🌟 QUICK INTRO
Hello and welcome back.
In this week’s edition Lovable investors are getting offers at a $5bn valuation, Stark drones fail to hit their targets, and Revolut goes after Klarna in Sweden.
On a personal note I am starting to post new content direct to X - if that’s of interest please follow along here.
Harmonic are sponsoring this newsletter - check them out here.
To those of you who filled out my poll last week about the whatsapp group, thank you, there’s been sufficient interest for me to productise the offering which I’m currently working on.
💰 BIG ROUNDS
Greek Spotawheel, the B2C car subscription service, raised €300m in a mix of debt and equity capital. Read more here.
UK-based PhysicsX, which has built AI platform to design parts for manufacturing projects, will raise up to an additional $80m from Nvidia after the company invested $20m in an extension to the company’s Series B. Read more here.
French Upway, which sells refurbished e-bikes, raised a $60m Series C led by Danish private equity fund AP Moller Holding. Read more here.
German Reflex Aerospace, the manufacturer of high-performance satellite platforms, raised a €50m Series A led by Human Element together with Alpine Space Ventures, Bayern Kapital, HTGF, and Renovatio Financial Investments. Read more here.
Spanish Qida, a HealthTech startup focused on Elderly care, raised €37m led by French growth investor Quadrille Capital. Read more here.
German octonomy, an AI company developing agentic systems for complex enterprise support, raised a $20m seed led by Macquarie Capital Venture Capital. Read more here.
Dutch Source.ag raised an $18m Series B for its agriculture AI software. Read more here.
Swiss Mimic Robotics, which is developing humanoid robotic hands for manufacturing and logistics, raised a $16m seed round led by Elaia and Speedinvest. Read more here.
French Tsuga, an AI observability platform, raised a $10m seed led by US investor General Catalyst. Read more here.
💸 SMALLER BUT INTERESTING ROUNDS
UK-based Fit Collective, a fashion technology startup, raised a $3m pre-seed - reportedly the largest round ever raised by a solo female founder in the UK. Read more here.
French Pearl came out of stealth with a $1.5m pre-seed from 20VC for its sales ops tool. Read more here.
Swiss Motley raised a $1.5m pre-seed round led by Seedcamp for its AI-powered business reporting platform. Read more here.
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📰 STARTUP NEWS
Stark
The German defence startup was all over the news, as well as social media, for failing in a series of demos with the British and German militaries.
The company, most recently valued at $500m, failed to hit a single target in multiple drone demos. In one test Stark lost control of a drone, while in another a drone’s battery caught fire.
Some have said that this was a disastrous outcome for the company (and the wider drone sector), while others have said reactions have been over-blown. The company itself responded with optimism.
Sifted did a good breakdown of the whole situation here.
EU Scale Up Fund
The European Union is looking for a VC firm to oversee its €5bn Scale Up fund, the largest in the region.
The fund is an attempt to help European companies raise from European Firms and will focus on “strategic and enabling technologies,”. The European Commission is looking for an investor with experience in scaleup funding and a history of successful exits to manage the fund.
EQT and Balderton have been named at two potential firms. Read more here.
Revolut
The UK Fintech is opening a branch in Stockholm as it looks to compete with Klarna and become the dominant fintech in the Nordics.
It already has 2 million users across the Nordics, half of whom are in Sweden, but the aim is to hit 3 million by the end of 2026. Klarna, on the other hand, already serves roughly 80% of Sweden's population.
Chief Growth Officer Antoine Le Nel has stated however, that the expansion isn't just about competing with Klarna, but also taking on traditional Nordic banks that still control most household deposits.
💶 FUND NEWS
Armilar, the VC firm based in Southern Europe, raised €120m for its fourth fund which it will invest across Portugal, Spain, and the rest of Europe, primarily at Series A and in B2B. Read more here.
Leading European founders backed, and launched, United Founders - an €80m fund to back Europe’s next generation of frontier technology startups. Read more here.
Balnord, an early-stage investor focused on the Baltic Sea region, raised a €70m fund to invest in frontier technologies across space, healthcare, and industrial resilience. Read more here.
Stockholm-based Inception Fund announced its official launch with a closed angel and pre-seed micro fund of €21m. It was backed by some of the leading founders in Stockholm. Read more here.
🔎 IN OTHER NEWS
🎙️WHAT I’M LISTENING TO
I’ve been listening to a cool podcast called New Wave. It’s a European podcast focused on climate-tech and consists of:
• New Wave Weekly (Fridays, 9:00 CET): three top investors, fast, sharp takes on deals, news, and trends.
• The Swell: deep-dive interviews with Europe’s leading angels, VCs, LPs, and founders.
Check it out here: https://climateventuresvco2.substack.com/
It’s also on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.
THAT’S ALL. Thank you.
Seb