The European Commission has just awarded prizes to four European startups and SMEs which are bringing to market promising innovations developed with EU research and innovation funding.

The awards were announced at the Innovation Radar Prize ceremony, attended by investors and innovation leaders. Twelve EU-funded startups from across Europe competed in 3 prize categories.

The 2025 Innovation Radar Prize was the 11^th edition of this long-standing celebration of EU innovative excellence. Organised by the European Commission and the Innovation Radar Bridge initiative, it took place in the Unicorn Factory Lisboa, Portugal on the 10th of November 2025.

At the event, each of the twelve finalists – all SMEs, startups or spinoffs who had previously received research and innovation funding from the European Commission – delivered a pitch to a jury of investors and entrepreneurs outlining their innovations and plans to scale them in the marketplace.

Overall Winner:

The jury awarded ExoMatter, a startup from Germany, with the overall 2025 Innovation Radar Prize for their innovative ExoMatter Platform for Materials R&D, which offers easily searchable AI-enriched data for scientific materials screening, through powerful filters and Exira, the first natural language AI-Agent in this field. More information can be found on the ExoMatter website.

Category Winner ‘Climate, Energy & Mobility’:

Ecolyte, from Austria, won the ‘Climate, Energy & Mobility’ category for their sustainable technology solutions that aim to improve daily life while protecting our planet. Their eco-friendly products aim to boost energy efficiency and reduce waste across multiple sectors, including energy storage, energy conversion, and water remediation. More information can be found on the Ecolyte website.

Category Winner ‘AI & Digital Intelligence’:

Minespider, from Germany, won the ‘AI & Digital Intelligence’ category for their supply chain traceability solutions, primarily focusing on the mineral market. The Minespider platform operates in the realm of responsible, compliant, and circular mineral supply chains. More information can be found on the Minespider website.

Category Winner ‘Smart Hardware & Robotics’:

Equal1, from Ireland, won the ‘Smart Hardware & Robotics’ category for their quantum-computing technology delivering scalable, on-premises quantum solutions by augmenting today’s CPU/GPU workloads with QPU (quantum processing unit) to make exponential quantum-computing power available globally. More information can be found on the Equal1 website.

About the Innovation Radar Prize

The Innovation Radar is the European Commission’s initiative to make it easier to discover innovations emerging from research and innovation projects financed by the EU under Horizon Europe, the world’s largest public funded research and innovation programme. Featuring over 15k EU-funded innovations, it puts a spotlight on excellence and offers the opportunity to seek out innovators who could follow in the footsteps of companies such as BioNTech, Skype and ARM Holdings, all of whom received EU funding in their early days.

This year’s prize scheme was open to over 2000 EU-funded innovators across Europe – SMEs, startups and spinoffs – developing a wide range of ground-breaking innovations.

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The 5th Edition of the Startup Festival Malta wrapped up last month, once again highlighting the innovation, creativity, and resilience of Malta’s startup community. To celebrate this anniversary, a full week of activities took place.

The main event, held on 23 and 24 October, exceeded expectations, attracting hundreds of attendees, more than 40 exhibiting companies, startups, and corporate service providers, as well as many international participants. Several meetings were held in the networking lounge, giving startups and investors the chance to connect and explore collaboration and investment opportunities, reaffirming Malta’s growing reputation as a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship.

Two new additions made this 5th edition special: the Students Programme and the Startup Awards. Organised with Transport Malta and Aġenzija Żgħażagħ, the Students Programme encouraged creative thinking under the theme “Disconnect to Connect.” Students from different schools explored entrepreneurship through interactive sessions focused on problem-solving and teamwork. A key highlight was a mobility-themed hackathon, where St. Ignatius College emerged as the winning team.

Malta Enterprise, through the Start In Malta initiative, also hosted the Startup Awards, recognising promising and fast-growing startups across the local ecosystem.

Another highlight was the Pitch Black Competition, now in its second year. IceCaps won the Pre-Seed category, while BrainTrip secured the Seed Winner award. Lemons in the Room stood out as both Pre-Seed Runner-Up and People’s Choice, and Edumentors took the Seed Runner-Up title. The Best Female-Led Startup Award went to SoMe, celebrating outstanding leadership and innovation.

The festival also welcomed international speakers who shared inspiring personal stories and entrepreneurial insights. Nicolas Hamilton spoke about overcoming challenges to achieve success, motivating the audience to stay determined in pursuit of their goals. Caspar Lee discussed his journey from YouTube creator to investor, highlighting adaptability and persistence. The Gerada brothers, founders of Krepling and Forbes 30 Under 30 honourees, shared their experience of growing a Maltese startup to international success.

Alongside talks and competitions, several key initiatives were launched to further strengthen Malta’s startup scene. These included the Startup Guide Malta, a practical resource to support entrepreneurs at every stage; the Startup Initiative, helping startups promote vacancies and attract talent; and the announcement that WEvr, a leading immersive entertainment company, will open its European Creative Studio in Malta, a major step for the island’s creative technology sector.

The festival’s success was made possible thanks to its partners and sponsors, including Malta Venture Capital, Transport Malta, Residency Malta, Supercharger Ventures, Bank of Valletta, and Visit Malta. Their collaboration reflects a shared commitment to driving innovation, supporting entrepreneurship, and positioning Malta as a thriving European startup destination.

The Startup Festival Malta demonstrated the country’s ambition and ability to build a dynamic startup ecosystem. Through engaging discussions, networking opportunities, and a celebration of local talent, the event reaffirmed Malta’s dedication to innovation and to empowering the next generation of entrepreneurs.

For more information about Malta’s startup ecosystem, you can contact Malta Enterprise at info@maltaenterprise.com, and follow Startup Festival Malta, Start In Malta, and Malta Enterprise on their websites and social media channels.

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Swedish autonomous truck startup Einride is to go public in the US via a SPAC, valuing it at $1.8bn.

Einride plans to go public on the New York Stock Exchange via a SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company), a vehicle which is designed as an alternative route for companies to go public without the expense and hassle of going through a conventional IPO.

The SPAC merger, with Legato Merger Corp, will see Einride valued at $1.8 billion in pre-money equity, with the deal expected to be completed in the first half of 2026. Einride said the deal was expected to generate around $219 million in gross proceeds before accounting for potential redemptions of Legato’s public shares, transaction expenses and any further financing. 

Einride said it was also looking for up to $100m of private investment in public equity capital to speed up growth.

The announcement follows weeks after Einride raised around $100 million in funding from existing investor EQT Ventures and quantum firm IonQ.

Founded in Sweden in 2016, Einride has the bold ambition of disrupting the freight industry with electric and self-driving vehicles. It is developing and operating a new freight ecosystem, which includes one of the world’s largest fleets of heavy-duty electric trucks, cutting-edge autonomous technology and the proprietary Saga planning optimisation platform. 

The Swedish startup, which has also has a US headquarters in Texas, also raised $500m in 2022.

Roozbeh Charli, CEO of Einride, said: "Today marks a defining moment for Einride and for the future of freight technology.

“We’ve proven the technology, built trust with global customers, and shown that autonomous and electric operations are not just possible, but better.

"This transaction positions us to accelerate our global expansion and continue to deliver with speed and precision for our customers. The foundation is built, the demand is clear, and our focus is on execution and delivering the future of freight.”

Eric Rosenfeld, chief SPAC Officer of Legato, said: "This transaction with Einride aligns with our vision to bring industry-leading, innovative technology to the public markets.

"Einride's proven customer relationships, regulatory achievements, and technology platform position the Company to be a leader in the transformation of the freight industry.

"We believe that the market fundamentals are strong, the timing is right, and Einride has the operational excellence to capitalise on this massive shift in how goods move around the world."

Paris-based AI platform Paage has raised $2.2 million in seed funding led by Aglaé Ventures, Kima Ventures, and Cassius, with participation from angel investors including Alexandre Eruimy (former CEO of PrestaShop), Felix Malfait (co-founder of Twenty), Darren Lachtman (Goldenset Collective), and Enzo Mattioli Ferrari (CEO of Ferrari Family Investment).

As creators increasingly move away from traditional marketplaces, many now build and sell directly through their social platforms, engaging audiences through authenticity, trust, and personal connection.

Paage positions itself at the centre of this shift as an AI-powered cockpit for social commerce, allowing creators and brands to centralise content, offers, payments, and audience management in one place. The platform helps users turn followers into customers and maintain ownership of their audience and data, reducing dependency on third-party platforms.

Founded in 2025, Paage was created to make online creation and selling simpler and more accessible. The company believes that millions of ideas never come to life because creating online remains overly technical. With Paage, users can describe what they want, whether a page, product, or design, in natural language, and the platform generates it instantly. Its AI agent assists with structure, copy, and design, helping transform ideas into elegant, interactive pages.

Co-founder Jean Ronin describes Paage as “a clear, inspiring space where people can create and exist on their own terms,” emphasising that its AI enhances creativity rather than replacing it. The company calls this approach augmented autonomy, technology that supports individuality, helping creators work faster while staying authentic.

Nicolas Garcin, co-founder of Paage, noted that while social commerce is already well established in the US, it is only beginning to gain momentum in Europe.

“Paage bridges the two worlds - the spontaneity of social creation and the independence of running your own business. AI shouldn’t box creators into templates; it should help them think clearer and stay true to their voice.

In less than a year, Paage has grown to 100,000 users across more than ten countries, serving artists, musicians, coaches, freelancers, and brand founders who use the platform as their digital home base.

The new funding will accelerate Paage’s AI and product development, strengthen its design and engineering teams, expand integrations across payments, CRM, e-commerce, and email marketing, and support its international growth.

Stockholm’s Spiich Labs, a startup developing an agent-first AI assistant, today announced a €600k pre-Seed funding round to eliminate 8+ hours of weekly administrative work.

The round was led by Ampli Ventures, with backing from founders of Lovable, Tandem Health, Neo4j, Creandum, and OpenAI’s head of startups.

Johan Torssell, CEO and founder of Spiich, said: “I turned down Palantir to build Spiich after watching startup founders and their sales teams lose entire days to admin work that could be automated.”

The pre-Seed round fits into a wider European trend in 2025 towards automating revenue and CRM workflows with conversational or agentic AI.

Comparable activity has been recorded by Bizzy in Belgium, which secured €4 million to expand its AI Sales Agent for lead qualification and enrichment; TODAY in Denmark, which raised €1 million to automate documentation and sales-advisory tasks; and Genial in France, which attracted €1.8 million for AI agents handling sales and customer-relations.

Together these four European startups represent roughly €7 million in disclosed funding across 2025, underscoring consistent investor appetite for tools that use AI agents to streamline sales operations.

Spiich’s Sweden-based position gives it regional distinction within this cohort, and its focus on an agent-first architecture aligns with the wider move to rebuild B2B software for AI-native workflows rather than layering automation onto legacy systems.

“Sales reps should be building relationships and closing deals, not populating fields in a CRM. We built the product that we wished existed – one that works wherever the sales rep is, through simple conversation. The traction in our first four months proved the market was desperate for this, and we’re just getting started,” added Torssell.

Founded in 2025 by Johan Torssell and Dennis Hadzialic, Spiich serves customers across 5 countries with its AI sales assistant that eliminates administrative work for revenue teams.

The platform handles CRM updates, meeting preparation, and follow-ups through conversational commands – letting sales professionals focus on building relationships and closing deals, not the CRM admin they despise.

According to the company, B2B sales teams spend 65% of their time on non-selling activities – a €300 billion global drag on productivity – and Spiich gives that time back by automating what sales professionals hate most: CRM updates, meeting preparation, and follow-ups.

The company’s agent-first AI assistant reportedly eliminates 8+ hours of weekly administrative work through conversational commands

The platform integrates natively with HubSpot, Attio, and Google Workspace, allowing reps to update CRM records through text or voice commands. It automatically generates daily meeting briefs by synthesising CRM data, email threads, and company research, then drafts personalised follow-ups based on conversation context.

Emil Eifrem, Founder and CEO of Neo4j, said: “What’s interesting about Spiich is what’s underneath the hood – they’ve rebuilt sales software from first principles for AI, not just bolted it onto legacy systems. This agent-first architecture unlocks possibilities traditional CRMs simply can’t deliver.

“But the larger vision excites me most: an entire ecosystem of AI agents working across the sales workflow, sharing context seamlessly. This is the template for how B2B software should be rebuilt in the AI era.”

The funding will expand native CRM integration, enhance proactive intelligence features, and scale operations to reach 2,000 sales professionals by end of 2026. Spiich is now onboarding global customers – targeting B2B SaaS teams with 20-200 reps – to make every sales team AI-native.

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Paris-based confidential finance startup Zaiffer has emerged from stealth with €2 million and a mission to bring a compliance-ready layer of privacy to the decentralised finance (DeFi) world.

Backed by a joint investment from open-source cryptography company Zama and Web3 venture builder PyratzLabs, the newly created venture is launching what it calls a breakthrough primitive for decentralised finance – confidential tokens, or cTokens.

“Our mission has always been to help builders scale the next generation of Web3 companies,” said Bilal El Almay, co-founder and CEO, Zaiffer. “Think of Zaiffer as the VPN for on-chain finance: confidentiality you can turn on or off, without leaving DeFi or changing wallets. It is a protocol that balances innovation, compliance, and usability. We are proud to partner with Zama to help bring confidential DeFi to market.”

Zaiffer’s investment positions it within a broader 2025 European trend focused on privacy-preserving blockchain and DeFi infrastructure.

In France, fellow Paris-based cryptography company and investor Zama raised €49 million to commercialise fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) for public blockchains – the same core technology powering Zaiffer’s confidential token layer. Austria’s TACEO secured €4.8 million to expand its “Private Shared State” system for encrypted data collaboration, which includes applications for DeFi and regulated financial environments. In the UK, BOB raised €8.1 million to build a hybrid Layer-2 network bridging Bitcoin with DeFi protocols.

Altogether, these 2025 rounds account for roughly €61.9 million in funding across privacy-enhanced or cryptography-driven DeFi infrastructure in Europe.

The presence of both Zaiffer and Zama in Paris highlights France’s emerging strength in encryption-based blockchain innovation, particularly in applying FHE to decentralised financial systems.

Zaiffer’s smaller, targeted raise contrasts with Zama’s larger push, but both share the same technological and regulatory ambition: to make DeFi more confidential while remaining compliant.

Founded in 2025 in Paris, Zaiffer builds on Zama’s FHE technology, which enables computations on encrypted data without ever needing to decrypt it. Using Zama’s FHE protocol – a decentralised computation network -Zaiffer’s transactions can process encrypted data in under five seconds, bringing practical performance to a technology often dismissed as too slow or theoretical for real-world financial use.

“FHE is ready for mainstream applications. With Zaiffer, we demonstrate FHE’s ability to power real-world financial infrastructure, combining confidentiality with regulatory compatibility. This is a turning point for blockchain adoption,” said Rand Hindi, CEO at Zama.

The new protocol allows any ERC-20 or EVM-compatible token to be “shielded” into a confidential version (e.g., USDC to cUSDC, ETH to cETH), hiding transaction amounts while preserving sender and receiver trails.

These cTokens offer users selective disclosure features for auditors, exchanges or regulators, thereby threading the needle between privacy and compliance in a blockchain world still grappling with the tensions between transparency and confidentiality.

This level of encryption allegedly enables not only privacy-preserving token transfers but also complex financial operations such as confidential payrolls, OTC trades, cross-border payments, and stealth-mode treasury management. Users can selectively reveal balances or grant access to third parties temporarily, making it suitable for audit-ready use cases like AML compliance and regulatory screening.

Importantly, Zaiffer operates without needing new wallets, bridges, or changes to existing DeFi infrastructure – a key usability advantage that could boost adoption among both retail users and institutions.

The launch is timely, as institutions continue to show interest in DeFi but remain hesitant due to the lack of robust confidentiality features. The company says that existing solutions like mixers or privacy coins pose audit challenges or require migration to alternative chains.

Zaiffer aims to fill this void with a universal confidentiality layer for Ethereum-compatible tokens, aligning with regulatory needs while preserving DeFi’s openness.

A demo of Zaiffer is already live on the Sepolia testnet, with a full mainnet rollout and SDK integration expected by November 2025. This upcoming launch will include tools to embed cToken features directly into DeFi products. The roadmap also includes confidential AMMs, lending, borrowing, and perpetuals.

The €2 million funding is earmarked for product development, regulatory integrations, and growth initiatives as Zaiffer positions itself as the confidentiality layer of the DeFi economy.

Zaiffer’s approach could redefine the baseline for privacy in decentralised finance, offering users and institutions a middle ground between full transparency and off-chain opacity – without compromising either innovation or regulation.

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Huge Thing, one of Central and Eastern Europe’s leading innovation accelerators, has opened applications for the Industry Test path of its flagship Startup Booster program!

The program helps startups validate and scale their solutions through collaboration with corporate leaders such as Orlen, PZU, Veolia, and Bank BNP Paribas, supported by tailored mentorship and equity-free grants up to €80,000!

Connecting startups with corporate power

Huge Thing’s Startup Booster bridges the gap between early-stage innovation and corporate needs. The program has three dedicated tracks, each designed for startups at different stages of development and growth. The Industry Test track, now open for applications, is for startups with mature products (TRL 6–9) that are ready to be deployed and tested in real-world corporate environments. Participants will work directly with leading organisations to co-develop and pilot solutions addressing key business and sustainability challenges.

“Many startups struggle to prove their value beyond prototypes. Through our program, we give them access to corporate ecosystems where their solutions can be tested, improved, and scaled,” says Maria Tyka-Majewska, Acceleration Lead at Huge Thing. “It’s about creating win-win collaborations. Startups get validation and traction, while corporations gain access to fresh innovation that directly addresses their business challenges.”

As part of the Industry Test track, startups will work closely with industry leaders, tackling some of today’s most pressing business and environmental challenges.

• Orlen, one of Europe’s leading energy companies, is seeking new technologies for thermal energy storage and precision farming sensors to boost efficiency and sustainability.
• Veolia Poland is focusing on AI-powered water quality monitoring, telemetry tools for heating systems, and circular economy solutions in waste management and energy recovery.
• PZU, the region’s largest insurer, is looking for innovations in process automation, data-driven underwriting, and pricing excellence.
• Meanwhile, BNP Paribas is exploring tools that enhance personalised communication, AI-driven customer interaction analysis, and real-time onboarding support for new clients.

Proven results from previous editions

Previous editions of the Startup Booster have already shown the impact of Huge Thing’s approach. Cybersecurity startup Riffsec and proptech startup Simpl.rent both started collaborations with PZU, one of Poland’s largest financial and insurance groups, as a result of their participation in the program. These partnerships helped the startups refine their solutions in real market conditions and speed up their commercial growth.

“These examples show how collaboration between startups and corporates can lead to measurable results,” said Maria Tyka-Majewska, and continued by adding, “Our mission is to be that bridge, by helping startups turn innovation into real business impact, and helping corporates make innovation part of their daily operations.”

A decade of corporate innovation

Huge Thing has spent more than a decade designing and running corporate innovation programs and acceleration initiatives across many industries. Over the years, it has grown from one of Poland’s first startup accelerators into a complete innovation partner for corporations, combining acceleration, ecosystem building, and strategic consulting.

Today, Huge Thing not only connects startups with enterprises but also helps large organisations design, implement, and scale innovation strategies. Its team has worked with companies such as Rossmann, Żabka, PZU, PKO Bank Polski, BNP Paribas, and Novartis, helping them define innovation priorities, launch intrapreneurship programs, and build effective frameworks for startup collaboration. Through this experience, Huge Thing has become one of the most trusted partners for innovation-driven transformation in the CEE region.

Startups from around the world can now apply for the Industry Test track of the Huge Thing Startup Booster program. Applications are open until 21 November 2025!

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DataCamp, a Belgium-founded online learning platform, has acquired Dubai-based Optima, an AI-native platform for building data and AI skills.

As AI adoption accelerates, companies must continually upskill their teams. DataCamp helps individuals and organisations build capabilities in data science, analytics, and AI through interactive courses, real-world projects, and industry-recognised certifications across Python, R, SQL, Power BI, Tableau, machine learning, and cloud computing. It pairs foundational concepts with hands-on practice using new AI tools.

Optima’s AI-native system adapts in real time, adjusting pacing, explanations, and feedback to each learner’s profile. Its technology already powers key curricula on DataCamp, and premium subscribers can choose the AI-native experience in many top courses.

DataCamp will expand the integration across its platform over the next six months, enhancing both existing content and new offerings.

Jonathan Cornelissen, DataCamp’s co-founder and CEO, said the company is moving beyond the traditional model of static, one-size-fits-all online learning:

The field of data and AI is evolving faster than ever, and DataCamp is focusing on dynamic, human-centred learning to help people and organizations thrive amid upheaval. With the Optima team now part of DataCamp, we’ve never been better placed to redefine how organisations move their people along the learning curve.

Optima founder and CEO Yusuf Saber will join DataCamp as Chief AI Officer, and the rest of Optima’s team will also join the company.

This acquisition will further reinforce DataCamp’s position as a partner for organisations aiming to strengthen and future-proof their workforce.

Locai Labs today launches Locai, a general AI assistant powered by Locai L1-Large, the UK’s first foundational large language model (LLM), marking a watershed moment for British technology and the nation’s role in the global AI race.

For years, the development of advanced AI has been dominated by the US and China, whose tech giants have benefited from vast data centre infrastructure and investment. Britain, by contrast, has faced a chronic shortage of domestic computing power.

Now Locai, an AI assistant designed and built in the UK and backed by former science minister Lord Drayson, is taking on global rivals including GPT-5, Claude, DeepSeek and Gemini, outperforming them on the key measure of conversational ability and human preference whilst delivering top-tier results across mathematics, scientific reasoning, and instruction-following benchmarks.

Specifically, Locai L1-Large surpasses GPT-5, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, Qwen and Mistral to claim the #1 rank on Arena Hard v2, the industry’s leading benchmark for conversational ability and human preference, whilst delivering top-tier results across mathematics, scientific reasoning, and instruction-following benchmarks.

Founders James and George Drayson have developed a new vision for “community AI,” combining self-learning technology with a decentralised, community-powered architecture to create high-performance AI that can be scaled sustainably.

George Drayson has invented a technology called “Forget-Me-Not” that solves one of AI’s most persistent challenges: catastrophic forgetting - the tendency for models to lose previously learned knowledge when trained on new information. This means Locai Labs’ AI models can evolve independently without armies of human trainers or access to huge data-sets; Locai L1-Large teaches itself and constantly improves without human input, generating its own training data and never forgetting what it has learned.

The result is faster progress and lower costs in model post-training, while preserving accuracy and safety.

Tackling Britain’s data centre deficit 

Traditional AI models demand enormous, energy-hungry data centres - an approach that is both costly and environmentally damaging.

Locai Labs has taken a different path. As user numbers grow, Locai will scale through a community-driven blockchain network, allowing users themselves to contribute computing resources and shape the development of the model in future.

This crowdsourced model means Britain will be able to compete in AI by offering a sustainable and decentralised alternative that is unique on the world stage.

James Drayson, CEO of Locai Labs, said:

“Britain doesn’t need to outspend the world to lead in AI - we need to outthink it, because we won’t win the AI race simply by building bigger data centres.

Our approach has created an AI that has taught itself to be safer, more conversational and more intelligent, and that will scale sustainably through the power of its users.

“It’s not just a new model, it’s a new way forward for AI and for the UK and gives consumers and organisations access to a British-built, sovereign, high‑performance AI without the usual trade‑offs.”

The founders of Locai, from left to right, George Drayson, James Drayson, and Sujith Aleshwaram.

Today, open source cryptography company  Zama and Web3 venture builder PyratzLabs announced a €2 million investment and the creation of Zaiffer. 

This joint venture is dedicated to building the future of confidential, compliant, and composable decentralised finance across Ethereum-compatible blockchains.

Zaiffer introduces confidential tokens (cTokens), which conceal on-chain amounts while preserving sender/receiver audit trails and enabling selective disclosure for exchanges, auditors, or regulators. The approach redefines confidentiality as a right within DeFi while ensuring compliance with global standards.

“Our mission has always been to help builders scale the next generation of Web3 companies,” said Bilal El Almay, co-founder and CEO of Zaiffer. 

“Think of Zaiffer as the VPN for on-chain finance: confidentiality you can turn on or off, without leaving DeFi or changing wallets.

It is a protocol that balances innovation, compliance, and usability. We are proud to partner with Zama to help bring confidential DeFi to market.”

While blockchain transparency underpins trust, it also exposes balances, trade sizes, trade strategies, and treasury moves. This leads to exploitation, copy-trading, targeted liquidations, and corporate data leakage.

For institutions, the absence of confidentiality remains a critical barrier to adoption. Existing confidentiality approaches fall short. Privacy coins operate on isolated networks, mixers break audit trails and face regulatory challenges, and confidentiality-focused technologies like ZK often require new infrastructure and introduce usability hurdles.

Zaiffer closes this gap with a universal, audit-ready confidentiality layer for all EVM tokens and DeFi applications. Zaiffer’s core innovation is the Confidential Token Standard, developed with Zama and OpenZeppelin.

Any ERC-20 or EVM-compatible token can be Shield (wrapped) into its confidential version (e.g., USDC → cUSDC, ETH → cETH, WBTC → cWBTC).

Key properties of cTokens include:

• Hidden amounts: On-chain transfers show encrypted values while preserving sender/receiver links.
• Owner visibility: Users can selectively reveal balances or transactions for record-keeping purposes.
• Selective disclosure: Users may grant time-limited access to third    parties for compliance or audits.

Because cTokens remain interoperable with existing DeFi apps, Zaiffer enables confidentiality without the need for new wallets, bridges, or fragmented liquidity.

According to Rand Hindi, CEO of Zama, Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) is ready for mainstream applications. 

“With Zaiffer, we demonstrate FHE’s ability to power real-world financial infrastructure, combining confidentiality with regulatory compatibility. This is a turning point for blockchain adoption.”

Zaiffer leverages Zama’s FHE protocol, a decentralised set of computation nodes that process encrypted values without ever decrypting them. Currently, each encrypted transaction is completed in less than 5 seconds. This ensures confidentiality at the protocol level while supporting:

• Confidential payrolls and (cross-border) payments.
• Private swaps and OTC trades that conceal trade sizes.
• Treasury management and fund strategies shielded from competitors.

Lead image: Freepik.

Olonne-sur-Mer-based Filiz, an EdTech startup which helps private schools digitalise and streamline their operations, has raised €6 million from entrepreneurial platform Hexa with the ambition of growing revenue 10× within the next five years.

The partnership, which includes both funding and operational support over several years, will help Filiz expand from France across Europe, to support thousands of higher-education institutions navigating a changing system.

“Behind every reform are teams who just want to run their school well. Every week, we meet directors who are looking for someone to help them make sense of a fast-changing system, as well as for software to alleviate the administrative burden. Filiz is here to do both: build the right infrastructure, and help them navigate change with clarity and confidence,” shared Maxime Jacquet, co-founder and CEO, Filiz.

Recent 2025 activity in similar verticals shows steady momentum in the European EdTech and education-operations SaaS segment, albeit with smaller ticket sizes than Filiz’s €6 million raise.

• In Germany, DigitalErleben secured €1 million to develop its AI platform “paddy”, designed to help teachers with lesson planning, content creation, and class analytics.

• In Luxembourg, Kidola raised €1.3 million to expand its childcare-management SaaS – covering attendance, invoicing, and compliance – into France and Belgium.

Together, these rounds amount to approximately €2.3 million, indicating that most 2025 administrative EdTech funding on the continent has remained in the lower-single-digit-million range.

Against this backdrop, Filiz’s €6 million round represents one of the larger transactions in its category this year. It reflects investor appetite for platforms that streamline administrative and financial operations in education – particularly in France, where comparable announcements have been fewer.

“Filiz has already built one of the most intuitive products in its category. Our partnership is about helping the company move from a proven product to a European standard – combining Hexa’s scaling expertise with Filiz’s understanding of its market to build the category leader for higher education in Europe,” added Augustin Celier, Partner at Hexa.

Founded in 2021 by Maxime and Aurélia Jacquet, Filiz is a French SaaS platform helping private schools and apprenticeship centres manage their financial, administrative, and academic operations.

Already trusted by more than 500 campuses in France – including Datascientest (Omnes Education), 42, CFA Numia, and Albert School – Filiz has reportedly tripled its revenue year-on-year to reach €2 million ARR, all while remaining bootstrapped and profitable.

Private higher education is growing rapidly across Europe – in France alone, enrolment has doubled in 20 years, with similar trends in Spain, Italy, and Germany. Yet Filiz argues that most institutions still rely on outdated, fragmented software to manage their operations.

In France, this year’s apprenticeship reforms have increased administrative complexity – linking public payments to attendance days and adding employer contributions.

As similar pressures emerge elsewhere, the need for modern, integrated systems is only accelerating.

Filiz is entering its next phase of growth to meet these increasing demands. The company is evolving its platform beyond financial and administrative management to build an all-in-one operations system that connects every part of a school’s activity – from funding to academic planning.

The next wave of development will introduce AI-powered tools to simplify planning, automate tasks, and support directors with real-time insights.

“Since the beginning at Albert School, we’ve been using Filiz to manage the administrative and financial aspects of our apprenticeship contracts. Our collaboration feels much more like a partnership than a client–provider relationship. The product has been continuously evolving since day one to actively support us with both internal and external challenges. In 2026, Filiz is a must-have,” said Mathieu Schimpl, founder & COO, Albert School.

Under the Hexa partnership, Filiz is now focused on scaling its impact across Europe.

The ambition is to grow revenue 10× within five years, helping thousands of institutions adapt to change, and focus on their educational mission.

Over the next 18 months, Hexa will support Filiz to:

• Develop a clear go-to-market strategy to reach more institutions.
• Strengthen its leadership team, including the arrival of a late co-founder focused on sales and marketing.
• Deepen product capabilities to serve larger private schools and multi-campus networks.

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A new 2025 Globalscape report from Accel, published today, finds that AI models and AI-native applications are driving record funding in 2025, with total investment projected to reach $184 billion, nearly 80 per cent higher year over year.

The report finds that AI is fueling record activity in public and private markets despite geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty. It also highlights the rise of a $5 trillion market leader and a concentrated group of large-cap technology firms that together represent roughly half of the Nasdaq Composite Index. Their combined operating cash flow, estimated at about $0.6 trillion in 2024, positions them to keep funding the substantial investments needed to stay competitive in AI.

Beyond models and infrastructure, performance among $100+ billion cloud companies is mixed. Several large providers are beginning to see AI-related gains, while others remain more dependent on broader enterprise adoption of agentic automation.

Overall, the outlook for software remains constructive. Accel’s Globalscape Public Cloud Index is up 25 per cent year over year, and the tech IPO market has begun to reopen. As agentic adoption approaches the S-curve inflexion point in the coming years, larger cloud providers may regain momentum by using existing platforms to deploy and orchestrate new agentic workflows, the report says.

AI-native applications are accelerating investment

As established vendors invest in agentic capabilities, a new cohort of AI-native applications is scaling rapidly. Combined financing for these apps and for AI models is pushing venture investment in cloud and AI across the US, Europe, and Israel to record levels. In 2025, funding in these regions is projected to reach $184 billion (nearly 80 per cent higher than in 2024).

European application companies are raising rounds comparable to US peers, with notable examples including ElevenLabs (London), Helsing (Munich), Lovable (Stockholm), n8n (Berlin), and Synthesia (London).

The race for compute

The rapid expansion of AI-native applications, alongside expected growth in enterprise agentic deployment, is accelerating demand for AI infrastructure. Current estimates indicate that roughly 117 GW of additional AI data-centre capacity will be needed by 2030, comparable to the combined power use of the UK, Italy, and Spain, and could require about $4 trillion in capital expenditures over the next five years.

Commenting on the report, Philippe Botteri, Partner at Accel, said AI is driving a profound global transformation marked by an unprecedented pace of innovation and scale. He added that meeting this shift will require significant investment, around $4 trillion over the next five years, to build accelerated-computing data centres to power the next generation of AI-native applications and agentic workflows.

For more detailed insights and data, the full Accel 2025 Globalscape Report: Race for Compute is available for download here.

A Swedish startup leveraging AI to improve sales productivity has raised €600k pre-seed funding, backed by high-profile names across Europe's tech ecosystem.

The funding round in Spiich Labs was led by Ampli Ventures, with backing from Tandem Health CEO Lukas Saari and Creandum co-founder Stefan Lindeberg. One of the founders of Lovable and a European OpenAI executive are also backing the startup.

Johan Torssell, CEO and founder of Stockholm-based Spiich, claimed he turned down a role at Palantir to launch the startup.

The startup says its AI assistant automates CRM updates, meeting preparations, and follow-ups. It says its first AI assistant eliminates over eight hours of weekly admin work. The assistant integrates natively with HubSpot, and Google Workspace, allowing reps to update CRM records through text or voice commands from anywhere. 

It automatically generates daily meeting briefs by synthesising CRM data, email threads, and company research, then drafts personalised follow-ups based on conversation context. The startup says it already has customers in five countries.

Torssell said: "I turned down Palantir to build Spiich after watching startup founders and their sales teams lose entire days to admin work that could be automated.

"Sales reps should be building relationships and closing deals, not populating fields in a CRM. We built the product that we wished existed - one that works wherever the sales rep is, through simple conversation. The traction in our first four months proved the market was desperate for this, and we’re just getting started."

Toulouse-based SpaceTech startup U-Space, a satellite constellation manufacturer, has raised a €24 million Series A round with investment bank Avolta acting as exclusive advisor – propelling the company into a new phase of industrial and international growth.

The round saw participation from Blast, Definvest, Expansion, CapSpace, ARIS, Primo Space, Audacia co-invest, and Vertech Finance, to support its industrial ramp-up and international expansion.

“Avolta’s role was decisive in this fundraising. Their expertise in the SpaceTech market, their ability to structure a complex operation, and their strategic support enabled us to reach a key milestone in our industrial and international development. Their dedication and commitment by our side truly made the difference in this operation,” said Fabien Apper, President and co-founder, U-Space.

Across the continent, several rounds underscore the breadth of activity in satellite manufacturing, launch systems, and connectivity technologies:

• UNIVITY (France, Paris) – €31 million to accelerate its space-based 5G satellite constellation.

• HyImpulse Technologies (Germany, Neuenstadt am Kocher) – €45 million for hybrid-propulsion small-rocket development.

• Titan4 (Italy, Rome) – €4 million Series A to scale an Earth-Intelligence platform using satellite data and AI.

• Kreios Space (Spain, Vigo) – €8 million Seed for VLEO satellite propulsion.

• Astradyne (Italy, Bari) – €2 million Seed to develop ultralight solar panels for space use.

• Orbital Paradigm (Spain, Madrid) – >€1.5 million pre-Seed for reusable orbital re-entry capsules.

• ALL.SPACE (UK, Reading) – €3.42 million grant for multi-orbit SATCOM / 5G integration.

Collectively, these rounds total approximately €94.9 million, complementing U-Space’s raise and reinforcing a year of sustained investor interest in European NewSpace ventures. France stands out with two major deals (U-Space and UNIVITY), underlining its strategic role in continental space manufacturing.

This momentum aligns with the wider European debate over the region’s position in the global space economy. According to EU-Startups’ analysis, the SpaceTech sector could represent €515 billion in future market value, with competition intensifying between the EU, the UK, and international players.

Within this landscape, U-Space’s funding marks a significant French contribution to Europe’s push for industrial capacity and global competitiveness in satellite constellations and related infrastructure.

“Supporting U-Space in this €24 million fundraising perfectly illustrates our commitment to promoting the French technological excellence. The quality of the management team and their ability, today, to secure international contracts reinforce my conviction: U-Space will establish itself as one of the global leaders in NewSpace,” added David-Cyriaque Laurent, Senior Partner, Avolta.

Founded in 2018, U-Space designs, assembles, and operates modular satellites. With its proprietary software solutions and its 12U and FreeForm platforms, U-Space aims to meet the growing demand in the satellite constellation market. The 80-employee company looks to become the European reference for global satellite constellation manufacturing.

Inaugurated at the end of 2024, the U-Zine – 850 m² of clean rooms in Toulouse – embodies U-Space’s industrial vision. Designed to eventually reach a cadence of one satellite per day, the modular and fully digitised assembly line draws inspiration from practices in the automotive industry.

With three satellites already in orbit – NESS, Soap, and Pandore – and a dozen more in production, U-Space demonstrates its unique expertise, from satellite design to in-orbit operations. The company is now turning to global markets, particularly the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East, areas with strong technological dynamism and ambitious space programmes.

Thanks to this fundraising, U-Space will invest in software development and the full digitalisation of its industrial tools, aiming to produce one satellite per week by the end of 2027.

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Aticco, a leading company in the coworking sector, continues to expand in Spain and has announced a new shared workspace in Barcelona. With a total surface area of 20,000 m² and capacity for more than 2,200 people, the building will become the largest coworking space in Spain and the biggest in southern Europe.

The new centre, Aticco Diagrame, is expected to open to the public officially in March 2026. The building is owned by Patrizia SE, a benchmark in the real estate market, with whom Aticco has reached an agreement to operate the entire property.

It will be located at Calle Pere IV, no. 105, in the heart of the 22@ district, a strategic area that positions the company at the centre of Barcelona’s technology and innovation hub, where more and more national and international firms are choosing to set up.

“With Aticco Diagrame, our goal is not only to offer high-quality workspaces but also to create a global experience designed to connect talent, support companies in growing their projects and strengthen our community. Moreover, we are able to align interests with the property owner, who also benefits from the coworking activity in their building,” explained Gabriel Espín, CEO of Aticco.

The addition of this new LEED Platinum-certified building reinforces Aticco’s commitment to ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) criteria. This certification, the highest international standard in sustainable construction, recognises efforts to minimise environmental impact, optimise energy efficiency, and promote healthy workspaces. With this project, Aticco consolidates its vision of responsible growth, integrating business practices that generate a positive impact on the environment, on people and on ethical and transparent management.

In addition to work areas, meeting rooms and relaxation zones, Aticco Diagrame will offer:

• Four terraces with a total area of over 1,400 m² and panoramic city views!
• Event spaces with a capacity of 200 people
• Dedicated rooms such as a nursing area, play zone and gaming area
• Sports enthusiasts will also enjoy a top-notch gym, a pickleball court and a climbing wall
• Canteen, and much more!

Those arriving by car will have access to large parking facilities, a significant advantage in a city like Barcelona, where parking is not always easy. For those opting for public transport, the building is well connected thanks to its proximity to two metro stations (Llacuna and Glòries) and several bus lines.

Exclusively for EU-Startups readers, Aticco has created a special offer: a 25% discount for two months on customised office solutions. Click here to learn more!

The operation was advised by CBRE, a leading international consultancy and real estate services firm, highlighting the growing interest in high-quality, well-connected workspaces offering premium services. “It is a pleasure for CBRE to be part of this project, which reflects new, more collaborative ways of working and the growing prominence of the Flex segment in office assets. The new Aticco Diagrame, owned by Patrizia, is designed to provide the best user experience by prioritising wellbeing and encouraging teamwork and interaction,” said Carolina Savasta, Head of Flex Office in Barcelona at CBRE. “More and more office property owners are seeing the Flex model as a good alternative to modernise their spaces and revitalise the market, especially with Aticco, one of the country’s top operators. At CBRE, we are delighted to support them in this transformation,” she added.

About Aticco

Founded in 2016 by Gabriel Espín, Juan Carlos Morales and Franz Pallerés, Aticco started as a coworking company offering much more than just workspaces – a dynamic environment that helps entrepreneurs, startups, and companies grow. In 2020, the company expanded its value proposition with the launch of Aticco Living (coliving spaces) and the entrepreneurship and investment platform Aticco Lab.

In recent years, the company has steadily expanded, promoting a model of flexible spaces that combines innovation, community and wellbeing. The opening of Aticco Diagrame marks another step in its national expansion plan, strengthening its presence in strategic locations across Spain’s main cities. With this new centre, Aticco will operate 15 spaces in Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia, consolidating its position as one of the leaders in Spain’s coworking sector and a key driving force within the national innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.

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Berlin-based CERPRO, a startup for industrial quality assurance, has raised around €2 million in a pre-seed funding round. The round was led by seed+speed Ventures, with D11Z as co-lead, and participation from EIT Manufacturing and Techstars.

In many factories, engineering, quality assurance, and production still operate in silos. Documentation for incoming inspection and quality control is often created and checked manually in paper binders or Excel, leading to months-long backlogs.

With labour gaps, higher costs, and stricter standards, manufacturing needs automated, measurable workflows. Compounding the issue, up to 30 per cent of production problems originate not on the shop floor but in insufficiently specified technical drawings.

Founded in 2023 by Frederik Frei, Sascha Müller, and Henrik Pitz, CERPRO is building an intelligent platform to standardise and automate quality processes. Its first product, QualiSpec, automatically detects, interprets, and structures features from technical drawings to generate digital inspection plans in a fraction of the time.

Since launching in December 2024, more than 100 SMEs in aerospace, medical devices, and mechanical engineering have adopted the software, reporting over 80 per cent faster quality processes, markedly fewer errors, and implementations completed in days. Beyond speeding inspection, CERPRO is extending its AI from inspection into design and engineering to flag potential issues earlier, shifting teams from reactive checks to predictive quality.

The company’s roadmap connects quality data across OEMs and suppliers to create a shared foundation for transparency and traceability.

Frederik Frei, CEO of CERPRO, said:

Few areas in manufacturing are as data- and documentation-driven as quality assurance, which makes it perfectly suited for the use of AI. Together with our new partners, we aim to scale our technology across the industry and establish it as the unifying quality standard between OEMs and suppliers.

The new capital will accelerate product development (including design-for-manufacture and predictive capabilities), expand sales, and scale CERPRO’s European market presence and partnerships, establishing a standardised, legally compliant quality workflow that links stakeholders across the supply chain.

Berlin’s CERPRO, an AI-based SaaS startup for industrial quality assurance, has raised around €2 million in a pre-Seed funding round to further expand product development, sales, and international market presence across Europe.

The lead investor is seed + speed Ventures, with D11Z as co-lead, and participation from EIT Manufacturing and Techstars.

Frederik Frei, CEO CERPRO: “Few areas in manufacturing are as data- and documentation-driven as quality assurance, which makes it perfectly suited for the use of AI. Together with our new partners, we aim to scale our technology across the industry and establish it as the unifying quality standard between OEMs and suppliers.”

This pre-Seed financing secured by CERPRO places the company within an active European landscape of AI-driven industrial software ventures.

Recent 2025 rounds underline this momentum: Grenoble-based TiHive raised €8 million to scale its terahertz-and-AI inspection technology for production lines; Finnish startup CloEE secured €520k in a pre-Seed round to enhance data-driven manufacturing processes; and Munich’s DRIMCO obtained €4.2 million to apply AI to requirement analysis in engineering workflows. Meanwhile, remberg closed a €15 million Series A+ to grow its AI-powered maintenance platform, and Paris-based Bonx raised €7.3 million to advance ERP solutions for manufacturers.

Together, these rounds illustrate strong investor interest in tools that digitalise and automate industrial operations – from inspection and documentation to analytics and maintenance.

CERPRO’s Berlin base also aligns it with Germany’s growing cluster of industrial-AI innovators such as DRIMCO and remberg, underlining the country’s role as a hub for next-generation manufacturing technologies.

Alexander Kölpin, Managing Director seed + speed Ventures: “We’re investing because CERPRO delivers not only speed but reliability: upload a drawing, and you get clear, error-free inspection reports. The result for industrial manufacturing is inspection documentation and processes that integrate seamlessly into existing systems. This ensures that first parts pass on the very first try, reducing scrap and complaintsm, all while saving valuable work time. That’s sustainable growth through quality.”

Founded in 2023 by Frederik Frei, Sascha Müller, and Henrik Pitz, CERPRO is building an intelligent platform that helps manufacturing companies automate and standardise their quality processes.

With its first product, QualiSpec, CERPRO aims to deliver advanced AI models for recognising and interpreting technical drawings. The software automates inspection and documentation workflows and creates a unified data foundation connecting OEMs and suppliers. Customers report up to 80% faster quality assurance processes – as per the company.

According to CERPRO, up to 30% of production issues originate not from manufacturing itself but from insufficiently designed technical drawings.

More than 100 companies across five European countries already rely on CERPRO, particularly in industries with high quality requirements such as aerospace, medical devices, and mechanical engineering.

Tom Villinger, Managing Director D11z said: “CERPRO’s artificial intelligence is setting new standards in quality assurance. The software not only reduces costs but elevates the entire inspection process to a new level. Its powerful combination of precise analysis and outstanding user experience convinced us as investors. CERPRO has the potential to become the leading technology in industrial quality assurance.”

The manufacturing industry is under pressure: labour shortages, rising costs, and increasingly strict quality requirements demand seamless and measurable processes. CERPRO argues that automating quality workflows has therefore become key to maintaining competitiveness and ensuring transparency across the supply chain.

Building on its existing AI model, the company is expanding its technology toward design and engineering, enabling potential optimisations to be identified already during product development.

Over time, the company’s aim is for the software to proactively recommend design- and manufacturing-ready drawings to further reduce downstream errors. At the same time, the platform creates a shared data foundation that connects OEMs and suppliers across company boundaries.

The long-term vision: an intelligent quality network that elevates industrial collaboration to a new level.​

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Euler, the Icelandic software startup, has closed a €2 million seed funding round co-led by Iceland’s Frumtak Ventures and Nordic industrial tech investor Kvanted. Frumtak Ventures Partner Ásthildur Otharsdóttir and Kvanted Partner Eerik Paasikivi join the Euler board.

Valued at over $20 billion, the global 3D-printing industry is positioned to enhance production by enabling lighter, more complex parts, reducing material waste and emissions, and complementing traditional manufacturing. However, large-scale adoption has been constrained by challenges in meeting stringent safety and performance standards, particularly in regulated sectors such as aerospace and defence, where minor disruptions can cause print failures and, without real-time monitoring, defects are often detected only after production, leading to costly rework or scrap.

Euler’s platform introduces automated, real-time monitoring that flags potential defects before they occur, helping manufacturers save time and resources and produce more reliable parts at scale.

A spinout of the Technical University of Denmark, Euler applies deep AI and process expertise to enhance fault detection for laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) and selective laser sintering (SLS). The system integrates with leading 3D printers, using built-in camera data and AI algorithms for analysis without additional, costly monitoring hardware.

Additive manufacturing has yet to live up to its hype, despite its disruptive potential. Challenges around cost, scalability, and quality assurance remain. Euler is already helping manufacturers overcome these issues, and this investment will enable us to continue our growth and expand exponentially, solidifying additive manufacturing as a reliable production process,

said Dr Eythor Runar Eiriksson, co-founder and CEO of Euler.

Euler’s customers include Alloyed (the additive manufacturing startup), KMWE (serving aerospace, semiconductor, healthtech, and industrial markets), and research organisations such as the Danish Technological Institute and the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology.

In a white paper with the Danish Technological Institute, Euler reported a 77 per cent reduction in time spent on failed builds, and more than a 20 per cent increase in revenue through improved overall equipment effectiveness.

Euler will use the investment to accelerate platform rollout, expand its team, and scale product development. The company has also begun protecting its core technology, initiating trademark registrations and filing three patent applications.