New Venture Funds:
- QED Investors announces the closing of two funds totaling $925M in commitments. The firm will back early and growth-stage fintech startups across US, UK, Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.
- UK-based Moonfire Ventures raises its second, $115M fund to back European early-stage startups. The firm will focus on Web3, AI, and AR/VR, fintech, the future of work, gaming, and digital health.
- German VC HEARTFELT_ makes the first closing of a new, €80M fund. The firm will make early-stage investments in European startups across sectors and industries.
- Alpine Space Ventures makes the first, €100M closing of a €160M fund. The firm will back European new space startups, primarily entering Series A but sometimes do seed stage deals as well.
- German VC w3.fund announces a debut fund to invest in European web3 startups.
Startup Funding Rounds & Acquisitions:
- Ukrainian VC Digital Future sells out its stake in mobile in-app add platform YouAppi to a competing service Affle. The size of the transaction is reported to be $45M.
- Romanian-found enterprise application modification platform FlowX obtains Romania's largest series A totaling $35M. The round was led by Dawn Capital and joined by Day One Capital,PortfoLion, as well as SeedBlink.
- Czech VR platfrom Somnium Space leads a $4M Series A round of a mixed reality headset producer Lynx.
- Polish metaverse startup Metaverse Planetary raises 10M PLN to invest in product development. The round was led by Christen-Ager Hanssen, CEO of nChain Group.
- Czech software platform for robotics Unmanned Life raises 53M Kč to invest in business expansion. THe round was led by Telus Ventures and joined by Venionaire Capital, Soulmates Ventures, Purple Ventures, and motec ventures.
- Bulgarian producer of edible coffee cups Cupffee gets €1.8M in funding to expand globally. The round was made possible through a €1.3M grant from the EIC and €500k pre-seed investment from Eleven Ventures.
- Lithuanian-found app providing gig workers to grocery stores Traxlo raises €1.1M pre-seed further expand in Poland and Lithuania. The round was led by Black Pearls VC.
Startup Calls:
- AWS Startup Loft Accelerator in cooperation with Vestbee launches AWS Climate Tech Accelerator - equity-free, 10-week online program supporting early-stage startups with technology and business support, investment readiness, access to leading VC funds, The applications for the challenge run until the 7th of July.
- 1 week left to apply for ICT Spring Mastermind Challenge in Luxembourg between 29 - 30 June. Pitch in front of VC investors, obtain a booth at the event and more. The applications for the challenge close on 5th of June.
- Volvo Group launches incubator for early-stage startups within sustainable mobility area, with focus on hardware and complex software solutions. Those accepted into the program will get a chance to learn and work with the group's R&D teams and chief engineers together with a community of fellow founders. The applications are reviewed on the ongoing basis.
- PFR and GovTech Polska call for applications for a 48-hour-long Hack2React with the goal of improving Polish cities. The winners of the challenge will tap into a prize pool totaling 140k PLN and a chance to implement the solutions in one of the ctiies. The applications for participants are open till the 4th of June.
- 2 more days to apply for the 4th batch of Beamline cleantech accelerator. Those accepted into the program will obtain up to €190k investment, access to a 3.5-month long proram full of mentorship sessions and expert webinars, as well as networking opportunities. The applications for the program run until the 31st of May.
- Startup Hub Poland and The Energeia supported by Nasdaq Foundation invite aspiring women entrepreneurs for an acceleration program. The program will provide entrepreneurship training sessions, meetings, and an opportunity to win a cash grant from the foundation. The applications for the progrma are open till the 31st of May.
- Empowering Women in Agrifood 2023 for Romania calls for applications. The program will provide 5 months of interactive training sessions, personal mentorship from industry leaders, connect with experts and other entrepreneurs and get a chance of winning a €15k grant. The applications for the program are open till the 1st of June.
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