The New York digital comics platform is combining its 300,000-title library with INKR’s AI localisation engine, and bringing in new leadership to execute the expansion. The problem with getting manga into the hands of readers outside Japan is not demand. Manga is the fastest-growing category in American book publishing; global interest has been building for […]

Barcelona-based startup Health Lean Analytics (HLA) has raised €2.1 million funding, encompassing a €1.4 million seed financing round by several family offices— including Inderhabs, Namarel and Braincats — as well as a loan granted by the Spanish National Innovation Company (ENISA), a public entity under the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism.

HLA specialises in automating data collection in hospital environments to reduce errors, free up clinical staff time, and improve the quality, safety, and sustainability of patient care.

The company develops solutions based on data automation, IoT, advanced analytics and AI, with a particular focus on the surgical suite, one of the most complex and critical environments within a hospital.

It enables the passive, automatic capture of clinical and operational data in real time, without manual intervention from healthcare staff, ensuring complete, reliable, and traceable information. In addition, its solutions integrate directly with existing hospital systems, unifying key data on patients, surgical materials, medications, operating room usage, and equipment and resource management.

Rather than simply displaying information, the platform interprets patterns, anticipates deviations and recommends concrete actions tailored to the needs of each role within the hospital. This enables reductions in operational and material costs, optimisation of surgical capacity, improvements in safety and quality of care, as well as freeing up clinical time and enhancing the experience of healthcare professionals.

This milestone has been made possible by the entry of Novanta as an advanced technology and strategic partner. Novanta’s advanced manufacturing and medical technology expertise, and their access to the US marketplace will enable HLA to address this new phase of growth and validate its technology in a highly demanding environment. Novanta will have representation on HLA’s Board of Directors. 

“The incorporation of Novanta as an advanced technology partner validates our technological and strategic strength and provides us with the resources and expertise needed to accelerate our R&D innovation,” says Mauro Batesteza, co-founder and co-CEO.  

“With this support, we will be able to initiate commercial deployment in the United States, a key market, and demonstrate how our technology transforms hospital management by increasing efficiency, safety and quality of patient care..” 

John Lesica, Co-Chief Operating Officer of Novanta, states, "HLA has built a compelling AI and data analytics platform that transforms complex hospital operations into real-time, actionable intelligence. What excites us at Novanta is the convergence: our RFID and sensing technologies capture the data that powers HLA's AI engine. Together, we're closing the loop between physical hospital workflows and intelligent decision-making — a combination with the potential to fundamentally change how hospitals operate, starting with one of their most critical environments: the operating room."

 The funds will be used to accelerate the company’s international expansion, with the United States as the first strategic market and a commercial deployment planned over the next 12 months, and to further strengthen its R&D capabilities.

The Paris startup opened the EU’s emissions trading market to private investors in 2024. Now it has the backing to expand into energy, electrification, and other markets shaping the industrial transition. Valentin Lautier says he got the idea for Homaio on the Eurostar. He was reading a Financial Times article about European Union Allowances, the […]

The San Francisco startup emerges from stealth with Mayfield backing and a pitch that treats ad creative as a continuous learning loop, not a quarterly deliverable. Every B2B marketing team knows the problem. A campaign launches, the creative is fresh, the targeting feels right, and then, slowly, it starts dying. Audiences tune out. Click rates […]

Paris-based Homaio has raised €3.6 million in a funding round led by RAISE Ventures, with participation from Groupe Eren, business angels, and existing investors XAnge and Redstone, bringing its total funding to over €5 million.

Founded in 2023, Homaio is an investment platform that provides retail investors with access to emissions allowance markets, which have traditionally been limited to institutional participants. These markets play a central role in climate policy and industrial transformation, particularly in Europe.

The company structures financial products backed by carbon allowances, offering a simplified and regulated way to access the market. Since launch, the platform has attracted users across more than 30 countries and manages several million euros in assets.

Valentin Lautier, founder of Homaio, said the energy transition is driven by capital allocation, with the company aiming to enable private investors to access the markets shaping this shift.

Initially focused on European carbon allowances, Homaio is expanding its platform to cover a broader range of markets linked to the energy transition, including international emissions systems and energy sectors tied to industrial decarbonisation.

The funding will support product development and the expansion of its offering beyond carbon allowances, with the goal of directing more private capital toward energy and industrial transition markets.

An extension to the company’s Series A brings total funding to €23 million and clears the path for the first human trial of KUP101, a dual TLR agonist targeting solid tumours and drug-resistant infections. Most immunotherapy research in oncology has concentrated on the adaptive immune system, the learned, antibody-generating machinery that checkpoint inhibitors like pembrolizumab […]

It’s great news for the European startup ecosystem, as today the European Commission presented its proposal for EU Inc., a new single set of corporate rules that will serve as the cornerstone and starting point for the EU's 28th regime.

The announcement represents a major milestone for EU–INC, a policy movement backed by over 22,000 signatories, including Europe's leading founders, investors, and the broader startup community.    

EU Inc. is an optional, digital-by-default European corporate framework. It will make it easier for businesses to start, operate and grow across the EU – incentivising them to stay in Europe, and encouraging those who once looked elsewhere to return.

Today, for far too many entrepreneurs and innovative companies, expanding across EU borders means navigating a fragmented corporate legal landscape. European innovative companies are faced with 27 national legal systems and more than 60 company legal forms. This complexity can delay the setting-up of a company for weeks or even months, slowing growth, raising costs and discouraging scale.  

EU Inc. is at the heart of the Commission's response to these challenges: coming in the form of a regulation, it will provide a single harmonised set of corporate rules that companies can choose instead of navigating multiple national regimes, unlocking the true potential of the Single Market.

The Draghi Report highlighted the urgent need to focus on improving the EU's competitiveness, including by making it easier for innovative companies to scale up in Europe. Announced in the Commission's political guidelines for 2024 – 2029 and President von der Leyen's SOTEU speech , the EU Inc. proposal aims to reduce fragmentation, boost EU competitiveness, and respond to the needs of innovative companies.

One Europe, one market

President Ursula von der Leyen said:

“Europe has the talent, the ideas and the ambition to become the best place for innovators. Yet today, European entrepreneurs who want to scale up face 27 legal systems and more than 60 national company forms.

With EU Inc., we are making it drastically easier to start and grow a business all across Europe.

Any entrepreneur will be able to create a company within 48 hours, from anywhere in the European Union, and fully online. This crucial step is just the beginning.

Our goal is clear: one Europe – one market – by 2028.”

Given its key importance for the EU's prosperity, the Commission calls on the European Parliament and the Council to reach an agreement on the EU Inc. proposal by the end of 2026.

Main features of EU inc. include:

• Faster registration: Entrepreneurs, founders, and companies will be able to found an EU Inc. company within 48 hours, for less than €100, with no minimum share capital requirement.
• Simpler procedures: EU Inc. companies will only need to submit their company information once, via an EU-level interface connecting national business registers together. In a second step, the Commission will establish a new central EU register. EU Inc. companies will obtain their tax identification and VAT numbers without having to resubmit paperwork.  
• Fully digital operations: Corporate processes will be digital by default throughout a company's lifecycle.
• Helping founders restart faster and cheaper: EU Inc. companies will have access to fully digital liquidation procedures. Innovative startups will have access to simplified insolvency procedures to facilitate the winding down of operations. This enables founders to try and test innovative ideas and start again if needed.
• Better conditions to attract investment: Today's proposal will remove in-person formalities, provide digital procedures for financing operations, and simplify the transfer of shares. There will be no more mandatory involvement of intermediaries for share transfers, and liquidation procedures.The proposal will also allow Member States to give EU Inc. companies access to the stock exchange
• .Better means to attract talents: EU Inc. companies will be able to set up EU-wide employee stock option plans. The stock option will only be taxed on the income generated once it is sold. This is a crucial factor in ensuring attractiveness, particularly for innovative startups.
• Full access to the Single Market: EU Inc. companies will be free to choose the Member State in which they incorporate. The proposal includes a blacklist of prohibited practices to ensure that EU Inc. companies are treated the same way as any other national companies.
• Strong safeguards against abuse: National employment and social laws are not affected by the proposal. They will apply to EU Inc. the same way they apply to any other business under national company law. The applicable safeguards of the Member State of registration will apply in full to the EU Inc. company, including when it comes to rules regarding co-determination.  
• Flexibility of shares: EU Inc. companies will have the flexibility to create different classes of shares with varying economic or voting rights. This can, for example, help founders protect their business against hostile takeovers.

In addition, the Commission is adopting today a Communication outlining the ongoing and future initiatives to complete the 28th Regime in other policy areas. The Communication proposes maximum digitalisation of interactions between companies and public authorities, for example with the European Business Wallet.

The Communication also calls on Member States to consider setting up specialised judicial chambers or courts with the authority to handle disputes on EU Inc. company law, allowing for an effective, efficient and uniform application of the EU Inc. rules.

The Commission will further explore the possibility of allowing 100% cross-border telework for innovative startups and scale-ups across the Union with the forthcoming Fair Labour Mobility Package.

The Communication also announces measures for access to capital for startups and scaleups, building on the measures of the Savings and Investment Union, a potential revision of investment rules of pension fund, and the upcoming review of the European Venture Capital Funds.

On taxation, the Commission has proposed a Head Office Tax (HOT) system that would allow small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to apply the tax rules of their home country. In addition, the Business in Europe: Framework for Income Taxation (BEFIT) initiative aims to establish a single legislative framework for corporate taxation in the EU. The upcoming Omnibus simplification package on direct taxation is expected to remove additional administrative burdens of the EU businesses.

Finally, the Commission is adopting today a Recommendation on definitions of innovative enterprises, innovative startups and innovative scaleups. The Recommendation will ensure a coherent approach across the EU to ensure better monitoring of EU policies on businesses, providing certainty for companies, investors and decision-makers in the process.

“We could’ve taken on US competitors with far less friction”

For Jeppe Rindom, CEO and Co-Founder of Pleo, EU-Inc represents a significant step toward reducing fragmentation and enabling true pan-European scale for startups and fintechs.

"The proposition emerged from a broader realisation that Europe has been weak on innovation, and that European countries are individually small on the global stage. Combine this with recent geopolitical and economic events, the urgency for Europe to become more independent and self-sufficient has only intensified.

Operating across Europe has been costly and time-consuming, with expansion today requiring different partners, structures and processes in each market — much of which is still analogue.

For companies like Pleo, a proposal like EU-Inc could have enabled faster expansion, lower costs and greater ambition, with the fragmentation of planning growth across borders removed. We could’ve scaled faster, and taken on US competitors, with far less friction."

He admits that while it won’t solve every challenge — such as currencies, infrastructure and cultural differences -—
EU-Inc meaningfully lowers legal and operational barriers, and signals a shift in Europe’s mindset toward innovation and competitiveness.

"There will undoubtedly be necessary evolutions that take this further, moving Europe toward acting as a unified market on the global stage. But what we’re seeing announced today is a first step - and a hugely significant one."

Unions warn EU Inc. could allow companies to bypass national labour rules

The decision isn't popular with everyone. In response, Oliver Roethig, Regional Secretary of UNI Europa, a European Labour federation representing 7 million service workers, said:  

"The European Commission originally floated EU Inc. to help startups scale more easily across Europe while protecting labour standards. But the dangerous proposal published today opens a window for circumventing national regulatory frameworks.  

With companies allowed to cherry-pick countries with lower standards, it risks undermining our European social model, our industrial relations and quality jobs."

We'll be updating this piece with more responses to the news.

Schönefeld-based Kupando, a biopharmaceutical company developing a TLR 4/7 agonist that stimulates innate immunity and induces trained immunity for use in oncology and infectious diseases, has secured an additional €10 million in Series A financing – bringing their total Series A to €23 million.

The investment was again led by Remiges Ventures, co-led by LifeCare Partners, with additional investments by Brandenburg Kapital, High-Tech Gründerfonds and Ventura Biomed Investors. Carma Fund joined as a new investor. The proceeds will be used to fund the Phase 1b clinical study of Kupando’s lead candidate, KUP101, in advanced solid tumors and to accelerate its preclinical programs in infectious diseases.

“We are incredibly grateful for the continued strong support from our existing investors and excited to welcome Carma Fund to the Kupando family,” says Johanna Holldack, MD, Founder and CEO of Kupando. “This additional funding is a testament to the potential of our innovative dual TLR agonist platform and will be instrumental in advancing KUP101 into clinical studies for solid tumors and accelerating our crucial work in infectious diseases. Our mission is to leverage the natural resilience of the innate immune system to deliver truly transformative therapies for patients in critical need.”

Kupando’s Series A extension takes place against a backdrop of continued European investment into immuno-oncology and immune-modulating therapeutics.

Comparable rounds include Exeliom Biosciences, a Paris-based company that raised €2.85 million to advance immunotherapies; Engitix, which secured €21 million to develop extracellular matrix-targeted treatments; and ErVimmune, which raised €17 million for cancer vaccines and cell therapies.

In Germany, T-CURX also secured €17.7 million to develop novel cancer cell therapies, highlighting activity in the same country as Kupando.

Meanwhile, larger rounds such as T-Therapeutics (€27.5 million), Highlight Therapeutics (€15 million), and Adcytherix (€105 million) demonstrate continued investor willingness to back both clinical-stage assets and platform-driven oncology approaches.

Altogether, these disclosed rounds amount to approximately €206 million, indicating sustained – albeit selective – capital deployment across the sector. Within this context, Kupando’s focus on innate immunity and dual TLR agonists represents a differentiated approach compared to the more common cell therapy, antibody, and T-cell modulation strategies seen across its European peers.

New investor Martin Raditsch, PhD, Managing Partner of Carma Fund, adds, “Kupando’s unique approach to leveraging innate immunity holds immense promise across oncology and infectious diseases. This successful funding round, especially in the current challenging financial climate, underscores the confidence we, as investors, have in Kupando’s science, team, and potential to deliver impactful solutions for unmet medical needs.”

Kupando was founded in 2018 by its CEO Johanna Holldack, MD, driven by the natural resilience observed in animals relying solely on innate immunity.

Its approach harnesses the power of innate immune stimulation and induction of trained innate immunity by dual Toll-Like Receptor (TLR) agonists. This unique modality underpins the Company’s pipeline of first-in-class, differentiated small molecules with the potential to transform the management of these challenging diseases.

Its lead candidate, KUP101, is a differentiated dual TLR 4 and 7 agonist with a robust preclinical profile and a clear path to the clinic.

KUP101 is ideally suited for the systemic treatment of solid tumors (tissue agnostic), and the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, including antimicrobial-resistant infections. Its AMR programme is being sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space.

Kazuhiko Nonomura, PhD, Partner of Remiges Ventures and member of Kupando’s Advisory Board, shares, “Remiges Ventures is proud to continue leading the investment in Kupando. We believe Kupando’s dual TLR 4 and 7 agonist technology, particularly KUP101, has the potential to redefine treatment paradigms in both cancer and infectious diseases. We are excited to see the company transition to the clinical stage and unlock the full potential of its pipeline.“

The post Inspired by animal immunity, Germany’s Kupando raises €10 million for cancer therapy appeared first on EU-Startups.

We are excited to announce that Hadi Moussa, CEO of Oyster, will take the main stage at the EU-Startups Summit 2026 on May 7-8 in sunny Malta.

Hadi brings extensive experience in scaling high-growth technology companies through critical expansion phases. Over the course of his career, he has held leadership roles at companies such as Facebook, Airbnb, Deliveroo, and Coursera, helping them navigate the challenging transition from product-market fit to global scale. Before joining Oyster, he served as CEO of Coople, where he led the company through its next stage of development in the flexible work and staffing sector.

Now leading Oyster, a global employment platform valued at over $1.2 billion, Hadi is focused on advancing the company’s mission of enabling organisations to hire talent anywhere in the world. Oyster supports companies in building distributed teams by simplifying international hiring, payroll, and compliance, helping businesses access global talent while making work more accessible across borders.

At the Summit, Hadi will deliver a keynote titled “The Scale-Up Playbook: What Actually Breaks Between $10M and $1B ARR (And How to Fix It)”. Drawing from his experience working with multiple companies that have grown beyond $500 million in annual recurring revenue, he will explore the structural challenges that startups face as they move through different growth stages.

During his talk, Hadi will outline the common breaking points companies encounter between $10 million and $1 billion in ARR, from the shift away from founder-driven decision-making to the operational complexity that emerges as organisations scale. He will share practical insights on building scalable operating systems, evolving go-to-market strategies, and much more!

Do not miss the opportunity and secure your ticket today! Join us at the EU-Startups Summit 2026 for two days of learning, networking, and inspiration.

OUR EVENT SPONSORS

Malta Enterprise is Malta’s economic development agency, facilitating economic growth, investment, and innovation by offering a range of support services for local and foreign enterprises setting up a productive presence in Malta. As a key player in Malta’s economic landscape, it contributes to the nation’s prosperity by attracting investments, supporting businesses, and driving innovation, thereby reinforcing Malta’s position as an attractive destination for entrepreneurs and investors alike. Malta Enterprise actively cultivates a vibrant startup ecosystem, playing a pivotal role in fostering a conducive environment for startups and offering tailored support and incentives to empower emerging businesses.

M. Demajo Group is a leading business player in Malta, with a successful history spanning 115 years. The Group’s growth and diversification have resulted in a wide coverage of business sectors through a commitment to long-term results. M. Demajo Group’s workforce is 500 strong and their various activities have been developed through organic growth, acquisitions, partnerships, and startups. Its strong financial situation and ethical standards, its business reputation, and its renowned track record as a business partner are all key factors in its continued expansion.

The IONOS Cloud Start-up Program provides young companies with up to €100,000 in cloud credits for up to five years after their founding. Start-ups benefit from a sovereign IT infrastructure “Made in Germany,” offering 100% GDPR compliance and full legal certainty. IONOS Cloud guarantees technological freedom without vendor lock-in. Long-term support is also ensured: exclusive discounts after the first year enable a seamless transition into the IONOS Cloud ISV Partner Program. In this way, digital sovereignty becomes a strategic competitive advantage from founding to scaling.

The post Hadi Moussa, CEO of the HR Unicorn Oyster, will join the EU-Startups Summit 2026! appeared first on EU-Startups.

sequestra, a Vienna-based ClimateTech startup, has secured a €3 million Seed investment to accelerate the industrial scale-up of its CO2 mineralisation technology.

The round was led by VSE Beteiligungs-GmbH, supported by the Dr Rudolf Fries Familien-Privatstiftung, a major Austrian industrial investment group. Additionally, Sequestra benefits from multiple federal research and innovation grants from the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) and Austria Wirtschaftsservice (aws).

Together with existing grants, the company now has around €5 million in total funding
available, enabling the expansion of its analytical data laboratory and the scale-up of its industrial technology.

“This fresh capital enables us to enter the next stage of sequestra’s technology development, in which we leverage our analytical data-assets to scale up our industrial process to 1 ton per hour and deploy our containerised carbonation systems in industrial projects,” said Roberto Lerche, co-founder and Co-CEO of sequestra. 

Founded in 2024 by Lerche, Lukas Höber, and Gero Schwarz, sequestra is on a mission to pioneer adaptable processes empowered by machine learning, ensuring cost-optimised carbonation for diverse materials. The company’s technology platform comprises material analysis, advanced data interpretation, and industrial carbonation plants equipped with in-house MRV. This unique platform combines to form a one-stop shop for CO₂ carbonation solutions.

Mineralisation is a nature-inspired process that converts carbon dioxide into stable, rock-like minerals. Although this reaction typically takes thousands of years, Sequestra claims that its technology speeds it up to hours, permanently capturing up to 300 kg of CO2 per tonne of feedstock in stable carbonates.

The company states that mineralisation can generate value through both long-term carbon storage and enhanced material properties, allowing industrial residues to be reused in applications such as building materials. 

Using mineral residues from industries like metallurgy, energy, and construction, the technology enables carbon removal and material circularity by transforming industrial waste into valuable inputs for new materials.

A central part of sequestra’s infrastructure is an integrated laboratory dedicated to quickly testing mineral materials for their CO2 absorption capabilities and feasible economic uses. This facility enables industrial partners to determine if mineral residues can be repurposed from waste streams into valuable inputs for carbon-utilisation processes.

Sequestra has so far carried out over 250 carbonation trials on various industrial materials, building an expanding dataset on material properties and carbonation efficiency under different process conditions.

The company claims that these insights feed directly into the design and optimisation of its industrial carbonation processes, helping identify promising combinations of input materials, process conditions, and output applications.

Over time, this data-driven approach enables sequestra to reduce development cycles, progressing from initial material screening to optimised industrial deployment much quicker than traditional process development.

With the new funding, wequestra aims to deploy its first modular, container-sized mineralisation unit by the end of 2027, allowing industrial partners to convert CO2 emissions and industrial residues into stable carbonates right at the source. 

The technology is designed for biomass ash producers, waste incineration facilities, steel producers, and other industries generating industrial by-products, as well as companies with biogenic or industrial CO2 streams. The system has a compact and modular design and can be integrated into existing sites, turning previously underutilised residues and CO2 emissions into valuable mineral products.

Last year, in February, the company closed a €1.1 million pre-Seed funding round. The company has expanded to a 15-person interdisciplinary team working across Vienna and Upper Austria. Its facilities integrate engineering, laboratory research, and pilot-scale testing to rapidly assess mineral feedstocks and validate performance under industrial conditions.

The post Austria’s sequestra secures €3 million Seed to scale its CO2 mineralisation technology for industrial use appeared first on EU-Startups.

The Zurich-based startup, which previously raised €3M to unify fragmented trial data, has secured a larger round to build AI agents that actively manage the complex operational layer of running a clinical trial. Clinical trials are, by almost any measure, one of the most information-intensive processes in modern medicine, and one of the least efficiently […]

Rivia, the Zurich-based data engine for clinical trial intelligence, today announced a $15 million Series A led by Earlybird, with participation from Defiant and existing investors Speedinvest, Amino Collective, and Nina Capital.

Over the past three years, the company built what it calls the first reusable intelligence layer for clinical trials.

Its data engine integrates thousands of heterogeneous data files in real time, applies trial-specific scientific logic using its proprietary library of reusable configurations, and feeds harmonised data directly into operational review workflows. This enables more proactive decision-making.

On this foundation, Rivia is launching a new suite of embedded AI agents. Its first agent, Spark, instantly converts natural language into publication-grade clinical visualisations. Next-generation agents are being deployed in proactive data quality monitoring and oversight workflows, enabling earlier detection of deviations, intelligent prioritisation, and structured, auditable action.

I spoke to Erik Scalfaro, CEO and Co-Founder of Rivia to learn more.

Tightening regulation and shrinking margins

The raise comes at a critical moment for drug development. Regulatory scrutiny is intensifying, with new FDA guidance requiring clinical trial operators to manage risks and compliance proactively. The updated framework explicitly embraces innovation in trial design, conduct, and technology.

At the same time, the economics of drug development are under pressure. Industry returns have declined from 11 per cent a decade ago to roughly 3  per cent today, with the number of therapies that successfully reach the market remaining stubbornly low. Yet, the operational reality has not evolved.

Why clinical trial infrastructure is broken

Despite advances in biotech, clinical trial data infrastructure remains deeply fragmented. Many clinical trial operators continue to rely on spreadsheets and fragmented systems — a problem rooted in how the industry is structured. Clinical trial data sits across multiple vendors that lack standardised integrations. APIs are still rare, and source systems are designed for secure storage, validation, and compliance — not interoperability.

According to Scalfaro, “Teams end up downloading files from multiple systems and stitching them together in spreadsheets, or hiring programmers to build bespoke pipelines for each study.”

These pipelines can take months to build and are typically layered on generic analytics tools never designed for clinical trials.

Clinical trials have evolved — the infrastructure hasn’t

According to Scalfaro, clinical trials have changed faster than the infrastructure that runs them. Data volume has increased more than 400 per cent over the past decade. 

“Incumbent Systems like Veeva and Medidata were designed primarily to capture data for regulatory compliance, they solved the problem of their time, not to integrate and analyse data across dozens of vendors in real time.

Their architecture reflects that origin, and their business model depends on being a single central system across their product offering (Medidata has +60 products). That creates a natural disincentive to be truly vendor-agnostic or multi-source.”

However, modern trials now generate data from speciality labs, patient diaries, imaging, genomics, wearables and operational systems. 

As a result the “all-in-one” solution by a single vendor doesn’t fit those growing specialised needs.

The result, according to Scalfaro, is a fragmented stack where sponsors still stitch data together through manual patchwork.

 “Fixing that would require rebuilding the underlying infrastructure, which is why the gap between data growth and trial infrastructure has widened.” 

And then as trials become more multimodal and data-heavy, the problem is compounding — but the underlying systems haven’t evolved. “Incumbent systems were not architected or incentivised to solve this integration problem ” he shared. The result is an industry stuck between two imperfect options:

• Generic dashboards on raw data
• Custom statistical programming rebuilt for every trial
  

According to Scalfaro, “What has been missing is infrastructure that models the trial logic itself so data from all sources can be integrated and interpreted consistently at speed.”

That’s the gap Rivia is aiming to fill.

Why Rivia built its data engine first

AI Rivia’s approach — building a data engine before deploying AI agents — was deliberate. Scalfaro argues it’s the only way to capture the complexity and specificity of clinical trials in a meaningful way.

“It’s the only sequence that allows us to comprehensively capture the unique specifics of each trial needed to contextualise results.”

At the core is a unified data layer — the “scaffolding” — which structures fragmented inputs into a coherent system. This enables the creation of vertical workflows tailored to trial activities, before introducing AI on top.

Scalfaro explained:  “Without that structure first, AI would simply operate on poorly organised data and produce unreliable results.”

Lower costs, faster insights — and better outcomes for patients

And today, that vertical sequence of data engine-to-agents gives Rivia a structural advantage. 

“We’ve seen biotechs run global trials on Rivia and deliver measurable results, from preventing issues that would’ve cost millions to gaining earlier clarity on which patients benefit most. With every new trial, our ontology library compounds, making our system more powerful over time, shared Scalfaro.

Lower trial costs and faster insights mean therapies can reach the market sooner and more clinical programmes can be funded.

“In the near term, the direct economic benefit is captured mainly by drug developers (biotechs and pharma companies), since clinical trials are their largest cost centre.

CROs benefit as well through more efficient operations and less manual data work. In practice, it is a positive-sum outcome across the ecosystem. “

AI and the shift toward adaptive clinical trial design

Scalfaro believes that in the long run, AI could redesign how trials themselves are structured, sharing that several newer approaches, such as decentralised and adaptive trial designs, have emerged in the past few years.  

"They can bring major benefits, but only if the operational complexity can be managed efficiently, which is where AI could massively help.  

As data infrastructure improves, AI can detect patterns earlier and identify which patient groups respond best. This could lead to trials that are more targeted and adjusted as evidence emerges.“

However, he notes that clinical development requires strong scientific rigour, meaning adoption will take time as regulators build confidence.

Ultimately, Rivia’s ambition is clear: reduce clinical trial costs by up to 50 per cent by replacing manual processes with scalable agentic systems.

According to Scalfaro, a large share of cost and delay comes not from the science itself, but from the difficulty of generating and validating underlying data. Improving trial infrastructure is therefore one of the most impactful ways to accelerate medical innovation.

“At Rivia, we are building that foundation — and as demand grows, we will significantly expand the team over the next year across Zurich and Boston.”

According to Christian Nagel, Partner and Co-Founder at Earlybird, clinical trials are among the most complex and costly workflows in healthcare, yet much of the infrastructure remains fragmented and manual. 

“Rivia has built a true intelligence layer for clinical operations, unifying data and embedding agents directly into high-impact workflows.  We believe this approach has the potential to fundamentally improve trial execution, reducing costs while increasing speed and data integrity. We’re excited to support Erik and the team as they scale this new agentic foundation for global drug development.”

“When we first backed Erik and Tiago, they took on the hardest challenge first — building the data and infrastructure engine to power the world’s most complex clinical trials. They’ve delivered and more, becoming mission-critical to their customers. We’re excited to keep backing them as they layer agentic intelligence on that foundation and build the platform no clinical trial can run without,” comments Andrea Zitna, Lead Partner for Health & Bio at Speedinvest.

Lead image:  Rivia Founders Erik Scalfaro and Tiago Kieliger. Photo: uncredited. 

Manus’s new desktop app can read, edit, and act on files and applications directly on a user’s machine. The launch puts Meta’s AI agent ambitions in direct competition with the open-source tool that has dominated the conversation this week. OpenClaw arrived on the internet last month like a weather system. Within days of its release […]

VerbaFlo, a conversational AI platform for real estate, has raised $7 million in a seed round led by Pi Labs, with participation from Haatch, Navigate Ventures, Old College Capital, the University of Edinburgh’s venture arm, and a group of family offices. The round brings the company’s total funding to approximately $9 million.

Founded in 2024, VerbaFlo enables real estate owners and operators to automate leasing, operations, and resident engagement through AI-driven communication.

Unlike traditional chatbot solutions, VerbaFlo provides a purpose-built AI communications layer for real estate. The platform deploys specialised AI agents across functions such as leasing, marketing, operations, and maintenance, integrating directly with existing systems to manage conversations, automate workflows, and streamline customer interactions across multiple channels.

By centralising communication across email, web chat, messaging apps, and phone, the platform enables real-time, multilingual engagement at scale. This approach is designed to improve response times, increase conversion rates, and reduce operational workload for property operators.

Real estate is one of the largest industries in the world, yet much of its revenue still depends on fragmented communication across channels. We built VerbaFlo to address this by creating a purpose-built vertical AI platform for residential real estate that integrates with existing systems and automates conversations across the resident lifecycle,

said Sayantan Biswas, founder and CEO of VerbaFlo.

The platform currently supports more than 200,000 units globally, with continued growth across the UK and Europe, recent expansion into the United States, and further rollout planned in additional international markets.

The company plans to use the new funding to expand its presence in the United States and other international markets, further develop its product, and scale its global team.

Stockholm-based Noru, a startup building an AI-native platform for regulatory compliance, has raised €560,000 (SEK6 million) in a pre-seed round led by Ampli Ventures. The round also included participation from Andreessen Horowitz Scout Fund, SSE Business Lab, the angel network DHS, and several Nordic entrepreneurs and investors, as well as Mark Strande, CISO at Miro, who joins as an angel investor and advisor.

Founded six months ago by Bip Thelin (previously co-founder of Kivra) and Therese Ruth (founder of Hemma), Noru is developing what it describes as an “agentic compliance” approach to managing regulatory requirements. The platform connects directly to company systems and embeds compliance into workflows through APIs, replacing manual processes with automated, continuous monitoring.

As regulatory requirements such as ISO certifications, SOC standards, and emerging frameworks like the EU AI Act become increasingly necessary for enterprise sales, Noru aims to integrate compliance directly into development and operational processes.

Compliance should be an enabler, not a barrier. With Noru, companies can integrate regulatory compliance directly into their development workflows and operational processes with the support of AI.

said Bip Thelin, co-founder and CEO of Noru.

The company has already onboarded around twenty paying customers during its pilot phase and supported them in achieving multiple security certifications. Noru plans to use the funding to expand its customer base and hire across engineering and marketing.

For most of its fifty-year history, Mastercard has been, in essence, a message-passing network. A transaction happens; Mastercard’s rails carry the authorisation signal between issuer and acquirer in milliseconds; settlement follows on a separate, slower track. The system is extraordinarily reliable and extraordinarily profitable. It is also, increasingly, a system designed for a world that […]

Polyacrylate is the synthetic crystal at the heart of every modern disposable nappy, is derived from petroleum, and it does not break down. It persists for centuries, leaching microplastics into soil and groundwater as it degrades. The hygiene industry has long regarded it as an engineering necessity: nothing else absorbs as fast, as much, or […]

From 16 to 20 March 2026, Paris becomes the meeting point for Europe’s deeptech ecosystem as European Deeptech Week gathers founders, investors, corporates and policymakers for a series of curated discussions and closed-door sessions!

While the event is designed around strategic conversations and partnerships, this year’s edition also focuses on the startups and scaleups shaping Europe’s next wave of industrial innovation. Throughout the week, selected companies will take part in pitch sessions, investor meetings and specialised programmes aimed at accelerating their path from research and development to commercial deployment.

Startups at the centre of the programme

A key highlight of the week is the TechTour Growth 50, taking place on Tuesday, which brings together some of the most promising European scaleups across health, digital and sustainability sectors. These companies will present their solutions directly to a network of more than 100 investors, with a clear focus on securing later-stage funding rounds.

In parallel, the EIC Scaling Club on Wednesday will host around 120 high-potential startups and scaleups. The programme is designed to support companies moving into industrialisation, offering mentoring, technical workshops and access to procurement opportunities from both public institutions and large corporates.

Throughout the week, startups will also participate in one-to-one meetings, curated networking sessions and sector-specific discussions covering areas such as AI and cybersecurity, defence technologies, climate solutions, advanced manufacturing and life sciences.

A programme built around key moments

Each day of the European Deeptech Week is structured around a specific objective, moving from early-stage connections to large-scale industrial alignment.

On Monday, the InvestEU Portal initiative sets the tone by connecting project promoters with international investors, creating early opportunities for funding and visibility. The day concludes with an opening cocktail focused on Europe’s long-term deeptech ambitions, including insights into the 2030 strategic roadmap.

Tuesday shifts attention to growth and expansion. Alongside the TechTour sessions, international delegations from more than 15 countries will present their ecosystems and explore cross-border partnerships. The day ends with an investor-focused networking event designed to facilitate more targeted discussions around funding and collaboration.

Wednesday centres on industrial scaling and strategic alliances. In addition to the EIC Scaling Club, the programme includes sessions aimed at bridging the gap between scientific research and venture capital, bringing together researchers, startups and investors working on long-term innovation projects.

The week culminates on Thursday with the Deeptech Summit, expected to host over 70 speakers across two main stages. Discussions will span five core areas: AI and cybersecurity, defence, climate, Industry 4.0 and health. Alongside the main sessions, smaller closed-door meetings will enable direct conversations between founders, investors and corporates, with a focus on concrete partnerships and deal-making.

Speakers shaping the discussion

The Deeptech Summit will feature a broad mix of speakers from across Europe’s innovation landscape, including founders, investors, corporate leaders and policymakers. Representatives from major industrial groups, venture capital firms and public institutions are expected to take part, reflecting the cross-sector nature of deeptech development.

In addition to keynote sessions, the programme includes panel discussions and debates addressing some of the sector’s main challenges, such as access to long-term capital, industrial scaling, regulatory frameworks, and Europe’s global competitiveness.

These discussions are designed to move beyond high-level trends and focus on practical pathways to turn technological breakthroughs into commercially viable, scalable businesses.

Click here to explore the full speaker lineup and plan your schedule.

From innovation to deployment

What distinguishes European Deeptech Week from traditional conferences is its emphasis on execution. Rather than focusing primarily on visibility, the event is structured to facilitate concrete outcomes, from investment agreements to industrial partnerships.

By bringing together startups, investors and corporates in a highly curated setting, the initiative aims to strengthen collaboration across the European ecosystem and support the transition from innovation to real-world deployment.

As the week unfolds, the combination of targeted meetings, sector-focused sessions, and high-level discussions is expected to shape how European deeptech companies scale in the coming years.

The post The European Deeptech Week 2026: Startups, speakers and key moments shaping the week (Sponsored) appeared first on EU-Startups.

Rhonexum, a Lausanne-based cryogenic electronics startup, has raised €867.5k ($1 million) in pre-Seed funding to accelerate product development and begin to commercialise its first product, designed to drive the development of scalable quantum computers to initial customers.

The round was led by QDNL Participations, with participation from Venture Kick. It has also received non-dilutive funding from leading Swiss innovation programmes. These include EPFL Startup Launchpad, Fondation pour l’Innovation Technologique (FIT), and the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).

“We founded Rhonexum to become the key provider of cryogenic electronics for scalable quantum computers. Our goals are to enable the transition from lab-sized systems to practical,  large-scale machines, optimise thermal-load losses and reduce cabling complexity. Our technology also has future strategic applications beyond quantum, such as in space and advanced sensing,” said Vicente Carbon, co-founder of Rhonexum. 

Rhonexum was founded in November 2025 by Vicente Carbon and Dr Hung-Chi Han. It is a spin-out from AQUA Lab at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). Dr Han is an expert in cryogenic semiconductor physics and transistor modelling, with publications in the field, and has previously worked at semiconductor giant TSMC. Carbon specialises in robotics and systems engineering, emphasising the application of advanced research into industry.

The company develops electronics that can operate at cryogenic temperatures close to absolute zero (-270 °C). It states that these temperatures are essential for technologies such as quantum computing, but conventional electronics cannot reliably function in these environments. 

According to the Swiss startup, by using proprietary models and software tools, it can deliver electronics made using standard semiconductor processes that operate directly within cryogenic systems. Rhonexum claims to remove a major scalability bottleneck in quantum computing by designing electronics that operate close to the qubits at temperatures near absolute zero

“Cryogenic CMOS is an important emerging technology space. Rhonexum stands out with an internal software-driven modelling methodology that enables accurate cryogenic simulation before fabrication, allowing for faster and more cost-effective hardware development. We see real potential here, so we’re proud to support Vicente and Hung-Chi as they work to bring their first product to market,” said Kris Kaczmarek, investment director, QDNL Participations.

With the new funding, the company will speed up product development, grow the design team, and deliver an initial industrial-grade cryogenic electronics product to a select group of early customers, scheduled for later this year.

The post Lausanne-based Rhonexum raises €867.5k to advance cryogenic electronics for scalable quantum computing appeared first on EU-Startups.