A different future for quantum computing

Quantum processors may not replace supercomputers. From Germany’s SuperMUC-NG to Japan’s Fugaku, researchers are learning how to make them part of one.

Beyond the gadgets: Six deeptech companies to watch at IFA 2026

IFA 2026 opens in Berlin tomorrow. From physical AI and humanoid robots to edge computing and consumer exoskeletons, these six companies reveal how deeptech is moving into everyday life.

The complex chemistry behind clothing made from CO₂

Polyester is normally made from chemicals derived from oil and gas. French scale-up Fairbrics aims to replace part of that fossil feedstock with carbon dioxide captured from industrial emissions through the Horizon Europe-backed THREADING-CO₂ pilot line in Antwerp.

Can mechanistic interpretability reveal what AI is thinking?

Goodfire’s latest funding round shows that investors see a business in opening AI’s black box. But while mechanistic interpretability can expose internal model signals, it cannot yet provide a complete explanation of an AI decision.

How Switzerland became the world’s most deeptech-focused startup economy

The Swiss Deep Tech Report 2026 finds that 63% of Swiss venture capital goes into deeptech, a higher share than in the US or China. Its advantage begins in university laboratories, but foreign investors still provide most of the money when Swiss startups scale.

Einride founders launch Navisalma to turn deeptech scaling into a system

The new European venture platform plans to combine capital, design and operational support to build global technology companies, with a reported target of investing €450 million over three years.

The technology deciding whether a digital identity is real

Socure combines identity graphs, machine learning, device signals and behavioural analysis to detect digital identity fraud without forcing every legitimate customer through intrusive checks. Its acquisition of Fravity could now automate much of the investigation that follows.

Gravis Robotics becomes Europe’s latest robotics unicorn after $200m SoftBank round

The Swiss company has raised what it calls the largest Series A in construction robotics. Its physical AI does more than navigate a worksite: it enables existing excavators and loaders to alter the terrain, measure the result and decide what to do next.

The race to replace AI’s copper connections

Silicon photonics startup Lumilens has emerged from stealth with more than $900 million in funding and an integrated optical networking platform designed to connect GPUs within computing systems and across AI data centres.

Is enterprise AI delivering a return on investment?

At the start of this year, Gartner said AI would remain in the “trough of disillusionment” throughout 2026. New research suggests companies are finding pockets of value—but enterprise-wide returns remain difficult to achieve.

AI’s infrastructure boom runs into a water constraint

Governments worldwide want more artificial intelligence infrastructure just as water scarcity is placing conventional data-centre cooling under scrutiny. NVIDIA, Corintis, Microsoft, Submer and AWS are pursuing five different ways to reduce AI data-cententre water consumption — but their claims do not all measure the same thing.

Can neutral atoms turn quantum promise into industrial computing?

French quantum computing company Pasqal is preparing for a $2 billion Nasdaq listing. Its wager is that laser-controlled neutral atoms can scale more naturally — and reach useful industrial problems sooner — than the superconducting circuits pursued by IBM and Google.

Can a second dimension solve trapped-ion quantum computing’s scaling problem?

ETH Zürich spin-out ZuriQ has raised $25.5 million after demonstrating nine trapped ions in a native two-dimensional grid. Scaling its quantum computing architecture will test whether geometry can remove one of the technology’s most stubborn bottlenecks.

What has Ilya Sutskever built that Nvidia wants to scale?

Safe Superintelligence has released no AI model, disclosed no revenue and said almost nothing about its technology. Nvidia’s reported $5 billion investment suggests the secretive research laboratory may nevertheless have found something significant.

Europe battles fast-moving wildfires. Can deeptech come to the rescue?

As extreme heat turns small ignitions into fast-moving disasters, European startups are building a new wildfire infrastructure spanning thermal satellites, physics-based forecasting and climate-risk models.

Recycling carbon fibre is possible. Making it predictable is harder

French deep-tech company Fairmat is using robots, machine learning and cold plasma to turn carbon-fibre waste into engineered material. Airbus will test how far the process can go.

France turns fashion leadership into textile technology leadership

Paris-based Syntetica has raised €26.1 million to take its nylon-recycling chemistry beyond the laboratory. It is part of a growing French effort to build the industrial infrastructure for cleaner textiles.

Taking construction robots beyond the demonstration stage

Amsterdam-based Monumental has raised $32mn to expand its autonomous bricklaying fleet. Its model asks contractors to commission completed walls rather than buy and operate the robots themselves.

Microagi raises $55mn to turn factory work into robot training data

The Munich embodied AI start-up will use the funding to capture human expertise, train robot control policies and expand industrial deployments.

How Stenon is replacing the soil laboratory with a measuring spade

German agtech startup believes farmers should no longer have to wait days or weeks for laboratory soil analysis before making fertiliser decisions. Its FarmLab measuring spade combines multiple sensors with cloud-based AI to analyse soil directly in the field, offering near real-time nutrient data while challenging one of agriculture's longest-established workflows.

Lithuania's Oxylabs takes its first outside investment after more than a decade of bootstrapped growth

A $130 million deal with Warburg Pincus values the company at $3.6 billion. The transaction highlights the growing importance—and growing controversy—of the infrastructure that enables AI systems to access information from the live web.

NextGO Epi thinks gallium oxide could do for power electronics what silicon did for computing

NextGO Epi's €2 million funding round is about more than another deeptech startup. The Berlin spin-out is betting that gallium oxide could become a defining material for next-generation power electronics—and that Europe should build the value chain before the market arrives.

What if AI isn't another tool—but the organisation itself?

Most organisations are trying to add AI to existing ways of working. They are asking the wrong questions, says zeb co-founder and CEO Mal Vivek in this exclusive interview. So what should these organisations do instead? "The firms that survive will look like foundries: small, high-leverage teams of builders who stand behind their work with real guarantees."

Industrial AI’s Unsung Hardware: How Treon’s Edge Node Brings Intelligence Into Harsh Environments

Following its Red Dot Product Design win, the Finnish deeptech scaleup shows how ruggedised hardware design, not software alone, is becoming a critical layer in industrial AI.

Can AI Agents Become the Asset Managers of Europe's Renewable Energy Boom?

Can AI agents run renewable assets? Invertix links energy operations, investor reporting and finance to automate Europe's growing portfolios.

Pilot Photonics secures €10.4 million EIC backing as Europe bets on photonic infrastructure

Pilot Photonics has secured a recommended investment of up to €10.4 million from the European Innovation Council Accelerator, adding fresh momentum to a company developing photonic technologies for AI infrastructure, satellite communications and future wireless networks. The award also offers a window into how Europe is attempting to scale deeptech businesses beyond the laboratory.

The Ghost in the Battery: How Voltfang Uses AI and IoT to Give EV Batteries a Second Life

Founded at RWTH Aachen University, German cleantech company Voltfang is transforming retired electric vehicle batteries into intelligent battery energy storage systems. By combining software, IoT connectivity and AI-driven energy management, the company is attempting to turn Europe's growing stockpile of used EV batteries into a new category of energy infrastructure.

Beyond design software: can AI actually accelerate infrastructure development?

Build has raised $8.5 million to automate infrastructure planning workflows. But what, exactly, makes the company different from the growing number of firms using AI in architecture, engineering, construction and data centre development?

Europe's next energy challenge isn't invention. It's deploying deeptech at scale

The EIC Board says Europe already possesses many of the technologies needed to strengthen energy security and industrial competitiveness. The challenge now is deploying European deeptech companies working on hydrogen, energy storage, synthetic fuels and grid technologies at industrial scale.

QuantumDiamonds wins €76 million backing for quantum semiconductor inspection facility

The European Commission has approved German state aid for QuantumDiamonds, a Munich startup using diamond-based quantum sensors to inspect advanced semiconductor packages. The funding highlights growing interest in semiconductor metrology as artificial intelligence and advanced packaging increase chip complexity.

Nearfield Instruments secures $380 million as AI drives demand for semiconductor metrology

This is the largest deep-tech investment in Dutch history. The Rotterdam-based semiconductor metrology specialist plans to expand production capacity, accelerate product development and strengthen its global presence as AI increases demand for advanced semiconductor inspection and process-control technologies.

The Unexpected Return of the Airship in Europe's Critical Infrastructure Networks

French startup HyLight is using hydrogen-powered airships to inspect pipelines, power lines and railways over distances of up to 350 kilometres. As infrastructure operators search for lower-emission alternatives to helicopters and short-range drones, the company is betting that slow, stable flight can deliver the detailed data needed to prevent failures, detect methane leaks and improve network resilience.

Oriole Networks wants to replace electronic switching with light. AMD is helping test it at AI scale

The London photonics startup has secured its first commercial deployment through a collaboration with AMD and the UK's ARIA Scaling Inference Lab. Its goal is ambitious: eliminate electronic switching from AI infrastructure and use light to move data between accelerators.

GlobalFoundries and Qualinx turn European chip sovereignty from ambition into execution

Exclusive: Qualinx CEO Tom Trill says trusted European chip production is ready for real-world deployment

NEURA Robotics secures up to $1.4 billion as Europe intensifies its robotics ambitions

New funding in German startup highlights growing investor confidence in AI-powered robotics and Europe's deeptech ambitions.

Isar Aerospace raises €270 million as Europe invests in sovereign space launch capability

German launch company Isar Aerospace has secured €270 million in Series D funding to scale production of its Spectrum rocket. The investment highlights growing interest in European launch capability as governments and investors increasingly view access to space as critical infrastructure.

An octopus-inspired vision for physical AI

London-based startup unveils a soft robotics platform inspired by nature, betting that the future of physical AI will depend on adaptability rather than on rigid machines.

Deeptech funding roundup May 2026: AI infrastructure, defence tech and quantum computing attract the biggest investments

May's largest deeptech funding rounds reveal growing investor interest in defence technology, AI infrastructure, quantum computing, robotics and strategic industrial capacity.

Wayve's new research lab explores the science behind physical AI

Wayve Labs is to study embodied AI, exploring how machines learn from the physical world and powering future physical AI systems.

Quobly wants to bring semiconductor-scale manufacturing to quantum computing

n an exclusive interview with MoveTheNeedle.news, Quobly CEO and co-founder Maud Vinet explains why scalable quantum computing may depend as much on semiconductor manufacturing as on advances in quantum physics.

Verda bets on NVIDIA Rubin as demand for AI computing power accelerates

The Finnish company has raised $117 million and plans to deploy NVIDIA Rubin systems across Europe, the US and Asia-Pacific.

Dekiln's kiln-free technology challenges a centuries-old manufacturing assumption

BioSintering® replaces traditional ceramic kilns with low-temperature curing using recycled gypsum waste and plant-based binders.

Starcloud’s SpaceX partnership pushes orbital AI infrastructure from science fiction into geopolitical reality

AI data centres may operate in space, powered by solar energy and freed from terrestrial power constraints. But orbital AI also raises uncomfortable questions around sovereignty, regulation, space debris and who controls the future of computing.

How Orbem is bringing MRI and AI into food inspection

Backed by €55.5 million in recent funding, the Munich deeptech startup has already established a US presence in Houston and is scaling its proven AI-powered MRI technology to meet growing demand for sustainable, zero-waste food production.

As wireless networks hit physical limits, startups are turning to terahertz technology

Swiss startup Lepto is developing ultra-thin terahertz technology for future satellite communications, sensing systems and 6G infrastructure.

Hybrid-electric aviation is moving from futuristic concept to industrial execution

Companies including Aura Aero, Vaeridion, Heart Aerospace and ZeroAvia are all developing different forms of lower-emission regional aircraft focused on shorter routes where alternative propulsion systems become technically more feasible.

Former Amazon and Meta researchers launch Graphon AI as enterprises confront AI’s growing memory problem

Graphon AI has emerged from stealth with $8.3 million in seed funding and a claim that the future of enterprise AI may depend less on building larger models and more on helping systems understand relationships between information before inference begins.

How Xscape Photonics plans to solve AI data centres’ networking bottleneck with silicon photonics

Exclusive interview with Xscape Photonics Co-Founder and CEO Vivek Ragunathan.

Genesis AI unveils GENE-26.5 as robotics race shifts towards physical AI

Robots powered by GENE-26.5 can cook meals, crack eggs one-handed, solve a Rubik’s Cube and play piano pieces at human-like speed.

Global commerce shifts as East–West models converge across AI, retail media and social shopping

NIQ’s latest report points to a structural shift in global commerce, as discovery-led formats from Asia converge with Western retail media and data-driven monetisation.

Deeptech funding roundup — April 2026: AI infrastructure, semiconductors and robotics lead startup investment

Our monthly deeptech funding roundup, tracking the most important deeptech startup funding rounds across AI, hardware and industrial innovation.

AcuityMD raises $80M to scale AI in MedTech, nearing $1B valuation

Interview with AcuityMD CEO Michael Monovoukas, who explains how and why they're building a data-driven “context layer” for medical device companies.

Verda raises $117M to scale AI cloud infrastructure and expand globally

Finnish AI infrastructure company targets Europe, US and Asia as demand for compute accelerates.

Graphene brain-computer interface enters human trials

In an interview with MoveTheNeedle.news, Carolina Aguilar, CEO and co-founder of INBRAIN Neuroelectronics, discusses the company’s latest clinical milestone: completing patient recruitment for its first-in-human study of a graphene-based cortical interface used during brain tumour surgery.

Training Machines on Human Behaviour Is Big Business—And Getting Bigger

Humyn Labs is investing $20M in human data for robotics. As physical AI scales, questions around data ownership, labour and privacy are emerging.

Stegra secures $1.7B to scale green steel production in Sweden

Stegra, formerly H2 Green Steel, is building a hydrogen-based steel plant in northern Sweden to produce low-emission steel. Its $1.7B funding round reflects growing investor focus on large-scale industrial decarbonisation.

How Doto Health is scaling AI maternal care

Following up from last week's 'AI Beyond Silicon Valley' story, we take a closer look at why Doto Health stands out within the UN innovation pipeline for the clinical infrastructure it is building around pregnancy, labour and newborn monitoring.

EIC Tech Report 2026: 25 Deeptech Signals Shaping AI, Climate Tech, Biotech and Healthcare

From quantum infrastructure and Zero Trust AI to microbial biomining, protein design and portable MRI, the EIC’s 2026 report maps the emerging technologies gaining early scaling potential.

How Renasens is solving the EU textile industry’s blended-fibre bottleneck

Renasens raises €10M to solve blended textile recycling in the EU, offering rare good news for an industry that has struggled to scale.

Beyond Silicon Valley: the AI startups solving real problems for the UN, hospitals and schools

How AI startups like Doto Health and TOY EIGHT are building real-world solutions for the UN, NGOs, healthcare and education systems.

OpenFX’s $94 million raise shows how stablecoin infrastructure is reshaping cross-border payments

OpenFX has raised $94 million in Series A funding to expand its stablecoin-powered foreign exchange infrastructure across Southeast Asia and Latin America, as financial institutions look for faster ways to settle cross-border payments.

Europe’s deeptech machine is becoming institutionalised

Paris-based venture capital firm Elaia has closed a €134 million deeptech seed fund, underlining a broader shift in Europe’s innovation economy: frontier science is increasingly moving through structured, repeatable pathways from research lab to venture-backed company.

Shield AI and the rise of autonomous warfare: from software to airpower

Shield AI raises $2B to scale autonomous defence systems powered by AI. As their Hivemind technology enables aircraft to operate without GPS, what are the risks around accountability, reliability, and control?

Minutes That Matter: How Everdrone Is Redefining Emergency Response with Autonomous Drones in Healthcare

Swedish healthtech company Everdrone raises SEK 36 million to scale autonomous drone delivery of defibrillators, aiming to reduce emergency response times across Europe.

Language Is the New Attack Surface

Why AI Security Needs a Fundamental Rethink

New Upwind research shows how detecting malicious LLM prompts in real time could redefine cybersecurity for the generative AI era. Exclusive interview with Upwind's Moshe Hassan and Avital Harel.

AI is running out of power. Can nuclear startups like Aalo keep it alive?

As artificial intelligence drives a surge in global electricity demand, a new generation of nuclear startups is positioning itself as critical infrastructure for the AI economy. But can modular reactors scale fast enough—and responsibly enough—to meet that demand?

The rise of robotic diagnostics infrastructure

Vitestro’s $70 million bet on automated blood testing

Vitestro’s $70 million funding round signals a broader shift toward robotic diagnostics infrastructure, as automation, robotics and AI transform blood testing, laboratory workflows and medical imaging.

Inside Gather AI’s $40M bet on ‘physical AI’ for warehouses and global logistics

Gather AI has raised $40M to expand its Physical Intelligence Platform, which uses drones and AI vision to bring real-time visibility and inventory accuracy to global warehouses and supply chains.

Axelera AI’s big bet on energy-efficient inference — and why Europe is paying attention

Eindhoven-based Axelera AI just raised one of the largest funding rounds ever for a European AI semiconductor company. But this story isn’t about hype — it’s about inference, energy efficiency, and why AI deployment is hitting hard limits in power, cooling and cost.

Multiverse: How a Spanish startup is using quantum ideas to make AI cheaper and greener

How Spanish startup Multiverse Computing is using quantum-inspired mathematics to compress large AI models, cut costs and energy use, and bridge the gap between quantum theory and commercial AI deployment.

Proxima Fusion: the Munich spin-out trying to industrialise stellarators

Proxima Fusion, a Munich-based spin-out from the Max Planck Institute, is betting on stellarators to turn nuclear fusion into an engineered energy system. An in-depth look at Europe’s most ambitious fusion startup.

Anthropic’s $30bn Series G Signals a New Phase in Enterprise AI

Anthropic’s $30bn Series G marks a turning point for artificial intelligence. This deep-dive explains what the fundraise reveals about enterprise AI, infrastructure, governance and the future of competition.

David Silver’s £800m Seed Raise: Europe’s Largest for an AI Start‑Up

David Silver, former DeepMind researcher, is raising $1 billion for his London-based AI start-up Ineffable Intelligence — a potential record-breaking seed round for Europe that signals a shift in global AI investment.

Neurent Medical secures €62.5m Series C to scale Neuromark for chronic rhinitis

Neurent Medical has raised €62.5m in an oversubscribed Series C to scale Neuromark, its FDA-cleared treatment for chronic rhinitis. We analyse the technology, the investors, and how Neurent compares to competitors like RhinAer and ClariFix.

Bedrock Robotics raises $270 million to automate construction — ambition meets an industry that resists easy change

Bedrock Robotics has raised $270m to bring autonomous fleets to construction sites. We analyse the technology, the funding, and whether autonomy can scale in a risk-averse industry.

Kembara’s €750M first close puts Europe’s deep-tech scale-up gap back under the microscope

Kembara’s €750M first close targets Europe’s deep-tech scale-up gap. Why growth-stage capital, not ideas, remains the continent’s real challenge.

Aikido Security’s $60m Series B: How a Belgian Cybersecurity Startup Reached Unicorn Status

How Belgian startup Aikido Security reached unicorn status with a $60m Series B — and what its rise says about cybersecurity, developer tools, and Europe’s deeptech ambitions.

Europe’s push for technological independence: can non-dilutive funding help?

Europe’s deep tech ambitions are tied to resilience and independence. This article explores Ignite Next, EIC funding and why scaling still remains hard.

How daphni’s €260m Blue fund aims to scale Europe’s science-driven startups

daphni has closed a €260m Blue fund to back European startups built on scientific research. What does this mean for deeptech, IP and scale?

Zander Labs integrates mobile brain–computer interface stack in NAFAS milestone

Exclusive interview with Zander Labs’ Laurens Krol on the NAFAS milestone: a fully integrated, mobile, privacy-preserving brain–computer interface system.

Fanvue raises $22m Series A to scale AI-powered direct-to-fan monetisation

In an interview with MoveTheNeedle.news, Fanvue co-founders Will Monange, Joel Morris and Harry Fitzgerald explain how the AI-powered creator platform reached a $100m-plus run rate, what they call the “Creator AI Economy,” and how new funding will be used to expand internationally and deepen product development.

Why OpenAI’s $252M bet on Merge Labs redefines brain–computer interfaces

OpenAI backs Merge Labs with $252M to develop non-implantable brain–computer interfaces. What does this mean for AI, neurotech, and human agency?

Tackling one of fashion’s hardest climate problems — how EverDye is rethinking colour

In an exclusive interview with MoveTheNeedle.news, EverDye CEO Philippe Berlan explains why dyeing has resisted change for decades, and how charge-active, bio-based pigments could cut energy use by an order of magnitude while working on existing dyeing lines.

India’s Space Policy Meets Private Capital as TDK Ventures Backs Reusable Medium-Lift Launch Startup

Ravi Jain, Investment Director at TDK Ventures, explains why the firm believes Ethereal Exploration Guild’s cost targets are credible—and why India has become a strategically compelling base for private launch innovation.

Aikido Security becomes a unicorn by putting developers at the centre of application security

Aikido Security raises $60m Series B at a $1bn valuation, reflecting a shift in application security towards developer-first, unified DevSecOps platforms in the AI coding era.

Basecamp Research claims AI breakthrough in programmable gene insertion, backed by NVIDIA investment

Basecamp Research says it has developed the first AI models capable of programmable gene insertion — designing enzymes that can place large DNA sequences at precise locations in the human genome.

Qualinx brings European GNSS silicon to market — efficient, reconfigurable and ready to scale

In an exclusive interview with MoveTheNeedle.news, Qualinx CEO Tom Trill explains how the company’s GNSS chip combines European IP, European manufacturing and hardware-level security — and why ultra-low power, software reconfigurability and system-level simplicity now matter more than ever.

The CES stories that quietly move industries forward — long before they hit the mainstream

At CES 2026, the most meaningful innovation isn’t on the biggest stages. A look at overlooked deeptech startups solving heat, energy, optics, materials, and accessibility.

CES Unveiled 2026: Where Technology Stops Showing Off — and Starts Doing the Work

From AI-first hardware to portable health diagnostics: CES Unveiled 2026 shows how technology is shifting from spectacle to practical utility.

Bristol Myers Squibb partners with Harbour BioMed as multi-specific antibodies reshape oncology drug development

Bristol Myers Squibb’s collaboration with Harbour BioMed highlights the growing strategic role of multi-specific antibodies in oncology drug development.

Nu Quantum’s $60M Push Toward a Practical Quantum Network

Nu Quantum has raised $60M to build a practical quantum network using photonic entanglement to connect quantum processors. The company is turning quantum networking into real infrastructure through engineering, partnerships, and scalable hardware.

Light Over Silicon: Q.ANT’s Big Bet on Sustainable AI Compute

Q.ANT is redefining sustainable AI with photonic computing, major funding rounds, new chip production, and deployments in Europe’s top supercomputing centres.

Brevo Becomes Europe’s Newest SaaS Unicorn After €500 Million Funding Round

Brevo has raised €500M and become a European SaaS unicorn. So how did the customer engagement platform grow from Sendinblue into a global CRM leader?

The Dutch Startup Racing to Build a Universal Photonic Quantum Computer

QuiX Quantum, a University of Twente spin-off, is advancing photonic quantum computing with silicon-nitride processors. For a startup operating outside Europe’s major capitals, QuiX’s trajectory stands out — not only for technological ambition but also for early commercial momentum.

Building Medicines from Scratch: How AI Proteins Plans to Redefine Drug Discovery

Exclusive interview with AI Proteins CEO Chris Bahl on how AI-designed miniproteins and de novo biology could redefine the future of drug discovery.

Sparrow Quantum’s €27.5M Breakthrough: Why Denmark’s Photonic Chipmaker Is Becoming a Pillar of Europe’s Quantum Supply Chain

Sparrow Quantum raises €27.5M to scale photonic quantum chips and single-photon sources, strengthening Europe’s quantum supply chain and HPC innovation.

AFYREN’s €23 Million Boost: How a Circular Biorefinery Could Reshape Europe’s Sustainable Chemical Industry

AFYREN raises €23M to scale its circular biorefinery, turning agricultural by-products into low-carbon chemicals for food, cosmetics and materials industries, and in the process becoming a case study in how circular chemistry can compete at industrial scale.

How AI Personalisation Is Quietly Running Black Friday — And Reshaping Retail’s Biggest Shopping Event

How do major retailers like Walmart and M&S use AI personalisation, dynamic pricing, and real-time recommendation engines to power Black Friday? We go inside the peak-season AI systems shaping the future of retail.

Why Trust—and Control—Are the Real Battlegrounds in Enterprise AI: Inside GetVocal’s Series A and Its “Glass-Box” Vision

GetVocal raises Series A to build transparent, governed AI agents for enterprise CX. A “glass-box” approach brings trust, control, and human oversight to AI.

IQM’s Halocene quantum computer points to a future beyond noisy qubits

IQM launches Halocene, an open, on-prem quantum computer built for error-correction research, marking a crucial step toward fault-tolerant quantum computing.

How Far Has Hyperloop Technology Really Come — And When Will It Become a Reality?

Hyperloop technology is advancing with new test facilities in Europe and India, but full deployment remains distant. When will hyperloop travel become a reality?

LatticeFlow AI and Vanta Team Up to Bring Trust and Transparency to Enterprise AI

LatticeFlow AI CEO Dr. Petar Tsankov explains how their partnership with Vanta addresses one of the most pressing challenges of the AI economy: how to build verifiable trust into the systems shaping our future.

Deepgram’s Nova-3 aims to make voice AI finally fit for the real world

In an exclusive interview, VP of Product Natalie Rutgers explains how Deepgram's new Nova-3 model can transcribe multiple languages in real time, understand code-switching mid-sentence, and cut word error rates by more than 50% — all while running faster and cheaper than Big Tech rivals.

New Approach to Long-Range Weather Forecasting Merges Earth Systems with AI

How do you forecast the future when the weather itself is changing? That’s the question driving Planette, a climate intelligence startup bringing long-range weather forecasting to sectors that depend on precision — from finance to insurance to energy.

The Future of Brand Growth: Does it Belong to Communities, Not Ads?

Paul Archer has just led Duel through a $16 million Series A funding round. In an exclusive exchange with MoveTheNeedle.news, he reflects on the origins of his philosophy, the science behind community-driven growth, and how Duel plans to make brand advocacy as measurable as any paid media strategy.

Quantum Biology Meets Medicine: How “Biological Qubits” Could Turn Living Cells into Sensors

Engineered fluorescent proteins can now hold quantum states, a discovery that could transform medical diagnostics, drug development and environmental sensing — and blur the boundaries between physics and biology.

Twente to Secure a Place in Europe’s High-Tech Future

With ChipTech Twente, the region joins the €400m PIXEurope program to build pilot lines for photonic chips. Construction in Enschede has begun; first wafers expected in 2026.

Turning Consumer Noise into Clarity

How Danyel O’Connor and Alloy’s Umami Are Redefining Food & Beverage Innovation with AI

We spoke with Danyel O’Connor, former Cravings by Chrissy Teigen + Good Foods Group exec, now leading Umami at Alloy’s venture studio. She explains how Umami uses AI to cut through consumer noise, reduce risk, and give F&B brands clarity + confidence.

Liquid AI and AMD: Building the Future of Edge AI

Liquid AI’s LEAP platform, in collaboration with AMD, runs state-of-the-art language models directly on devices — no servers, no costs, no data leaving your laptop or phone.

Joby Aviation’s First Piloted Air Taxi Flight Between Public Airports: A Step Toward Everyday eVTOL Travel

Joby's recent short test flight delivered proof that the technology is ready not just to fly, but to fit into the system we already have.

Saildrone Surveyor: Redrawing the Map of the Deep Ocean

Saildrone’s 22-metre Surveyor is changing how we understand the deep ocean. Powered by wind and solar, the vessel can stay at sea for months, carrying the same sensors as traditional survey ships — but without the huge costs or emissions.

Rebl Industries Secures IKEA and H&M as Customers for Robots-as-a-Service Platform

Swedish robotics company Rebl Industries has signed framework agreements with IKEA Svenska AB and H&M to deploy its next-generation Robots-as-a-Service (RaaS) platform. In our interview with CEO Tengelin, he called this moment “an inflection point” for both the company and the industry: defining a new category of robotic staffing as a service.

Greentown Labs and GeSI Join Forces to Accelerate Global Climatetech Collaborations

Greentown Labs and GeSI have formed a new partnership to accelerate startup–corporate collaboration in climatetech. We spoke with Aisling Carlson (Greentown SVP) about how the partnership will unlock opportunities for pilots, investments, and scaling innovations beyond North America.

Riding the Blue Wave

How Aquamondis Is Cultivating the Future of Natural Food Colouring in Cape Verde

Aquamondis GmbH is establishing a fully digitalised freshwater spirulina production facility in the Cape Verde Islands to extract phycocyanin, a vivid blue pigment, for the food industry. An audacious detail of the project is its transportation model: using the sail cargo ship Avontuur to deliver nutrients like trace elements and sodium hydrogen carbonate— at zero CO₂ emissions.

How This Dutch-Swiss AI Start-up Is Revolutionising Protein Engineering

Four Fascinating Startups From Twente

Region Is Gaining Momentum As A Hardware Haven

How Rwazi is Reinventing Global Consumer Intelligence

Built to fill the gap left by outdated or fragmented consumer data in emerging markets—places like India, Brazil, Turkey, and much of Africa—Rwazi collects zero‑party data: voluntarily shared, real-time consumption behavior from consumers across 190+ countries. Its AI‑powered decision intelligence platform transforms raw consumer signals into insights, simulations, and real-world recommendations. Sena, their AI copilot, helps enterprises simulate pricing, messaging, and campaign outcomes—compressing strategy into execution.

Diliko: A Rising Star Among Mid Market Agentic AI Data Platforms

Diliko may be less than a year into its public phase, but it’s already shaping up to define a category—and the CRN® accolade is a clear milestone on that journey. Ken Ammon, Chief Strategy Officer at Diliko, walks us through the features and breakthroughs that earned them the award.

How Enschede Became a Hardware Haven for Deep Tech Startups

From photonic quantum computers to microfluidic systems and smart food sensors, Enschede-based startups are developing breakthrough technologies with global implications. What sets this region apart is its rare mix of academic excellence, industrial know-how, and a startup ecosystem built around engineering rather than hype.

Live Story raises €2.7M

Plans to become the go-to CMS for business users in the digital experience economy

Live Story, the no-code visual CMS designed for marketers and content teams, has raised €2.7 million in seed funding, led by Vertis, one of Italy’s most prominent early-growth venture capital firms. The investment will power international expansion, AI-driven product development, and hiring, as the company sets its sights on exceeding €10 million in ARR by 2027.

Thinking Machines Lab: Mira Murati’s $10B AI Powerhouse Redefining Human‑Centric Intelligence

In February 2025, ex–OpenAI CTO Mira Murati founded Thinking Machines Lab, a Public Benefit Corporation aimed at closing critical gaps in AI—specifically in reliability, transparency and human–AI collaboration. With zero products yet, the startup has already raised $2 billion in seed funding, valuing it at approximately $10 billion—the largest ever seed round for an AI firm.

EIB Funds PulPac’s Scalable Alternative to Single-Use Plastics

PulPac’s Dry Molded Fiber is more than a clever technical invention—it’s a scalable, sustainable packaging solution with real commercial and environmental potential. Backed by the EIB and aligned with the EU’s green goals, it’s poised to reshape how we think about disposable packaging in a circular economy.

Safe E-Bike Charging at Work

Using AI to Revolutionize Precision Medicine

How To Produce More Seafood - Without Catching More Fish

Smarda Wins SIA Leader Award

Smarda founders and managing directors Horst Schalk and Alexander Wenzl (photo and image rights: Smarda) Austrian startup Smarda has been awarded the prestigious SIA Leader Award at the Summit International Awards (SIA) in Portland, Oregon—recognition that underscores the company’s role as a global pioneer in barrier-free, legally compliant e-commerce.

Lakka Bets Big on Greener Concrete

Finnish partnership aims to cut emissions and transform one of the world’s dirtiest industries

Greener concrete with Carbonaide’s carbon-binding technology.

Finally! A solution to the lost umbrella problem

New shared-umbrella concept rolled out in the Netherlands

New off-road solution

App promises a more intelligent and reliable experience

“No Roads™ is a powerful example of what happens when we blend rugged, embedded electronics with smart, connected software,” added Billy Aldridge, SVP, Managing Director – Electronics Segment. “We’re excited about what this means not just for recreational adventurers, but for the future of embedded systems across multiple markets.”

Ecohelix wins Green Product Award 2025

Esteemed recognition celebrates WOODMER® Seal as a groundbreaking and sustainable solution for the packaging industry

TEKEVER confirmed as Europe's newest unicorn

New funding by existing investors

Company launches bold five-year program to enhance European security by building Defence innovation ecosystem.

Revolutionary tech to reduce food waste

Innovative scanner predicts the shelf-life of fresh produce

Dutch start-up OneThird has created technology that helps to address the persistent, global challenge which directly impacts food scarcity.

Wonderskin closes $50M Series A Round

New investment for beauty brand behind TikTok's viral peel-off Wonder Blading Lip Stain Masque

Wonderskin, the innovative beauty brand behind TikTok's viral peel-off Wonder Blading Lip Stain Masque and many other award-winning, disruptive, tech-infused cosmetic products, has secured a $50 million minority investment in its Series A funding round.

World’s first safe 3D ultrasonic sensor for autonomous robots

Norway-based Sonair, an award-winning deep tech startup, will debut Sonair ADAR to North American audiences on May 12 at Automate 2025, one of the world’s leading automation trade shows.

Deep tech photonics venture raises €15 million in seed funding

Seed round to give cameras perfect eyesight

Netherlands-based Eyeo, a deep tech photonics venture, has raised €15 million in seed funding to bring its breakthrough light-splitting technology to market. The round was co-led by imec.xpand, Invest-NL, joined by QBIC fund, High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) and Brabant Development Agency (BOM).