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iPNOTE, a Spanish-American LegalTech platform that streamlines intellectual property (IP) management, has raised €857k in a Seed funding round to accelerate the development of its AI agent and deepen its presence across Europe and the UK, alongside expansion into the US.
The round was led by AltaIR Capital, with participation from Hi2 Venture Fund and several angel investors, including partners at Erdem Kaya Patent, a Turkish patent law firm, and Founders of high-tech startups like Super, Lokalise, Chainstack and others.
“Companies face enormous challenges when protecting their ideas globally. At iPNOTE, our mission is to remove that complexity by providing a single AI-powered interaction point that automates the annoying ping-pong with IP attorneys,” said Alex Levkin, Founder and CEO of iPNOTE. “This funding will help us bring our enterprise solution to life and prove that IP management can finally be as seamless as any modern SaaS experience.”
This Seed round for iPNOTE fits within a broader upswing in European LegalTech and legal-AI investment during 2025.
Early-stage funding has been active, with Pandektes in Denmark securing €2.9 million to automate legal research and knowledge management, and Augmetec in the UK raising over €2.4 million for an AI system that streamlines regulatory investigations.
Larger rounds have also been observed: Lexroom from Italy closed €16.2 million to expand its generative-AI platform for legal teams, including into Spain, while Sweden’s Legora raised €70.6 million for its collaborative AI suite for law firms. The Netherlands-based Saga also secured over €1.5 million to expand its lawyer-centric AI platform across Europe and Latin America.
Within this environment, iPNOTE stands out as one of the few Spain-linked LegalTech companies focusing specifically on intellectual-property management. Its AI-driven approach to automating global IP filings aligns with a sector-wide trend of embedding AI into legal and compliance workflows, positioning the startup well for subsequent expansion across Europe, the UK, and the US.
“iPNOTE shows how AI can give companies comprehensive global IP coverage without the burden of hiring and coordinating hundreds of lawyers across jurisdictions. By automating the creation, protection, and maintenance of IP rights, iPNOTE saves businesses significant time and resources while making global protection finally accessible,” said Igor Ryabenkiy, Founder and Managing Partner at AltaIR Capital.
The company was founded in 2022 by Alex Levkin, a certified patent attorney with more than 13 years of experience in IP. Before launching iPNOTE, Levkin built an IP law firm providing startups with cost-effective solutions for international markets. His work revealed how difficult it was to scale traditional IP practices. He envisioned iPNOTE as a way to unify fragmented IP processes and connect enterprises with trusted contractors through one platform.
In 2023, creators and companies around the world filed over 23 million intellectual property applications, including patents, trademarks, utility models, and industrial designs. Europe accounted for about 3.3 million filings, marking one of its busiest years for IP activity.
However, the company says IP protection across borders is still manual and fragmented. Companies are required by law to work with local IP providers in every country where they seek protection. This leads to fragmented processes, endless email chains, and high operational costs.
iPNOTE helps enterprises manage thousands of trademark and patent filings across dozens of jurisdictions by unifying IP management in a single platform and allowing users to automate interactions with IP service providers worldwide.
At the core of this innovation is an AI paralegal – a virtual assistant that can simultaneously manage global IP filings and handle up to 90% of routine communications with providers. The AI oversees the entire IP registration workflow: answers attorney questions, reviews deliverables, summarises documents, tracks deadlines, sends follow-ups to providers, monitors progress from filing to grant, and processes payments.
Instead of sending hundreds of emails, IP managers and paralegals interact with a single AI assistant that seamlessly coordinates with patent attorneys worldwide, reportedly turning weeks of manual work into streamlined automation.
When the AI agent encounters a complex request, it escalates the issue to a human for review to ensure accuracy and reliability at every step.
“Protecting intellectual rights and promoting innovations are not mutually exclusive. The solutions are not more government initiatives but technologies from companies like iPNOTE. Our decision to invest is not only based on iPNOTE’s automated IP management systems, but also on its global coverage. iPNOTE’s clients are not only protected in the US and Europe, but also in over 100 emerging and frontier markets,” said Jerry Wang, Founder and CEO at Hi2 Global.
The company has already created a SaaS platform and processed over 2,000 IP cases in 130+ countries, saving millions of IP budget. Half of iPNOTE’s enterprise pipeline comprises large corporations in Europe and the UK, making the region the fastest-growing market.
Amsterdam-based micro-mobility company Dott has raised an additional $70 million, extending its Series B funding round to over $150 million. The company has previously raised over $228 million including $85 million Series B funding in spring 2021.
Since the merger of TIER and Dott in 2024, the Company has successfully integrated operations to create one of the leading micromobility players in EMEA with operations in over 400 cities and 21 countries, and delivered over €60 million in annual cost savings to become adjusted EBITDA positive.
The investment comes amid intensifying competition in Europe’s micro-mobility sector. Rivals such as Tier, Voi, and Lime continue to scale their e-bike and scooter fleets as cities shift towards low-emission transport. Many operators are also grappling with tightening regulation, city-level tender systems, and growing pressure to achieve profitability.
Henri Moissinac, Co-Founder and CEO of Dott, said:
“We reached a significant milestone for our business in 2021, launching e-bikes to extend our offer with a vehicle that is more familiar to many people and broadens the appeal of our service.
Starting 2022 with additional funding will propel our growth and allow us to offer environmentally friendly travel to more people.”
The company operates under an in-house logistics and maintenance model, in contrast to competitors who rely on third-party services.
Alistair Watson, Head of Strategy Innovation, Private Equity at abrdn, said:
“We felt that Dott is well positioned to be a leader in the category, offering a high quality product that has been recognised with significant growth in 2021, alongside a responsible business model which takes a rigorous approach to minimising its carbon footprint.”
Specially, the company has successfully issued €70 million of senior secured floating rate bonds in the Nordic market, within a total framework of €150 million (the “Nordic Bonds”), and concurrently is raising a minimum of €15 million in preferred equity as an extension of its existing Series D fundraising round (the “Series D Extension”).
The fresh capital will support the rollout of e-bikes, further product development, and expansion into new markets. Dott said the investment would help enhance user experience while maintaining a focus on safety and environmental impact.
28/10/2025 04:10 PM
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TechCrunch Disrupt 2025: How to watch Vinod Khosla, Netflix, Slate Auto, and Startup Battlefield
SalesPatriot, a Polish-American startup building a next-generation procurement platform for defense and aerospace components, has raised €4.2 million in Seed funding to accelerate its mission of transforming how parts distributors and manufacturers buy and sell critical equipment.
The round was led by CRV, with participation from Pear VC, Y Combinator, SV Angel, Liquid2, Uncorrelated Ventures, and a network of strategic angels including Paul Graham, Rich Miner, Mark Pincus, Steve Blank, and Mati Staniszewski. This brings SalesPatriot’s total funding to €5.4 million to date.
“Our vision is to become the default system of record for defense procurement – and eventually, all critical supply chains,” says Nelson Ray, CEO of SalesPatriot. “Wars today are won with logistics and supply chains as much as with new platforms. We’re building the infrastructure to make sure the West is ready.”
The funding of SalesPatriot comes amid a notable rise in investor activity around procurement, supply chain, and defence-related technologies across Europe in 2025.
For instance, Mercanis secured €17.3 million in a Series A round to advance its AI-driven procurement platform, while Nvelop in Finland raised €1.2 million to develop an agentic-AI system for enterprise procurement. In the UK, Magentic attracted €4.6 million to automate supply-chain operations through autonomous agents, while Germany’s 3D Spark raised €2 million for its manufacturing and procurement SaaS platform. France’s Bonx added €7.3 million to expand its AI-ERP technology for manufacturing.
Unlike these broader enterprise-focused startups, SalesPatriot’s focus on defense and aerospace procurement distinguishes it within this trend, particularly as the only firm with operations anchored in Poland, a country less represented in this year’s procurement-tech funding announcements.
“We built SalesPatriot from day one to integrate with the messy reality of defense procurement – combining AI, structured data, unstructured communication, and legacy systems,” says Benjamin Rhodes-Kropf, CTO and Co-founder of SalesPatriot. “Our workflows don’t force users to change how they work – they remove the manual overhead. That’s why our customers are already seeing 7x faster turnaround times and winning more Pentagon business.”
Founded in 2024 by engineers Nelson Ray, Benjamin Rhodes-Kropf, and Maciej Szymczyk, SalesPatriot was born out of frustration with outdated procurement systems. Ray and Szymczyk both studied at the University of California, Berkeley, while Rhodes-Kropf conducted AI research at MIT before joining the founding team.
Ray experienced the inefficiencies firsthand while working at Aurora Defense Group. Rhodes-Kropf brought deep expertise in AI and systems engineering, while Szymczyk focused on scaling teams and tapping into European talent.
Together, they have set out to modernise defense supply chains at a time when global security depends on speed, resilience, and better logistics.
SalesPatriot structures data from government portals, ERP systems, spreadsheets, and even unstructured email communications. Its dynamic workflows automate quote processing and order management, enabling suppliers to process orders 7x faster. This is powering teams servicing Pentagon orders worth more than $200 million annually.
In just over a year since inception, SalesPatriot has secured contracts with leading defense parts distributors including Jamaica Bearings Group, AllClear Aerospace, and STATZ Corporation.
“Poland is full of world-class engineers who are eager to work on meaningful challenges,” says Maciej Szymczyk, Co-founder of SalesPatriot. “With SalesPatriot House, we’re giving them the opportunity to build mission-critical technology side by side with our U.S. team. This is just the beginning – we plan to grow our team here significantly and make Poland a key driver of our global expansion.”
The company currently employs 10 team members across engineering and business development, with plans to grow to 12-15 by the end of 2025. New hires will focus on full-stack development and scaling commercial operations.
Alongside its U.S. operations, SalesPatriot has opened the SalesPatriot House in Warsaw to tap into Poland’s engineering talent and build a launchpad for international growth.
“The ability to build, source, and produce, efficiently and domestically, is what sustains American competitiveness,” says Caitlin Bolnick Rellas, General Partner at CRV. “SalesPatriot understands that, and they’re building the modern procurement engine for the next generation of defense manufacturers. We couldn’t be prouder to be in business with this team.”
At SalesPatriot House, engineers live and work alongside the team, focused on two things: shipping world-class code and making customers happy. The company supports hires with housing and food, and offers a relocation path to join the team in San Francisco as SalesPatriot expands globally.
Over the next 12-18 months, SalesPatriot plans to dominate the defense sector, expand into commercial aviation, and begin entering European and Asian procurement markets. Long-term, the company aims to become the trusted infrastructure layer for all mission-critical supply chains – from aerospace to energy.
“SalesPatriot is what great talent looks like in action: deep problem insight, a relentless shipping culture, and an obsession with customer workflows,” says Bartek Pucek, investor in SalesPatriot. “They turned a messy, mission-critical problem into software that accelerates real defense businesses. Wars are won with logistics; logistics today are won with software.”
SalesPatriot, a Polish-American
startup building a procurement platform for defence and aerospace components,
has raised $5 million in seed funding. The round was led by CRV, with
participation from Pear VC, Y Combinator, SV Angel, Liquid2, Uncorrelated Ventures,
and strategic angels including Paul Graham, Rich Miner, Mark Pincus, Steve
Blank, and Mati Staniszewski. This brings total funding to $6.3 million.
Founded in 2024 by engineers Nelson Ray, Benjamin Rhodes-Kropf, and Maciej Szymczyk, SalesPatriot addresses
limitations in legacy procurement systems by ingesting and structuring data
from government portals, ERPs, spreadsheets, and unstructured email. Its
dynamic workflows automate quote processing and order management, enabling
suppliers to process orders up to 7 times faster. The platform supports teams
handling over $200 million in annual Pentagon orders.
Nelson Ray (CEO) said the company aims to
establish itself as the primary system of record for defence procurement and,
over time, for other mission-critical supply chains as well.
Wars today are won with
logistics and supply chains as much as with new platforms. We’re building the
infrastructure to make sure the West is ready.
Within a year of founding,
SalesPatriot signed contracts with distributors including Jamaica Bearings
Group, AllClear Aerospace, and STATZ Corporation. For distributors and
manufacturers, the system provides faster access to contracts, fewer manual
errors, and higher throughput without additional headcount; for the DoD and its
suppliers, it improves speed, accuracy, and supply-chain resilience.
According to
Benjamin Rhodes-Kropf (CTO), the company was
designed from the outset to work within the complexities of defence procurement
by integrating AI, structured and unstructured data, and legacy systems.
Our workflows don’t force
users to change how they work – they remove the manual overhead. That’s why our
customers are already seeing 7x faster turnaround times and winning more
Pentagon business.
Looking ahead, SalesPatriot plans to deepen its
presence in defence, expand into commercial aviation, and enter procurement
markets in Europe and Asia, supporting a longer-term goal of becoming a trusted
infrastructure layer for mission-critical supply chains and transforming how
parts distributors and manufacturers buy and sell critical equipment.
28/10/2025 01:10 PM
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28/10/2025 12:52 PM
With €6 million in the bag, Stockholm’s Grasp looks to enhance productivity tools for financial analysts and consultants
Grasp, the AI startup out Sweden automating investment banking and management consulting work using multi-agent systems, today announces it has raised €6 million in Series A funding.
The round was led by Octopus Ventures, with participation from existing investor Yanno Capital. Grasp is also announcing the opening of its first international office in London. This brings total funding to €7.7 million.
“At McKinsey, we spent over 90% of our time on manual work – reading reports, building excel models, creating presentations,” said Richard Karlsson, CEO and co-founder of Grasp. “Together with Simon, who brought critical AI expertise from Ericsson, we realised AI had the potential to completely transform this $1.4 trillion market of human-intensive finance work. Five years later, we’re proving this thesis.”
Several comparable rounds reflect investor confidence in platforms using AI to streamline complex, knowledge-intensive work.
In Denmark, Light secured €25 million to scale its AI-native finance system that replaces legacy enterprise software. In France, Finary raised €25 million to expand its AI-powered wealth-management tools across Europe. Meanwhile, London-based Saturn collected €12.9 million to automate compliance and administrative tasks in financial advisory work.
Notably, Sweden’s own EvoluteIQ secured €44 million to advance its agentic-AI enterprise platform for sectors including banking and financial services.
Together, these rounds illustrate sustained investor appetite for enterprise-AI startups targeting high-value business processes. Grasp’s funding sits within this broader context – a growing European ecosystem applying multi-agent and automation technologies to reshape finance and consulting workflows, with Sweden emerging as a notable hub for such innovation.
“While AI initially boomed in text-centric fields like law, recent advances have finally enabled AI agents to tackle complex, multimodal tasks prevalent in finance. Now, with Octopus Ventures joining our journey, we’re excited to continue expanding our rapidly growing customer base,” added Karlsson.
Founded in 2020 by two former McKinsey consultants and an Ericsson AI engineer, Grasp is automating complex finance work through multi-agent AI systems. The company serves investment banks, management consultants, private equity firms, and corporate strategy teams across 30 countries. The company currently employs 25 people in Stockholm and London.
Grasp was founded by former McKinsey consultants Richard Karlsson and Johan Devér, together with former Ericsson AI engineer Simon Hällqvist. Combining their industry insights and technical expertise, Richard, Johan, and Simon developed a multi-agent AI system capable of executing complex tasks exactly as humans would – delivering ready-to-present spreadsheets and powerpoint presentations tailored for investment banks, management consultants, and private equity firms.
Posting 3.5x ARR growth over the past 12 months, Grasp serves almost 200 customers , including most of the Big Four consulting firms. The latest funding will be deployed to fuel Grasp’s expansion plans and grow its product and sales teams.
The platform connects highly domain-specific AI systems to trusted tools and datasets, helping teams produce higher-quality output by uncovering more relevant companies, surfacing deeper insights, and reducing time spent on manual, repetitive tasks.
“Grasp is at the forefront of vertical AI in finance, having built a multi-agent system that delivers the kind of high-quality output finance professionals rely on,” said Rich Bolton, Principal at Octopus Ventures. “Their strong traction – more than tripling annually and winning major global customers – demonstrates both the power of their technology and the urgency of the need. We’re thrilled to support a team with such deep domain expertise and a clear vision for transforming how financial work gets done.”
EU-Startups previously covered Grasp in May 2024, when we reported on the company’s €1.7 million Seed round to expand its AI assistant for the finance industry – highlighting its early traction in automating analytical and reporting workflows.
“We continue to have a strong conviction in the mission of Grasp, to automate 90% of the knowledge work done by financial analysts, and we are thrilled to continue to back the strong founder team”, says Anna Storåkers, Partner at Yanno Capital.
Sesame, a Spanish HRTech startup focused on AI-powered talent management solutions, has secured up to €50 million in growth funding through a unique financial instrument developed in partnership with BBVA Spark.
Designed specifically for SaaS companies looking to scale internationally without giving up equity, this move marks a shift in how European tech startups can fund expansion while maintaining full control.
“This instrument is a real revolution for the European technology ecosystem,” says Albert Soriano, CEO of Sesame. “It will allow us to scale internationally while continuing to focus on innovation in artificial intelligence applied to talent management.” (Translated)
In the European HRTech and SaaS segment – particularly in AI-powered talent and workforce management – 2025 has brought steady funding momentum across multiple markets.
In the UK, Zelt raised €5.7 million to scale its all-in-one human capital management platform. In Italy, Skillvue secured €5.5 million to promote a skills-based approach to recruitment and talent management. From Belgium, Shyfter raised €1.5 million to expand its workforce management SaaS, while in France, Maki attracted €26 million to develop conversational AI agents for HR workflows.
Within Spain, Orbio raised €6.4 million for its AI-native human capital management system – illustrating continued national strength in HRTech innovation. Germany’s Ordio added €12 million for payroll automation, and Czechia’s Talentiqa secured €1 million for its AI-powered hiring assistant.
Against this backdrop, Sesame’s announcement of up to €50 million in growth funding stands out both in scale and in financial model. While most 2025 HRTech rounds have been equity-based and in the low-to-mid-million-euro range, Sesame’s financing reflects a more mature phase of expansion, combining strong revenue traction with an alternative funding pathway that maintains founder ownership.
Miguel Ángel Alcalá, Head of BBVA Spark in Europe, highlights: “Our value proposition is based on supporting high-growth companies that are transforming the economy through technology. We share a vision of sustainable growth with Sesame, connected to data and focused on people.
Founded in Valencia in 2015, Sesame has grown into one of Spain’s most prominent HRTech players. The startup uses AI to automate administrative processes, improve internal workflows, and deliver an enhanced experience for people teams and employees alike. Its platform is currently used by more than 15,000 companies, generating over €20 million in annual recurring revenue.
The team behind Sesame is over 350-strong and operates from its headquarters in the innovation-focused La Marina district of Valencia. The startup has positioned itself as a frontrunner in Europe’s AI-powered HR landscape, demonstrating consistent revenue traction and expanding global reach without leaning on conventional venture capital.
Unlike traditional equity or venture debt, the new product is structured around performance, scalability, and data insights – offering a flexible, non-dilutive alternative for ambitious tech firms.
For Sesame, the capital will go directly toward acquiring new clients while also investing in continued innovation on its AI-driven platform.
“This operation demonstrates that another way of financing growth is possible. With this financial instrument, Sesame will be able to access capital in an agile and efficient manner, adapted to its pace of international growth,” added Alcalá. (Translated)
The funding enables Sesame to double down on product development while advancing its international growth agenda. The company has recently consolidated operations in Brazil and serves over 1,000 clients in Mexico. With this new capital, Sesame is strengthening its presence in Italy and Portugal and accelerating entry into key strategic markets like France and Germany.
This latest partnership with BBVA Spark points to an emerging trend in European startup finance, where alternative models are increasingly favoured by Founders aiming to scale without diluting ownership or slowing down product evolution.
The BBVA Spark–Sesame initiative is an interesting example into how tech-native financial tools are starting to reshape the path to global expansion for SaaS companies.
In 2023, my nephew died back in Australia. As my parents were their only living relatives, they were forced to deal with his estate on the other side of Australia.
This process took over 18 months, involved repeated travel between Melbourne and Sydney, and cost thousands.
The problem was that my nephew had no plans in place, and everything from accessing bank accounts to closing subscriptions and selling vehicles and property was a laborious, burdensome process for my elderly parents.
It's a problem many families face, and one UK startup, Lyfeguard, aims to solve the scattered chaos of personal admin, financial clutter, and unspoken legacy planning.
From the outset, Lyfeguard stands out as a startup with a difference — it’s co-founded by father and son, Gary and Fraser Stewart. I spoke with them to learn more about the vision behind the company and the unique dynamics of building a business together as family.
Turning tragedy into a mission
According to Gary, the idea for Lyfeguard emerged in 2021, when a couple of friends died really suddenly. And in both instances, their families asked him to go and help them with the estate administration. He admits:
"It was terribly problematic. It was very intrusive, really difficult actually finding things — rifling through people's personal possessions just to find documents."
This was compounded by the fact that, in both instances, the deceased were breadwinners, both employed and in their mid-to late fifties.
"The families were effectively three months away from a financial disaster."
Fortunately, in both instances, he was able to find some life insurance, which maintained liquidity.
But it took more than 18 months to close down both estates, including probate and the government's inheritance tax process.
"Even though they were spousal transfers, you still have to go through all the motions. There were also some business shares involved, so it was quite complex."
Sometime later, he asked himself:
'What would happen to my family if the same thing happened to me? Would they know where my stuff was?' And the answer was a resounding no."
Facing the uncomfortable: building utility beyond death
His son Fraser recalls that when they discussed the challenge with a few people, their faces went blank — the realisation came that what we were talking about was largely focused on death.
"Storing documents and information in one place to pass on to family and friends sounds useful, but people don't want to think or plan for death.
That's probably why they end up in the situation of not having information organised."
So the duo knew they had to achieve the same end goal, but flip the idea on its head and give people day-to-day utility from the platform — while still getting that information there and keeping it up to date for family and friends to access later.
Bringing information to life through open finance
Lyfeguard works as an end-to-end life-management tool — a place to store information throughout someone's life, accessible whenever needed.
"But we didn't want it to be just a static repository," shared Fraser.
"We wanted to bring that information to life, so we connected in open finance."
That means banking, credit cards, investment platforms, pension providers, loans, crypto, mortgages — pretty much any financial instrument — can be connected in real time. This not only makes it easier to input information, but it also allows Lyfeguard to visualise it in ways that help people actually understand their personal finances: spending, balances, transactions, net worth over time, etc.
Significantly, Lyfeguard offers an active platform, providing people with alerts about upcoming expiry dates, which is hugely helpful.
"There's so much to remember: driving licence renewals, utility bills, MOTs — the list goes on. Lyfeguard gives people that nudge when it's time," shared Peter.
A secure vault for life's most important information
Lyfeguard offers a secure "vault" where users can store documents, passwords, financial accounts, investments, and other vital information — all in one place. On the financial side, it taps into open finance data to give users a unified view of assets, liabilities, spending flows, and net worth, helping demystify what's often fragmented across multiple institutions.
"Ultimately, we want Lyfeguard to put the person at the centre — as their life-management hub — with the ability for everyone important in their life to gain access when they need it: spouse, children, adviser, lawyer, mortgage broker, bank, insurer, etc," shared Peter.
"Right now, information comes via emails, letters, apps — it's fragmented. The way we manage our lives is broken. We're trying to fix that."
Trust, transparency, and control
Beyond being a personal tool, Lyfeguard is built with collaboration and sharing in mind: users can designate "Trusted Users" (family, executors, advisers) who gain access under defined circumstances — now, upon incapacity, or after death.
It's aimed not only at individuals but also serves professionals in the financial advice, legal, and estate-planning sectors by enabling smoother onboarding, richer client insights, and continuity of care across generations.
According to Fraser, it allows people to share as much or as little information as they want, at a point in time that suits them.
"They can choose to share very granular levels of data — either now or after they pass away."
The startup is expanding its reach to include a lasting power of attorney (LPA), which would cover an incapacitation event such as a serious accident, "but even now, the information can be shared immediately; it doesn't need to wait for that kind of event."
The 360-degree client view
Lyfeguard originally started as a business-to-consumer product and later began speaking to a few verticals.
Peter shared:
"The first was financial advice. They were telling us, 'We need all this information about our clients.'
To paint the picture — it was 2021, during or just after COVID. Advisers were seeing clients less in person, more via Teams, and struggling to get client information.
Their existing portals were focused largely on finances — assets and liabilities — which are important, but there's more to a client than what's in their bank account. There's all the softer, peripheral information that sits around that.
Then Consumer Duty came in, which is all about understanding clients better than ever and ensuring advice is genuinely tailored. They can only do that with accurate, up-to-date, personalised information."
This aligned really nicely with Lyfeguard — giving a 360-degree view of the client.
Tackling the £5.5 trillion intergenerational wealth transfer
Further, Peter shared that advisers — especially in the UK but also globally — are struggling with the wealth-transfer issue.
"Between now and 2050, £5.5 trillion will be transferred between generations in the UK. Currently, advisers lose about 90 per cent of clients when the original client dies; the beneficiaries almost never stay with that adviser."
This means they lose the assets under management too, which is how they get paid. If a million pounds' worth of assets are under management, even at a 1 per cent fee, that's £10,000 a year gone.
According to Fraser, Lyfeguard enables the adviser to see who the key people are — executors, beneficiaries, family — and the client can proactively share relevant information with them.
"Other portals don't allow that. So it becomes collaborative planning where the adviser treats the whole family unit as the client, not just one individual."
Lifeguard is live with 11 independent financial-advice firms and, at the time of our interview, was in the process of signing with a private-client law firm representing around 100,000 clients in the UK.
"They like Lyfeguard because people want to store their wills electronically. Even though digital wills aren't legally valid yet, it gives executors a head start, and we annotate where the original will is held," shared Peter.
"The same goes for lasting powers of attorney. Lawyers also like that it keeps them relevant — clients usually come for a will or an LPA and never return. Lyfeguard keeps that connection alive."
The company is also in advanced discussions with a large UK insurance company that wants to include Lyfeguard in its employee-benefits offering, under the umbrella of financial wellness. Employees often have benefits like death-in-service insurance or private healthcare that their families don't even know exist. Lyfeguard brings it all into one view.
Fraser asserts:
"Lyfeguard's value is twofold: helping employees see everything in one place, and ensuring families know what's available to them."
The cross-border opportunity
For now, the startup is focused on the UK, but the opportunity is global. Ireland's a great bridge into the EU — close, English-speaking, with a similar legal system. After that, Europe, Australia, and Canada.
"People are more mobile than ever — remote work, international assets, multiple pensions. Lyfeguard will also support storing foreign assets, shared Gary.
"Many people we speak to have pensions or property abroad, and it's incredibly difficult to keep track of. We want to solve that too."
From family to founding team
Of course, I had to ask about the dynamic of a father-and-son team.
Gary admits that it was tricky at first:
"You have to redefine the relationship. But I feel privileged to work with my adult son. I have another son still finishing his accounting exams — I plan to rope him in next! It's special to build something together."
Fraser agreed, sharing, "There aren't many people who can say they've co-founded a company with their dad."
"It felt weird initially — almost like breaking and rebuilding the relationship — but now we're in a great rhythm. It's an absolute privilege."
The startup initially bootstrapped, then raised friends-and-family funding in 2022, with a few follow-on rounds. It's currently raising, targeting a group of angel investors.
It recently completed the FinTech Innovation Lab in London, run by Accenture, which was a major boost.
According to Peter, "it introduced us to so many investors and large enterprise customers — including several of the UK's biggest banks. They love what we're doing. Banks move slowly, of course, but the long-term potential is huge."
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Grasp raises $7M Series A to fuel international expansion
Stockholm-based Grasp, an AI startup automating investment
banking and management consulting workflows with multi-agent systems, has
raised $7 million in a Series A round led by Octopus Ventures, with
participation from existing investor Yanno Capital. The round brings total
funding to $9 million.
Founded in 2020 by former McKinsey consultants RichardKarlsson and Johan Devér, together with former Ericsson AI engineer Simon Hällqvist, Grasp builds a proprietary multi-agent platform that automates
complex, costly, and time-consuming tasks for finance professionals.
By connecting domain-specific AI agents to trusted tools and
datasets, the platform surfaces more relevant companies, delivers deeper
insights, and produces ready-to-present spreadsheets and PowerPoint materials, reducing
manual, repetitive work while improving output quality.
The global investment banking and management consulting
services market totals roughly $1.4 trillion in annual spending. As AI
automates portions of this work and increases productivity, platforms like
Grasp are positioned to capture a share of that spend.
Richard
Karlsson, CEO and co-founder of Grasp, shared the idea behind the company:
At
McKinsey, we spent over 90% of our time on manual work - reading reports,
building excel models, creating presentations. Together with Simon, who brought
critical AI expertise from Ericsson, we realised AI had the potential to
completely transform this $1.4 trillion market of human-intensive finance work.
Five years later, we're proving this thesis.
While
AI initially boomed in text-centric fields like law, recent advances have
finally enabled AI agents to tackle complex, multimodal tasks prevalent in
finance. Now, with Octopus Ventures joining our journey, we're excited to
continue expanding our rapidly growing customer base.
Over the past 12 months, Grasp recorded 3.5× ARR growth and
now serves nearly 200 customers in 30 countries, including most of the Big Four
consulting firms.
The new funding will support the expansion and growth of the
product and sales teams.
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28/10/2025 11:24 AM
Germany’s aevoloop backs circular plastics innovation with €8 million boost to tackle waste and microplastics
The Leipzig-based chemistry startup aevoloop has raised around €3.25 million in a Seed investment round, together with just under €5 million in funding from to accelerate the market launch of its circular technology.
The public funding is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Free State of Saxony as part of an R&D collaborative project grant from the Sächsische Aufbaubank (SAB). It is provided under the “Saxy Plastics” project, in which aevoloop is cooperating with the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research, Leipzig University and the Center for the Transformation of Chemistry (CTC). Alongside lead investor Circulate Capital, Positron Ventures and bmp Ventures via the IBG Innovationsfonds (Innovation Fund) are also investing.
“Plastic is not fundamentally bad – only the way we handle it,” says Dr Manuel Häußler, Co-founder and scientific lead at aevoloop. “With our technology, we make plastics fully recyclable. In doing so, we combine the performance of conventional plastics with true circularity. Our goal is a world in which sustainable plastic can be used endlessly – without waste and without squandering.”
This funding round enters a 2025 European landscape in which circular-plastics and sustainable-materials ventures are increasingly attracting capital.
In the UK, Epoch Biodesign secured €17 million in Series A funding to expand its enzyme-based recycling platform, while Dutch firm Xycle obtained investment for a chemical-recycling facility in Rotterdam. In Germany, VYTAL Global raised €14.2 million to scale its reusable-packaging infrastructure, and CYNiO, located in the broader Leipzig region, attracted over €2 million for CO₂-based speciality chemicals.
This pattern underscores Germany’s growing concentration of activity in sustainable-chemistry innovation. Within this context, aevoloop’s combination of private Seed capital and significant public co-funding positions it as part of a pan-European shift towards circular polymer technologies that bridge industrial scalability with environmental performance.
Wolfgang Hafenmayer, founding partner of lead investor Circulate Capital, adds: “aevoloop’s technology is a significant advance for the circular economy in polyolefins. For the first time, we have a true material alternative – without the compromises that other solutions entail. It’s precisely this kind of scalable innovation that can drive a systemic shift across the entire plastic value chain.”
Founded in 2024, aevoloop has developed a patented plastic circular technology. It enables chemically recyclable and biodegradable plastics that can be fully reused without any loss of quality.
In this way, aevoloop combines the performance of conventional plastics with true circularity and enables upcycling instead of downcycling – for sustainable packaging, films, injection-moulded parts and textiles.
This enables high-performance, chemically recyclable and biodegradable plastics and, for the first time, combines the advantages of conventional polymer materials with true circularity.
The startup replaces individual links in conventional polyethylene or polypropylene chains with bonds that can be selectively opened – through a kind of “predetermined breaking point.” They reprotedly retain all properties in use, but at the end of their life cycle they can be chemically broken down into their basic components and processed into new plastic.
This can be used like conventional polyolefins and, unlike other sustainable plastics, is not limited to niche applications. The biodegradability of these novel plastics also offers, in the long term, a solution to the microplastics problem.
The underlying technology can be used immediately on existing extruders and injection-moulding machines. In addition, production is comparatively cost-effective – purely bio-based alternatives are often significantly more expensive.
Latvian-based Desktop Commander, the company behind the open source Desktop Commander MCP server, has raised a €1.1 million pre-seed round
led by 42CAP, with participation from BADideas Fund.
Desktop Commander MCP provides AI-controlled access to a user’s computer and file system, enabling it to manage files, use the terminal, and review, write, and deploy code from natural language instructions, saving time and handling complex tasks without requiring users to
code.
Founded in March 2025 by former colleagues Eduards Ruzga
(ex-Infogram, Prezi), Dmitrijs Sergejevs (ex-Juro), and Lauris Lietavietis
(ex-Infogram, Prezi, Printify, Oxylabs), Desktop Commander has become one of the most-used MCPs on Smithery, the Docker MCP Hub, and the Claude connectors marketplace. It now has thousands of daily active users, including founders building products, developers reviewing and deploying code, and knowledge workers automating routine tasks.
Built on Anthropic’s MCP standard introduced in late 2024, now with more than 15,000 MCPs, Desktop Commander is currently in beta with a paid offering that extends its core functionality based on user feedback.
I initially
developed the first iteration of the product as a custom GPT in 2023 to address
a personal work-related challenge; it did not gain substantial interest at that time. However, I revisited
the concept when Anthropic introduced their new MCP standard in late 2024, and
it experienced significant adoption in April of this year. What I find most
rewarding is users expressing that they have acquired capabilities they
previously did not realize they possessed,
stated Eduards Ruzga, CEO and co-founder.
Desktop Commander will use the new
funding to make coding and local automation tools more accessible to
non-technical users. The team is currently beta-testing a paid offering based
on the MCP framework that extends functionality informed by user feedback.
28/10/2025 11:10 AM
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28/10/2025 09:44 AM
Danish RegTech startup Formalize raises €30 million as Spain’s national whistleblowing platform expands across Europe
Formalize, a Copenhagen-based compliance software company, has raised €30 million in a Series B funding round to accelerate its mission of becoming Europe’s leading platform for governance, risk, and compliance.
The round was co-led by Acton Capital (DE) and Blackfin Tech (FR), with participation from West Hill Capital and CIBC Innovation Banking. The company has raised a total of €50 million to date and counts more than 160 employees.
“Compliance is no longer optional; it’s essential for doing business. At Formalize, we’re building a future where automation and AI simplify GRC for European SMBs without ever compromising on security or the local expertise that defines us. Our ability to scale and deliver value to thousands of companies places us at the forefront of Europe’s regulatory landscape,” says Jakob Lilholm, CEO and Co-founder of Formalize.
This Series B raised positions the Danish compliance software provider among the leading European GRC (governance, risk and compliance) funding rounds of 2025.
Within this year, Dataships (Ireland) secured €6.8 million to turn data-compliance into an e-commerce growth engine, while Germany’s Sunhat raised €9.2 million for its ESG and non-financial data-compliance platform.
Together, these investments signal sustained momentum in European compliance and regulatory-technology innovation, as investors back platforms that automate risk management and data-protection processes across sectors.
“This funding round reflects the strong momentum Formalize has built across Europe and the confidence investors have in our execution. We’ve shown that compliance is mission-critical for businesses of all sizes, and this capital allows us to continue scaling with discipline, strengthening our product and expanding our European footprint,” says Formalize CFO, Christian Jessen.
Founded in 2021, Formalize is a compliance software company helping businesses navigate complex regulatory and risk requirements. Its platform automates compliance processes for NIS2, DORA, ISO27001, GDPR and more. Formalize serves over 8,000 customers and has offices in Copenhagen, Aarhus, Madrid and Milan.
Since its inception, and strengthened by its Series A in 2024 (as covered by EU-Startups), Formalize has evolved into a trusted solution for more than 8,000 organisations and over 850 consultancies and law firms.
A strong example of this traction is in Spain, where Formalize has been chosen as the national whistleblowing authority, giving millions of employees a secure channel to speak up.
“It’s increasingly hard for small and mid-sized companies in the EU to handle all the requirements imposed on them by regulation. Formalize has impressed us with a superior solution that allows companies to have all processes and data required fully under control. No other solution we looked at got even close to Formalize’s capability to capture the particularities of all countries and industries while keeping the solution easy to handle,” says Fritz Oidtmann, Managing Partner at Acton Capital.
The new funding will enable Formalize to strengthen its position as the go-to compliance operations platform in Europe and scale its presence in key markets such as DACH and France, opening new offices and growing local teams to support customers and partners on the ground.
“At BlackFin Tech, we are more and more convinced that Formalize has assembled the right product and team to own SME compliance in Europe, turning GDPR, NIS2, and DORA into simple, scalable workflows. With stellar growth and AI accelerating adoption, they are in the perfect spot to convert regulatory burden into a competitive advantage,” says Michele Foradori, Managing Director at BlackFin Tech.
Belgian biosurfactants developer AmphiStar has been awarded €2.5
million in funding by SPRIND, Germany’s Federal Agency for Disruptive
Innovation, to accelerate continuous manufacturing of its microbial
biosurfactants.
This is AmphiStar’s third consecutive SPRIND award, bringing total support to €6 million and further validating its approach to converting bio-based waste into high-performance surfactants that are free from fossil and palm-based feedstocks.
AmphiStar develops and produces 100 per cent upcycled
microbial biosurfactants as high-performance, sustainable alternatives to
conventional surfactants.
Using its platform technology, the company converts bio-based
waste and side streams into a portfolio of products that do not rely on fossil
or palm-based feedstocks and require no direct land use, supplying sectors such
as personal care, home care, and agrifood.
The company applies synthetic biology, microbial
fermentation, and mild processing to manufacture these ingredients, and offers
what it describes as the first commercially available biosurfactants made
entirely from bio-based waste and side streams.
It is an honour to be recognised as one of the final five
participants in Stage 3 of the SPRIND Challenge, following the thorough
assessment by the expert jury. This funding strengthens our ability to deliver
high-performance, circular ingredients that reduce environmental impact and
accelerate the transition to a low-carbon, sustainable economy,
SPRIND funding will enable AmphiStar to advance its continuous
fermentation technology and accelerate the commercialisation of new biosurfactant
molecules from its growing library, produced by microbially upcycling bio-based
waste feedstocks into market-ready ingredients.
Recent partnerships with Kensing in North America and Caldic
in Europe reflect increasing global interest in waste-based, sustainable
solutions and mark milestones toward broader adoption of circular
biosurfactants.
28/10/2025 10:10 AM
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28/10/2025 09:10 AM
London-based GHO Capital boosts healthcare fund size by 25% to €2.5 billion
Global Healthcare Opportunities, the UK specialist investor in global healthcare, today announces the final close of its fourth fund, GHO Capital IV LP, raising over €2.5 billion of capital available to invest.
Fund IV further diversifies GHO’s investor base, with strong support from both existing investors as well as a significant amount of capital from over 30 new institutional investors across Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and the Middle East.
Mike Mortimer, Alan Mackay and Andrea Ponti, the Managing Partners at GHO Capital commented: “We are witnessing a golden era of healthcare innovation, driven by the convergence of advanced science, digital technologies, and data. GHO Capital is at the forefront, delivering strong returns while enabling better, faster and more accessible healthcare.
“Fund IV’s success against the backdrop of a challenging fundraising environment reflects confidence in our strategy, transatlantic reach and consistent track record of outperformance across the healthcare ecosystem.”
In 2025, the European healthcare and HealthTech ecosystem has remained active across both early- and growth-stage segments.
Digital-health ventures are also attracting significant backing, such as SheMed (UK, €43 million) in personalised women’s healthcare and Juisci (France, €5.5 million) with its AI-powered scientific-knowledge platform for clinicians.
Against this backdrop, GHO Capital’s final close for Fund IV represents a substantial institutional-scale commitment to European and transatlantic healthcare opportunities. While startups are drawing tens of millions in venture rounds, GHO’s vehicle positions it to support mid-market expansion and consolidation across BioPharma, MedTech, Life-Science Tools, and HealthTech.
“We are grateful for the trust from both existing and new investors as we partner with world-class management teams to build the next generation of healthcare leaders,” added the Managing Partners.
Founded in 2014, Global Healthcare Opportunities, including investment manager GHO Capital Management Limited and investment advisor GHO Capital Partners Advisory Ltd., is a specialist healthcare investment firm.
As GHO’s largest fund to date, 25% larger than its predecessor, Fund IV brings total AUM to c.€9 billion, making GHO the largest healthcare specialist private equity firm headquartered in Europe.
GHO remains well-positioned to capitalise on mid-market opportunities in the rapidly growing technical healthcare sector across BioPharma, MedTech, Advisory & Data, Life Science Tools & Diagnostics and HealthTech.
Beyond fundraising, GHO has made strong progress in 2025, signing three new platform investments and several add-on acquisitions. New investments include:
Avid Bioservices, a CDMO focused on development and CGMP manufacturing of biologics,
Scientist.com, an AI-powered R&D orchestration platform serving pharmaceutical and biotech companies
FotoFinder Systems, a manufacturer of cutting-edge skin diagnostics and imaging solutions.
Since closing GHO Capital III in 2021, GHO has expanded its transatlantic footprint with 19 new hires, taking the team to over 75 professionals who provide on the ground support for its portfolio across Europe and the US.
The firm has also strengthened its senior leadership with the appointment of a new Partner in 2024 alongside five new integrated Operating Partners and Senior Advisors, who bring deep industry insights to support GHO’s thematic investment and value creation approach.
In the subscription economy, just acquiring users is not enough. Actual growth is all about keeping them, converting them, and maximising lifetime value over time. As customer acquisition costs rise and user expectations evolve, monetisation strategy has become just as important as product strategy. Perhaps even more important.
For founders building subscription-based apps, whether B2B SaaS, consumer wellness, fintech, or productivity, the question is no longer “Can we get users?” It is “Can we grow sustainably?”
The answer? Smart, flexible, and data-informed monetisation. Because scaling without a strategy is just burn.
Price is not a number: It is a narrative
One of the biggest misconceptions early founders have is that pricing is a spreadsheet decision. On the contrary, pricing is brand positioning, value communication, and a growth engine all rolled into one.
Take Notion, for example. Their free tier is incredibly generous, and that is no accident. It fuels virality, builds users’ habits, and seeds teams with individual power users. But once companies hit a certain collaboration threshold, they bump into clear value walls: team workspaces, admin controls, and advanced sharing. The upgrade feels natural, not forced.
Let value lead the monetisation, not the other way around. Here is the takeaway: If users do not understand what is behind the paywall (or worse, if it feels arbitrary), they will churn. But if you design your pricing tiers around real usage milestones, monetisation becomes an extension of product love, not a tax on it.
Freemium works until it doesn’t
Freemium is a powerful acquisition lever. But it is not a monetisation strategy on its own. The danger lies in thinking that top-of-funnel growth equals business growth.
Many founders get stuck in the “free user trap”: thousands of active users, but no revenue to show for it. That is fine in the early days when you are proving demand, but at scale, it is a problem.
The key is conversion design: How do you move free users to paid in a way that feels aligned with value? Headspace nailed this with “streak” features and content gating. They built just enough routine and emotional investment into the free experience that paying became less about features and more about continuity. Other apps, like Figma, leaned into team unlocks. One user starts solo, invites a colleague, and suddenly, collaboration becomes the premium hook. Seamless, social, and smart.
The lesson: Freemium should be a ramp, not a plateau.
Experimentation is how you win
The best monetisation strategies are iterative. What works at 10k users might not work at 100k. What converts in North America might flop in Europe. Pricing and packaging need the same level of testing you apply to UX or onboarding.
Look at Duolingo. They have tested everything, from ads versus subscriptions to tiered pricing by country, down to micro-adjustments in trial lengths and copy. That is why they are one of the few consumer apps that scale profitably. They treat monetisation like a product, not a fixed decision.
Here are tests with a big impact:
A/B testing monthly vs annual plans (annual drives cash flow).
Experimenting with trial length: 7 days vs 14 days can shift retention.
Localising pricing: even a $1 difference can lift conversion in some markets.
Adding urgency triggers, like countdowns to trial expiration.
Do not assume you got it right on the first try. You did not, because no one does. Keep testing.
Move beyond the “one size fits all” plan
Your users are not one person. So why are you pricing them as if they are? As you scale, segmentation becomes key. Power users want more features, casual users want simplicity, and enterprises want control.
Canva is a masterclass here. Their Pro plan caters to individuals and small teams, but they introduced Canva for Teams and Canva for Enterprise to accommodate different buyer types. Each tier has unique messaging, onboarding flows, and value propositions, yet the core product remains the same.
This does not mean you need five SKUs. But it does mean understanding your personas. Talk to users. Segment by behaviour. Build plans that feel like they were made for someone, not everyone.
Churn is a monetisation issue too
Retention is revenue; we all know that. You cannot scale subscription revenue if you are constantly leaking users out the bottom. Start by understanding why people churn: Is it price? Is it a lack of perceived value? Product fatigue, perhaps?
Calm, another consumer subscription app, found that users who completed a meditation within the first 48 hours were significantly more likely to subscribe and stick with the app. So they redesigned onboarding to increase that outcome. Not just a retention win, but a monetisation win.
Also, make offboarding hard and helpful. Instead of adding a “Cancel” button that every user will hit, try a flow that asks why, offers tailored downgrades, pauses, or even temporary discounts. Done respectfully, these flows reduce churn without annoying users.
Monetise more than subscriptions
Do not be afraid to explore monetisation layers beyond subscriptions, especially as you scale. Marketplaces, partnerships, upsells, and even transaction fees can create diversified revenue without harming the core UX.
Strava, for instance, launched paid challenges and brand-sponsored content while keeping core functionality free. Substack lets writers earn from subscriptions, but also takes a cut of upgrades, donations, and partner programmes. The idea is not to nickel-and-dime users. It is to align revenue streams with value creation. And in some cases, to monetise the long tail of users who might never subscribe, but still engage deeply.
Make your pricing part of your brand promise
This is where growth and marketing meet. Your pricing strategy should reinforce what your brand stands for. Are you the affordable alternative? The premium all-in-one tool? The collaborative team platform? Price accordingly. Communicate it clearly.
Look at Linear. Their pricing could not be simpler: one premium tier, free for small teams, and a strong emphasis on speed and quality. It reflects their product, their ethos, and their audience. It is not “cheap,” it is intentional.
Confused pricing equals confused positioning. And in a crowded market, clarity is conversion.
Monetisation is much more than just mechanics
Slapping a price tag on your product and hoping for the best will not do much for your scaling. Designing a monetisation system that reflects how users find value and how that value grows over time is key to a sustainable strategy.
The most successful subscription businesses guide users toward paid tiers with intention, intelligence, and empathy. They test relentlessly. They adapt. They respect the user while nudging them toward higher value tiers. And they do not treat monetisation as an afterthought, because it is a feature of the business.
So, whether you are pre-revenue or scaling past 100k MRR, ask yourself:
Is our monetisation strategy evolving with our users?
Are we capturing the full value we are creating?
And most importantly: are we building for revenue, or just hoping it shows up?
For subscription businesses, monetisation is a system, and the smartest founders build it early and build it well.
Rotterdam-based venture studio
Builders has raised an additional €3 million, bringing total funding to €4.5
million. The round was led by a group of entrepreneurs, exit-founders, and
family offices, including Wouter Holtslag, Eric Carbijn, and Invint Capital.
Additional participants included family offices Den Breems & Schouten B.V., Vajoinvest,
Hedje Invest, Plott Invest, and angel investors Peter Kaas, Edwin de Jonge,
Richard Budding, Karol Wojtaszek, Emil Wojtaszek, Joeri van den
Bovenkamp-Hofman, Ruud Vodegel, Hector Rodriguez, Wilbert Nederpelt, Steven van
Houweling, Roland van Gulik, Herjan Meloen, Tristan Orzero, Patrick Veldhuizen,
Eliska Went, Theo Wieckardt, Patrick van de Werken, and Sylvia Dekker.
Builders is a venture studio that partners with entrepreneurs to create
enterprise AI companies from initial concept to independent operation. From day
one, it provides support across concept development, validation, talent
acquisition, network access, funding, execution, and growth.
Following its first funding round, in which €1.5 million was raised, Builders
developed Noon, Obeyo, and Influentials. Noon and Obeyo were later
discontinued, while Influentials was successfully sold.
With the €3 million raised in the second round,
Builders has refined its focus on enterprise AI software and built a new
portfolio of ventures (Everday, Avery, and Cortena), all of which are nearing
seed-readiness.
Backed
by the new capital, Builders will scale operations, support its existing
portfolio, and expand across Europe through partnerships with startup studios
and venture ecosystems. The studio aims to increase its annual launch rate from
at least four to up to ten companies as it progresses toward a self-sustaining
model.
To accelerate this growth, Builders is establishing a €25 million fund to
invest across its AI ecosystem, providing follow-on capital for current
ventures and backing new European collaborations, with a first close planned
for summer 2026.
28/10/2025 09:10 AM
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28/10/2025 08:23 AM
Main Capital backs French logistics management platform Shippingbo’s next growth phase
French specialised software provider of logistics management solutions, Shippingbo, has received funding from Main Capital Partners to support the next phase of its growth journey.
Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Toulouse, France, Shippingbo provides a comprehensive, cloud-based logistics management platform that combines Order Management (OMS), Warehouse Management (WMS), and Transport Management (TMS) functionalities into an integrated platform.
Its solutions enable e-commerce brands, logistics providers, and retailers to automate fulfillment, optimise warehouse operations, and manage transport flows efficiently through a centralised interface.
Shippingbo’s software platform delivers scalability, flexibility, and seamless integration throughout the supply chain ecosystem. Its solutions enable supply chain players to connect and automate every stage of their operations, facilitating robust omnichannel strategies through unified logistics capabilities.
The company employs approximately 80 professionals at its Toulouse headquarters and serves around 1,000 direct customers across several verticals — including consumer goods, 3PL logistics, sports & leisure, and food & beverage.
Key customers include brands such as Venom, Teddy Smith, and Weber Industries, as well as third-party logistics providers (3PLs) such as DHL, Deret, and Stef.
Marc Heiricher, Founder and CEO of Shippingbo, shared:
“We are very proud of this strategic agreement with Main Capital to support us in this new chapter. Main’s experience in the software sector and in supporting scale-ups through their growth journey will allow us to accelerate Shippingbo’s development significantly.
This new partnership validates our vision and will provide us with new resources to continue innovating internally, strengthen our partner ecosystem, and roll out a Buy & Build strategy to reinforce our position as an established unified logistics platform for omnichannel commerce in France and internationally.”
Although the majority of its revenues are currently generated in France, Shippingbo demonstrates clear international ambitions, with a growing customer base and market presence in Spain, Belgium, and Switzerland.
Through its collaboration with Main, Shippingbo aims to accelerate growth via continuous product innovation, international expansion, and a targeted buy-and-build strategy to reinforce its position as a specialised software provider in the logistics value chain.
The partnership will prioritise expanding Shippingbo’s functional coverage (OMS, WMS, TMS), developing complementary modules and a partner network, and strengthening its go-to-market strategy to serve its growing European customer base better.
The management team - primarily composed of the founding partners with decades of experience in logistics software - will retain a significant stake and continue to lead the next phase of growth alongside Main.
The transaction represents Main’s third platform investment in France in 2025, following the opening of its Paris office in February of this year.
The Shippingbo management team will continue to lead operations and retain a significant ownership stake, underscoring their strong commitment to the shared vision of building an internationally leading unified logistics platform.
According to Jonas Kruip, Co-Head France & Sr. Investment Manager at Main Capital Partners, as supply chains become more digital, data-driven, and customer-centric, integrated OMS, WMS, and TMS solutions have become mission-critical for businesses striving to deliver efficiency, transparency, and scalability across the entire supply chain.
“Shippingbo’s scalable and modern platform is uniquely positioned to address these needs, and we look forward to working closely with the management team to accelerate innovation and expand the company’s presence internationally both through organic and inorganic growth."
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28/10/2025 08:02 AM
MoleSense secures €156K to pioneer molecular wearables in maternity care
EPFL spin-off MoleSense has received €156,000. (CHF 150,000) from Venture Kick to bring molecular wearables to maternity care.
These devices will continuously and non-invasively monitor key biochemical markers in high-risk pregnancies, enabling doctors to make data-driven decisions and mothers to receive proactive care.
Preterm birth and pregnancy complications remain among the most pressing challenges in maternal health. When a mother’s water breaks too early, doctors face a difficult dilemma: delay delivery and risk infection or induce birth and risk lifelong complications for the baby. With no reliable way to quantify these risks, mothers often undergo invasive tests while clinicians must make life-or-death decisions with limited data.
MoleSense ias developed a new class of wearables that track inflammatory proteins and steroid hormones in real time through non-invasive sweat monitoring using a “wear and forget” device.
By combining personalised molecular data with biology-aware machine intelligence, the technology provides real-time, actionable insights for early diagnosis and targeted interventions.
Founded and led by Gian Luca Barbruni and Ata Golparvar, both PhD graduates from EPFL, MoleSense brings together deep expertise in micro- and nano-engineering and wearable technologies. The team is initially focusing on pregnancy management, aiming to impact more than eight million pregnancies annually across Switzerland, Europe, and the United States.
Their approach sets a new standard for proactive, personalised maternity care and targets the USD 110 billion women’s healthcare device market, beginning its rollout with high-risk pregnancy centres such as CHUV.
The CHF 150,000 from Venture Kick will help the Medtech startup complete validation and move forward along the regulatory pathway toward early market entry.
“Venture Kick challenged us to think bigger, move faster, and sharpen our vision,” commented CEO Gian Luca Barbruni.
Lead image: Gian Luca Barbruni, CEO, MoleSense. Photo: uncredited.
28/10/2025 08:10 AM
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28/10/2025 08:00 AM
Formalize raises €30M to advance compliance solutions across Europe
Copenhagen-based
Formalize has raised €30 million in a Series B co-led by Acton Capital and
Blackfin Tech, with participation from West Hill Capital and CIBC
Innovation Banking. The company has raised €50 million to date.
Across
Europe, organisations face an increasingly complex, interconnected regulatory landscape, with evolving rules reshaping expectations for information security, resilience, and reporting across industries and regions.
Formalize, addresses this with a single platform that automates compliance workflows, consolidates requirements, and supports companies in managing ongoing regulatory change.
Founded in 2021, Formalize is a compliance software company whose platform supports NIS2, DORA, ISO 27001, GDPR, SOC 2, and related frameworks. The company began with its Whistleblower Software and has expanded into broader risk, privacy, and data compliance. Today, it serves organisations in over 80 countries and supports more than 12 languages.
Jakob Lilholm, CEO and co-founder of Formalize, said compliance has become a basic
requirement for doing business.
At
Formalize, we’re building a future where automation and AI simplify GRC for
European SMBs without ever compromising on security or the local expertise that
defines us. Our ability to scale and deliver value to thousands of companies
places us at the forefront of Europe’s regulatory landscape,
Lilholm
added.
The new funding will support expansion across Europe,
with plans to increase presence in key markets such as the DACH region and
France by opening additional offices and growing local teams to support
customers and partners.
28/10/2025 08:10 AM
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28/10/2025 07:58 AM
SpinDrive raises funding to scale magnetic bearing tech for cleaner industry
SpinDrive, a Finland-based provider of active magnetic
bearing (AMB) systems, has secured new growth funding led by long-time
investors Rhapsody Venture Partners and Innovestor.
Founded in 2015, SpinDrive commercialises
magnetic-levitation solutions for high-speed machinery. The company’s vision is
to lead in advanced magnetic-bearing systems with IoT-based condition
monitoring, improving efficiency and lowering costs and maintenance in industrial
applications.
Traditional industrial bearings rely on oil
lubrication and physical contact between moving parts, creating friction,
energy losses, wear, and frequent maintenance. Because bearings are widely used
in rotating machinery (such as compressors, pumps, turbines, and blowers), these
inefficiencies add up to substantial energy consumption and reduce
electric-motor efficiency.
SpinDrive addresses this with active magnetic bearing
technology that levitates the rotor, eliminating physical contact and friction.
The result is maintenance-free operation for over 20 years, no need for
oil-based lubricants, and meaningful energy-efficiency gains. Compared with
traditional ball bearings that often require replacement every 12–18 months in
high-speed applications, SpinDrive’s systems include integrated condition
monitoring without external sensors and can reduce overall equipment maintenance
costs by more than 80 per cent.
SpinDrive reports increasing US traction through both
direct customers and European OEM partners with US operations. Its systems are
being adopted in industrial cooling, heat pumps, wastewater treatment, and
semiconductor manufacturing, where energy efficiency and reliability are
critical.
The upcoming Magma X100 extends SpinDrive’s AMB
technology to ultra-high-speed machinery under 100 kW, broadening access to AMB
benefits in new markets and applications. Developed with support from the
European Commission, it is the company’s smallest, most affordable, and most
efficient system to date, and has received commercial orders ahead of launch.
Magma X100 brings the benefits of AMBs to
applications for which there has been no technical solution to date. Our new
product is small in form factor and a fraction of the cost of existing AMB
systems. We believe the benefits of AMBs will revolutionise a broad new set of
appliances and machinery.
The funding will support SpinDrive’s expanding US
customer base, strengthen its market presence in the region, and enable the
launch of the new Magma X100 magnetic bearing controller product line.
The new AI-powered Wikipedia competitor falsely claims that pornography worsened the AIDS epidemic and that social media may be fueling a rise in transgender people.