EU-Startups

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American VC firm Lockheed Martin Ventures is expanding its reach to European markets in order to invest its €874 million ($1 billion) fund in promising DefenceTech companies from across the continent The firm will also be opening a London office with the goal of investing at least €87 million ($100 million) of its funding in the United Kingdom and Europe.

Greenjets, a London-based aerospace technology company developing propulsion systems, aircraft platforms and launch technologies for the next generation of aviation, today announced a €35 million ($40 million) Series A funding round. The round was led by Blossom Capital, with participation from the NATO Innovation Fund (NIF), the National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSSIF), and existing investors including Tanglin Ventures, NSFO Family Office and others.

Berlin-based frontier AI lab Prior Labs today announced that the multinational software company SAP has completed its acquisition of the company, supported by more than €1 billion in investment from SAP in order to fund infrastructure, hiring, and long-term frontier research. Prior Labs will continue under its own brand, leadership, research agenda and customer relationships, publish its research and make its models openly available, with SAP’s support.

European venture capital firm Lakestar announced the closing of its Lakestar Resilience I fund at €262.2 million ($300 million). The fund was oversubscribed, with investor interest significantly exceeding its targeted size. The firm describes it as Europe’s largest institutional venture fund built exclusively for dual-use and defence technology companies, and raised from private capital.

“SaaS is dead” has become the line of the year. But the obituaries are premature. Software isn’t shrinking. It is being rebuilt to compete for a far bigger prize. You will find it on founder feeds, in investor memos, and on conference stages from Lisbon to Helsinki. And on the surface, the market seems to agree.

DefenceTech startups Quantum Systems and Destinus are among the technology companies selected as founding members of the newly established EU–Ukraine Drone Alliance, a European Commission-backed initiative designed to accelerate cooperation on drone and counter-drone technologies. The pair are the startup highlights among the nine European founding members, which also include Croatian drone technology startup ORQA, French drone company Delair and defence technology company RSI Europe.

Sightera Biosciences, an Antwerp-based AI drug discovery startup and spin-off from the University of Antwerp (UA) and Antwerp University Hospital (UZA), today announced the closing of a €3 million pre-Seed financing led by Entourage, Anacura and QBIC.

ENGO, a Grenoble-based startup developing smart, lightweight AR glasses with integrated displays for athletes, has raised €5.1 million in funding to strengthen its leadership in the sports smart eyewear market and expedite R&D on miniaturisation and innovation. The round was led by Ventech, Odyssée Venture, and Bpifrance Amorçage Industriel. Blueprint Partners has supported ENGO from its inception through to its fundraising.

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