Notable funding rounds across Europe:
- Aachen-based end-to-end battery recycling firm cylib has raised a €55 million Series A round co-led by VC World Fund and Porsche Ventures.
- German HR software and payroll-as-a-service provider VEDA has got €17 million from CIBC Innovation Banking to develop in the DACH region and the UK.
- Greek maritime software company Harbor Lab has raised a $16 million Series A funding round led by European VC Atomico.
- French Infinite Orbits, a New Space in-orbit services company, has raised €12M round led by Newfund Capital along with the EIC Fund.
- Sweden-based legaltech company Leya has raised $10.5 million in a funding round led by Benchmark with participation from Hummingbird, SV Angel, and Y-Combinator.
- Berlin-based renewable energy supplier trawa has secured a €10 million seed round led by Balderton Capital.
- UK-based pre-ordering and waiting list platform Purple Dot has closed a $10 million Series A funding round led by OpenOcean.
- London-based childcare startup tiney has secured €8.3 million in a Series A round led by Mustard Seed + Partners.
- London-based work payments platform for freelancers, remote workers, and businesses, Native Teams, has raised €6.2 million from Eleven Ventures and Fil Rouge Capital.
- Amsterdam-based navigation and mapping platform Magic Lane has raised €3 million from No Such Ventures.
- Grasp, a Stockholm-based AI assistant for finance experts, has secured €1.7 million from Yanno Capital and Philian Invest.
- Berlin-based agtech startup hexafarms has secured €1.3 million in a pre-seed round. The funding was led by Speedinvest and joined by Mudcake and Techstars.
CEE startup funding rounds & acquisitions:
- Austrian energy trading startup enspired has secured a €25.5 million Series B funding to expand its operations outside of Europe. The round was led by Zouk Capital.
- Croatian AI developer Pythagora AI has closed a $4 million funding from Y Combinator, Inovo, 500 Emerging Europe, Moonfire, Rebel, and Uphonest Capital.
- Tallinn-based healthtech company Nanordica Medical has raised €1.75 million for its antimicrobial dressing. The round was led by Specialist VC.
- Austrian startup fynk has raised €1.25 million in a pre-seed funding round. The investment saw participation from various business angels, with part of it coming as a grant from the Austrian Research Promotion Agency.
- Latvian biotech startup Cellbox Labs has secured €935,000 to further develop its automated organ-on-chip culturing platform and launch sales operations.
- Riga-based aircraft parts manufacturer AM Craft has secured a €600,000 pre-seed funding round led by Change Ventures and joined by BADideas.fund.
- Vilnius-based educational toy subscription service LILEDU has raised €500,000 led by FIRSTPICK. HEARTFELT_, BADideas.fund, and angel investors joined as well.
- Polish 4Semantics that specializes in building cognitive automation solutions and productivity tools has raised undisclosed investment from Full Speed Ventures. The fund’s ticket sizes usually range from €1 million to €10 million.
- Budapest-based biotech startup Turbine has raised funding from Accenture Ventures to accelerate the use of Turbine's AI-powered cell simulations.
New venture capital funds and VCs’ news:
- American venture capital firm Accel has raised $650 million to support around 30 European and Israeli early-stage startups across various sectors.
- Sweden-based Norrsken VC has launched a €320 million fund to support climate tech, energy, biotech AI and healthtech startups across Europe.
- Portuguese Shilling has launched the €50 million Opportunity Fund to support growth-stage startups with investments of up to €5 million for Series A and beyond.
- Apeiron Ventures has launched a €25 million seed investment fund focused on the Gen Z economy and B2B software across Greece, the Greek Diaspora, and Europe.
Startup calls & Events:
- Open Call for Bright Labs Incubator 2024:
Experience the full journey of building a startup, from mindset shifts and hands-on support in product development to onboarding your first users. The Bright Labs program lasts for 6 months, during which the founders will have the opportunity to receive guidance and support from experienced mentors to address the specific needs and challenges of each development stage of their startups.
Startups in the Incubation Stage will receive a €2,000 grant. Following the Bright Labs Demo Day 2024, they will gain access to €50,000 in funding opportunities. Applications are open until the 31st of May. Learn more at the program’s website.
