Berlin-based startup Circula has raised €15 million in an extended Series A round to advance its AI-driven expense management platform to build out autonomous finance workflows, deepening its platform’s utility for mid-sized businesses across Germany and Europe.

The round was backed by a roster of returning investors including Alstin Capital, Capnamic Ventures, Peak Capital, Wenvest Capital and Storm Ventures, along with financial support from CIBC Innovation Banking.

“We have a clear goal: to become Germany’s AI-based champion in expense and spend management for small and medium-sized businesses,” says Nikolai Skatchkov, CEO of Circula. “With hundreds of millions of euros in transaction volume, hundreds of thousands of active users, and the trust of countless tax advisory firms, we are in an ideal position to realize our vision of a seamless workday for finance teams in the coming years.”

Circula, founded in 2017 by Nikolai Skatchkov and Roman Leicht, offers a modular SaaS platform designed to streamline business expense management. Its key features include AI-powered receipt capture, automated tax-compliant data extraction and real-time booking verification.

With over 2,800 customers, Circula’s customer base includes companies like Aston Martin, About You, DATEV and Securitas. More than 150,000 employees across Europe currently use the platform to manage travel expenses, per diems, credit card transactions and employee benefits.

According to Circula, companies using its platform reduce manual effort by 80% and shorten monthly closing cycles by several business days—an increasingly critical advantage amid economic uncertainty and cost-cutting pressures.

The demand for digital expense solutions is underscored by research from ERP provider Diamant, which reports that only 8.8% of Germany’s mid-sized businesses have fully automated their expense workflows. Circula’s mobile-first approach aims to close that gap by reportedly capturing over 70% of expenses at the point of occurrence, pre-booking them with tax-relevant data, and cutting billing cycles to fewer than two days.

Charlotte Goggin, Director of CIBC Innovation Banking, says: “Circula is transforming traditional paperwork into smart, AI-powered processes – setting new standards in digital expense management. We are excited to support this growth.”

The company says its success is built on strong revenue growth and a disciplined approach to profitability—traits that have helped it weather the volatility of the current funding environment.

With this latest capital injection, Circula plans to enhance its AI capabilities and introduce further automation features tailored for finance teams.

The post German FinTech startup Circula secures €15 million as it cuts expense admin by 80% appeared first on EU-Startups.

London-based Loxa, an InsurTech firm focused on innovating product protection, has successfully raised €1.9 million in a Seed funding round, with €147k coming directly from the Angel Investment Network (AIN).

According to Founder Jamie Hamer: “Loxa is on a mission to rebuild trust in repair-first insurance and unlock significant value for UK retailers in the expanding product protection market. This fundraise marks a significant step in our journey. The process can be fraught but partnering with the right investors, like those we found through AIN, makes all the difference. We’re excited to use these funds to scale Loxa, execute our ambitious plans, and get this business motoring towards profitability.”

Founded in 2023, Loxa (formerly known as Bolt Cover) empowers retailers of any size to offer their customers Product Protection cover at checkout for repairable items like furniture, eyewear, and power tools. The Loxa system can be integrated with both online and in-store retailers. Clients can plug into their platform API or use their tailor-made plugins for Shopify, WooCommerce, PrestaShop, and Magento.

Jamie Hamer, Co-founder and CEO, brings a proven track record in scaling ventures—having Co-founded and exited React News after driving it to €11.7 million+ in revenue—and experience with major corporates like Procter & Gamble and Gartner. Tori Hutchinson, Co-Founder and COO, draws from senior roles in global companies like Cirque du Soleil and Monica Vinader. Richard Smith, CTO and board member, has delivered high-performing digital solutions for top brands like L’Oréal and the Department for Education.

Partnering with established insurance companies, Loxa provides embedded insurance solutions that retailers and manufacturers can integrate into the customer sales journey, both online and in-store.

The firm’s vision is to become the UK’s leading provider in the “underserved” B2B2C insurance retail market across all consumer product categories.

The raised funds will enable Loxa to complete its tech stack, expand its scalable technology to integrate with websites and EPOS systems, and strengthen its D2C upsell offerings, starting with a power tool scheme.

The goal is to offer a consumer product-specific alternative to traditional home insurance by 2026.

According to Alex Caparros from the Angel Investment Network: “Loxa is addressing a significant gap in the market with its innovative approach to product protection. We are delighted to have connected them with our strategic investors, who recognise the strength of Loxa’s vision. Their commitment to empowering retailers and delivering enhanced value to consumers represents a compelling proposition, with a journey that is just beginning.”

At present, Loxa only insures items sold to UK-based customers.

The post British InsurTech Loxa raises €1.9 million for product protection in the UK appeared first on EU-Startups.

The co-founder of Glovo, the Spanish food delivery app owned by Germany's Delivery Hero, says future consolidation in the food delivery sector will likely be limited to smaller “opportunistic” acquisitions.

Sacha Michaud, co-founder, Glovo, said: "I think there are not too many players now to consolidate. There are some big companies. It might just be some very opportunistic, smaller companies being acquired.”

Earlier this week, Deliveroo, the UK based food delivery app, agreed to be acquired by US giant DoorDash in a deal valuing the business at £2.9bn. The combined company will have a presence in more than 40 countries serving about 50 million customers per month.

Michaud said the deal was a “positive” thing for the food delivery market in Europe and that there was huge growth potential in Europe compared to Asia, saying that average food orders per month in Europe were “tiny” compared to Asia.

He added: "The growth of our industry is huge and it’s going to be through quick commerce.” The tie-up is expected to provide competition to rivals like Just Eat and Uber Eats in the UK. The tie-up comes amid broader consolidation across the food delivery sector. 

Earlier this year, Just Eat was snapped up by South African-owned internet investor Prosus while Deliveroo sold parts of its Hong Kong business to Delivery Hero.

Separately, Michaud, who heads up global affairs at Glovo, added his voice to the debate about whether European founders lack ambition compared to US founders.

He said: “I think the ambition is there. The reality is that role models are key for startups. We need more role models. We need some Steve Jobs, Bill Gates Europeans.

“There have been some great companies out of Europe. I think European founders are super-ambitious."

Michaud was speaking at the SIM conference today in Porto.

London-based Doubleword, a self-hosted inference platform for enterprises, today announced a €10.6 million Series A funding round in order to help enterprises own & control their AI by solving the inference problem.

The funding round was led by Dawn Capital. Doubleword also counts K5 Tokyo Black as an investor alongside leading AI entrepreneurs as angel investors, including Hugging Face CEO Clément Delangue and Dataiku CEO Florian Douetteau.

Meryem Arik, Co-founder and CEO of Doubleword, said: “Our customers want to build AI-powered applications—not AI infrastructure. We eliminate the heavy lifting of inference at scale so they can go from idea to production faster, without racking up technical debt. We ensure that our customers can deploy any AI model with a single click, while always having the latest models and hardware supported – and without being wedded to a single model provider.

“With this funding, we’ll continue to grow our team globally and invest in our platform to solve even more of the inference problem for our customers.”

Founded in 2021, the UK-based company – formerly TitanML – is solving one of the biggest barriers to large-scale enterprise AI adoption: self-hosted inference. Inference is where AI delivers real-world value — from answering questions to generating images, it transforms models into business outcomes.

Founded pre-ChatGPT by Meryem Arik (CEO), Dr Jamie Dborin (CSO), and Dr Fergus Finn (CTO). During their postdoctoral research at UCL, Jamie and Fergus realised techniques used in their quantum machine learning model compression were also well placed to improve AI inference performance.

The UK’s Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Technology Peter Kyle said: “AI will help us to deliver growth for our economy and new opportunities for people up and down the country, so it’s vital businesses have the confidence to adopt and realise its potential. Doubleword’s work is helping set the standard for how companies can do exactly that – adopting AI quickly and efficiently so they can realise their ambitions and allow their workers and customers to thrive in the age of AI.

“This is yet another illustration not just of how British-born tech expertise is tapping into AI to help give businesses the world over a unique point of difference, but in the steps we’ve taken to make our tech sector a true global magnet for innovation and investment.”

As AI adoption grows, inference has become mission-critical — a capability enterprises must own and control — driving a shift toward self-hosted inference.

Self-hosting, however, brings with it the task of building and maintaining performant, scalable inference infrastructure. As a result, many teams find themselves trapped in an ongoing cycle of assembling tools, hunting for specialised talent, and continually updating their infrastructure to keep pace.

This is where Doubleword looks to come in. They have already scaled into the US and secured partnerships with Snowflake and Dataiku.

“Enterprises creating specific business-critical AI would gladly self-host, if ‘expertise’ and ‘cost’ didn’t sound like double trouble,” said Florian Douetteau, CEO at Dataiku. “Doubleword flips the script, making self-hosting effortless and reshaping the market for enterprise customers.”

Doubleword’s end-to-end solution reportedly enables enterprises to self-host AI models—open-source, proprietary, or fine-tuned—without having to build, maintain, or optimise complex infrastructure. Doubleword looks to empower enterprises to:

• Deploy 1 or 1000 models in their environment effortlessly, with one-click private deployment of any open-source, domain-specific, or custom model

• Manage all their deployments in one place, acting as the unified control layer across cloud and on-prem deployments with analytics, logs & alerts built in

• Scale AI on their terms, with proprietary inference optimisation research that optimises your GPU research, and dynamic infrastructure that is built to flex with your roadmap, not dictate it

Haakon Overli, General Partner at Dawn Capital, addeed: “Doubleword is the most exciting startup in this space, and we’re extremely excited to be supporting Meryem, Jamie, Fergus and the team as they take the company to the next level. The team has a market-leading product, and has proven they can flawlessly execute to deliver for global customers. They are scaling a product that businesses need at the right time, with the right expertise.”

The post British startup Doubleword raises €10.6 million to make self-hosted AI inference effortless for enterprises appeared first on EU-Startups.

UK-based mobile games developer Tripledot Studios has announced the acquisition of AppLovin’s mobile gaming studio portfolio in a deal valued at approximately $800M, marking one of the largest consolidations in the mobile gaming sector to date.

The transaction - structured as half cash and half equity - will make AppLovin a minority shareholder in Tripledot and significantly expand the acquirer’s global footprint and talent base.

Subject to regulatory approvals and completion, the acquisition will bring Tripledot’s total to 12 studios across 23 cities, with more than 2,500 employees and an active player base of 25 million daily users. Annual gross revenues are projected to reach nearly $2 billion, placing Tripledot among the top five independent mobile gaming companies in the world by revenue.

Tripledot already operates from offices in London, Warsaw, Minsk, Barcelona, Jakarta, and Melbourne. The new studios span an additional 17 cities across North America, Europe, and Asia.

“This is a big step towards achieving our goal—taking us from being a high-performing challenger to a true global leader,” said Lior Shiff, co-founder and CEO of Tripledot Studios. “It gives us additional scale, diversification and access to the best talent globally. We’re thrilled to welcome these incredible teams to Tripledot.”

The acquisition is a notable validation of Europe's maturing gaming ecosystem. Tripledot now follows in the footsteps of earlier European mobile gaming giants like Rovio, King, and Supercell, helping reaffirm the region’s influence on a sector historically dominated by U.S. and East Asian studios.

The company has been profitable since its second year of operations, an increasingly rare feat in a market where user acquisition costs and platform fees can strain margins even at scale.

Studios and titles included in the acquisition include:

• Lion Studios – Hexa Sort, Wordle!, Found It
• PeopleFun – Wordscapes, Wordscapes Solitaire, Bricks n Balls
• Belka Games – Clockmaker, Train of Hope
• ZenLife Games – Cooking Madness, Word Connect

AppLovin, the US-based mobile tech and marketing platform, originally acquired studios as part of its broader machine learning strategy. Now, it is exiting game development to sharpen its focus on its core ad tech and software platform business.

“Seven years ago, we began acquiring gaming studios to help train our earliest machine learning models. However, we've never been a game developer at heart,” said Adam Foroughi, co-founder and CEO of AppLovin. “I have watched Lior build his company from the ground up... and give me incredible confidence they are the right partner to help these studios thrive going forward.”

London-based Ravio, a FinTech startup that creates a real-time view of the market for what different job roles are being paid, has raised a €10.6 million Series A funding round to modernise how companies manage compensation with real-time market data and decision making tools.

The round was led by Spark Capital with participation from Blackbird and Cherry Ventures.

“Market data hasn’t kept pace with today’s dynamic market,” said Merten Wulfert, Co-founder and CEO of Ravio. “We’re bringing decades-old survey methodology into the modern age by plugging directly into our customers’ HR systems. This approach automates the data collection process and lets us continuously analyse market movements as they happen.”

Founded in 2022, Ravio provides data and tools for companies to achieve compensation confidence. By delivering real-time market insights and modern compensation management software, Ravio looks to help forward-thinking businesses avoid the ‘compensation debt’ that occurs when pay practices fall out of alignment with market realities.

Ravio counts consumer brands like Just Eat Takeaway and Octopus Energy among its customers, alongside FinTech leaders such as Wise, Adyen, and Mollie. Names like Zoopla and Skyscanner have also chosen Ravio to set their compensation strategies.

“The idea for Ravio was born from running compensation reviews during the early days of building Deliveroo,” said Vaso Parisinou, Chief People Officer at Ravio. “We were scaling rapidly, and it was painful finding data from relevant companies. I was building bands across countries, ensuring my data reflected the current market, and trying to fill in gaps for remote markets. It was impossible.”

According to data provided by Ravio, despite representing 70% of operating costs, most companies make these important decisions using “patchy” data that’s 12-18 months old. Ravio believes this approach creates significant issues:

• Talent leaves when underpaid compared to current market rates
• Companies overspend on some roles while struggling to attract talent in others
• Pay inequities develop as new hires and existing staff operate from different reference points

HERO Software, a German SaaS company growing from 100 to 250 employees this year, used Ravio to transform their compensation strategy. “When we built salary bands using Ravio, we could immediately see a few outliers – it was easy to spot pay equity issues,” explains Anna-Lena Grimm, Director of People & Culture at HERO.

Ravio’s platform reportedly delivers market data across 46+ countries and 100+ roles, helping companies make informed decisions quickly.

Customers using Ravio can connect data from their HR software via API, which is then anonymously aggregated into market-level benchmarks, with a give-to-get model. They can then compare their salary, equity and benefits packages to today’s market – with filters for headcount, funding stage, and industry. 

“Access to Ravio’s live market data means no more headaches from delayed data sets or having to age compensation data,” explains Jodi Slomp, VP People at Mollie. “Ravio offers real-time data with amazing visualisations.”

“What I love about Ravio is the ability to track what’s going on in today’s market,” said Evert Kraav, Senior Compensation Manager at Bolt. “Now, we can benchmark against current market rates in real-time.”

With Series A funding, Ravio will continue its international expansion to help compensation Rewards leaders access modern tooling needed to deploy competitive pay strategies.

“After supporting 1,200+ companies, we’ve seen how compensation leaders are put in tough positions with insufficient data and outdated tooling,” said Raymond Siems, Chief Product & Technology Officer at Ravio. “We’ve built what our customers told us they need: real-time insights and decision-making tools without painful or time-consuming admin. Our mission is to empower compensation teams to lead with accurate, defensible data in every conversation.”

Ravio plans to use the new funding to:

• Continue growing a comprehensive dataset with expanded regions and industry coverage
• Develop advanced market insights, including new hire benchmarks and predictive analytics
• Invest in best-in-class tools for efficient compensation management

“We’re excited to double down on our previous investment in Ravio by leading their Series A,” said Alex Finkelstein at Spark Capital. “Getting compensation right is challenging for companies of any size and industry. We believe Ravio is positioned to become the industry standard for real-time compensation data.”

The post British FinTech startup Ravio raises €10.6 million to modernise compensation data for global workforces appeared first on EU-Startups.

Bosch has announced a new €250M fund dedicated to deeptech startups. The fresh capital will support early-stage and scaleup companies in areas such as artificial intelligence, energy efficiency, automation, climatetech and quantum computing.

The new fund comes at a time when many corporations are tightening venture investment. Bosch’s emphasised its commitment to companies whose work stems from scientific or engineering advances and often take longer to commercialise.

Bosch has stated that it is interested particularly in sustainable mobility, climate-neutral solutions, and connected systems.

Ramesohl explained the firm’s strategy: “As a global investor, we need to be part of the local startup ecosystem so we can find startups with potential, whose innovative technologies could turn entire markets upside down.”

“Open Bosch empowers co-innovation,” said Ramesohl of the firm's Open Bosch program, launched in 2018. “This win-win partnership enables Bosch to strengthen and secure its innovation efficiency and support the company’s long-term success.”

“Startups can boost innovation in a way that delivers important growth impetus for a country’s economy,” said Stefan Hartung, chairman of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH. “That is why we want to remain a reliable partner for the startup sector worldwide, even in an adverse business environment.”

“We invest in particular in deep-tech startups, which are based on scientific breakthroughs or technological innovations,” said Ingo Ramesohl, managing director of Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH. “As a result, these young companies have great potential to bring about fundamental market change.”

Bosch Ventures' active portfolio includes more than 60 companies across key geographies and sectors. Among its most prominent exits are Xometry, a US-based marketplace for industrial parts, and IonQ, the first publicly listed quantum computing company.

It has also supported European deeptechs Quantum Motion, Arduino, and Aleph Alpha.

If there were one place where the tech scene is under the radar but worthy of your attention, I would pick Moldova. The country is catching up fast, and as soon as it joins the European Union — slated for 2030, you’re all going to want to move there. You heard it from me first. 

I have to admit, I can't remember ever getting a press pitch from a Moldovan startup.

But I recently attended the Startup Moldova Summit in Chișinău. Honestly, I was blown away by the entrepreneurial mindset, the innovation being developed.

Further, the regulations and frameworks already in place — and continuously evolving — are clearly designed to nurture and accelerate local talent.

The backbone of Moldova’s drive to cultivate a robust tech ecosystem and elevate its competitive edge regionally is the Moldova IT Park program MITP. Founded in 2018 as a quasi-governmental entity — created by government decision but not funded by the state — and a first of its kind, “e-park” within a broader e-governance ecosystem, it aims to nurture growth and simplify the entrepreneurial journey. 

I met with MITP’s Director, Marina Bzovîi, and Veronica Bucur, International Promotion Manager, to learn more. 

MITP is home to a vibrant community of over 2,266 companies, including a significant number with foreign investment from 39 countries, and a talented workforce exceeding 24,200 in IT, R&D, and creative sectors. 

Europe’s simplest tax regime for tech?

MITP’s standout feature is that Moldova has created a unique tax regime designed specifically for IT businesses registered under MITP, allowing companies to pay just 7 per cent.

You read that right. 

This single tax replaces corporate tax, personal income tax, social security contributions and other levies, making it one of the simplest and most attractive tax setups for tech entrepreneurs and their teams. 

Bucur explains:

“In the IT Park, everything is included in that 7 per cent — company income tax, local taxes, road taxes — all included. So companies don’t have to deal with multiple tax entities. It’s simple.”

Oh, and the government has pledged to maintain a 7 per cent taxation framework until at least the end of December 31, 2035.

To qualify, your business must operate within an officially recognised IT park and generate at least 70 per cent of its revenue from IT-related activities such as software development, digital marketing, consulting and other tech-based services.

MITP is also in the process of developing a digital solution to allow remote registration, electronic signature, much like Estonia. It will let you open a company, register with MITP, and operate remotely. 

But even now, the process for local startups is simple. 

Bzovîi detailed: “Here, it can be done in one day, four hours, for around €250. Once you register, you get your electronic signature. You don’t need to stay here — you can sign reports remotely. And for citizens, most services are electronic. Everyone talks about Estonia, but Moldova’s been doing this for a long time.”

MITP also facilitates an IT Visa Program, making it easy for people in tech to attain a 2- to 4-year work residency in Moldova. Both offer renewal options, further simplifying the process.

According to a speech at the conference by Doina Nistor, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economic Development Digitalisation, tech contributes to 7 per cent of Moldova’s GDP, more than 11 per cent of its national exports, and recorded the highest growth rate in Eastern Europe in recent years. 

When talking about the sector, Nistor emphasised:

“It's powered by you, the entrepreneurs who dare to take the risks. It's driven by us, a government that firmly believes in the power of innovation, and it's amplified by our partners, especially the European Union.”

Government backing with real teeth

The Moldovan government will expand the national startup program in the coming months. It's increasing the grant threshold for Seed stage startups from €40,000 to €100,000 and matching VC co-funding. It’s also launching the first government-backed fund of funds for alternative funding for VCs and equity investment funds. 

Further, the government is continuing to invest in the innovation ecosystem by launching future parks this year to advance innovation and R&D in high-potential areas like agriculture, food production, healthcare, and energy. The recently adopted Energy Sandbox law provides a valuable resource for R&D and product testing. 

Nistor also shared plans for further accelerators focused on agritech, food tech, health tech, biotech, AI and big data.

Moldova also has freelancers covered. A law is underway to make it easier for freelancers to work freely without the complexity of setting up legal entities or hiring employees, whether they are game developers, engineers, designers, or marketers. 

“You are all contributing to the startup ecosystem and the Moldovan economy, “ stressed Nisor. 

A tech ecosystem powered by women

One thing you really notice in Moldova is that the tech ecosystem is full of women. Walk into any startup event, accelerator office, or innovation hub în Chișinău, and you’ll immediately notice that women are not just present — they’re leading.

For example, the Directors of Startup Moldova and MITP are female, as are most of the staff.

According to figures supplied by the Moldovan government, women make up 43 percent of the country's ICT sector. By comparison, in the US, women make up 28 per cent of the tech industry, and in the UK, it’s just 19 per cent. 

Moldova has made clear efforts to support women in STEM from an early age, with targeted educational programs and scholarships encouraging girls to pursue studies in technology and engineering.

These efforts are paying off. The percentage of female university graduates in ICT fields has steadily risen to 26 per cent in 2023, from 22 per cent in 2017. While, this is yet to transcend to a parity in female founders compared to men, Moldova’s approach serves as a model for how emerging markets can build equitable, future-ready industries from the ground up.

Moldova’s startup diaspora is powering global innovation

It’s worth adding that when we talk about the Moldovan ecosystem, it, of course, encompasses a broader diaspora. Companies like Aspect Health  and SONR are headquartered in the US. 

Many have a presence in neighbouring Romania, a region which is worthy of its own emphasis, with startup programs like Bright Labs 2025, a founder bootcamp hosted within a medieval fortress (hell yeah) backed by the local Oradea Municipality which has funneled over €1 billion into public infrastructure and attracted €500 million in private investment. 

The program will attract neighbouring Moldovan startups and serves to demonstrate how coordinated public-private investment can turn overlooked regions into startup powerhouses.

Simply put, if Moldova isn’t yet on your radar, it should be. The country is crafting a tech ecosystem that’s not only ambitious but deeply intentional — with smart policy, accessible infrastructure, and a palpable energy among its entrepreneurs. 

Lead image: Freepik.

This week on the EU Startups Podcast, we’re joined by Christian Noske, Partner at NGP Capital—a global VC firm investing in technology companies across Europe and the US. With over two decades of experience, NGP has backed over 120 startups, including 19 that became unicorns and 11 that went public. Its portfolio features notable names such as Lime, GetYourGuide, The Exploration Company, and ANYbotics!

In this episode, Christian discusses the evolution of NGP Capital, the shift from B2C to deep tech investing, and why founder quality remains central to startup success. He shares powerful stories of resilience, unpacks the value of overlooked opportunities, and offers candid reflections on the future of venture capital in Europe. He also highlights the importance of a supportive political and regulatory environment, and much more.

Video version of episode 116:

Audio version of episode 116:

Key Takeaways

• A founder’s unique DNA is what drives startup success.

• Grit and resilience are key to overcoming challenges.

• Unsexy businesses can yield great returns.

• The future of VC will favour small, specialised firms.

• Europe has strong talent and high innovation potential.

• Bureaucracy hinders entrepreneurial growth in Europe.

• Best advice ever received: Be present and engaged.

This podcast episode is brought to you by Scytale – making compliance super easy for startups, helping them get compliant and stay compliant with frameworks like SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, NIS 2, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and more, without breaking a sweat. Learn more here.

The post EU-Startups Podcast | Episode 116: Christian Noske, Partner at NGP Capital appeared first on EU-Startups.

Austria’s tech ecosystem is rapidly emerging as a dynamic hub for innovation, sustainability, and deep-tech development in Europe.

Vienna stands at the forefront as the central innovation hub, with Graz and Linz quickly gaining traction in fields such as AI, healthtech, and advanced manufacturing.

The Austrian Research and Technology Report 2024 underscores the country’s significant advancements in research, technology, and innovation (RTI). Austria continues to perform exceptionally well in international rankings, having moved up in the European Innovation Scoreboard to become a "Strong Innovator," securing the 6th position in the EU in 2023. The country also leads in areas like quantum technologies, scientific publications, and STEM education.

The government’s Climate and Transformation Initiative is boosting investment in sustainable energy and digital technologies. Additionally, Austria is increasingly focused on life sciences and health, with these sectors benefiting from extensive funding programs, including the Future Austria Fund.

Austria’s strategic emphasis on sustainability and digital transformation solidifies its position as a rising European tech powerhouse, offering strong infrastructure, talent, and funding for ventures that are shaping the future.

Here are 10 Austrian tech companies to keep an eye on in 2025.

Amount raised in 2024: €140M ​Gropyus is a Vienna-based proptech company revolutionising the construction industry by delivering sustainable, affordable, and smart timber-hybrid buildings through a fully digitalised and automated process. The company integrates software, robotics, and manufacturing expertise to create high-quality living spaces that prioritise environmental responsibility and tenant comfort. Utilising a vertically integrated approach, Gropyus manages every stage of the building lifecycle—from digital planning and off-site prefabrication to on-site assembly and ongoing operations. With a commitment to sustainability, Gropyus designs buildings that meet stringent environmental standards, achieving significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions over their lifecycle. In 2024, the company raised €140 million to boost the growth of its fully digital, flexible, and robot-driven smart factory located in Richen.

Amount raised in 2024: $80M ​Storyblok is a pioneering headless content management system (CMS). Designed to bridge the gap between developers and marketers, Storyblok offers a unique combination of visual editing tools and highly customizable content blocks within a modern headless architecture. This approach allows for the creation of flexible components that can be independently managed by content teams, enabling seamless content delivery across various platforms, including websites, mobile apps, IoT devices, and more. The company raised a ​$80 million Series C round in 2024, aimed at enhancing AI features and expanding its presence in the U.S. and Europe. Storyblok's platform is cloud-native and API-first, offering robust features such as a visual editor, component-based design, multilingual capabilities, and seamless integrations with various technologies.

Amount raised in 2024: €63M ​Prewave is an AI company specialising in supply chain risk intelligence. The company offers a platform that leverages artificial intelligence to monitor and analyse risks across global supply chains. The system processes data from millions of sources in over 50 languages to identify and categorise 140 types of risks, including natural disasters, labour issues, and compliance violations. In June 2024, Prewave secured ​€63 million in a Series B funding round. The investment aims to support the company's global expansion and further development of its AI capabilities.

Amount raised in 2024: €30M ​Neoom is a cleantech company dedicated to accelerating the global energy transition through decentralised, renewable energy systems. The company offers integrated hardware and software solutions that enable individuals, businesses, and communities to produce, store, manage, and share clean energy efficiently. Neoom's mission is to save one gigaton of CO₂ emissions by providing sustainable energy solutions that reduce reliance on fossil fuels. Their commitment to sustainability is reflected in their operations, with initiatives like calculating their corporate carbon footprint and investing in climate protection projects. In 2024, the company secured €30 million aimed at scaling its impact across Europe.

Amount raised in 2024: €25.5M ​Enspired is an energy tech company specialising in AI-driven trading-as-a-service for flexible power assets. The company leverages advanced reinforcement learning and a fully digital trading platform to optimise the performance of assets such as battery storage systems, virtual power plants, and flexible demand sources. Their technology enables real-time participation in short-term power markets, maximising profitability while contributing to grid stability and the broader energy transition. In May 2024, Enspired secured ​€25.5 million in Series B funding, which will support Enspired's global expansion.

Amount raised in 2024: €20M ​CycloTech is an aerospace company, specialising in advanced propulsion systems for next-generation air mobility. The company has developed the CycloRotor—a unique 360° thrust vectoring technology based on the Voith-Schneider principle. This innovation enables vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL), exceptional manoeuvrability, and seamless transitions between hover and forward flight, even in confined or turbulent environments. The CycloRotor allows for omnidirectional thrust control without tilting the aircraft, making it ideal for urban air mobility (UAM), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and personal air transport. CycloTech's demonstrator aircraft, including the CruiseUp concept and the BlackBird prototype, showcase the potential of this technology for compact, efficient, and sustainable flight. In 2024, the company secured a €20 million investment to support the certification process of the CycloRotor with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The company aims to make flying as accessible and routine as driving, opening the skies for everyday transportation needs.

Amount raised in 2024: €12.7M ​Tset is a software company specialising in cost and carbon optimisation for the manufacturing industry. Tset's enterprise cloud solution enables manufacturers to analyse product costs and CO₂ emissions in a single calculation, facilitating optimisation throughout the entire product lifecycle. The software utilises data-driven algorithms and hands-on industry knowledge to provide immediate insights into how design changes can affect costs and carbon footprints. In 2024, Tset closed a ​€12.7 million Series A round as it expands to new markets and industries. The company's mission is to transform cost and carbon management across the manufacturing industry, addressing the full spectrum of the product life cycle for enhanced sustainability and efficiency.

Amount raised in 2024: €11M ​DeepOpinion is an AI company specialising in enterprise-grade automation of complex, knowledge-intensive business processes. The company offers a no-code platform that leverages Generative AI and large language models (LLMs) to automate tasks involving unstructured data such as documents, emails, and forms. DeepOpinion's platform integrates seamlessly with over 200 enterprise software tools, making it adaptable across various industries, including insurance, banking, manufacturing, and telecommunications. In 2024, DeepOpinion secured ​€11 million in a Series A funding round to support the global expansion and further development of its AI platform.

Amount raised in 2024: €11M ​e.battery systems is a technology company specialising in the development and production of high-performance lithium-ion battery systems. The company offers a comprehensive range of products, including modular battery packs, energy storage systems (ESS), and battery management systems (BMS). Its proprietary technologies, such as patented cooling systems and second-life battery applications, contribute to enhanced performance, sustainability, and cost-efficiency. A key focus of e.battery systems is the sustainable reuse of lithium-ion batteries from electric and hybrid vehicles. In 2024, the company secured a €11 million investment.

Amount raised in 2024: €10M ​Peak Technology is a high-tech manufacturer specialising in advanced composite components for the aerospace and motorsport industries. Founded in 2007, the company has established itself as a leading supplier of lightweight carbon fibre structures, including high-pressure tanks and complex assemblies for satellites, launch vehicles, and spacecraft. The company's state-of-the-art facilities and vertically integrated value chain enable rapid prototyping and production, ensuring high-quality, customised solutions for its clients. The company secured a €10 million growth investment in 2024 to scale its production capabilities and meet the increasing demand in the European space sector.

Bulgarian SaaS startup Thinkpilot launched today with a €600,000 Pre-Seed round led by LAUNCHub Ventures, with participation from several strategic angels across Europe.

While many tools are bolting AI onto chatbots and documents, Thinkpilot is the first purpose-built AI workspace designed to think alongside a product team. It combines a collaborative co-pilot with specialised agents to support ideation, research, validation, and specification – all in one integrated flow. 

From your first product idea to your final spec, Thinkpilot ensures every decision is grounded in relevant data, strategy, and user feedback.

The platform integrates with your whole product stack directly, such as Google Drive, Confluence, Jira and Linear, allowing teams to pull in company context automatically, so you never have to start from scratch or lose the “why” behind your work. It also offers the first-ever dedicated AI workspace for product teams, with pre-built expert agents built for core product workflows like market research, PRD generation, competitor analysis, and user feedback synthesis to give a few examples.

Founded late 2024, the Thinkpilot team brings together expertise in product, AI, and engineering. The company was co-founded by Stoimen Veselinov, a SaaS product leader and specialist; Megan Wolff, a growth and marketing strategist turned startup operator; Kiril Dimitrov, Head of R&D and AI specialist; and Antonio Iliev, CTO and engineering leader. 

The team is based across Europe and the Middle East and is backed by LAUNCHub Ventures, one of the leading early-stage investors in the CEE region.

“We’re not adapting problems to fit the tech, we’re adapting the tech to solve the problems product teams actually have.” said Stoimen Veselinov, Co-Founder and CEO of Thinkpilot.

“We built it to remove the hidden obstacles that prevent teams from building truly valuable digital solutions.”

According to Todor Breshkov, Founding Partner at LAUNCHub Ventures:  

“As AI rapidly commoditises code generation, the strategic leverage shifts upstream — to product teams and the decisions they make.

Thinkpilot is uniquely positioned at this inflection point, giving product managers a 10x edge through a purpose-built AI co-pilot that integrates directly with their workflow.”

Lead image: Thinkpilot. Photo: uncredited.

The London-based alternative lending platform for digital Founders, Juice, has announced today that it has raised €29.4 million in funding to support its aim to democratise finance by providing SME Founders with capital and confidence to achieve growth ambitions.

These investments came from family offices Aern Capital and Falco Capital, underpinned by a credit line from Paragon Bank.

CEO of Juice, Kathrine Chan, highlighted the milestone this funding round signals for Juice: “This funding round represents a critical step for Juice. Our mission is to give SME Founders not just capital, but the actionable insights and flexibility they need to grow their businesses sustainably. Thanks to our partners at Paragon Bank, Aern Capital, and Falco Capital, we’re positioned to improve the way UK SMEs access finance—providing speed, transparency, and genuine founder-focused solutions.

“With this funding, Juice has an exciting future ahead of it, as it takes one step closer to becoming one of the largest SME funders in the UK, empowering thousands of Founders with the capital and confidence to achieve their ambitions.”

Founded in 2019, Juice was created as a funding solution with “trust at its core“. Unlike traditional lending models, Juice uniquely blends real-time financial data, predictive analytics, and flexible credit lines, offering SMEs tailored capital exactly when and how they need it without dilution or hidden fees.

According to data provided by Juice, in the UK there is currently a €25.8 billion funding gap for SMEs, with over 55% of companies moving away from their high street banks when it comes to their lending needs. The significance of Juice’s raise unlocks growth capital for high-growth businesses in the UK who suffer from constrained liquidity and will aim to assist in driving these businesses to create jobs, fuel innovation and grow the UK economy.

Lewis Fitzsimons, Managing Director of Paragon Bank’s Structured Lending Division, added: “It’s been a pleasure to assist Juice Ventures with a committed facility to enable Katherine and her team to continue supporting SME businesses operating in the e-commerce and digital space. The work they do with SME businesses is vital to the British economy, so Paragon is excited to partner with Juice through the next phase of its growth.”

With this new funding, Juice is now looking to expand its product from digital SMEs to the wider SME market.

Stephen Routledge at Aern Capital added: “When I was first presented with the Juice product and understood its unique position in the marketplace, I was left extremely impressed. Its approach to providing an alternative method of securing growth capital and non-dilutive investment is extremely unique and I believe it could be a major benefit to fast growing businesses. I knew we had to get involved showing our support and assistance by providing substantial equity and debt finance, and we’re delighted for Juice to be partnering with Paragon Bank in this next exciting phase of their journey.”

Richard Anderson, Managing Director of family office Falco, concluded: “Falco investors were early-stage investors in Juice and have continued to support the business throughout. Growth capital for early-stage businesses has always been a challenge in the UK, with a more conservative venture capital industry than the US and a traditional lending market focused on asset security and personal guarantees. A Juice loan fills this gap, adding real-time data analytics and control of online payment systems to traditional credit analysis techniques. The deal with Paragon is only the start and we look forward to continuing to support the company on its own growth journey.”

Juice’s successful funding round has put it on track to reach a €117 million loan book with €29 million annual turnover by 2028.

The post British FinTech startup Juice secures €29.4 million to provide new funding options for UK SMEs appeared first on EU-Startups.

Trouble snoring? Petersfield-based Zeus Sleep has secured a €176k investment from British Design Fund to help accelerate the development of its innovative product designed to alleviate the symptoms of snoring and sleep apnoea.

Nigel Clarke, CEO of Zeus Sleep, commented: “We are delighted to have the backing of the British Design Fund. Sleep health has a profound impact on physical and mental wellbeing, and our technology is designed to help individuals and families achieve better rest. With the support of our investors, we are one step closer to making refreshing, uninterrupted sleep a reality for everyone.”

Founded in 2023, the HealthTech startup is on a mission to improve the sleep quality of “one million people over the next decade“. Its non-invasive devices aim to address the root causes of disruptive sleep, offering relief to individuals struggling with snoring and sleep apnoea, as well as improving wellbeing for their partners and families.

Zeus Sleep has worked closely with Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospital, King’s College London, and Morgan Innovation & Technology Ltd – a B Corp with a track record in healthcare innovation. More than a decade of research has gone into the development of Zeus’ devices, which have undergone three clinical trials validating their effectiveness.

Chronic snoring is thought to affect nearly a quarter of adults and can lead to health issues, fatigue, and strained relationships. Traditional treatments for sleep disorders can be intrusive, uncomfortable, and costly – according to Zeus.

Whereas Zeus’ solution reportedly provides a clinically tested, discreet, and affordable alternative.

Damon Bonser, CEO of British Design Fund, commented: “Zeus Sleep is tackling a widespread health challenge with innovative, research-backed solutions that have the potential to transform sleep health globally. Their commitment to improving wellbeing through cutting-edge technology aligns perfectly with our mission to support pioneering, purpose-led British startups. We are excited to back Zeus Sleep as they bring their groundbreaking products to market and make a meaningful impact.”

The investment will support Zeus Sleep’s expansion, with the company planning to launch its first consumer product targeting snoring soon, with pre-orders now being taken. A medical-grade device aimed at alleviating mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnoea is set to follow in 2026.

In March 2025, Zeus Sleep announced the successful completion of its first fundraising round, reportedly exceeding its target by a 40%.

The post Snore no more: British HealthTech startup Zeus Sleep raises €176k to bring its sleep apnoea product to market appeared first on EU-Startups.

Cloud-native SaaS platform DecisionRules has closed a €1.6 million financing round led by Lighthouse Ventures. Czech Founders VC, BD Partners, Chilli Ventures, and Czech angel investors Ory Weihs and Michael Rostock-Poplar participated. 

Business rules are structured logic that companies use to make consistent, automated decisions, whether it’s approving a loan, detecting fraud or calculating a discount. 

Traditionally, managing and automating these rules has required costly, complex systems built for large enterprises with dedicated IT teams. Known as Business Rules Management Systems (BRMS), these platforms help organisations define, deploy, and maintain decision logic, but most legacy solutions involve heavy technical involvement, long deployment cycles, and steep costs. 

As a result, many businesses (especially small and medium-sized enterprises, or SMEs) have been unable to adopt decision automation effectively. 

Founded in 2023, DecisionRules is headquartered in Prague with a sales office in Wilmington, Delaware, DecisionRules offers a SaaS-based, cloud-native alternative that is both affordable and accessible to businesses of all sizes. It enables non-technical teams to create, edit and deploy rules in real-time, removing the need for IT involvement. The platform can be used straight out of the box, integrates easily via API, and scales with growing business needs. 

Unlike legacy solutions, which often take weeks or months to implement, DecisionRules allows companies to automate decision-making without costly developer support. It is already being used globally and in a range of industries, including finance, insurance, logistics, healthcare, and e-commerce, where it supports use cases such as risk management, fraud detection, and pricing automation. 

According to Václav Kandrnal, CEO & Co-founder of DecisionRules, the company aims to break down the barriers that have made this technology out of reach for many businesses, and make decision automation as easy to access, afford and use as Excel or ChatGPT:

“This funding allows us to scale our sales and marketing globally, with a focus on the US and UK, where adoption is already strong.

On the product side, we’re continuing to simplify and enhance decision automation, with new features, including AI-powered capabilities, on the way.” 

DecisionRules is already used by enterprise customers such as Accenture, Boohoo, WizzAir, and Wolford. Key features include drag-and-drop rule creation, real-time validation, and version control, all designed to give business users full control over decision logic. 

According to Michal Zálešák, Managing Partner at LightHouse Ventures, Generative AI is booming, but the demand for logic-based decision systems, the kind that drive real-world business outcomes, remains underserved. 

“The DecisionRules team have been building in this space for years before founding the startup. With the right mix of expertise and ambition, they’re poised to, not only scale the production in the BRMS market, but also shape the future of Decision Intelligence and Intelligent Automation." 

Vaclav Pavlecka, Managing Partner at Czech Founders VC, said: 

"Vašek, Petr, and their team have spent years building mission-critical rule engines, and now they’ve channelled that experience into a frictionless SaaS. The result? 

A platform already trusted by banks, insurers, and e-commerce players to replace hard-coded logic with a visual interface that a business analyst can tweak in minutes. With that momentum, we believe they’re perfectly positioned to break into the US market.”

The funding will support sales expansion in the key US and UK markets, while also enabling new international efforts, particularly in Latin America. 

The company is now focused on broadening its product capabilities, including AI-assisted rule building, and expanding into new verticals as demand for decision automation continues to grow. 

Lead image: DecisionRules. Photo: uncredited.