European Startups funded recently - Newnex Weekly

17 October 2023

UK-headquartered infrastructure platform, OrdinalsBot, has successfully raised over $1 million in a Seed funding round. The company recently introduced its Software Developer Kit (SDK), which offers developers the tools they need to effortlessly incorporate ordinals functionality into their projects. The funding round attracted investments from a group of investors, including Kestrel 0X1, Lightning Ventures, Bitcoin Magazine Ecosystem Fund, Bitcoin Frontier Fund, Angsana Investments, Deep Ventures, and individual angel investors such as Sebastien Borget, Howard Morgan, Micah Spruill, Ivan Brightly, and Dillon Healy.

Lottie, an online marketplace based in London that specializes in eldercare services, has secured $21 million in a Series A funding round, with Accel as the lead investor and General Catalyst, a previous supporter, also participating. Lottie's platform serves as a search tool for individuals in search of optimal later-in-life care options, such as care homes and retirement living communities.

VARM, a startup focused on insulation, has recently closed a Pre-Seed funding round with a significant seven-figure investment. The company's core objective is to accelerate household decarbonization by simplifying and making the process of insulating cavity walls and roofs in residential buildings quicker and more cost-effective. Leading the funding round are Foundamental and A/O, and strategic angel investors include the founders of prominent companies like Thermondo, specializing in central heating, and ecoworks, a construction tech specialist.

FourJaw, a British IoT startup, has secured £1.8 million in funding to further develop its machine monitoring platform, aimed at enhancing productivity, sustainability, and profitability within the manufacturing sector. The investment comes from NPIF – Mercia Equity Finance, which is managed by Mercia and is associated with the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, as well as Mercia's EIS funds and private investors.

The Circle, an Italian company specializing in aquaponic agriculture, has successfully raised an additional €2.1 million in its funding round, with Opes Italia and Sparviero Holding leading the investment. In total, the company has secured €3.6 million, including €1.5 million previously acquired from Invitalia through the Smart & Start Italy - PON Enterprises and Competitiveness 2014 – 2020 program.

Ostium Labs, a startup headquartered in the UK and the developer of a decentralized non-custodial exchange for perpetual real-world asset trading, has secured $3.5 million in a Seed round of funding. General Catalyst and LocalGlobe took the lead in this investment round, with contributions from SIG, DeFi Alliance, Balaji Srinivasan (former Coinbase CTO), Vessel Capital, and various other investors.

Jetson, an innovative aviation company, has recently concluded a successful Seed round, raising $15 million. The company is known for its groundbreaking Jetson ONE, which is the first commercially available eVTOL that individuals can own and operate for short point-to-point flights. The round attracted investments from pioneering angel investors across the globe, including renowned rapper, tech entrepreneur, and consultant to automotive firms, will.i.am, who will also be among the initial Jetson pilots.

French cybersecurity firm, HarfangLab, has successfully concluded a Series A funding round, raising €25 million. The round was spearheaded by Crédit Mutuel Innovation, and it also featured participation from MassMutual Ventures (CMI) and Elaia, a prior investor in HarfangLab, who previously led the company's initial €5 million funding round in 2021.

LimmaTech Biologics AG, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Zurich, has revealed the successful closure of a $37 million Series A funding round. This significant investment was co-led by Adjuvant Capital, AXA IM Alts, and the Novo Holdings REPAIR Impact Fund.

London-based fintech company Kennek, which specializes in creating an operating system for lenders, has announced the successful raising of $12.5 million in a seed funding round. The funding was led by HV Capital, with Dutch Founders Fund, ff Venture Capital, and Plug & Play Ventures also participating in the round after being involved in the startup's pre-seed funding round last February, which raised €4.1 million.

French insurtech company Orus has secured €11 million in a Series A funding round, with Notion Capital and VR Ventures/Redstone taking the lead. Other participants in the round include Frst, Partech, Portage (who also backed the previous €5 million funding round), as well as angel investors Thierry Daucourt (Axa), Grégoire Rastoul (Leocare), and Albert Malagarriga Fandos (Elma).

Niryo, an industrial startup specializing in the development of compact collaborative robotic arms, has announced a successful round of financing, totaling €6.4 million. This Series A funding round is led by the BPI Digital Venture investment fund, along with participation from the Innovacom investment fund and four other long-standing funds (IRD, Finorpa, NFA, and Go Capital). The funding is intended to support Niryo's global ambitions in revolutionizing the collaborative robotics industry. It will be used to explore new use cases, create a professional-focused product range, and further expand internationally. Additionally, the financing includes €3.6 million in loans from a consortium of banks.

NEURA Robotics GmbH, an AI and robotics startup based in Germany, has revealed the successful raise of $16 million in a new funding round led by American private equity firm InterAlpen Partners. This announcement follows a recent funding round of $55 million with European investors.

The international logistics platform MyDello, headquartered in Estonia, has secured €1.25 million in a Seed funding round. The leading investor in the round is Superhero Capital, with contributions from various others, including Jevgeny Kabanov and angel investors who have previously participated in funding rounds.

Infrared City, a startup that originated from the Austrian Institute of Technology, has recently secured €1 million in pre-seed funding. The funding round was spearheaded by xista science ventures and included contributions from 2bX, Heartfelt, Antler, and P3A Ventures. These funds will be utilized to expedite the development of the startup's technology and grow its engineering team.

Milan-based startup BonusX is dedicated to developing technology that simplifies and reduces the costs associated with accessing social and tax benefits. The company recently raised €3.2 million in a seed funding round, with London's Giant Ventures leading the investment. Other participants in the round include Exor Ventures, 2100 VC, and angel investors, notably Raffaele Terrone, co-founder of Italy's first unicorn, Scalapay.

Munich-based startup Orbem which originated from PhD research into MRI technology with the goal of addressing and expediting the MRI process, has recently closed a $31.8 million Series A funding round. Leading the investment is 83North, and this round also saw participation from new investor La Famiglia, as well as existing investors The Venture Collective and Possible Ventures.

Amsterdam-based startup, The Selection Lab, which specializes in developing assessment technology for screening applicants, has disclosed the successful raise of €1.25 million in a recent funding round. The round was led by Borski Fund and included participation from existing investor Arches Capital.

Amsterdam-based AI startup, Tidalflow, has officially launched the company and simultaneously announced its first funding round, successfully raising $1.7 million. The investment round is jointly led by Gradient Ventures, Google's AI-focused venture fund, and Dig Ventures, which is operated by Ross Mason, the founder of MuleSoft. Additionally, the round received support from Antler.

London-based FinTech company, Untangled Finance, has successfully concluded a strategic fundraise of £13.5 million. This multi-year strategic funding was spearheaded by Fasanara Capital, a renowned pioneer in FinTech investment and lending.

Berlin-based fintech firm Upvest has successfully raised €30 million in a funding round. BlackRock, along with existing investors such as Bessemer Venture Partners, HV Capital, Earlybird, Notion Capital, ABN Amro Ventures, and 10x Capital, participated in the round. Upvest offers essential infrastructure for digital wealth management, covering trading, settlement, and custody, all within a low-friction API.

Danish biotechnology company MinervaX ApS has successfully completed an upsized financing round totaling €54 million. The company intends to utilize this funding to advance the development of a novel prophylactic vaccine targeting Group B Streptococcus (GBS). The funding round saw participation from new investors EQT Life Sciences and Orbimed, as well as existing investors including Novo Holdings, Pureos Ventures, Sanofi Ventures, Trill Impact Ventures, Adjuvant Capital, Wellington Partners, Industrifonden, Sunstone LifeScience Ventures, and LF Invest.

Estonian fintech startup Cino is revolutionizing the payment experience by linking each individual's bank account to a single virtual payment card, allowing groups to make payments together. The Tallinn-based company recently raised over €1.4 million in a funding round, with the participation of investors such as Tera Ventures, APX, and Atomico Syndicate.

Finnish energy technology startup, Capalo AI, has successfully raised €500,000 in an early-stage funding round. The main investor in this round is Innovestor Tech Fund, with additional support from Inventure. Capalo AI plans to use the funds to further develop its virtual power plant (VPP) and the smart AI technology that optimizes it for various markets. Additionally, they intend to expand their team by recruiting skilled mathematicians and cloud service experts.

AgomAb Therapeutics, a biotech company headquartered in Ghent, Belgium, has achieved a major milestone by closing a substantial Series C funding round, raising $100 million. Fidelity Management & Research Company led this funding initiative, with significant contributions from new investors including EQT Life Sciences (EQT), Canaan, and Dawn Biopharma (a KKR-controlled platform), in addition to ongoing support from existing investors.

Tilak Healthcare, a trailblazer and prominent player in the realm of ophthalmological digital health, has secured €10 million in a funding round with leadership from Elaia and Cap Horn. This funding round elevates the total funding raised by the startup to €19.5 million.

Deasie, a data governance platform, has successfully raised $2.9 million in a funding round, a mere five months after its launch. The Seed funding was provided by Y Combinator, General Catalyst, RTP Global, Rebel Fund, and J12 Ventures.

London-based AI startup TitanML has secured $2.8 million in a Pre-Seed funding round and unveiled its solution, Titan Takeoff, which leverages AI to expedite large language model (LLM) deployment. The funding round was spearheaded by Octopus Ventures and featured contributions from various angel investors with a penchant for deeptech.

Amsterdam-based Convious, an e-commerce platform catering to the leisure industry, has disclosed securing an additional $9 million in a Series A extension funding round. The investment is led by Wille Finance, with participation from Orbit Capital and existing investors. This announcement comes after over a year of raising $12 million in a Series A funding round primarily led by Begin Capital. With this extension, the total value of the Series A now reaches $20 million, comprising both equity and debt.

Leiden-based biopharmaceutical company Synerkine Pharma has revealed that it secured €5.3 million in an extension of its Series A financing. This funding round is spearheaded by Flerie and boasts support from new investors like InnovationQuarter Capital and Utrecht Health Seed Fund, as well as the participation of existing investor Thuja Capital. The equity financing is complemented by an innovation credit from Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend (RVO) Nederland – the Netherlands Enterprise Agency.

London-based instant payment startup Lopay recently disclosed a successful £6 million funding round, primarily led by BackedVC, Portage, The Venture Collective, and a group of angel investors. The funds raised will be directed towards accelerating the expansion of the company's operations and its overall business reach.

Amsterdam-based digital healthcare platform Roott has successfully raised €600,000 in a pre-seed funding round. The funding round was backed by Healthy.Capital, Innovatiefonds Noord-Holland, and private investors, including André Grimbergen, co-founder of Albelli and the Wondr Experience, and Mike de Boer, CFO of Knab Bank. Roott aims to empower individuals to effectively manage their mental and physical health.

Amsterdam-based Circular Industries, the developers behind the Urban Mining Factory – Printed Circuit Boards (UMF-PCB) project, has successfully raised €2 million in an early-stage funding round. Circular Industries (CI) is focused on advancing the UMF-PCB project with an emphasis on circularity and geopolitical independence. The project's goal is to maximize the recovery of Critical Raw Materials from discarded printed circuit boards, promoting sustainability and ensuring a secure resource supply for the future. This funding round was led by Orchard Participations, EIT InnoEnergy, and Impuls Zeeland.

Estonian-founded fast energy storage company Skeleton Technologies has secured €108 million in a funding round involving equity and debt financing. The investment comes from Siemens Financial Services (SFS), Marubeni Corporation, CBMM (a Brazilian mining company), and other investors.

Gridmo, a renewable energy software startup that originated from the Startmate program, has successfully raised $500,000 in its first external funding round. This round was primarily spearheaded by Grok Ventures, the Cannon-Brookes family fund, which contributed 80% of the total amount raised.

Phasio, a startup that provides manufacturing design collaboration and quotation software, has secured $3.8 million in a Seed funding round. Phasio is transforming the way manufacturers handle quoting, design, and collaboration with customers, introducing a Google Docs-style approach to the design phase. AirTree Ventures led the round, with participation from investors such as Michael Sorkin's Gattaca Ventures, 500 Global (known for backing Canva), and Entrepreneur First.

Heliup, a French startup specializing in lightweight photovoltaic panels, has secured €10 million in funding. The company's goal is to convert the expansive roofs of existing buildings into a clean energy source. Starquest Capital led the funding round, with contributions from EIT InnoEnergy, BNP Paribas Développement, and IDEC Group. Additionally, regional branches of BPI France, the France 2030 investment plan, and various other banks supported the funding.

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