Startups

ATMOS Space Cargo, the Franco-German orbital logistics startup, has closed a €25.7 million Series A round to scale production of its PHOENIX re-entry vehicles and establish Europe’s first routine orbital return service. The round, announced on 22 April 2026, was co-led by Balnord and Expansion Ventures, with participation from a broad syndicate of defence-aligned and deep-tech investors. Twelve months after becoming the first private European company to conduct an orbital re-entry — a milestone reached with the PHOENIX 1 demonstration flight in April 2025 — the Lichtenau- and Strasbourg-based firm is transitioning from proof-of-concept to commercial service. Management says the new capital will fund a three-vehicle PHOENIX 2 campaign, seed a new governmental and defence division called ATMOS WORKS, and begin development of PHOENIX 3, a next-generation vehicle capable of returning around one metric tonne of payload from low Earth orbit — roughly ten times the PHOENIX 2 capacity. Inside the round The Series A was co-led by Balnord and Expansion Ventures, and backed by a long list of strategic and financial investors: Keen Defence and Security, the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator programme, OTB Ventures, High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), APEX Ventures, Seraphim, Faber, E2MC, Kirch Ventures, Lennertz & Co., Mätch VC, MBG Baden-Württemberg and Tech Horizons. The composition of the cap table is notable. The mix of defence-specialist funds (Keen Defence and Security, Seraphim), European public finance (EIC Accelerator, MBG Baden-Württemberg, HTGF) and deep-tech specialists (OTB Ventures, Expansion, E2MC) reflects the dual-use positioning that increasingly defines European space financing. ATMOS is courting civilian microgravity customers — pharmaceutical research, in-space manufacturing, life sciences — while pitching the same hardware as a sovereign logistics capability for European governments and militaries. “This financing allows us to move to regular operational service,” said chief executive and co-founder Sebastian Klaus, framing the round as the step that turns a single demonstrated mission into infrastructure. Why return-from-orbit matters The commercial case for returnable capsules has been building for several years. SpaceX’s Dragon has dominated the U.S. market, while Varda Space Industries has commercialised small autonomous re-entry capsules for pharmaceuticals manufactured in microgravity. In Europe, however, there has been no sovereign equivalent — every kilogramme of material returned from orbit has had to travel back on American hardware. ATMOS is pitching PHOENIX as the European answer. The vehicle uses an inflatable heat shield that deploys in orbit to decelerate the capsule during re-entry, enabling a controlled ocean splashdown without parachutes. Recovery operations are based near Santa Maria in the Azores, giving the company an Atlantic landing corridor. The strategic context has shifted sharply since PHOENIX 1 flew. European defence spending is rising, the EU’s Space Act and the EU Defence Industrial Strategy are directing capital towards sovereign capabilities, and in-space manufacturing is beginning to move from research budgets to commercial contracts. A European-built, European-operated return service addresses both sides of that equation. Commercial traction The Series A also arrives against a backdrop of signed demand. In November 2025, ATMOS and France-based Space Cargo Unlimited announced a seven-mission programme to support autonomous in-space manufacturing, with the first flight targeted for 2026. PHOENIX 2 will fly three missions under the new capital plan, expanding cadence from one-off demonstration to a roughly annual operational tempo. The ATMOS WORKS division is the more interesting commercial bet. By carving the governmental and defence business into a dedicated unit, the company signals that it expects contracts for on-demand orbital logistics, sensitive payload recovery and sovereign data return — categories that have until now been almost entirely the preserve of state-owned agencies or cleared U.S. suppliers. Where it fits in the European funding picture ATMOS sits within a growing cohort of European space-tech companies that have attracted Series A capital in the past year, and its round follows a string of recent European deep-tech raises tracked by Sesamers, including orbital and robotics plays. At €25.7 million, the round is meaningful but not outsized by U.S. standards — Varda raised well over $100 million before reaching comparable operational scale. The implication is that European capital is willing to fund category-defining hardware, but expects milestone-by-milestone delivery rather than blitzscaling. For ATMOS, the milestones are concrete: three PHOENIX 2 flights, the launch of ATMOS WORKS, and the PHOENIX 3 design freeze. For European space policy, the question is whether sovereign return-from-orbit gets used widely enough — by public buyers and private manufacturers alike — to justify the infrastructure being built. The next data point will be PHOENIX 2’s maiden flight, slated for later in 2026. If it reaches orbit and returns on schedule, Europe will have something it has never had before: a home-grown, commercially operated downmass capability. Source: Tech.eu — ATMOS Space Cargo secures €25.7M Series A (22 April 2026). Additional reporting from the HTGF press release and ATMOS Space Cargo.

Paris- and London-based Convelio has closed a Series C funding round to accelerate the automation of global fine art logistics and expand its storage footprint into the United States. The company, which has shipped an estimated $1.84 billion of art for major auction houses including Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips, intends to use the capital to deepen its AI-driven operations platform and open a flagship warehouse in New York. The round is led by a prominent French entrepreneurial family, with participation from existing backers Forestay, Mundi Ventures and Acton Capital. Terms have not been publicly disclosed. Founded in 2017 by chief executive Edouard Gouin and Clément Ouizille, Convelio set out to modernise a sector long dominated by legacy freight forwarders and bespoke, manual processes. Its proprietary algorithms generate instant quotes for the transport of paintings, sculptures and other high-value objects, while its in-house operations team manages packing, shipping, customs and installation. The company now serves around 3,000 art businesses worldwide. Building the software layer for the art market The global art market moves tens of billions of euros of objects each year, yet logistics remains one of its least digitised functions. Quotes are frequently produced by hand, condition reports live in email threads, and transport coordination happens across dozens of specialist carriers. Convelio’s pitch — and the thesis behind its Series C — is that this fragmentation can be resolved through a single software and operations stack. The company recently became the primary global logistics provider for Phillips, covering shipping, storage and release services in London, New York and Hong Kong. Phillips reported $927 million in global sales in 2025, making the partnership one of the most significant operational mandates awarded in the sector in recent years. According to chief executive Edouard Gouin, the Series C will help Convelio scale storage infrastructure, invest in automation across operations and serve clients with the same precision at global scale as it does locally. Why New York matters Convelio’s planned New York flagship warehouse is a strategic rather than incidental investment. The United States remains the single largest art market, and storage alongside fulfilment services carries significantly higher margins than pure transport. By anchoring a hub in Manhattan or the surrounding boroughs, Convelio positions itself to serve auction houses, galleries and private collectors with release-on-demand services — a capability previously concentrated among a small number of legacy operators. The company also plans to continue investing in its AI-powered collections management product, which helps institutional clients track provenance, condition and location across distributed holdings. A familiar cap table with a new anchor Forestay, Mundi Ventures and Acton Capital have all backed Convelio through previous rounds, including its €30 million Series B in 2022. The introduction of a French entrepreneurial family office as lead investor signals a shift toward longer-horizon capital — a pattern increasingly common among European scale-ups seeking to avoid premature exit pressure. European competitors in adjacent categories include Gander and ArtHaus, while US-listed Cadogan Tate remains a dominant legacy provider. Convelio’s positioning — software-first, vertically integrated, global — gives it room to differentiate even as the sector consolidates. What comes next Beyond the New York expansion, Convelio is expected to continue hiring in engineering and operations, with particular focus on automation of condition reporting, computer-vision-based damage detection and integration with auction house bidding platforms. For a company that began life as a marketplace connecting galleries with art shippers, the evolution into a software-and-services platform for global fine art logistics reflects a broader pattern in European vertical SaaS: starting with a narrow workflow and growing into the infrastructure layer of an entire industry. For more on European fundraising and scale-up stories, visit our fundraising hub. You can also read our recent coverage of Kelluu’s €15M Series A.

Finnish deeptech company Kelluu has secured €15 million in a Series A round led by the NATO Innovation Fund, marking the fund’s first investment in a Finnish startup. The round includes participation from Keen Venture Partners, Gungnir Capital and Finnish state investor Tesi, and will accelerate the commercial deployment of Kelluu’s autonomous hydrogen-powered airships across defence and civil markets. Headquartered in Joensuu and operating what it describes as the world’s northernmost airship factory, Kelluu builds 12-metre unmanned airships that combine the resolution of drones with the persistence of satellites. The aircraft use hydrogen for both lift and propulsion, allowing missions of more than 12 hours while carrying payload modules of up to six kilograms. Typical configurations include LiDAR, hyperspectral cameras and thermal imagers — enabling high-frequency monitoring of industrial sites, borders and critical infrastructure. A different kind of airborne intelligence Where conventional drones struggle with endurance and satellites lack resolution, Kelluu’s airships are designed for persistent, low-altitude coverage. The company sells the capability as a service: customers commission missions and receive processed data rather than purchasing hardware. The model has gained traction among mining operators, border authorities and NATO planners. Finnish mining company Terrafame already uses Kelluu’s fleet to generate 3D digital models of a 60-square-kilometre industrial site, helping monitor slope stability and optimise operations. On the defence side, Kelluu was recently integrated into NATO’s AI-driven command system and participated in REPMUS — one of the alliance’s largest exercises for unmanned maritime and aerial systems. According to chief executive Janne Hietala, the Series A will enable Kelluu to scale deployments, deepen its geospatial AI capabilities and meet demand from both civil and defence partners. NATO Innovation Fund makes its first Finnish bet The NATO Innovation Fund — the €1 billion multi-sovereign vehicle backed by 24 allied nations — has been steadily investing in dual-use deeptech companies across Europe. Its decision to lead Kelluu’s round signals continued appetite for autonomous systems with defence applications, particularly those offering sovereign alternatives to US and Chinese hardware. The fund’s participation also reflects Europe’s broader push to strengthen its defence-industrial base. Kelluu joins a growing roster of European unmanned-systems companies — from Tekever in Portugal to Helsing in Germany — attracting significant capital as governments rebuild strategic capabilities. Keen Venture Partners and Gungnir Capital both bring deeptech investment experience, while Tesi, Finland’s state-backed investor, continues its pattern of supporting domestic champions in critical industries. What the capital will fund Kelluu plans to use the proceeds to expand its autonomous airship fleet and commercial deployments, further develop its geospatial AI platform through Kelluu AI Labs, broaden its defence-sector partnerships across NATO member states, and scale manufacturing capacity at its Joensuu facility. The company positions itself not as a hardware vendor but as an aerial-data provider, and the investment will help it move further along that axis — investing in the software layer that turns raw sensor output into operational intelligence. A maturing European deeptech play Kelluu’s raise lands at a moment of renewed European focus on sovereign aerospace capability. With NATO exercises increasingly featuring unmanned systems and European governments raising defence budgets, persistent aerial monitoring is becoming a strategic requirement rather than a niche capability. For a company founded in a city closer to the Arctic Circle than to any major capital, Kelluu has carved out an unusually distinctive position: part airship manufacturer, part geospatial AI company, and now a NATO-backed European deeptech scaleup. For more coverage of European fundraising and deeptech, visit our fundraising hub.

Europe’s quantum technology sector is attracting increasing attention from both private investors and public institutions, as governments across the continent position photonics and quantum computing as strategic priorities in the global technology race. With the United States and China accelerating their quantum investment programmes, European deeptech startups are now securing the capital needed to move breakthrough research out of the laboratory and into commercial applications. Münster-based Pixel Photonics has secured €13.5 million in combined funding to accelerate the commercialisation of its superconducting single-photon detector technology. The total comprises a €5 million seed round, led by Futury Capital, alongside €8.5 million from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator — split between €2.5 million in grants and €6 million in equity investment. Additional seed investors include the Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation (SPRIND), Kensho Ventures, and High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF). EIC Accelerator validates European quantum ambitions The EIC Accelerator selection represents a significant endorsement of Pixel Photonics’ commercial potential. The company was chosen as one of just 61 recipients from approximately 1,000 applicants — the European Union’s most competitive funding instrument for breakthrough innovation. The dual structure of the funding, combining private venture capital with public institutional backing, reflects a growing pattern in European deeptech where blended financing models are enabling capital-intensive hardware startups to bridge the gap between research and market entry. “This funding enables us to transform what has so far been a highly specialised quantum technology into robust, scalable industrial products,” said Nicolai Walter, CEO of Pixel Photonics. The investment follows a trajectory of increasing institutional confidence in photonic quantum technologies. Futury Capital’s decision to lead the seed round positions the firm alongside established deeptech backers HTGF and SPRIND, both of which have track records supporting German hardware innovation from early-stage through to commercial scale. From university spin-off to quantum hardware contender Founded in 2021 as a spin-off from the University of Münster, Pixel Photonics develops waveguide-integrated superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (WI-SNSPDs) through its proprietary ARCTIC platform. The technology transforms what has traditionally been bulky, laboratory-scale equipment into compact, chip-based solutions capable of detecting individual photons with exceptional sensitivity and speed. The applications span several high-value sectors, including quantum computing, quantum key distribution (QKD) for secure communications, medical diagnostics, defence, and advanced microscopy. The company has already established strategic partnerships with notable quantum computing firms, including QuiX Quantum, PASQAL, and ORCA Computing, and has delivered detector systems for photonic quantum computer development alongside the German Aerospace Centre (DLR). The European quantum technology market continues to expand rapidly, supported by the EU’s Quantum Technologies Flagship programme and national initiatives across Germany, France, and the Netherlands. As quantum computing architectures mature and demand for high-performance single-photon detection grows, companies like Pixel Photonics occupy a critical position in the hardware supply chain — providing the detection infrastructure upon which quantum networks and computing systems depend. With the new capital, the company plans to scale production, expand its product portfolio — which includes the Dena rack-format and desktop detector systems — and accelerate international market entry. The team, led by CEO Nicolai Walter and CTO Dr Wladick Hartmann, is also preparing for its next funding round as it transitions from development-stage to full commercial operations. Summary Company Pixel Photonics Headquarters Münster, Germany Founded 2021 (University of Münster spin-off) Round Seed + EIC Accelerator Amount €13.5 million (€5M seed + €8.5M EIC) Lead Investor Futury Capital Other Investors SPRIND, Kensho Ventures, HTGF Use of Funds Scale production, expand product portfolio, accelerate market entry Also read: Latest European startup fundraising news ned funding to accelerate the commercialisation of its superconducting single-photon detector technology. The€5 million seed round, led by Futury Capital, alongside €8.5 million from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator — split between €2.5 million in grants and €6 mill

As geopolitical instability, hybrid threats, and the proliferation of disinformation reshape the global risk landscape, the demand for sophisticated intelligence tools that can cut through information overload is intensifying across both public and private sectors. Alicante-based deeptech startup Golden Owl has closed a €1.4 million seed round to scale its AI-powered anticipatory intelligence platform, which fuses open source intelligence with advanced analytics to detect complex risks in real time. The round was led by venture capital firm First Drop, with additional support from business angels and public funding through Spain’s ENISA programme and a NEOTEC grant from CDTI. The investment will accelerate the company’s technical development, expand access to non-indexed sources across the open, deep, and dark web, and fund commercial rollout across sectors including energy, logistics, security, and government. First Drop backs intelligence-as-a-service model Golden Owl, legally registered as Datintel S.L. and headquartered at the Alicante Science Park within the University of Alicante campus, was founded by CEO Ana Beik and CTO Sabi Soltani. The company has built what it describes as an external intelligence operating system that goes beyond traditional data analysis, fusing dispersed signals to anticipate dynamics and scenarios before they fully materialise. The platform operates through a modular Intelligence-as-a-Service architecture comprising three core products. Noctua is a research and analysis platform combining OSINT modules with advanced search capabilities and multi-source data fusion for forensic intelligence work. Strix provides continuous strategic intelligence through configurable monitoring systems designed for early detection and dynamic tracking of actors, risks, and complex environments. A third product, Otus, is planned for launch as a global human intelligence marketplace for deep analysis in high-complexity scenarios. The technology stack draws on advanced AI, neural networks, and high-performance computing infrastructure, processing data from more than 10,000 premium sources and billions of data points across the open, deep, and dark web. European intelligence technology market expands The seed round arrives as European governments and enterprises are significantly increasing their investment in intelligence and security technologies, driven by the evolving threat landscape. The market for OSINT solutions has been expanding steadily, fuelled by the growing recognition that traditional intelligence methods cannot keep pace with the volume and velocity of information generated across digital channels. Golden Owl holds ENISA Certified Startup status and AENOR Young Innovative Company certification, lending institutional credibility to its operations. The company collaborates with the Enterprise Europe Network, the University of Alicante, and participates in Horizon Europe-funded innovation projects, embedding it within the European research and innovation ecosystem. The company’s focus on anticipatory intelligence — identifying emerging risks before they crystallise — distinguishes it from more conventional OSINT tools that primarily serve reactive investigation workflows. By targeting sectors such as energy, logistics, insurance, and government, Golden Owl is pursuing markets where the cost of failing to detect risks early can be substantial, creating a compelling value proposition for its intelligence platform. With hybrid threats, disinformation campaigns, and supply chain vulnerabilities continuing to dominate the European security agenda, Golden Owl’s seed funding positions it to capture early-mover advantage in a market where demand is growing faster than the supply of credible, AI-powered solutions. Summary Company Golden Owl (Datintel S.L.) HQ Alicante, Spain Founders Ana Beik (CEO), Sabi Soltani (CTO) Round Seed Amount €1.4 million Lead Investor First Drop Other Backers Business angels, ENISA, CDTI NEOTEC Use of Funds Technical development, source expansion, commercial rollout rcial rollout across sectors including energy, logistics, security, and government. First Drop backs intelligence-as-a-service model Golden Owl, l— identifying emerging risks before they

The European Union’s eIDAS2 regulation is reshaping how organisations manage digital identity, creating a new market for enterprise-grade identity wallets that can issue, verify, and manage credentials at scale. Spanish startup Sybol has raised over €1 million in combined public and private investment to accelerate the rollout of its corporate digital identity platform, positioning itself at the forefront of Europe’s emerging Business Wallet framework. The round was led by the Spanish Society for Technological Transformation (SETT), with participation from energy major Repsol, Grupo Synaptia, Bolboreta Innova Group, Tritemius, Venturade, and Chromata Invest. The capital will fund the expansion of Sybol’s enterprise verification platform and the development of its corporate wallet built on decentralised identity principles. Repsol-backed venture targets enterprise verification Sybol emerged from an intrapreneurship initiative within Repsol Digital, the energy company’s digital transformation unit. Repsol retains a 15 per cent stake in the company and contributed its proprietary decentralised authentication technology to the venture, giving Sybol an unusual head start in enterprise adoption. Led by CEO Raúl López, CTO Iñigo Garcia, and COO Alfredo Abad, the team has built a platform that enables organisations to issue, manage, and verify digital certificates using blockchain-based verifiable credentials. The technology replaces traditional document-based workflows with standardised, reusable credentials linked to verified identities of both issuers and recipients. The platform is already operational at scale within Repsol’s own ecosystem. Repsol Electricidad y Gas currently uses Sybol’s technology to issue more than 2,500 verifiable credentials per month for 500 corporate clients, demonstrating the platform’s readiness for enterprise-grade deployment. eIDAS2 creates a regulatory tailwind for digital identity Sybol’s initial focus on sustainability-related certifications is strategically astute. As ESG reporting requirements tighten across Europe, the demand for verifiable, traceable certification data is growing rapidly. Automated validation of sustainability credentials addresses a genuine pain point for auditors, regulators, and corporate compliance teams. The broader opportunity, however, lies in the eIDAS2 regulation itself. The European framework for electronic identification is establishing standards for both personal and organisational digital wallets, and companies that build compliant infrastructure early stand to capture significant market share as adoption accelerates across the bloc. Spain has signalled its commitment to this digital identity infrastructure through SETT’s public investment in Sybol, reflecting a broader governmental push to position Spanish companies at the leading edge of European digital transformation. The combination of public backing, corporate parentage through Repsol, and alignment with incoming EU regulation gives Sybol a distinctive competitive position in what is expected to become a substantial market. With the European Commission targeting full eIDAS2 implementation by 2027, Sybol’s focus on building enterprise-ready infrastructure now could prove well-timed as organisations across the continent prepare for the transition to verifiable digital credentials. For more startup fundraising news and insights into Europe’s innovation ecosystem, explore our coverage of the latest funding rounds. Summary Company Sybol HQ Spain Founded by Repsol Digital intrapreneurship programme Leadership Raúl López (CEO), Iñigo Garcia (CTO), Alfredo Abad (COO) Round Mixed (public + private) Amount €1 million+ Lead Investor SETT (Spanish Society for Technological Transformation) Other Investors Repsol, Grupo Synaptia, Bolboreta Innova Group, Tritemius, Venturade, Chromata Invest Use of Funds Platform rollout, corporate wallet development, eIDAS2 alignment

Europe’s ageing population is placing unprecedented strain on residential care infrastructure, with demand for intelligent monitoring solutions accelerating as facilities struggle to balance operational efficiency with quality of care. Italian healthtech startup TeiaCare has secured €7 million in fresh funding to expand its AI-powered care monitoring platform across new European markets and into broader healthcare settings. The investment, led by returning backer P101 SGR with participation from existing shareholders and new investors including Spanish family offices Namarel and Inderhabs, will fund TeiaCare’s international expansion into France and Spain whilst supporting the development of advanced Data, Spatial, and Care Intelligence capabilities. P101 SGR leads expansion-stage investment P101 SGR, one of Italy’s most active venture capital firms, led the round as a returning investor, signalling continued confidence in TeiaCare’s growth trajectory. The participation of Namarel and Inderhabs, both Spanish family offices, is strategically significant as it coincides with TeiaCare’s planned entry into the Spanish market alongside France. Founded in 2018 by Guido Magrin and Luca Iozzia, TeiaCare has developed Ancelia, a proprietary platform that combines optical sensors and artificial intelligence to monitor care environments in real time. The system generates actionable insights for care staff in nursing homes, rehabilitation centres, and dementia care units, enabling faster response times and more informed clinical decision-making without intrusive wearable devices. The company has built considerable traction across Italy, serving more than 150 clients across over 200 facilities and covering approximately 75,000 residents. This footprint, concentrated across key Italian regions including Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, and Tuscany, provides a solid foundation for the planned European expansion. European care technology market gains momentum The investment comes at a time when European governments are increasingly recognising the need for technology-driven solutions in eldercare. With the continent’s over-65 population projected to reach 130 million by 2050, the pressure on residential care facilities to deliver better outcomes with constrained resources is only intensifying. TeiaCare’s approach — using ambient optical sensors rather than wearable devices — addresses a critical adoption barrier in care settings, where residents may resist or be unable to use wearable technology. The non-invasive nature of the Ancelia platform has been a key differentiator in securing facility-level adoption across Italy. Beyond its core residential care market, TeiaCare plans to extend its solutions into broader healthcare and home care settings, potentially opening significantly larger addressable markets. The development of Spatial Intelligence and Care Intelligence modules suggests the company is building toward a comprehensive data platform for care environments, rather than remaining a point solution for monitoring. The €7 million round positions TeiaCare to compete in a European healthtech landscape that has seen growing investor interest in AI-powered care solutions, as demographic pressures and workforce shortages make technology adoption in care settings not merely desirable but essential. For more startup fundraising news and insights into Europe’s innovation ecosystem, explore our coverage of the latest funding rounds. Summary Company TeiaCare HQ Italy Founded 2018 Founders Guido Magrin, Luca Iozzia Round Growth Amount €7 million Lead Investor P101 SGR Other Investors Namarel, Inderhabs Use of Funds European expansion (France, Spain), platform development, broader healthcare settings

Freiburg-based TrustTech startup expands multilingual content moderation platform to 89 languages The regulatory landscape for online content moderation across Europe is shifting rapidly, with the EU Digital Services Act now mandating that platforms and organisations implement protective measures against harmful content. For the growing number of public figures, sports clubs, and media organisations facing a surge in online abuse, the compliance requirement has created an urgent demand for technology that can identify threats in real time — across languages, dialects, and the ever-evolving lexicon of coded hate speech. Freiburg-based Penemue has raised more than €1.7 million to scale its artificial intelligence platform for detecting and countering online hate speech, digital violence, and disinformation. The round attracted a diverse investor base including TION Health, Beyond Tomorrow, 4seedimpact, zigzag, Berlin Angel Fund, CGS Consulting and Beteiligungs GmbH, RLM Beteiligungs GmbH, and ILG Group, alongside prominent business angels from encourageventures e.V., Black Forest Business Angels, and Business Angels Mitteldeutschland. Beyond keyword filters: understanding context at scale What distinguishes Penemue from conventional content moderation tools is the depth of its linguistic analysis. Rather than relying on basic keyword matching, the platform analyses complex linguistic cues to identify harmful content across 89 languages in real time. The system recognises coded language, slang, regional dialects, and even emoji-based communication patterns, continuously updating its models to reflect emerging terms, cultural shifts, and new forms of digital abuse. The platform functions as a live monitoring layer for social media comments and direct messages, enabling organisations to hide or delete harmful content with a single click — or escalate cases directly to law enforcement through integrated legal complaint filing. “It is not just the people affected who are victims, but everyone who reads along,” said Sara Egetemeyr, co-founder and managing director of Penemue. The company was founded alongside Jonas Navid Mehrabanian Al-Nemri and Marlon Lückert, with a mission to make digital spaces safer through technology rather than manual moderation alone. Bundesliga clubs and federal politicians among early adopters Penemue has already built a notable client base across Germany and Europe. Bundesliga clubs in both the first and second divisions use the platform to monitor fan interactions and protect players from online abuse. Federal-level politicians, media houses, artists, and influencers also rely on the service, as do public prosecutors and police authorities investigating criminal online communication. The company’s effectiveness has been independently validated through an impact evaluation conducted by the University of Mannheim, which documented measurable positive effects in reducing digital violence — providing third-party academic credibility that strengthens Penemue’s positioning in a market where claims of AI effectiveness are often difficult to verify. European regulatory tailwind drives demand The fresh capital will fund further AI development, new European and international partnerships, and deeper cooperation with public institutions. Penemue’s timing aligns with a regulatory environment that is increasingly favourable to content moderation technology providers. The EU Digital Services Act creates compliance-driven demand across the bloc, while individual member states are introducing their own frameworks for combating online hate speech. The German startup has already earned recognition as AI Champion of Baden-Württemberg and is a member of Deutsche Telekom’s TechBoost programme. Its partnership with the #NoHateSpeech initiative further anchors it within the broader European movement to address digital abuse systematically rather than reactively. For Penemue, the challenge ahead lies in scaling a linguistically complex product across new markets while maintaining the detection accuracy that has earned it the trust of some of Germany’s most prominent institutions. Company: Penemue HQ: Freiburg, Germany Round: Funding round Amount: €1.7 million+ Key Investors: TION Health, Beyond Tomorrow, 4seedimpact, zigzag, Berlin Angel Fund Use of Funds: AI development, European and international expansion, public institution partnerships

Nazca Capital leads Series B as Spanish startup enters unicorn territory Europe’s space technology sector is experiencing a pivotal transformation, with artificial intelligence reshaping how satellite data is collected, processed, and commercialised. As enterprises and governments increasingly rely on real-time geospatial intelligence for everything from agricultural forecasting to disaster response, the demand for AI-ready Earth observation platforms has never been higher — and investors are taking notice. Madrid-based Xoople has closed a $130 million Series B round to accelerate the development of its proprietary satellite constellation and EarthAI platform. The round was led by Nazca Capital, with participation from MCH Private Equity, CDTI (the Spanish government’s technology development fund), Buenavista Equity Partners, and Endeavor Catalyst. The investment brings Xoople’s total funding to $225 million and pushes the company’s valuation into unicorn territory. Strategic investors back Europe’s earth observation ambitions The investor composition reflects a deliberate blend of private capital and institutional backing. Nazca Capital, one of Spain’s most prominent growth-stage venture firms, led the round — a significant endorsement of the country’s deeptech ecosystem. CDTI’s participation underscores the strategic importance the Spanish government places on sovereign space technology capabilities, while Endeavor Catalyst’s involvement connects Xoople to a global network of high-growth entrepreneurs. “Every major computing era creates a new system of record; those that define that system become the economic centres of that era,” said Fabrizio Pirondini, CEO and co-founder of Xoople. The company’s thesis is that as artificial intelligence matures, it will require a continuous, high-fidelity data layer representing the physical world — and that whoever builds it will occupy a position analogous to what cloud infrastructure providers became in the software era. Founded in 2019, Xoople spent its first seven years developing its technology stack around data collected by government spacecraft, building partnerships with Microsoft Azure and Esri for distribution and cloud infrastructure. The company began commercialisation in Q2 2026, with private preview customers already including government agencies and Fortune 500 companies across agriculture, insurance, infrastructure monitoring, and government services. From third-party data to proprietary satellite constellation The Series B funding will primarily finance Xoople’s transition from relying on third-party satellite data to operating its own proprietary constellation. The company has announced a partnership with L3Harris Technologies, the American aerospace and defence contractor, to design and manufacture sensors for its spacecraft. Pirondini described the constellation as capable of producing data that is “two orders of magnitude better” than existing monitoring systems. This vertical integration strategy positions Xoople to control the entire value chain — from data collection in orbit to AI-processed insights delivered to enterprise clients. The approach differentiates it from competitors like Planet Labs, BlackSky, and ICEYE, which also operate satellite constellations but have not built the same degree of AI-native data processing infrastructure. European space-tech investment gains momentum Xoople’s raise arrives at a moment of growing confidence in European space technology. The continent has seen a steady increase in venture capital flowing into satellite and earth observation startups, driven partly by the European Space Agency’s expanded partnership programmes and partly by increasing demand from climate monitoring, precision agriculture, and insurance underwriting. The competitive landscape includes both established players and well-funded newcomers. Planet Labs and Airbus Defence and Space operate mature constellations, while ICEYE and Capella Space have carved out niches in synthetic aperture radar imaging. Xoople’s differentiation lies in its AI-first approach — building not just the satellite infrastructure but the intelligence layer that transforms raw observation data into actionable insights for enterprise decision-making. With its Series B complete and satellite construction underway, Xoople represents one of the most ambitious bets in European deeptech this year — and a signal that Spain’s startup ecosystem is producing companies capable of competing on a global stage. Company: Xoople HQ: Madrid, Spain Founded: 2019 Round: Series B Amount: $130 million Total Funding: $225 million Lead Investor: Nazca Capital Use of Funds: Proprietary satellite constellation development, sensor manufacturing with L3Harris, platform expansion

The personal care industry confronts a data infrastructure gap The global personal care industry, valued at approximately $3 trillion, faces a mounting challenge: an estimated 80 per cent of products will require reformulation by 2030 as regulatory frameworks tighten around ingredient transparency, sustainability standards, and consumer safety. Yet the infrastructure connecting ingredient suppliers with the brands that formulate consumer products remains remarkably fragmented, relying on manual processes, siloed databases, and inconsistent data standards. Zurich-based Covalo has raised €3.5 million in a funding extension to accelerate its transformation from an ingredient marketplace into the shared data backbone for the personal care sector. The round was led by Hi inov, with continued participation from existing investors HTGF and seed + speed Ventures. The capital will fund the expansion of Covalo’s enterprise data platform, development of AI-based tools for workflow automation, and scaling of its infrastructure across key markets as the company positions itself at the centre of an industry-wide data modernisation effort. From marketplace to industry data infrastructure Founded in 2021 by Yann Chilvers and Timo von Bargen, Covalo initially operated as an ingredient discovery marketplace — a digital platform enabling cosmetics and personal care brands to search for and compare raw materials from suppliers worldwide. Over five years, the platform has grown to connect more than 1,500 ingredient suppliers with over 6,000 brands across 145 countries, with a database exceeding 50,000 ingredients. However, the company’s strategic vision has evolved significantly beyond marketplace transactions. Covalo is now building the connective tissue between suppliers’ product information management (PIM) systems and brands’ research and development and product lifecycle management (PLM) workflows — effectively creating a standardised data exchange layer for an industry that has historically lacked one. “What the industry needs is one common data backbone,” said Yann Chilvers, co-founder and co-CEO. “Inefficiencies in how product data is managed and shared contribute to delays and unsuccessful product launches, whilst limiting the industry’s ability to respond to regulatory changes and evolving market demands.” Enterprise clients validate the platform approach The quality of Covalo’s client base speaks to the platform’s growing credibility within the industry. Givaudan and Symrise — two of the world’s largest fragrance and flavour houses — alongside luxury group PUIG and premium skincare brand La Prairie, are among the companies using Covalo’s infrastructure. These partnerships with industry leaders suggest the platform has moved beyond the early-adopter phase and is gaining traction with the established players whose participation is essential for any industry-wide data standard to succeed. The €3.5 million funding extension will support the launch of several AI-powered capabilities, including conversational analytics, automated RFI and RFP processing, intelligent data extraction and enrichment, and regulatory compliance tools. These features are designed to reduce the significant manual effort currently required to source, evaluate, and qualify ingredients — a process that can take months for complex formulations and represents a major bottleneck for product development teams. Regulatory tailwinds drive urgency for data transparency The personal care industry faces an increasingly complex regulatory landscape across its key markets. The European Union’s Cosmetic Products Regulation continues to evolve, with stricter requirements around ingredient documentation, safety assessments, and environmental impact reporting. Similar regulatory tightening in the United States and Asia-Pacific markets is creating a global compliance challenge that is particularly acute for brands operating across multiple jurisdictions. For ingredient suppliers, the ability to provide standardised, verified data to brand partners is becoming a competitive necessity rather than a convenience. For brands, having a reliable infrastructure to access and manage supplier data across their entire product portfolio is essential for maintaining regulatory compliance and accelerating time to market. Covalo’s positioning as a neutral, industry-wide data layer — rather than a proprietary system controlled by any single supplier or brand — gives it a structural advantage in an ecosystem where trust and data interoperability are paramount. As the reformulation wave accelerates and regulatory demands intensify, the case for a shared data infrastructure in the personal care sector appears increasingly compelling. Summary Company: Covalo HQ: Zurich, Switzerland Founded: 2021 Round: Seed extension Amount: €3.5 million Lead investor: Hi inov Participating investors: HTGF, seed + speed Ventures Use of funds: Enterprise platform expansion, AI tool development, market scaling

European demand for sovereign intelligence technology accelerates The geopolitical landscape reshaping European defence and security priorities is driving unprecedented demand for sovereign technology platforms — systems that operate entirely within national borders without dependence on foreign cloud infrastructure. With European governments investing close to €1 billion in defence technology through the European Defence Fund alone, and the continent’s tech sovereignty spending exceeding €1.5 trillion in 2026, the market for AI-native intelligence tools built on European soil is expanding rapidly. Galway-based Octostar has raised €6.1 million in a seed extension round to scale its sovereign AI intelligence platform across European government agencies. The funding round attracted participation from existing strategic and venture capital investors alongside a notable new commitment from The Techshop, a Milan-based venture capital firm, and several new national institutional investors. The capital will accelerate deployment of Octostar’s platform, which serves national security, law enforcement, and financial intelligence organisations across Europe and beyond. A European alternative to Palantir gains traction Founded in 2023 by Dr Giovanni Tummarello, Robert Fuller, Varun Sharma, and Simone Scarduzio, Octostar has been identified by Intelligence Online as one of only two European alternatives to Palantir — the American data analytics giant that dominates the global intelligence software market. The distinction is significant at a time when European governments are actively re-evaluating their technology supply chains for intelligence and security applications. “Nations are re-evaluating their technology supply chains for intelligence and security,” said Dr Tummarello, CEO and CPO of Octostar. “The question is no longer whether sovereign alternatives are needed, but how quickly they can be deployed.” Octostar’s platform provides investigative intelligence capabilities including link analysis, communications intelligence, document intelligence, and GenAI-powered agents — all deployed within a fully sovereign, air-gapped architecture that operates without cloud or internet connectivity. This approach addresses a critical concern for European security agencies that increasingly view dependence on American hyperscalers as a strategic vulnerability. Rapid deployment across EU institutions The company’s commercial momentum has been striking for a startup founded less than three years ago. In Q1 2026 alone, Octostar completed three new deployments within EU national law enforcement and judicial bodies, with more than 15 additional deployments expected by year-end. The platform has also been deployed for national security purposes across the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, and the company has announced joint work with BAE Systems, one of Europe’s largest defence contractors. Headquartered in Galway with a research and development centre in Bergamo, Italy, and offices in London, Octostar benefits from backing by Platform94, an Irish Government and EU initiative supporting deep-tech companies. The cross-border structure reflects the broader European approach to building sovereign technology: leveraging talent and institutions across multiple member states whilst maintaining independence from non-European infrastructure. “Octostar is well positioned for an intelligence market that increasingly demands digital sovereignty,” noted investors from Cysero VC, highlighting the structural nature of the opportunity. The sovereign AI imperative in European defence The timing of Octostar’s funding aligns with a fundamental shift in European security thinking. US hyperscalers still control approximately 70 per cent of the European cloud market, a dependency that has become increasingly uncomfortable as transatlantic relations evolve. The European Commission has responded with initiatives including the EURO-3C project, which brings together more than 70 organisations to build sovereign cloud and AI infrastructure. The Europe AI and analytics in defence market is projected to grow at 8 per cent annually through 2030, with information superiority commanding more than 10 per cent of the European Defence Fund budget. For intelligence software specifically, the shift towards sovereign platforms represents a generational procurement cycle that could reshape the competitive landscape for years to come. With its air-gapped architecture, rapid deployment track record, and growing roster of European government clients, Octostar appears well positioned to capture a meaningful share of this expanding market — offering European agencies a credible, homegrown alternative to the American platforms that have long dominated the intelligence software sector. Summary Company: Octostar HQ: Galway, Ireland (R&D in Bergamo, Italy; offices in London) Founded: 2023 Round: Seed extension Amount: €6.1 million Key investors: The Techshop (Milan), existing strategic and VC backers Use of funds: Scaling deployment across EU government agencies Total funding: €6.1 million

Europe’s fintech infrastructure race intensifies with major investment Europe’s financial technology infrastructure sector is undergoing a profound transformation as traditional banks increasingly seek API-first solutions to modernise their legacy investment systems. The shift from monolithic banking platforms towards modular, cloud-native infrastructure has attracted significant investor attention, with B2B fintech infrastructure alone drawing €6.3 billion in the first nine months of 2025. Against this backdrop, Berlin-based Upvest has secured $125 million in fresh capital to cement its position as the continent’s leading investment API provider. The funding comprises $90 million in equity from Sapphire Ventures, Tencent Holdings, Bessemer Venture Partners, and BlackRock, complemented by a $35 million credit facility. Coming just twelve months after its Series C, the round underscores the accelerating demand for infrastructure that enables banks and wealth managers to offer seamless investment experiences without building proprietary technology from scratch. Global investors back European fintech infrastructure play The participation of Tencent — one of the world’s largest technology conglomerates — alongside established venture firms Sapphire Ventures and Bessemer Venture Partners signals growing international confidence in Europe’s fintech infrastructure layer. BlackRock’s involvement is particularly notable given the asset manager’s own strategic interest in democratising investment access globally. Founded in 2017 by Martin Kassing, Dr Til Rochow, and Tobias Auferoth, Upvest operates as a regulated securities institution that provides banks, brokers, and wealth managers with API-based infrastructure encompassing trading, custody, and back-office services. The platform effectively replaces the fragmented legacy systems that have historically constrained European financial institutions from launching competitive digital investment products. “Banks choose Upvest for infrastructure to grow investment propositions profitably at scale for new investors,” said Martin Kassing, CEO and co-founder. “The $125 million round, just 12 months after our Series C, underscores our momentum to be the top choice for financial institutions launching and scaling best-in-class investment experiences at lightspeed in Europe.” Scaling across Europe’s largest markets Upvest’s client roster reads as a directory of Europe’s most prominent digital financial institutions. DKB, Santander’s Openbank, Revolut, N26, Webull, and Raisin all rely on Upvest’s infrastructure to power their investment offerings. The platform currently processes more than 100 million orders annually for over 30 financial institution clients, supported by a team of 280 employees. The fresh capital will fuel expansion into Europe’s largest markets, with a particular focus on localised pension products — including Germany’s forthcoming Altersvorsorgedepot and the United Kingdom’s Self-Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs). This pension strategy positions Upvest at the intersection of two powerful trends: the digitisation of retirement savings and the European Commission’s push to deepen capital markets union across the bloc. Upvest is also investing in AI-driven wealth solutions, including autonomous advisory services designed to personalise investment strategies at scale — a capability that could prove transformative as European regulators increasingly encourage retail investor participation in capital markets. The broader European fintech infrastructure opportunity The European embedded finance market is projected to reach $143.2 billion by the end of 2026, growing at 11.1 per cent annually. Within this landscape, investment infrastructure represents one of the most underpenetrated segments, as the vast majority of European banks still operate on decades-old core systems that were never designed for real-time digital investing. The median European funding round grew 32 per cent between 2024 and 2025, the largest increase since 2020, with fintech infrastructure consistently ranking among the most active investment categories. Upvest’s ability to attract $125 million just twelve months after its previous round suggests the company is approaching an inflection point, with management indicating a clear path to profitability in the near term. As European regulators continue to push for greater retail investor access to capital markets and the pension landscape undergoes digital transformation, infrastructure providers like Upvest stand to benefit from a structural tailwind that shows no signs of abating. Summary Company: Upvest HQ: Berlin, Germany Founded: 2017 Round: Series D ($90M equity + $35M credit facility) Amount: $125 million Lead investors: Sapphire Ventures, Tencent Participating investors: Bessemer Venture Partners, BlackRock Use of funds: European market expansion, pension product rollout, AI-driven wealth solutions