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id | date | title | slug | Date | link | content | created_at | feed_id |
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47,851 | 29/05/2025 05:47 PM | In a victory for Palmer Luckey, Meta and Anduril work on mixed reality headsets for the military | in-a-victory-for-palmer-luckey-meta-and-anduril-work-on-mixed-reality-headsets-for-the-military | 29/05/2025 | 29/05/2025 06:10 PM | 7 | ||
47,850 | 29/05/2025 02:00 PM | 7 days until doors open at TechCrunch Sessions: AI | 7-days-until-doors-open-at-techcrunch-sessions-ai | 29/05/2025 | 29/05/2025 02:10 PM | 7 | ||
47,848 | 29/05/2025 11:15 AM | Edtech IXL Learning acquires MyTutor to expand footprint in the UK | edtech-ixl-learning-acquires-mytutor-to-expand-footprint-in-the-uk | 29/05/2025 | California-based edtech giant IXL Learning has acquired MyTutor, the UK’s most prominent online tutoring platform. The acquisition, announced today, gives IXL a significant foothold in the UK market. The financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed. MyTutor has raised a total of £34.4 million across several funding rounds to date, and its integration into IXL is expected to drive further innovation in AI-driven lesson planning, adaptive exam practice, and real-time progress tracking. IXL Learning, which boasts a global user base across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, has been steadily expanding its portfolio of edtech brands. The company owns major names such as Wyzant (the largest tutoring network in the US), Rosetta Stone, Dictionary.com, and TPT (Teachers Pay Teachers). The addition of MyTutor not only diversifies IXL’s offerings but also accelerates its expansion into the European education market. The deal comes at a time of major change in the UK education landscape. With private school VAT reforms looming and ongoing teacher shortages in the public sector, demand for accessible and affordable tutoring services has soared. Since its founding in 2013, MyTutor has become a trusted platform for over 200,000 families and 40 percent of UK secondary schools. Its model - pairing students with trained university-level tutors via a live, interactive online platform - has proven especially effective. According to the company, students using MyTutor typically make a full grade of progress in a single term, more than 2.5 times the rate of their peers. “Effective tutoring isn’t just about getting extra help. It’s about who gives it. When a tutor understands your struggle, you get ahead,” said Paul Mishkin, CEO of IXL Learning. “MyTutor’s refreshingly different approach creates a natural connection between students and tutors—one that helps learners feel seen, supported and engaged. We’re excited to work together to bring this kind of meaningful support to even more people. “At MyTutor, our mission is to transform the lives of 1,000,000 learners,” said Bertie Hubbard, Co-founder and CEO of MyTutor. “As the education landscape evolves, we’ve been looking for the right partner to help us take the next step—that brings experience of operating at scale, shares our commitment to impact and enables us to build for the long term. With millions of learners on their platforms and nearly three decades of founder-led growth, IXL Learning brings both the values and the track record to help us achieve that.” The acquisition reflects a wider trend of consolidation and internationalisation in the edtech sector, as providers seek scale and geographic diversification to respond to rising global demand for supplementary education. Online tutoring, in particular, has emerged as a key tool to address learning gaps exacerbated by the pandemic, economic pressures, and structural issues in state education systems. |
29/05/2025 12:10 PM | 1 | |
47,849 | 29/05/2025 11:07 AM | TXP acquires Metatech to bolster legacy IT systems | txp-acquires-metatech-to-bolster-legacy-it-systems | 29/05/2025 | UK-based digital transformation firm TXP has acquired Newcastle-headquartered Metatech Solutions as part of its ongoing scaleup strategy. The acquisition strengthens TXP’s position in the area of Gen application migration, which remains critical for large-scale legacy systems in banking, insurance, and public sector organisations worldwide. The deal, backed by private equity firm Aliter Capital, brings Metatech's proprietary automation platform ‘MigrationWorks’ into TXP’s growing portfolio. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Metatech’s software automates key stages in the modernisation of legacy Gen-based systems, an old but enduring model-based CASE (Computer-Aided Software Engineering) tool still running critical infrastructure across multiple industries. MigrationWorks supports transitions to more modern architectures such as Cobol, Java, and C# .NET, and also includes consultancy services around IT strategy, Gen model re-architecture, and tooling integration. “This acquisition comes at an ideal time for both businesses. We know the team at Metatech very well and so we know how much this deal will broaden TXP’s existing credentials, adding unique automated solutions, scarce technical skillsets, knowledge and experience,” said John Antunes, CEO of TXP. “Moving forward, this specialist know-how will be a vital element in delivering significant pipeline projects, as well as generating a wealth of new business opportunities.” The deal marks the third acquisition under Aliter Capital’s growing digital transformation group, following previous buys of Concept Resourcing in 2022 and Jumar in 2023. Aliter has signalled continued ambition to consolidate UK-based digital and ICT services firms to serve a diversified blue-chip client base. “We have seen rapidly increasing demand for modernising legacy IT systems and we believe there is a very positive outlook for the Gen conversion market,” said Andy Scott, Director at Metatech, who will remain with the business. “Metatech’s proven track record and unique technology solutions will place the group in a strong position to benefit from this growing demand and the business opportunities it will create. We look forward to working with John and the TXP team in the next phase of the business’s development.” |
29/05/2025 12:10 PM | 1 | |
47,847 | 29/05/2025 11:00 AM | Meet LoveJack, the dating app designed for users to find love using just five words | meet-lovejack-the-dating-app-designed-for-users-to-find-love-using-just-five-words | 29/05/2025 | 29/05/2025 11:10 AM | 7 | ||
47,846 | 29/05/2025 11:00 AM | Buildots raises $45M to help companies track construction progress | buildots-raises-dollar45m-to-help-companies-track-construction-progress | 29/05/2025 | 29/05/2025 11:10 AM | 7 | ||
47,844 | 29/05/2025 09:37 AM | FE fundinfo acquires Fundipedia to expand data management capabilities for asset managers | fe-fundinfo-acquires-fundipedia-to-expand-data-management-capabilities-for-asset-managers | 29/05/2025 | Financial data company FE fundinfo has announced the acquisition of Fundipedia, a UK-based SaaS platform that helps asset managers capture, validate, and distribute product data. The deal marks FE fundinfo’s fifth acquisition in the past year. The acquisition, announced on 29 May, extends FE fundinfo’s Nexus ecosystem with Fundipedia’s platform, which automates key operational functions such as data validation, regulatory compliance, and reporting. These capabilities are increasingly pertinent as asset managers face mounting pressures from regulatory complexity and cost inflation. “Data is at the core of everything we do for our clients. The digital transformation of the investment management industry demands data integrity and efficiency at scale. Fundipedia helps address this foundational challenge for our clients," said Liam Healy, CEO of FE fundinfo. “I'm incredibly excited about the combination... to amplify our existing data strategy, regulatory and client reporting and dissemination across our network.” Founded in 2007, Fundipedia supports workflow automation and centralised admin,all features that will now integrate into FE fundinfo’s broader ecosystem. “Fundipedia was designed to empower asset managers with the comprehensive data insight needed to navigate data governance and regulatory demands,” said Simon Swords, Managing Director at Fundipedia. “Joining FE fundinfo allows us to bring that mission to a broader audience, with the support and scale needed to invest further in our platform to strengthen our data curation and validation capabilities." The deal also broadens FE fundinfo’s geographical reach, particularly across Europe and Asia Pacific, and sets the stage for deeper investments in automation and AI. |
29/05/2025 10:10 AM | 1 | |
47,845 | 29/05/2025 09:30 AM | Innovation and collaboration: Denmark’s vibrant tech environment | innovation-and-collaboration-denmarks-vibrant-tech-environment | 29/05/2025 | Denmark’s tech ecosystem is thriving, particularly in green tech, healthtech, fintech, robotics, and AI. These sectors are supported by robust digital infrastructure, a skilled workforce, and forward-thinking government policies. Copenhagen remains the national startup hub, while Odense has rapidly emerged as a key European tech centre, especially in robotics, automation, and drone technology. This growth is fueled by strong collaborations between the University of Southern Denmark (SDU), industry leaders, and government initiatives. Odense Robotics, one of Europe's largest robotics clusters, brings together over 130 companies and research institutions, offering vital support such as funding and mentorship to startups. Public and private investments, including EU and Danish government backing, further strengthen the city's tech ecosystem. Government initiatives like Innovation Fund Denmark and the "Startup Denmark" visa scheme are crucial in supporting early-stage companies, offering funding, mentorship, and opportunities for international scaling. Denmark’s commitment to sustainability, research, and collaboration has driven international expansion. With continued investment in digital infrastructure and strong public-private partnerships, Denmark is solidifying its position as a European leader in technology, innovation, and sustainable entrepreneurship. Here are 10 Danish tech companies to watch in 2025.
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29/05/2025 10:10 AM | 1 | |
47,842 | 29/05/2025 07:00 AM | Bioprinted organs ‘10–15 years away,’ says startup regenerating dog skin | bioprinted-organs-10-15-years-away-says-startup-regenerating-dog-skin | 29/05/2025 | ![]() Human organs could be bioprinted for transplants within 10 years, according to Lithuanian startup Vital3D. But before reaching human hearts and kidneys, the company is starting with something simpler: regenerating dog skin. Based in Vilnius, Vital3D is already bioprinting functional tissue constructs. Using a proprietary laser system, the startup deposits living cells and biomaterials in precise 3D patterns. The structures mimic natural biological systems — and could one day form entire organs tailored to a patient’s unique anatomy. That mission is both professional and personal for CEO Vidmantas Šakalys. After losing a mentor to urinary cancer, he set out to… This story continues at The Next Web |
29/05/2025 08:10 AM | 3 | |
47,841 | 29/05/2025 01:00 AM | Lightspeed backs Indian home services startup Snabbit as the next big consumer trend | lightspeed-backs-indian-home-services-startup-snabbit-as-the-next-big-consumer-trend | 29/05/2025 | 29/05/2025 01:10 AM | 7 | ||
47,840 | 28/05/2025 09:31 PM | Security startup Horizon3.ai is raising $100M in new round | security-startup-horizon3ai-is-raising-dollar100m-in-new-round | 28/05/2025 | 28/05/2025 10:10 PM | 7 | ||
47,839 | 28/05/2025 07:40 PM | Why Anthropic's New AI Model Sometimes Tries to ‘Snitch’ | why-anthropics-new-ai-model-sometimes-tries-to-snitch | 28/05/2025 | The internet freaked out after Anthropic revealed that Claude attempts to report "immoral" activity to authorities under certain conditions. But it's not something users are likely to encounter. | 28/05/2025 08:10 PM | 4 | |
47,838 | 28/05/2025 07:00 PM | Karat Financial is bringing business banking to creators | karat-financial-is-bringing-business-banking-to-creators | 28/05/2025 | 28/05/2025 07:10 PM | 7 | ||
47,835 | 28/05/2025 04:29 PM | From code to scale: How Google’s Startup School is helping founders build with AI [Sponsored] | from-code-to-scale-how-googles-startup-school-is-helping-founders-build-with-ai-sponsored | 28/05/2025 | When venture funding tightens, founders get scrappy. In 2025, agility no longer just means lean teams and fast pivots; it means being AI-native. Control over your own software, and increasingly your AI infrastructure, is fast becoming the core competency of resilient startups. Walking the walkStartups today aren’t just pitching ideas, they’re deploying them. At the heart of this new wave of product-led founders is the rise of agentic AI: active, autonomous agents capable of decision-making, learning, and executing tasks without constant human oversight. More than a buzzword, agentic AI is quickly becoming an operational advantage. It enables startups to scale common business processes, from customer support to research automation, more efficiently and with fewer resources. This is where Google for Startups’ Startup School: Agentic AI comes in. The program gives early-stage founders and technical teams the tools to build generative AI applications on Google Cloud, with a curriculum that turns theory into production-ready systems. Anchored in world-class softwareThe 2025 edition of Startup School arrives on the heels of major announcements at Google I/O, where the Gemini model family showed significant improvements in reasoning, context retention and developer tools integration. With Gemini now a leading contender across LLM benchmarks, startups joining the program get access to some of the most advanced AI capabilities available. And this isn’t new territory for Google; Startup School has already trained thousands of founders in leveraging the latest AI and cloud tech. Previous editions have covered everything from early cloud architecture to deploying ML models, and Agentic AI is the next evolution. A curriculum for buildersStartup School: Agentic AI's curriculum is designed for builders ready to get hands-on. The series progresses from fundamental concepts to increasingly advanced technical terrain. Participants start by architecting intelligent agents and move towards nuanced tasks like model selection. The program culminates in hands-on training with the Agent Development Kit, a set of tools designed to accelerate their AI application building. By the program’s end, founders aren’t just integrating AI, they’re leading with it. A Network, Not Just a CourseWhat separates the startups that succeed from those that stall isn’t just capital; it’s access to infrastructure, mentorship and community. What sets Google’s Startup School apart is the peer network and mentorship it fosters. Founders aren’t building in isolation, they’re learning alongside a global cohort of teams solving similar challenges, all while getting expert guidance from Google engineers and product leads. 2025 is shaping up to be the year of agentic scaling, where startups grow not by adding headcount but by deploying AI agents. In this new paradigm, capital helps but capability wins.
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28/05/2025 05:10 PM | 1 | |
47,836 | 28/05/2025 04:16 PM | What founders need to know about tech’s growing influence in D.C. | what-founders-need-to-know-about-techs-growing-influence-in-dc | 28/05/2025 | 28/05/2025 05:10 PM | 7 | ||
47,837 | 28/05/2025 04:13 PM | Family safety app Life360 adds Tile’s lost-item trackers, years after its acquisition | family-safety-app-life360-adds-tiles-lost-item-trackers-years-after-its-acquisition | 28/05/2025 | 28/05/2025 05:10 PM | 7 | ||
47,843 | 28/05/2025 03:58 PM | 5 ways the EU’s bold new startup plan could boost its tech ecosystem | 5-ways-the-eus-bold-new-startup-plan-could-boost-its-tech-ecosystem | 28/05/2025 | ![]() The European Commission has unveiled ambitious plans to cut red tape and make the EU a more attractive place for tech businesses to scale. Launched today, the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy comes as the bloc scrambles to attract and retain tech startups amid stiff competition from the US and Asia. Under the new initiative, the EU has laid out a five-point plan to close the gap with its rivals. It’s also in talks to deploy a public-private fund of at least €10bn under the new strategy, Reuters reports. Here’s the lowdown: 1. Making rules less painful European startups regularly… This story continues at The Next Web |
29/05/2025 08:10 AM | 3 | |
47,834 | 28/05/2025 03:57 PM | Rillet raises $25M from Sequoia to automate general ledger systems using AI | rillet-raises-dollar25m-from-sequoia-to-automate-general-ledger-systems-using-ai | 28/05/2025 | 28/05/2025 04:10 PM | 7 | ||
47,832 | 28/05/2025 02:30 PM | Help shape TechCrunch Disrupt 2025: Vote for your favorite sessions | help-shape-techcrunch-disrupt-2025-vote-for-your-favorite-sessions | 28/05/2025 | 28/05/2025 03:10 PM | 7 | ||
47,833 | 28/05/2025 02:15 PM | How to seize the opportunity and compete with an incumbent, with Linear COO Cristina Cordova at TechCrunch Sessions: AI | how-to-seize-the-opportunity-and-compete-with-an-incumbent-with-linear-coo-cristina-cordova-at-techcrunch-sessions-ai | 28/05/2025 | 28/05/2025 03:10 PM | 7 | ||
47,831 | 28/05/2025 02:00 PM | How small businesses can actually benefit from agentic AI, with Tkxel CEO Umair Javed at TechCrunch Sessions: AI | how-small-businesses-can-actually-benefit-from-agentic-ai-with-tkxel-ceo-umair-javed-at-techcrunch-sessions-ai | 28/05/2025 | 28/05/2025 02:10 PM | 7 | ||
47,830 | 28/05/2025 01:59 PM | Bold EU strategy aims to remove Startup bottlenecks and boost Europe’s innovation lifecycle | bold-eu-strategy-aims-to-remove-startup-bottlenecks-and-boost-europes-innovation-lifecycle | 28/05/2025 | Today, the European Commission adopted the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy. The strategy aligns with the broader ‘Choose Europe' initiative, launched by President von der Leyen. It drives forward calls for reforms by Mario Draghi, Enrico Letta, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, EU Inc, and Not Optional to address innovation and competitiveness in Europe. The strategy aims to resolve why many startups still struggle to take ideas from lab to market or grow at scale within the EU by supporting startups through their lifecycle. I spoke to Bart Becks, serial innovator, entrepreneur, investor, and Board Member at the European Innovation Council (EIC) to get an inside take on the strategy. According to Becks, some areas still need national adoption, like the 28th regime, which will need collaboration with all member states.
As with any documentation of this nature, there’s a lot to digest, so I’ve aimed to pull out some of the most critical activities launched under the strategy. Fostering an innovation-friendly environment
Driving better financing
According to Becks, the strategy acknowledges that the EIC functions quite well. It supports the whole journey: from research to transition to scaling.
Becks notes the importance of patients in deeptech investment and funding:
From paper to progressMoving forward, Becks concedes that the next challenge is implementation and feedback. The European Commission will monitor the strategy's progress through key performance indicators, measuring the increase in the number of startups, scaleups, centaurs (valuation over €100 million) and unicorns in the EU, and how these compare with the EU’s global competitors. Reporting on its implementation will be done by the end of 2027.
Upon my questioning of the European Commission’s agility, he asserts that “mixing policymakers with people from the field helps spot problems early.
Becks believes that the strategy also creates an opportunity to activate underrepresented regions in Europe.
Ekaterina Zaharieva, Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, asserts that with the five concrete actions, “we are removing the barriers that hold our entrepreneurs back. Europe is ready to scale up.” The strategy also comes at a critical time as Europe seeks to divest itself from US big tech. Becks shared that he attended a conference last month, where the CEOs of the largest Belgian banks said 70% of their operations run on American software.
It shows how seriously people are taking the sovereignty issue. While stressing the importance of not severing trade relations with the US — the US is still the number one place to scale for most startups — Becks asserts that “it doesn’t have to be the only place true innovation happens across socially critical tech.” As part of the news release, Stéphane Séjourné, Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy, shared:
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28/05/2025 02:10 PM | 1 | |
47,829 | 28/05/2025 12:08 PM | Ankar raises £3M Seed to protect intellectual property with AI-powered platform | ankar-raises-pound3m-seed-to-protect-intellectual-property-with-ai-powered-platform | 28/05/2025 | London-based startup Ankar has raised a £3 million seed round led by Index Ventures to scale its AI-driven platform that allows customers to discover, protect, and monetise Intellectual Property. The round also attracted participation from Daphni, Motier Ventures, Booom, and Puzzle Ventures, along with notable angel investors such as Olivier Pomel (CEO of Datadog) and Julien Chaumond (CTO of Hugging Face). Founded in 2024 by Tamar Gomez and Wiem Gharbi, both alumni of Palantir, Ankar leverages a suite of AI agents trained on legal and scientific data to streamline the lifecycle of innovation. According to data from WIPO, up to 90 percent of enterprise value now lies in intangible assets, including IP. This shift has raised the stakes for companies to better manage and commercialise their innovation portfolios — particularly in high-stakes sectors like pharmaceuticals, aerospace, and software. Ankar addresses the inefficiencies that often plague R&D and IP processes, such as laborious invention memos, translation issues, and the high cost of legal review. The founders, who faced these obstacles first-hand at Palantir, built Ankar to automate and enhance those processes using AI. “Recent developments in artificial intelligence signal a seismic shift in how humanity invents," said Tamar Gomez, co-founder of Ankar. "As AI becomes more deeply integrated with the invention process, we're about to witness an explosion in the rate of discovery. Ankar is positioning itself at the center of this transformation by building the operating system of innovation.” “Our platform dramatically streamlines this process and mountains of documents which slow down research today,” said Wiem Gharbi, co-founder of Ankar. “But improving efficiency is only the beginning — building AI into the invention process, along with the inventors, allows inventors to fundamentally expand the horizons of what we can imagine creating. We believe Ankar is creating the foundation for the next generation of breakthrough technologies." One early customer is Valeo, a global automotive supplier that co-developed with Ankar to streamline and enhance their patent processes. “Innovation and protection of IP are at the heart of Valeo’s strategy,” said Murielle Khairallah, Valeo’s Vice President of Intellectual Property. “Our co-development with Ankar and the use of their generative AI solutions strengthen our capacity to protect our innovations and optimise our process for patent filings. This modern approach is fully aligned with our operational excellence and our position of technological leader in the automotive industry." With IP strategy increasingly central to business success, and global patent filings rising year-on-year, Ankar is tapping into a large and growing market. In Europe, recent regulatory and competitive pressures have only amplified the demand for tools that help enterprises innovate efficiently and defensibly. “Tamar and Wiem are redefining how innovation is captured, protected, and commercialised — turning IP from a defensive legal asset into a strategic growth lever,” said Hannah Seal, Partner at Index Ventures. “As innovation and R&D lie at the heart of economic growth and progress more broadly, we’re excited to back Ankar on their mission to empower more teams to turn bold ideas into lasting outcomes." |
28/05/2025 01:10 PM | 1 | |
47,828 | 28/05/2025 11:16 AM | Starling’s profits dented by regulatory issues | starlings-profits-dented-by-regulatory-issues | 28/05/2025 | Starling Bank has reported a 26 per cent fall in profits to £223m in the year ending March 2025, after its finances were hit by two legacy regulatory issues. Starling, one of the UK’s most prominent challenger banks which has around 4.6m customers and is backed by Goldman Sachs and Chrysalis, reported revenues were up from £682m to £714m in the period. Its profit figure marked Starling’s fourth consecutive year of profitability. However, pre-tax profits fell year-on-year 26 per cent to £223m, after its finances were hit by two legacy regulatory issues. Last year, Starling, a digital-only bank, was fined £29m by the UK financial regulator, the FCA, for “shockingly lax” financial screening controls. Today, Starling also said it had made a £28.2m provision relating to the removal of a government guarantee on a limited number of loans issued via the government’s Bounce Back Loan Scheme during the Covid pandemic. Starling said the loans “may not comply with the guarantee requirement”. Loans issued through the scheme helped propel Starling’s business in the period, but Starling faced scrutiny over its Covid-period lending. Lord Agnew, previously an anti-fraud minister, accused Starling of acting “against the government and taxpayers’ interests” alleging that its fraud prevention controls were not up to scratch. Starling denied the accusation. Commenting on its financial results, Raman Bhatia, Starling group chief executive, said: “These results represent an important milestone, marking the group’s fourth consecutive year of profitability and revenue growth. “This performance derives from our commitment to providing customers with innovative banking solutions and exceptional service. “We are particularly pleased with Starling Bank’s success in attracting new customers, as evidenced by the continued growth in our deposit base and open accounts. “In the last year we demonstrated our commitment to addressing legacy matters, investing in our people and capabilities so we now move forward from a position of strength. “We will leverage our robust capital position to continue to scale our growth in the UK by helping our customers become better with money. We will also make great strides in turning Engine by Starling into a global success.” Starling said its revenue uplift indicated a “robust performance” across all its businesses while customer deposits were up year-on-year from £11bn to £12.1bn. The number of Starling account holders grew to 4.6m from 4.2m in 2024. On Starling’s SaaS business Engine, Starling said Engine was building a “strong pipeline” that could see it achieve recurring revenues in excess of £100 million in the short to medium term. |
28/05/2025 12:10 PM | 1 | |
47,825 | 28/05/2025 10:43 AM | From jumbled box to build-ready set: How Sort A Brick is reinventing LEGO reuse | from-jumbled-box-to-build-ready-set-how-sort-a-brick-is-reinventing-lego-reuse | 28/05/2025 | Aside from the pain of stepping on a Lego barefoot in the middle of the night, few things are worse in Legoland than nearly finishing a build only to realise a piece is missing. Fortunately, Lithuanian startup Sort A Brick has you covered. It offers a service that cleans, sorts, and repackages customers’ LEGO bricks into original or custom sets, giving second lives to already-owned toys. I spoke to co-founder Ilya Malkin to learn more. Malkin has a background in economics and started his first company, a consulting firm focused on grant funding for R&D and attracting foreign investment. He ran it for a few years before selling it to my colleagues in a management buyout. In early 2020, the idea for Sort A Brick came while spending time with his kids and their mountain of Lego. “After realising how much money we’d spent—and how quickly the sets ended up as a jumbled box of bricks, I wondered: can we sort this?” Manual sorting was out of the question as it was too tedious at scale, so he started exploring technical solutions. That’s where Sort A Brick began. How does Sort A Brick work?Sort A Brick aims to turn mixed boxes of bricks into ready-to-build sets. Customers send the company their loose Lego, which often arrives partially assembled. Malkin explained:
The customer selects the sets they want, the company orders any missing pieces, sorts everything into individual bags, and returns them ready to build. ![]() “Think of it as a “refurbished” Lego set — complete with instructions, which customers can access online.” Inside the AI-powered LEGO sorting engineSort A Brick’s use of AI and computer vision is interesting and intricate. Each brick passes through a camera chamber, where the company takes multiple images from different angles. Malkin detailed:
He admits that training the model was extremely difficult. Sort A Brick deals with over 10,000 unique shapes and around 170 colours — that’s nearly 20,000 unique pieces.
Currently, its machines are mostly automated but require some human intervention. Sort A Brick is actively developing robotic arms to handle more of the work.
The opportunity for Sort A Brick is huge. Most LEGO parts are made of difficult-to-recycle ABS plastic. While the manufacturer does not disclose official numbers, Malkin estimates that LEGO has produced 1.5 trillion of these bricks since its first series in 1958. ![]() However, unsorted bricks are hard to use unless you are a freestyling Pollack-style creator. Malik contends that playing with restored toy brick sets cuts the cost of play by up to 70 per cent compared to buying new ones. Restoring sets from used bricks can boost their resale value by 6–10x over bulk prices. Sort a Brick currently operates only in the German market, shipping bricks to its base in Vilnius, which he admits isn’t efficient, “but it’s helped us refine the technology. The long-term plan is to build local sorting centres near major metropolitan areas in Europe, the US, and beyond.” It's also exploring greener logistics like collecting bricks from schools once a week and delivering finished sets back. Sort A Brick is doing what LEGO won’tSort A Brick seems like such a win for sustainability that my first thought was why The Lego Group doesn’t deploy such a service themselves. After all, Lego has a strong stance on sustainability and aims to achieve carbon-neutral operations by 2032. The company invested over $400 million into sustainability initiatives, including a long-term plan to replace ABS (the oil-based plastic used in most bricks) with more sustainable materials by 2032. However, as Malik notes, The Lego Group’s core business is selling new sets, so there's a conflict of interest in promoting reuse.
Sort A Brick’s customer response has been positive. According to Malik, most people are amazed that it’s even possible.
Sort A Brick recently secured €1,150,000 to scale, with support from the Baltic-focused VC fund Firstpick, nine business angels, and the founders’ initial investment of €200,000. |
28/05/2025 11:10 AM | 1 |