Investments. The fintech company provides tech-enabled loans to individuals and law firms pursuing legal claims, with its Eaziclaim platform streamlining civil litigation funding from inception to settlement. The platform can manage thousands of cases simultaneously by integrating with panel law firms and third-party systems. The funding will support strategic expansion, including securing a new Liverpool operations center and a recruitment drive planned for the first half of 2025.
SEEQC - $30 Million - Series A Extension
US-based SEEQC has secured $30 million in Series A extension funding, co-led by Booz Allen Ventures and NordicNinja, with participation from SIP Capital and existing investors. The quantum computing startup develops specialized chips to power core functions of quantum computers, aiming to reduce hardware complexity and enable efficient management of large numbers of qubits. The company, a 2019 spinout from chip company Hypres, operates its own specialized chip foundry and partners with Nvidia to build ultra-low-latency chip-to-chip links between quantum computers and GPUs. The funding will accelerate commercial rollout of its chips and enhance their capabilities.
🇦🇹 SignPath - €5 Million - Series A
Austria-based SignPath has secured €5 million in Series A funding, led by TIN Capital. The company secures software supply chains with automated code signing, providing solutions used by organizations like Hitachi Energy, Airbus, and SolarWinds to protect against tampering and malicious software. Founded in 2017 by RUBICON IT and independent since 2023, SignPath will use the funding to expand its platform, grow its workforce, and accelerate growth in Europe and the US markets.
🇧🇪 Swave - €27 Million - Series A
Belgium-based Swave has secured €27 million in Series A funding, led by Belgian wealth fund SFPIM and imec.xpand, to develop holographic smart glasses technology. This spinoff company uses phase-change materials and sub-300nm pixels to create true 3D holographic images, promising to reduce common VR issues like nausea through dynamic focus adjustment. The funding, which follows a €10 million seed round in 2023, will support the development of lightweight smart glasses with wider field of view than current AR/VR offerings.
🇨🇭 Sygnum - $58 Million
Sygnum, a Swiss-Singapore digital asset bank, raised $58 million in a strategic growth round led by Fulgur Ventures, valuing the company at $1 billion, up from $900 million. Its integrated banking platform combines traditional and digital asset banking, facilitating transactions between fiat and digital assets. In 2024, Sygnum's trading revenues soared, with total trades up over 1,000% year-over-year. The funding will aid expansion into EU/EEA markets, establish a regulated presence in Hong Kong, and enhance institutional services infrastructure.
🇮🇹 Tethis - €15 Million
Italy-based Tethis has secured €15 million in funding, led by Enea TECH and Biomedical Foundation. The cancer diagnostics company uses its integrated analytical platform to develop liquid biopsy solutions to detect tumor traces in blood samples. The platform combines See.d® blood sample preparation instrument, SmartBioSurface® nanomaterial-treated slides, and AI algorithms for identifying tumor cells. Previous investors include Genextra and Indaco Venture Partners. The funding will support its diagnostic platform's development, validation, and commercialization preparation.
🇨🇿 ThreatMark - $23 Million
Czech cybersecurity firm ThreatMark has secured $23 million in funding to enhance its fraud prevention platform. This investment includes $15 million from Octopus Ventures and Riverside Acceleration Capital, along with an $8 million convertible note from Springtide Ventures Fund. The company offers AI-driven fraud prevention solutions for financial institutions by utilizing behavioral biometrics and threat detection to safeguard digital banking channels. ThreatMark has reported a 75% year-over-year increase in annual recurring revenue and has raised a total of $37 million since its inception.
🇬🇧 Verdiva Bio - £333.5 Million - Series A
Verdiva Bio, a London-based biotech company, has launched with a massive £333.5 million Series A funding round. The company is developing a new weight-loss drug that aims to rival Ozempic. Verdiva Bio's CEO, Dr. Helen Collins, has a successful track record in the health tech industry. The company's flagship project is a drug that mimics the effects of a naturally occurring hormone that regulates appetite.
🇬🇧 VitVio - £1.5M - Pre-Seed
VitVio, a London-based health tech startup founded in 2023, has raised £1.5 million in pre-seed funding. The company develops specialized computer vision technology to track and analyze medical procedures and improve healthcare outcomes. Its AI-powered solution helps monitor and assess the performance of various medical interventions. LDV Capital led the funding round, which included participation from Bek Ventures, Tiny Supercomputer Investment Company, and several angel investors.
🇵🇱 Wonder Legends Studio - €970,000 - Pre-Seed
Poland-based Wonder Legends Studio has secured €970,000 in pre-seed funding, led by SMOK Ventures. The developer creates content blending Greek mythology with steampunk elements, using Unreal Engine 5 technology. Founded in 2023 by Artur Malczyk and Wojciech Karubin, the company will use the funding to develop a game prototype and begin pre-production of an animated series.
🇮🇪 XOCEAN - €115 Million
Irish ocean data company XOCEAN secured €115 million to enhance its ocean data collection platform. Founded in 2017, the company operates a fleet of uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) that gather geophysical data for offshore energy and civil hydrography projects. The funding round was led by S2G Ventures, with participation from Climate Investment, Morgan Stanley, and CCI.
🇫🇷 Yampa - €3 Million - Seed
France-based Yampa has secured €3 million in seed funding, led by Partech, with participation from Arthur Waller (Co-founder of Pennylane), Guillaume Desloges (Co-founder of Alma), and business process outsourcing experts. The company develops autonomous AI agents for customer service that interact with customers across multiple channels, including calls, emails, and chat. Founded in March 2024 by Marin Huet, Baptiste Saintot, and Patrice Mazoyer, Yampa's AI agents can understand client context, analyze requests, and solve issues independently, with the ability to escalate complex situations to human teams.
New Acquisitions
ClearScore acquired Aro Finance
UK-based ClearScore, a credit score and financial services provider, has acquired Manchester-based Aro Finance to expand into embedded finance and secured second charge lending. This marks ClearScore's second acquisition following its purchase of Money Dashboard in 2022. The company, which serves 24 million users, will use the acquisition to diversify its channels and product range for both users and lenders.
Darktrace acquires Cado Security
Cambridge-based Darktrace is acquiring Cado Security, a London-based cybersecurity startup specializing in cloud forensics. Founded in 2020, Cado's technology automates the capture, processing, and analysis of cloud data to uncover security threats. Cado Security had raised $31.5M across three funding rounds from investors, including Eurazeo, Blossom Capital and Ten Eleven Ventures. The acquisition amount wasn't officially disclosed, though reports suggested a range of $50-100M (which Darktrace has not confirmed).
🇳🇱 NXP Semiconductors acquires TTTech Auto for $625 Million
Netherlands-based NXP Semiconductors has acquired TTTech Auto, an Austrian developer of safety-critical systems and middleware for software-defined vehicles, in an all-cash transaction valued at $625 million. TTTech Auto's entire management team, intellectual property, assets, and approximately 1,100 engineering staff will join NXP's automotive team. The acquisition enhances NXP's CoreRide platform with TTTech Auto's software expertise, accelerating the automotive industry's transformation to software-defined vehicles. TTTech Auto will continue serving existing customers under the NXP brand.
Wire acquires Pydio
Germany-based Wire, a messaging and video conferencing company specializing in end-to-end encrypted communications has acquired Paris-based Pydio, a provider of self-hosted enterprise document management and sharing solutions. The acquisition combines Wire's encrypted communications platform with Pydio's Cells document management system to create a unified environment for secure communication and collaboration. Pydio's platform offers an alternative to SaaS-based productivity solutions for organizations requiring complete control over their documents.