Venture Capital
Aug 4, 2026
Ore Energy Raises $43M Series A for Iron-Air Batteries
Dutch startup Ore Energy has closed a $43m Series A led by Plural and HV Capital to commercialize iron-air long-duration battery technology. The round signals growing investor conviction that grid-scale storage is becoming essential infrastructure — particularly as AI data centers drive unprecedented electricity demand across Europe.
Energy
Deep Tech
Startups
Aug 4, 2026
DesignArena Raises $7.9M to Give AI Better Design Taste
The team behind DesignArena — a platform used by 5.3 million people to evaluate AI outputs — has raised $7.9 million to bring human aesthetic judgment into frontier model training. The funding signals growing demand for specialized human feedback beyond basic accuracy benchmarks.
AI
Design
Startups
Aug 3, 2026
UK Chip Startup Olix Raises $312M at $3.3BN Valuation
Olix, a two-year-old UK chip startup, has closed a $312M Series B at a $3.3BN valuation — more than tripling its worth since February. The company is developing an optical digital processor designed to displace Nvidia's generalist chips with specialised silicon for AI inference workloads.
AI
Hardware
Startups
Aug 3, 2026
Malaysia Shuts Down Balaji Srinivasan's Network School
Balaji Srinivasan's ambitious 'network state' pilot, the Network School in Malaysia, is reportedly being shut down by Malaysian authorities. The closure raises pointed questions about the real-world viability of techno-optimist intentional communities — and what happens when utopian tech ideas meet sovereign governments.
Startups
Venture Capital
AI
Aug 3, 2026
European Tech Raised €44.1B in H1 2026
European tech companies closed €44.1 billion across 1,740 deals in the first half of 2026, with the UK dominating and AI startups pulling in nearly €6 billion. Last week alone saw €878M across 50+ deals and more than 10 exits and M&A transactions.
Funding
European Tech
AI
Aug 3, 2026
Index Ventures Closes $2bn Raise to Bet Big on AI
Index Ventures has raised $2bn in fresh capital, bringing total deployable assets to $3.5bn across seed and growth stages. The raise signals deep conviction in AI's potential to define the next generation of global technology companies — and comes at a moment when most VCs are struggling to return cash and close successor funds.
Venture Capital
AI
Startups
Aug 1, 2026
Building Young: AI Rewrites the Founder Playbook
AI tools are dramatically compressing the time it takes to go from idea to product, and teenage founders are among the biggest beneficiaries. But Silicon Valley's romance with young builders has a complicated flip side — public failure at scale, and an ecosystem that can turn fast.
Startups
AI
Founders
Aug 1, 2026
Index Ventures Raises $2B Across Three New Funds
Fresh off a massive return from the Google-Wiz deal, Index Ventures has closed $2 billion across three new funds. The raise brings the firm's total available investing capital to $3.5 billion, signaling continued conviction in early-stage and growth-stage tech bets.
Venture Capital
Fundraising
Enterprise AI
Jul 31, 2026
Why VC-Backed Startups Commit More Fraud, Study Finds
A joint study from Imperial College London and Emlyon Business School digs into the mechanics of startup fraud, finding that venture backing itself may create conditions that make misconduct more likely. Researchers mapped how founder incentives, investor pressure, and governance gaps combine to elevate fraud risk. Here's what the findings mean for the startup ecosystem.
Venture Capital
Startups
Fraud
Jul 31, 2026
Smallest.ai Raises $13M for Human-Like AI Voice Calls
Smallest.ai has closed a $13M funding round to develop ultra-low-latency voice AI that can hold real-time phone conversations with human-like naturalness. The startup is targeting the gap between current robotic voice bots and genuinely convincing conversational agents. If the technology delivers, it could reshape customer support, sales automation, and beyond.
AI
Voice AI
Startups
Jul 31, 2026
Ellis AI Raises $10M Seed for Private Credit Automation
Ellis AI has emerged from stealth with $10 million in seed funding, targeting the largely manual workflows of private credit managers with AI-powered automation. The startup is led by repeat founder Ryan Williams, who previously built and sold a real estate investment platform.
AI
Startups
Fintech
Jul 31, 2026
Neoteq's Simon Schneider on Closing Fund II
Cologne-based early-stage investor neoteq has completed the first closing of its second fund. General Partner Simon Schneider talks VC market recovery, rising expectations for founding teams, and the firm's DeepTech investment thesis.
Venture Capital
DeepTech
Startups
Jul 31, 2026
Intropy Raises $11M for AI in the Spare Parts Market
London-based Intropy has closed an $11M seed round led by Felix Capital to automate inventory and pricing decisions for spare parts distributors, manufacturers, and recyclers. Founded by two ex-Tractable researchers, the startup has already processed over $10 billion in spare parts demand since launching in 2024. The funding will fuel US expansion and accelerated product development.
AI
Startups
Funding
Jul 31, 2026
Highland Europe Closes €1.1B Fund VI for Scaleups
Highland Europe has raised €1.1 billion for its sixth fund, bringing its total capital raised to €3.75 billion since 2012. The growth-stage VC firm backed the move with over €1 billion in liquidity generated last year, including a $3B exit and a Nasdaq listing.
Venture Capital
European Tech
AI
Jul 31, 2026
German Deep Tech Roundup: ZuriQ, metr, 5U AI Raise
Three German startups closed notable funding rounds this week, spanning quantum technology, property tech, and AI-powered logistics. Here's what each deal signals about where early-stage capital is flowing in the DACH region.
Startups
Venture Capital
AI
Jul 31, 2026
Simile Hits $2B Valuation With $200M Round
Synthetic-user startup Simile has raised $200M at a $2B valuation, only five months after closing a $100M Series A. The company builds AI-powered simulations of human users for product research and testing. It's one of the fastest valuation climbs in the current AI funding cycle.
AI
Startups
Venture Capital
Jul 30, 2026
Microsoft Books $3.2B Gain from Its Anthropic Bet
Microsoft's fiscal Q4 2026 earnings revealed a $3.2B gain from its Anthropic investment — a notable return from a bet on a rival AI lab. But its longer-standing OpenAI relationship delivered a more complicated financial picture.
AI
Microsoft
Anthropic
Jul 30, 2026
Encore AI Raises $30M for Sales Agents That Learn
Encore AI has closed a $30M funding round to develop AI agents that analyze customer calls, messages, and CRM data to identify what works in sales — then codify those techniques into automated playbooks. The startup is betting that the next wave of sales AI won't be generic, but trained on a company's own winning behaviors.
AI
Startups
Sales Technology
Jul 30, 2026
Ex-Perplexity Engineer Launches Polar, an AI Browser
A former Perplexity employee who worked on the Comet browser has spun out to build Polar, an AI-native browser targeting knowledge workers. The startup has raised a $5.7 million seed round led by Madrona.
AI
Startups
Browsers
Jul 29, 2026
Visionaries Club Bets on a 'Concentration Model' for VC
German VC Visionaries Club is restructuring around two lead partners for its next fund, with general partner Rob Lacher arguing that AI has made large investment teams obsolete. The move reflects a broader industry shift as firms like Speedinvest and QuantumLight also rethink how they're staffed and operated.
Venture Capital
AI
Startups