London, United Kingdom · Startup11x is the breakout star of the UK's agentic AI wave, known for building "digital workers" that replace full job functions rather than merely assisting them. Founded in 2022 by Hasan Sukkar, the company frames its product as autonomous employees rather than software tools. That positioning is controversial, but it resonates with revenue teams seeking to eliminate manual drudgery and scale outreach without linear headcount growth.
The flagship product, Alice, is an AI Sales Development Representative that can source leads, research accounts, craft highly personalized outreach, and follow up continuously. In late 2024, 11x launched Jordan, a multilingual AI phone agent that conducts real-time voice conversations for qualification and support in more than 30 languages. Together, these agents can run a large portion of the outbound funnel end-to-end, from initial outreach to handoff, with human oversight focused on high-value exceptions.
By early 2026, 11x had exploded in valuation after a Series B led by Andreessen Horowitz, a rare win for a UK-first startup. The company processes millions of interactions for high-growth tech companies such as Otter.ai and Airwallex and is expanding its footprint in San Francisco to preempt US-based competitors. The roadmap centers on "digital teams" that coordinate multiple agents across tasks: one agent identifies a lead, another calls, a third negotiates logistics, and a final agent drafts the contract. This orchestration layer is the company's strategic bet on becoming the default system for revenue operations.
The company's roots include Y Combinator's Summer 2023 batch, which accelerated its US network and credibility, and its UK engineering base sits in the London Bridge tech hub. Investor support spans US and European capital: a16z led the Series B, Benchmark led the Series A, Lux Capital participated early, Quiet Capital backed growth, and 20VC provided influential local support. In 2026, 11x is the UK's most visible play on AI-native revenue teams, aiming to become a category-defining platform for autonomous sales operations.
StartupGrowthAIAutomationSales
Hamburg, Germany · Startup1KOMMA5° (named for the 1.5°C climate target) is one of Europe’s fastest-scaling energy transition companies, reaching unicorn status in roughly 21 months. Based in Hamburg, the firm tackles the “last mile” of decarbonization by combining a roll-up acquisition strategy with a software-defined energy platform. Instead of only selling solar panels, 1KOMMA5° acquires local installer businesses across Europe and digitizes them to deliver end-to-end home electrification — solar, batteries, heat pumps, and EV chargers — with consistent quality and financing. The company’s differentiator is Heartbeat, a proprietary energy management system that turns these assets into a virtual power plant. Heartbeat orchestrates when batteries charge or discharge based on real-time spot prices and grid conditions, allowing households to capture savings from dynamic tariffs and to export power during peak demand. In 2025, the system expanded to automated trading of household energy, making “free” electricity periods during windy or sunny hours a tangible consumer benefit. This blending of hardware deployment and energy-software automation allows 1KOMMA5° to capture margin both on installation and on recurring software and energy services. Founder Philipp Schroder (former Tesla country director and Sonnen executive) used his industry network to skip early accelerators, and the company instead embedded itself in the Hamburg Startup City ecosystem. Its acquisition engine is relentless: by buying regional market leaders, it locks in the most scarce resource in the sector — skilled installers — while rapidly expanding geographic reach. By early 2026, 1KOMMA5° had expanded beyond DACH into the Nordics, Spain, and Australia, positioning itself for a cross-continental footprint ahead of a public listing. The company has signaled an IPO-readiness push, backed by record turnover reported for 2024 and an expansion into branded hardware components to increase margin and supply-chain resilience. Its investor base blends strategic and growth capital: Porsche Ventures provided early backing, G2VP brought Silicon Valley cleantech expertise, Eurazeo and eCapital added European growth capital, and Norrsken VC underscored the impact thesis. In 2026, 1KOMMA5° is a case study in how Europe can scale climate tech through operational execution rather than pure technology — a disciplined roll-up with a software heart that turns millions of households into coordinated energy assets.
StartupGrowthCleanTechEnergyIoT
Prague, Czech Republic · StartupAdam is a marketplace for tradespeople, effectively an on-demand platform for home renovation and construction services. Customers can book vetted painters, electricians, or renovation crews, while providers receive steady demand and streamlined scheduling. The company has expanded across Europe, including the UK, Spain, and France. By 2026, Adam is a visible Czech marketplace success in the home services sector.
StartupGrowthMarketplaceServicesConsumer
London, United Kingdom · StartupAdMagica is a generative AI platform for e-commerce ad creative production, with corporate presence in London and core operations in Tbilisi. The product helps performance marketing teams generate, resize, and test conversion-oriented creatives faster across social channels, reducing creative fatigue and production overhead. The company emerged from the 500 Eurasia Batch 9 ecosystem and targets European commerce brands.
StartupEarly StageMarTechGenerative AIE-commerce
Copenhagen, Denmark · StartupAgeras provides a platform for small businesses that combines banking, accounting, payroll, invoicing, and tax tools in one place.
StartupGrowthFintechAccountingSMB SaaS
Bratislava, Slovakia · StartupAgeVolt offers a digital ecosystem for EV charging that integrates with building energy management to prevent overloads and blackouts. Its platform optimizes charging schedules, manages access, and supports payments across fleets and commercial properties. The company is building a network model described as a “booking.com for private chargers,” unlocking underused charging infrastructure. By 2026, AgeVolt is a notable Slovak player in smart charging.
StartupGrowthEV ChargingEnergySoftware
Tbilisi, Georgia · StartupAgrolabs is an AgTech company from Tbilisi focused on digitizing greenhouse operations through IoT sensing and analytics. The platform combines hardware sensors with cloud-based monitoring to detect crop and climate anomalies early and provide daily recommendations for yield optimization. It grew from the 500 Georgia/Eurasia ecosystem and is positioned for cross-border agriculture markets.
StartupGrowthAgTechIoTData Analytics
Helsinki, Finland · StartupManaged open source data infrastructure powering PostgreSQL, Kafka, and Elastic in the cloud.
StartupSeries CInfrastructureCloud
Kyiv, Ukraine · StartupOverview: Ajax Systems is a leading security technology startup and is now the largest manufacturer of professional security systems in Europe. The company develops and produces a range of smart security devices for homes and businesses - including wireless motion detectors, door/window opening sensors, glass break sensors, fire alarms, flood detectors, and control panels - all connected via Ajax's proprietary radio communication technology. An Ajax security system typically centers around a smart hub and can integrate over 50 different sensors and sirens to provide comprehensive intrusion detection, fire safety, and even smart home automation. The devices are known for their sleek design (winning multiple Red Dot design awards) and reliable performance (long battery life, extended wireless range, resistant to jamming). Users manage the system through Ajax's mobile app, receiving instant alerts and being able to arm/disarm or monitor their property from anywhere. Unlike traditional wired security systems, Ajax's wireless approach allows easy installation and scalability. With its combination of hardware and software, Ajax Systems has effectively become a security platform protecting over 1 million premises in more than 120 countries. Founding Story (2011): Ajax Systems was founded in 2011 in Kyiv, Ukraine by Oleksandr (Alexander) Konotopskyi. Konotopskyi started Ajax in his mid-20s, with a vision to build a security system that was both high-quality and affordable, targeting a gap in the market between cheap unreliable alarms and overly expensive Western systems. In the early days, Ajax was literally a garage startup - the team of engineers hand-soldered the first devices themselves. They focused initially on creating a car alarm and simple motion detectors, but soon pivoted fully to smart home security. The name "Ajax" was chosen to signify agility and strength (after the Greek hero). The company struggled to find capital at first, as Ukraine in 2011 had limited VC presence. In 2015, Ajax got its first external investment of $1M from SMRK, a local fund run by MacPaw's CEO, which allowed scaling production. A major milestone was around 2016 when Ajax launched its second-generation system with the Jeweller radio technology and a polished mobile app - this got attention in European markets. By 2017, Ajax started exporting its devices beyond Ukraine, and a turning point came when it won a prestigious security industry award in the UK, helping build global credibility. The founding story is one of persistence: Konotopskyi has often recounted how many advised him that manufacturing electronics in Ukraine was impractical, but he proved it possible with a highly motivated local team. Product and Innovation: Ajax's product line today includes about 180 products covering intrusion detection (motion, opening, glass break sensors), fire safety (smoke and CO detectors, fire alarm), flood prevention (leak detectors), plus sirens, keypads, panic buttons, and relay modules to control third-party devices. The system connects via radio frequencies (868 MHz band in Europe, etc.) with range up to 2000 meters and has advanced encryption. One of Ajax's innovation points is its proprietary OS Malevich that runs the hubs, enabling over-the-air updates and new features. The Ajax mobile app provides a modern UX that was missing in older alarm systems. Another innovative aspect is battery life - sensors can work 5-7 years on one battery, addressing a pain point of wireless security. Ajax also built a technology called Wings for photo verification - some motion detectors have cameras that can send photos when triggered, so users and alarm companies see if an intruder is present. The target market for Ajax includes both residential customers and small businesses/shops, as well as larger commercial clients (they have a heavier-duty hub for enterprise). The systems are typically sold and installed via a network of 1,100+ authorized security providers/installers globally, rather than direct to consumer only. This channel strategy helped Ajax penetrate traditional security markets in Europe, Asia, and beyond. Traction and Scale: The growth of Ajax Systems has been remarkable, especially post-2015. As of late 2023, Ajax serves over 4 million end users worldwide who rely on its security systems. It has become the top alarm system brand in Europe by units sold - a feat for a Ukrainian company competing with legacy giants. The company's revenue reflects this: in 2023, Ajax's revenue was around UAH 7.5-8.5 billion (Ukrainian hryvnia), roughly $200+ million USD, showing rapid growth from just a few million USD a decade prior. It's been profitable and reinvesting in expansion, now running multiple manufacturing plants. Ajax exports to over 120 countries, with key markets including Italy, Spain, France, the UK, and also growth in the Middle East and Latin America. In Ukraine, Ajax became a market leader, protecting many homes even amid the war. The company's workforce grew to around 2,500 employees (by 2025) spread across R&D centers in Kyiv, hardware development in Kharkiv, and manufacturing facilities in Ukraine and a new plant in Turkey (opened 2022) and recently in Vietnam (opened 2025 to diversify production). These expansions are partly in response to risk management due to regional instability, but also to meet surging global demand. Ajax's products have received numerous awards in the security industry and technology circles for innovation. Funding and Investors: Ajax's funding journey started with local investors. The initial $1M from SMRK in 2015 and early revenues got the company off the ground. A significant boost came in 2019 when Horizon Capital, a U.S.-Ukrainian private equity firm, invested $10 million for a minority stake. This effectively was Ajax's Series A, and it valued the company north of $70M reportedly. Horizon's investment provided growth capital to scale production and international sales. Interestingly, Ajax never took traditional Silicon Valley VC funding; by the time it was on VC radar, it was already profitable and scaling via PE style funding. EBRD also extended some debt financing to Ajax as it expanded manufacturing. Total external funding is relatively modest (about $11M equity and some debt), as the company's strong revenue allowed it to fuel growth internally. PitchBook data shows Ajax's valuation surpassed $100M by 2020, and given the revenue growth, some speculated it could approach unicorn status if valued on a typical tech multiple (though security hardware might have lower multiples). Achievements and Impact: Ajax Systems stands out as one of the most successful hardware startups from Eastern Europe. Achievements include becoming the number 1 security system brand in Europe within 10 years, something even the founder calls "building the Apple of security in Ukraine." The products have achieved a level of reliability that professional security companies trust - over 1,200 security companies (alarm response centers) around the world integrate with Ajax's system to provide monitoring services. Ajax's impact in Ukraine is also profound: it built local manufacturing when many said it was impossible, created thousands of jobs, and became one of Ukraine's top tech exporters. Even during the 2022 Russian invasion, Ajax kept its factories in Ukraine running (with precautions and relocating some lines to safer regions) and supported the war effort by developing an "Air Alarm" app for Ukrainians (in partnership with the government) to warn of missile attacks. This app uses Ajax's expertise in instant mass notification and became a widely used tool, saving lives. Ajax's success has been a beacon for Ukraine's tech industry, proving that a hardware company can scale globally from Ukraine. In recognition, founder Konotopskyi received national awards and is often cited among top Ukrainian entrepreneurs. The company's plans include possibly an IPO in the future once global expansion stabilizes. It continues to innovate - recent new products include automation devices (to control lights, thermostats, etc., moving Ajax towards smart home, not just security). By coupling security with convenience, Ajax is carving out a role in the broader IoT and smart home market. In summary, Ajax Systems transformed from a Kyiv startup into a global security powerhouse, all while keeping its R&D and much of its production in Ukraine, which is a testament to the talent and resilience of Ukrainian engineers and business leaders. Sources: inventure.com.ua, euristiq.com, techukraine.org, ajax.systems.
StartupGrowthSecurityIoTHardwareSmart Home
Paris, France · StartupModern health insurance platform streamlining getting care for European employees.
StartupGrowthHealthSoftware
Kyiv, Ukraine · StartupOverview: Allset is a food-tech startup that provides a platform for online restaurant ordering and pickup. Originally launched as a dine-in pre-ordering app, Allset allows customers to pre-order meals at restaurants so that the food is ready at a scheduled time and they can "skip the line". Over time, Allset expanded to enable standard takeout orders, curbside pickups, and even contactless dine-in where you arrive and your meal is served immediately. The convenience factor is central: Allset's app lets users browse menus of partner restaurants, pay in advance (including tip), and streamline the eating experience without waiting. For restaurants, Allset offers a marketplace to attract busy professionals and on-the-go diners, while avoiding the high fees of delivery services. By focusing on pickup and in-restaurant efficiency, Allset positioned itself as a lower-cost alternative to delivery apps for eateries, promising no couriers or delivery logistics - just seamless pickup transactions. As of 2021, Allset had thousands of restaurant partners, particularly in major U.S. cities, and had broadened its use-case to also support contactless dining during the COVID-19 pandemic. Founding Story (2015): Allset was founded in 2015 by two Ukrainians, Stas Matviyenko (Stan) and Anna Polishchuk, who moved to California to grow the business. The founders previously built a mobile payments startup in Ukraine (Settle), which gave them insight into restaurant payment pain points. They noticed that busy professionals often have limited lunch break time and that waiting for service at restaurants ate up much of it. Thus, Allset was conceived to let users pre-order and pre-pay for meals so they could "set" everything in advance and have all set when they arrive (hence the name). The concept started with a few restaurants in San Francisco and New York participating. Early growth was modest as it required signing up restaurants one-by-one and changing consumer habits. However, by offering a win-win - restaurants get more turnover at lunch with guaranteed orders, customers get time savings - Allset steadily gained traction. Matviyenko and Polishchuk leveraged their Ukrainian tech team to build the app cost-effectively. In 2016, they got into the 500 Startups accelerator, which provided seed funding and mentorship in Silicon Valley. By 2017-2018, Allset expanded to multiple U.S. cities and refined its model to also include standard takeout ordering. Product and Market: Allset's target users were urban professionals and corporate employees looking for efficient lunch options. It integrated with over 7,000 restaurants in the U.S. and also some in Ukraine by 2023. Cuisine-wise it was diverse - from fast-casual chains to local eateries. The platform's business model charges restaurants a commission per order, but it touted itself as having significantly lower fees than delivery apps like UberEats or DoorDash. This is because pickup orders do not involve logistics costs. Allset also at times charged consumers small convenience fees or offered a subscription for zero fees. Its competition includes not just the big delivery apps, but also restaurant reservation systems and point-of-sale providers who have added mobile ordering. However, Allset carved a niche in "order ahead for dine-in/pickup." During COVID-19, Allset quickly shifted focus to contactless pickup and curbside service, which aligned with public health needs. The app usage grew as more consumers opted for takeout and avoiding crowds. Post-pandemic, Allset continued to be relevant as many users, accustomed to mobile ordering, kept using it for efficiency. Traction: By the early 2020s, Allset had facilitated tens of millions of orders. It was particularly popular in cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston. The app had over 2 million users and a strong repeat usage among its core demographic (e.g., office workers who would use it daily for lunch). Allset's restaurant network grew to include national chains as well as local favorites. A reported figure from around 2021 indicated nearly 7,000 restaurant partners across the US and Ukraine, illustrating its significant network. Partnerships with large chains (for example, they onboarded Panera Bread in some regions) helped validate the concept. In terms of scale, Allset's gross merchandise volume (the total value of orders through the platform) reached eight figures in USD annually. Press coverage often highlighted Allset as a rising star in the on-demand dining space, and it received awards like being listed in Forbes' 30 Under 30 (Matviyenko was honored in 2018). Funding and Investors: Allset attracted a mix of Silicon Valley and Ukrainian investors through its journey. Early on, it raised a $3.35M combined seed (including a $1M pre-seed from SMRK, a Ukrainian VC). In 2018, Allset secured an $8.25M Series A, with investors like Greycroft, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), VK (Digital Garage), and SMRK participating. This round helped fuel its expansion to new cities. By 2020, Allset had raised a total of about $16.6M in funding. A notable investor, Andreessen Horowitz, gave credibility given their prominence. Additionally, the EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) co-invested in Allset, a nod to its Ukrainian roots and growth potential. The company was relatively capital-efficient, using a distributed team in Kyiv for development while its sales team signed restaurants in the U.S. According to PitchBook, Allset's valuation was healthy, though it never reached unicorn status. Acquisition by SoundHound (2024): A major milestone came in June 2024, when SoundHound AI, a Nasdaq-listed voice AI company, announced it had acquired Allset. The deal amount was undisclosed, but it marked a successful exit for the founders and investors. SoundHound's interest was in combining Allset's marketplace and restaurant partnerships with SoundHound's voice assistant tech for ordering (they have a voice ordering system used by restaurants). Through this acquisition, Allset's team (Matviyenko and Polishchuk) and technology joined SoundHound, aiming to power voice-enabled food ordering across SoundHound's large client network. The acquisition can be seen as a strategic fit: Allset brings the restaurant relationships and order workflow, while SoundHound brings cutting-edge voice AI. Allset's co-founders took on roles within SoundHound's leadership to continue growing this combined vision. For the Ukrainian startup scene, Allset's acquisition was a proud moment - a startup founded by Ukrainians achieved a notable exit on the global stage. Achievements and Impact: Allset's journey demonstrated the strength of Ukrainian entrepreneurs in the global arena of food tech. The company managed to enter the ultra-competitive U.S. food app market and carve a space for itself. It was recognized as one of Ukraine's top startups in multiple rankings. The company's growth also had a direct impact: it provided business to restaurants (especially small ones) by bringing them customers who might not have come in otherwise. Its focus on reducing wait times resonated with modern consumers' demand for convenience. Notably, Allset survived and adapted through the pandemic - offering features like dine-in ordering via QR code to minimize contact. This nimbleness likely made it an attractive acquisition target. Allset also set an example of transatlantic collaboration: R&D in Ukraine, business development in the U.S., which is a model other Ukrainian startups have since followed. Post-acquisition, the Allset app and brand continue to operate, now with the backing of SoundHound. With voice technology integration, a future use case might be ordering meals by simply speaking to your car or smart device, which could be the next level of convenience Allset helps enable. For Anna Polishchuk and Stas Matviyenko, their success with Allset has cemented them as influential figures in Ukraine's startup community, often mentoring younger founders and investing in new startups. Sources: vestbee.com, kyivpost.com, vcnewsdaily.com.
StartupGrowthFoodTechMarketplaceHospitalityMobile
Bratislava, Slovakia · StartupAltFins is a cloud-based platform for crypto traders to screen, analyze, and trade across multiple exchanges. It provides advanced charting, signals, and portfolio tools used by professional and institutional users. By 2026, AltFins has carved out a niche as a serious trading platform in the crypto analytics market.
StartupGrowthFintechCryptoAnalytics
Oxford, United Kingdom · StartupMedtech spin-out developing implantable neuromodulation devices to treat pelvic and nervous system disorders.
StartupGrowthHealthtechMedical Devices
Krakow, Poland · StartupOnline fashion retailer serving multiple CEE markets with a broad catalog of apparel, footwear, and accessories.
StartupGrowthE-commerceFashion TechRetail
Vienna, Austria · StartupAnyline builds vision-AI software that turns cameras into data-capture and mobile inspection tools for enterprises.
StartupGrowthComputer VisionEnterprise SoftwareAI
Prague, Czech Republic · StartupApify turns the web into an API by providing a platform where developers build and monetize “actors” that extract data from websites. It has become a critical part of the AI data supply chain, powering scraping, monitoring, and automation at scale. The company bootstrapped to profitability before raising capital and maintains a strong open developer ecosystem. By 2026, Apify is a global leader in web automation infrastructure.
StartupGrowthAutomationDeveloper ToolsData
Warsaw, Poland · StartupWarsaw-based medtech startup developing AptaSense, a bedside analyzer for near real-time therapeutic drug monitoring. The platform uses disposable strips to measure antibiotic and protein levels in around one minute to support precise dosing in sepsis and critical care.
StartupEarly StageMedTechDiagnosticsHealthTech
Frankfurt, Germany · StartupRe-commerce platform for professionally refurbished consumer electronics with quality grading, warranty, and circular lifecycle services.
StartupGrowthRe-commerceE-commerceCircular Economy
Wroclaw, Poland · StartupComposable e-commerce software platform for mid-market and enterprise brands managing storefront, catalog, and omnichannel commerce workflows.
StartupGrowthSaaSE-commerceEnterprise Software
Budapest, Hungary · StartupFounded by the creator of syslog-ng, Axoflow provides an observability and security-data routing layer for modern SOC teams. The platform helps enterprises filter, transform, and route telemetry intelligently to reduce SIEM cost pressure and improve incident investigation performance.
StartupGrowthCybersecurityBig DataObservability
Leiden, Netherlands · StartupAzafaros is a clinical-stage biotech company developing oral therapies for rare genetic metabolic disorders, including lysosomal diseases. Its lead development strategy focuses on compounds designed to cross the blood-brain barrier and address severe neurological progression in underserved pediatric conditions.
StartupGrowthBiotechLife SciencesPharma
Lisbon, Portugal · StartupBandora is an AI-powered virtual facility manager that integrates with existing building management systems to optimize energy efficiency, reduce costs, and maintain comfort in commercial buildings. The startup has reported about USD 1M-1.5M in pre-seed/seed backing and won the CTA CEO Summit startup pitch in Lisbon, earning a complimentary exhibit space at CES 2026 in Las Vegas.
StartupEarly StageAIPropTechEnergy Management
Aarhus, Denmark · StartupBe My Eyes is a Danish accessibility platform that connects blind and low vision users with sighted volunteers and company support teams through live video calls. Founded in 2015 by Hans Jorgen Wiberg, the app created a global community of millions of volunteers who provide real time visual assistance. The company later added enterprise support partnerships and AI powered visual descriptions. Be My Eyes is a leading example of Danish tech for social impact.
StartupGrowthAccessibilitySocial ImpactAI
Prague, Czech Republic · StartupBetter Stack is a Prague-founded observability platform built by engineers for engineers, led by Juraj Masar (CEO) and Veronika Kolejak (COO). The company is known for combining speed, lower cost, and strong product design in a unified stack that covers uptime monitoring, log management, incident response, and status pages. Its technical positioning emphasizes standard SQL over proprietary query languages and high-performance analytics on ClickHouse-based infrastructure. Better Stack's January 2024 Series A and extension brought total funding to about $28.6M, with Creandum, KAYA Ventures, and Susa Ventures among key investors plus notable angels from Box, Flexport, Neo4j, Yelp, Codecademy, and UiPath. Publicly shared company metrics reported more than 200,000 developers and 4,000+ customers, and by 2026 Better Stack is widely viewed as one of the strongest Czech global DevTools contenders.
StartupGrowthDevToolsObservabilityInfrastructure
Kyiv, Ukraine · StartupOverview: BetterMe is a health and wellness tech company that offers a suite of mobile apps focused on fitness, nutrition, and mental well-being. It provides users with personalized workout plans, meal plans, and lifestyle advice to help them lose weight, get fit, or improve their overall health. BetterMe's flagship app, often just called "BetterMe: Health Coaching," includes features such as short video workouts, diet tracking, and educational content. The company also launched a BetterMe: Mental Health app for meditation and stress reduction, reflecting a holistic approach to wellness. Uniquely, BetterMe tailors its programs to individuals using quizzes and data, making the experience feel custom - for example, a user can indicate their goals and preferences and receive a workout routine and diet plan suited to them. The apps are gamified and use a lot of motivational psychology (for instance, sending encouraging notifications, or featuring success stories) to keep users engaged. BetterMe operates on a freemium model: users can access some content for free but need a subscription to unlock full personalized plans and coaching. With an affordable subscription, it undercuts many traditional weight loss programs, contributing to its massive global user adoption. Founding Story (2016/2017): BetterMe was founded in 2017 in Kyiv, Ukraine by Viktoria Repa, a young woman from a family that struggled with obesity. Viktoria's personal journey - she managed to lose weight despite being told it was hopeless - inspired her to help others do the same using smartphone technology. She joined Genesis, a Ukrainian tech incubator, where she developed the idea for BetterMe. With an initial $5 million support from Genesis Investments to kickstart the project, BetterMe launched its first product focusing on exercise plans. Early traction came via viral content on social media; Viktoria's team leveraged platforms like Facebook and Instagram to attract users with catchy fitness challenges and transformation stories. By late 2017, BetterMe's app reached the top charts in the Health and Fitness category on the App Store in multiple countries. The company smartly expanded into adjacent categories: adding a meal planning app, then merging them into one comprehensive platform. Repa, as a first-time founder, was notable for bootstrapping growth (outside of the initial Genesis funding) - she reinvested revenue from the app back into marketing rather than seeking huge VC rounds. This lean approach allowed BetterMe to scale rapidly without dilution or external pressure, and by focusing on revenue early, it achieved profitability within a couple of years. Product and Target Market: BetterMe's target market is primarily women aged 25-45 worldwide looking to improve fitness or lose weight, though it has users of all genders and ages. The app's content covers home workouts (no equipment needed routines, HIIT, yoga, etc.), diet (with thousands of recipes and even grocery lists), and mental health (meditation, self-love coaching). By bundling these, BetterMe positions itself as an all-in-one "personal coach in your pocket." The product stands out for localization - it offers content in multiple languages and adapts to cultural preferences (for example, meal plans will consider local cuisines). The company also sells BetterMe-branded sportswear and merchandise, tapping into the aspirational lifestyle brand angle. One of BetterMe's innovations was leveraging viral marketing: its social media team produced simple before-and-after animations and relatable memes that drew tens of millions of views. This organic reach translated into app installs at low cost. The app itself capitalized on trends like short 7-minute workouts and challenges (e.g., 28-day weight loss challenge), which kept users engaged daily. With the onset of COVID-19 in 2020, BetterMe saw a surge as people turned to home fitness solutions, and the company responded by launching live workout sessions and more mental health resources. Traction and Users: BetterMe's growth has been explosive. As of 2022, BetterMe had over 110 million users worldwide - an astonishing figure that outpaced many competitors like Strava or Headspace in raw user count. The app consistently ranks among the top health and fitness apps in the U.S., Europe, and developing markets. The company achieved $80 million in annual revenue by 2022, all while remaining profitable. This revenue is largely subscription-driven, demonstrating a strong conversion of free users to paid plans. BetterMe's user base is global: major markets include the U.S. (which often accounts for 30-40% of revenue), Europe, Latin America, and also parts of Asia where affordable fitness coaching is in demand. The app has high ratings on app stores and has been downloaded well over 150 million times cumulatively. BetterMe's team grew to around 200 people by 2022, scaling to support content creation (new exercises, recipes, etc.), customer support, and continuous app development. An important aspect of BetterMe's traction is retention - many users report that the combination of physical and mental health guidance in one place keeps them using it long-term, as opposed to fad diet apps that get uninstalled. Funding and Business Model: Interestingly, BetterMe has been largely bootstrapped after the initial funding. Founder Viktoria Repa raised about $5M from Genesis (which is more of an internal investment from the incubator) and did not seek major external VC rounds afterwards. She cited the relatively underdeveloped VC landscape in Ukraine as one reason, but also the fact that BetterMe was generating enough cash to fuel its growth organically. By avoiding dilution, Repa retained control and the company focused on sustainable growth. The business model is straightforward: subscription revenue from the apps (monthly or annual plans) and some e-commerce sales of merchandise. With tens of millions of users, even a small percentage subscribing translated to substantial income. By 2023, the company was reportedly exploring opportunities for external funding or strategic partnerships to develop new products (like potentially telehealth or personalized coaching services). If it were to raise funds, given its scale and profitability, BetterMe could likely command a very high valuation (some industry observers speculated it could be Ukraine's next unicorn). Achievements and Recognition: BetterMe's success has brought significant recognition. Viktoria Repa, as a young female CEO, was featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe in 2019. Sifted.eu (FT's tech publication) ran a story on how she built a global health app from Ukraine with $80M revenue in 5 years. BetterMe's apps frequently top the "most downloaded" charts, and in 2021 Apple highlighted BetterMe in its App Store success stories. Another achievement: during the war in Ukraine, BetterMe made its apps free for all Ukrainian users to help people cope with stress and stay healthy at home. The company donated a portion of its profits to the Ukrainian army and charities, and even released Ukraine flag-themed workout gear to raise funds. This stance boosted its image as a socially responsible brand. BetterMe also claims that it has helped millions of people collectively lose over 1,000,000 kilograms of weight (per internal metrics), showcasing real-world impact. User testimonials often mention life-changing health improvements, which BetterMe uses (with permission) in its marketing. The company's next milestones include expanding into more holistic healthcare - possibly adding features like consultations with trainers or nutritionists, and integrating wearable data for more personalization. Overall, BetterMe illustrates how a Ukrainian startup identified a massive global need - accessible health improvement - and executed with digital savvy to become one of the world's most popular wellness platforms. It stands as a symbol of Ukraine's emerging strength in consumer tech and the power of combining tech with personal passion to solve widespread problems. Sources: sifted.eu.
StartupGrowthHealthWellnessMobileSubscription
Paris, France · StartupBioptimus is the self-proclaimed "Mistral of Biology," spun out in early 2024 by a team of alumni from Google DeepMind and Owkin, including CEO Jean-Philippe Vert. The company is building what it calls the first universal foundation model for biology. Where large language models were trained on text to learn human language, Bioptimus trains on biological data—DNA sequences, protein structures, cellular imagery, and clinical phenotypes—to infer the underlying rules of life. The ambition is not just better predictions but a unified biological reasoning layer that can simulate outcomes before expensive lab work happens.
By 2026, Bioptimus has moved from a research thesis to early commercial traction. After a $41M Series A in 2025, the company released its first commercial model that can predict how a specific molecule will interact with a human cell with unusually high accuracy. This enables in-silico screening that reduces wet-lab costs and improves hit rates for drug discovery. French pharma leaders such as Sanofi have begun using these models to prioritize compounds and compress early-stage discovery timelines. The product value is immediate: fewer failed experiments, faster candidate selection, and deeper mechanistic insight.
Bioptimus' roadmap focuses on "multi-scale biology," connecting the micro level (genomics and proteomics) to the macro level (patient outcomes and clinical data). Rather than being limited to protein folding, the models aim to bridge across data modalities so a genetic mutation can be linked to disease pathways, tissue behavior, and potential therapeutic interventions. This requires data breadth and regulatory trust, and Bioptimus is building a defensive moat through European data sovereignty. It leverages partnerships with European research hospitals and biobanks to access high-quality patient data that is difficult for US competitors to acquire under GDPR constraints. That compliance burden becomes a competitive advantage: safer access, better provenance, and stronger alignment with European health data governance.
The company remains deeply embedded in the Paris ecosystem. It was incubated inside Owkin before spinning out, maintains a presence around Station F, and benefits from the cross-pollination between French AI and biotech communities. Its investor base reflects that positioning: Sofinnova Partners, Bpifrance, Cathay Innovation, Xavier Niel, and Frst provide a blend of life-science expertise, sovereign capital, and deep-tech conviction. In 2026, Bioptimus is the clearest European bet that foundation models can unlock biology at scale—and a contender to become the default AI layer for drug discovery in Europe.
StartupGrowthBiotechAIHealthcare
Vienna, Austria · StartupRetail investing platform offering cryptocurrencies, stocks, ETFs, and precious metals with fractional trades.
StartupGrowthFintechInvesting
Paris, France · StartupBlaBlaCar is the world’s leading long-distance carpooling platform, often hailed as France’s flagship startup success. Founded in 2006 by Frédéric Mazzella (along with Francis Nappez and Nicolas Brusson), BlaBlaCar was born from Mazzella’s realization that countless car journeys had empty seats. The platform (named after users’ self-described chattyness level – “Bla”, “BlaBla”, or “BlaBlaBla”) connects drivers with spare seats to passengers traveling the same way, so they can share the ride and costs. Today, BlaBlaCar has a 100 million-member community across 22+ countries, serving over 25 million travelers per quarter pre-pandemic. It operates in most of Europe and parts of Latin America and Asia, having successfully localized carpooling in markets like Germany, Russia, Brazil, and Turkey. The company also branched into bus travel: in 2018, BlaBlaCar acquired Ouibus from SNCF, rebranding it BlaBlaBus, to offer intercity bus routes alongside carpool rides. BlaBlaCar’s business model charges a roughly 10–20% booking fee from passengers in mature markets, though in new markets it often launches free to build liquidity. Known for its strong community culture, BlaBlaCar emphasizes trust – it introduced verified profiles, ratings, and even an optional “Ladies Only” carpool option. The company achieved unicorn status in 2015 when it raised $200 million at a $1.6 billion valuation and later was valued around $2 billion. Despite the pandemic’s impact on travel, BlaBlaCar rebounded by 2022, even reporting profitability. In 2023, it raised €100 million in financing to fuel growth. BlaBlaCar is often cited in case studies (Harvard, etc.) as a pioneer of the sharing economy in Europe, proving that a people-powered platform can transform intercity transport. By bringing cost-effective travel to millions and fostering new friendships on the road, BlaBlaCar has truly brought “ridesharing” into the mainstream – and stands as one of Europe’s few consumer-tech unicorns with global reach.
StartupGrowthMobilityMarketplace
Berlin, Germany · StartupBlockbrain builds private enterprise AI assistants that connect to internal knowledge tools such as Slack, Notion, Google Drive, and email. The platform creates context-aware internal search and answer workflows to reduce information fragmentation and speed up employee access to institutional knowledge.
StartupEarly StageAIEnterprise SoftwareB2B SaaS
Lisbon, Portugal · StartupBloop is a social shopping network launched in Portugal in 2025 that combines social sharing and e-commerce while rewarding users with platform credit for product reviews. The company has reported EUR 2M in total investment and built its marketplace stack with Marketplacer plus Checkstep moderation tooling for EU DSA-aligned compliance workflows.
StartupEarly StageMarketplaceE-commerceSocial Commerce
Tallinn, Estonia · StartupBolt is an Estonia-born mobility superapp operating ride-hailing, micromobility (scooters and bikes), food delivery, grocery delivery via Bolt Market, and car sharing through Bolt Drive. The company reported about EUR 2.0b in revenue in 2024 and has said it is preparing for a potential stock market listing when conditions are favorable. Bolt continues to expand across Europe with a multi-vertical platform built around local operations and logistics density.
StartupLate StageMobilityDeliveryLogistics
Paris, France · StartupMarketing automation and CRM platform (formerly Sendinblue) with a large London presence and strong SMB community ties.
StartupGrowthMarketingSaaSSMB
Stockholm, Sweden · StartupBrickanta is building an AI-native operating layer for early-stage commercial construction planning. The platform interprets drawings, code constraints, and cost data to automate bid analysis and estimation, reducing procurement risk and planning overhead for project owners and contractors.
StartupEarly StagePropTechConstruction TechAI
Amsterdam, Netherlands · StartupMobile-first bank that lets individuals and businesses control accounts, cards, and payments.
StartupGrowthFintechBanking
Vilnius, Lithuania · StartupCallsy is a Vilnius-based conversational AI startup focused on recovering abandoned e-commerce checkouts for online merchants. The product integrates with Shopify, initiates natural-language voice calls to high-intent shoppers, and follows up with personalized SMS incentives to improve conversion. Its multilingual voice workflows are tailored for cross-border commerce across Europe and beyond.
StartupEarly StageE-commerceConversational AISales
Tbilisi, Georgia · StartupCardeal is a Tbilisi-based auto marketplace and auction platform that digitizes cross-border vehicle sourcing and trade workflows. The product enables buyers to access international car inventories and live bidding, then manage shipping, customs, and delivery from a unified interface. It grew through the 500 Georgia/Eurasia program and serves regional demand across the Caucasus.
StartupGrowthE-commerceAutoTechMarketplace
London, United Kingdom · StartupOnline marketplace that simplifies buying, financing, and swapping nearly-new cars in Europe.
StartupGrowthMobilityConsumer
Munich, Germany · StartupCelonis is a Munich and New York-based enterprise software company that pioneered the field of process mining – technology that analyzes a company’s IT event logs to visualize and optimize its business processes. Founded in 2011 by three friends (Alexander Rinke, Bastian Nominacher, and Martin Klenk) out of university in Munich, Celonis bootstrapped in its early years and landed Siemens as a key pilot customer for its process analytics tool. The software proved invaluable in identifying inefficiencies in processes like order-to-cash, procurement, and inventory management. By 2015 Celonis was the leader in this niche, and it partnered with SAP which resold Celonis as SAP Process Mining by Celonis. Venture capital soon followed: Celonis raised $27.5M in 2016 (Series A) then $50M in 2018 (Series B). Its growth was massive – from €1M ARR in 2012 to well over €100M by late 2010s. In 2019, Celonis raised $290M at a $2.5B valuation, making it a unicorn. It wasn’t done: by June 2021, Celonis announced a $1B Series D round valuing it at $11 billion, one of Europe’s largest software funding rounds. And in 2022, Celonis reportedly reached a $13B+ valuation, firmly cementing it among Europe’s most valuable private tech companies. The company’s product evolved into the Celonis Execution Management System (EMS), which not only discovers processes but also suggests and implements improvements (sometimes via RPA bots or triggering workflows). Celonis counts thousands of enterprise customers – including Siemens, BMW, Coca-Cola, Uber – and its software helps them save billions by cutting throughput times, reducing errors, and optimizing resource use. With dual HQs in Munich and New York, Celonis has aggressively expanded in the U.S., competing with companies like IBM’s process mining. The firm is also eyeing an IPO; CEO Rinke has mentioned that Celonis is positioning itself for a public listing when market conditions are right. In the meantime, Celonis keeps growing (estimated $400M+ ARR in 2023) and acquiring smaller tech startups to bolster its platform. Celonis epitomizes the success of enterprise software from Europe – deeply technical, essentially creating a new category, and achieving decacorn status within a decade.
StartupGrowthSoftwareData
Vilnius, Lithuania · StartupCGTrader is an online marketplace for licensable stock and custom 3D models, serving creators and enterprise customers with marketplace and enterprise 3D modeling services.
StartupGrowthMarketplace3DDesign
Copenhagen, Denmark · StartupChainalysis was co-founded in 2014 by Danish entrepreneur Michael Gronager to bring transparency to crypto markets. The company builds blockchain analytics software used by exchanges, regulators, and law enforcement to trace illicit activity and manage compliance risk. Chainalysis grew into a global leader in crypto intelligence, raised major rounds, and built offices worldwide while keeping a Danish engineering footprint. It is one of the most valuable companies with Danish founding roots in the blockchain sector.
StartupGrowthBlockchainComplianceFintech
Prague, Czech Republic · StartupChoice provides QR payments and digital menus for restaurants, enabling faster ordering and higher table turnover. The platform is growing quickly across CEE and Eastern Europe as restaurants digitize front-of-house operations. It reduces staffing overhead while giving restaurants richer customer data. By 2026, Choice is a fast-scaling Czech restaurant-tech player.
StartupGrowthRestaurant TechPaymentsSaaS
London, United Kingdom · StartupCityFibre is a full-fiber digital infrastructure scale-up building wholesale fiber networks across the UK. The company partners with ISPs and mobile operators to replace legacy connectivity with gigabit-capable infrastructure that supports residential broadband, enterprise services, and future smart-city and 5G capacity.
StartupLate StageInfrastructureTelecommunicationsSmart Cities
Lisbon, Portugal · StartupClass of Wonders is an impact-focused edtech startup building gamified classroom tools and inclusive learning experiences, including language-learning adaptations for migrant children. Through Lisboa Innovation for All, the team presented MAGOS for All, and it has also participated in ecosystem initiatives such as Techstars Startup Weekend in Viseu.
StartupEarly StageEducationEdTechSocial Impact
Zurich, Switzerland · StartupClimeworks is a Swiss climate tech pioneer specializing in direct air capture (DAC) of CO₂ – essentially technology to filter carbon dioxide directly out of the atmosphere. Founded in 2009 as a spin-off from ETH Zürich by engineers Jan Wurzbacher and Christoph Gebald, Climeworks has the distinction of building the world’s first commercial DAC plants. Its modular CO₂ collectors use a special filter that binds CO₂ when air passes through, then releases pure CO₂ when heated, allowing it to be captured and stored or reused. In 2017 Climeworks opened a prototype DAC plant in Iceland in partnership with Carbfix, where captured CO₂ is injected underground and mineralized into rock. By 2021, they launched “Orca” in Iceland – the largest DAC plant at the time – able to remove 4,000 tons of CO₂ per year, selling carbon removal as a service to corporate clients like Stripe, Microsoft and Shopify. Climeworks gained widespread attention as the first DAC unicorn: in April 2022 it raised $650M in an equity round (Europe’s largest-ever climate tech funding) at a valuation reportedly around $2 billion. Investors include Carbon Removal Partners and Big Oil venture arms, reflecting broad interest in negative emissions tech. As of 2025, Climeworks is scaling up “Mammoth,” a 36,000 tCO₂/yr plant in Iceland, and planning multi-megaton facilities by 2030. The EU and US policy push for carbon removal (with 45Q tax credits, etc.) strongly benefits Climeworks. The company also sells captured CO₂ for reuse in drinks and agriculture (a smaller market) and operates demonstration units in countries like Switzerland and Italy. With global climate goals increasingly reliant on carbon removal, Climeworks is positioned as a leader in an emerging industry. It touts a goal of removing 1% of global CO₂ emissions by 2050. While challenges remain (DAC is energy-intensive and currently expensive, around $600/ton), Climeworks has achieved real progress – turning sci-fi into reality. Its name comes up frequently in climate policy discussions, and it was highlighted at COP26 as an example of scalable climate innovation. In summary, Climeworks is a trailblazer in direct air capture, turning a bold lab idea into the world’s first commercial carbon removal service, putting Zurich on the climate tech map.
StartupGrowthClimateCleanTech
Bratislava, Slovakia · StartupCloudTalk is next-generation call center software built for modern customer support and sales teams. The platform integrates deeply with tools like Salesforce and HubSpot and layers AI-driven analytics on top of every conversation to improve agent performance and sentiment tracking. By 2026, CloudTalk has raised a significant Series B and serves global ecommerce and tech support teams, making it one of Slovakia’s most visible SaaS exports.
StartupGrowthSaaSTelecomCustomer Support
Lisbon, Portugal · StartupComudel develops a business operating system that automates workflows, legal contract handling, and AI-assisted financial operations for companies. Founded in 2022, it is associated with Unicorn Factory Lisboa and Instituto Pedro Nunes, operates from The Fintech House in Lisbon, and participated in the SPRINT accelerator focused on compliance and enterprise operations.
StartupEarly StageFinTechEnterprise SoftwareAI
Paderborn, Germany · Startupconmeet offers AI workflow automation for SMB craft and construction businesses. It processes inbound messages from channels such as email and chat, drafts responses, supports scheduling, and streamlines quote preparation so teams can reduce office overhead and focus on delivery work.
StartupEarly StagePropTechConstruction TechAI
Copenhagen, Denmark · StartupCorti builds healthcare-specific AI infrastructure and models to support clinical documentation, coding, and workflow automation.
StartupGrowthHealthTechAIInfrastructure
Amsterdam, Netherlands · StartupGenerative protein design platform helping scientists engineer new vaccines, therapeutics, and materials.
StartupGrowthBiotechAI
Bratislava, Slovakia · StartupCulturePulse builds AI systems that create “digital twins” of societies to model social dynamics and predict conflict or messaging resonance. Initially used in defense and security contexts, the technology has expanded into brand and marketing testing for large enterprises. By 2026, CulturePulse holds a unique position at the intersection of social science, AI, and strategic forecasting.
StartupGrowthAISocial AnalyticsSecurity
Prague, Czech Republic · StartupCyrkl is a circular-economy marketplace described as “Tinder for industrial waste.” It enables factories to sell scrap materials such as plastics or metals to recyclers instead of landfilling them. The platform improves pricing transparency and accelerates reuse of materials across industrial supply chains. By 2026, Cyrkl is a recognized circular-economy player in CEE with growing cross-border adoption.
StartupGrowthCircular EconomyMarketplaceSustainability
Copenhagen, Denmark · StartupDawn Health develops regulated software-as-a-medical-device products with pharmaceutical and life-science partners. The company builds digital therapeutics and companion applications for adherence, remote monitoring, and real-world clinical data capture in regulated settings.
StartupGrowthDigital HealthHealthTechMedTech
Prague, Czech Republic · StartupDaytrip provides door-to-door private car transfers between cities, pairing long-distance travel with local driver-guides. The model serves tourists who want flexible, comfortable intercity travel without the hassle of trains or buses. The company is profitable and has expanded globally, including the US and Asia. By 2026, Daytrip is a recognized Czech travel-tech export.
StartupGrowthTravelMobilityMarketplace
Ljubljana, Slovenia · StartupDDD Invoices is a Ljubljana-based API-first compliance platform for e-invoicing and fiscal reporting. It enables software vendors and ERP providers to handle country-specific invoicing, tax reporting, and archival requirements through a single integration layer. The company supports multi-country compliance workflows across European and global markets.
StartupGrowthFinTechB2B SaaSCompliance
Munich, Germany · StartupDeepDrive is the Munich startup that convinced major automakers to rethink the electric motor itself. Its core innovation is a patented dual-rotor motor architecture. In a traditional motor, a single rotor spins inside a fixed stator. DeepDrive's design spins both the internal and external rotor simultaneously, delivering higher torque density and substantially better efficiency. The practical outcome is compelling: EVs can achieve roughly 20% more range with 50% less motor weight, while reducing bill-of-materials costs.
By 2026, DeepDrive has moved beyond impressive prototypes to industrialization. The company has reportedly secured series nominations with eight of the top ten global automakers for platform launches in 2028–2029. That level of OEM validation is rare at this stage and signals confidence in both the performance and manufacturability of the design. The company is now focused on building automated production lines in northern Munich to scale output for fleet testing and pre-series runs.
A particularly strategic application is the in-wheel motor. Because the dual-rotor unit is compact and lightweight, it can fit inside the wheel hub, freeing up interior volume and enabling fully flat skateboard platforms. That creates new possibilities for autonomous shuttles and urban delivery vehicles where maximizing passenger or cargo space is paramount. It also allows for advanced vehicle dynamics such as torque vectoring without complex drivetrain components, improving both safety and handling.
DeepDrive is a classic spin-out from the UnternehmerTUM ecosystem at TU Munich, with early validation support from the XPRENEURS incubator. Its investor base blends strategic automotive capital with deep-tech venture funding: Leitmotif led the Series B, BMW i Ventures provides rare early-stage OEM participation, Continental's corporate VC is a strategic partner for braking and chassis integration, and UVC Partners and Bayern Kapital anchor local support. In 2026, DeepDrive is one of Europe’s most promising hardware deep-tech bets: a motor breakthrough with clear OEM pull, manufacturability momentum, and the potential to reshape EV platform design.
StartupSeries BAutomotiveDeep TechHardware
Cologne, Germany · StartupDeepL is a Cologne-based AI translation company founded in 2017 by CEO Jarosław Kutylowski. Renowned for its neural machine translation quality, DeepL quickly surpassed competitors in accuracy and nuance. The company’s cloud platform serves over 100,000 business and government customers worldwide, including enterprises like Zendesk and Deutsche Bahn. DeepL achieved unicorn status in 2023 with a €1 billion valuation and continued to grow explosively – by early 2025 it had raised $410 million (led by investors like Index Ventures and Atomico) and reached a $2 billion valuation. In late 2025, reports emerged that DeepL is considering an IPO amid surging revenue, which doubled year-on-year to $185 million in 2024. DeepL’s core product is an AI-driven translator supporting 30+ languages, used for real-time document and content translation. The firm also launched DeepL Write to improve monolingual writing and an AI Agent to automate business tasks. As of 2025, DeepL is recognized as one of Europe’s premier AI startups, combining cutting-edge NLP research with a fast-growing SaaS business. The company’s success – valued at $2 billion and poised for a public offering – underscores Europe’s strength in deep-tech innovation.
StartupGrowthAISoftware
Prague, Czech Republic · StartupDeepnote is a collaborative, browser-based data notebook often described as “Figma for data scientists.” It enables teams to explore data, build analyses, and share results in real time without the friction of local environments. By 2026, it is a default tool for modern data teams and has significant traction in the US market. The company is a Czech-born SaaS success story with global adoption.
StartupGrowthData ScienceAnalyticsSaaS
Warsaw, Poland · StartupDefense and aerospace startup building autonomous dual-use UAV systems for civil and military deployments. Its stack combines launch hardware, onboard autonomy, and cloud software for emergency response, critical infrastructure monitoring, and border surveillance use cases.
StartupEarly StageDefense TechAerospaceAutonomous Systems
Warsaw, Poland · StartupOpen-source cybersecurity platform for zero-trust access, self-hosted VPN management, and identity controls. Defguard is known for integrating multi-factor authentication at WireGuard protocol level to support enterprise-grade security and privacy requirements.
StartupEarly StageCybersecurityZero TrustOpen Source
Lausanne, Switzerland · StartupDistalmotion develops Dexter, a hybrid robotic surgery platform intended to make robotic-assisted minimally invasive procedures more accessible to a broader hospital base. The system allows surgeons to move between robotic and laparoscopic workflows during operations to improve flexibility and operating-room integration.
StartupGrowthMedTechRoboticsHealthTech
Copenhagen, Denmark · StartupDixa is a Danish customer engagement platform that unifies phone, email, chat, and messaging into one support workspace. Founded in 2015, Dixa emphasizes a relationship driven approach called Customer Friendship and helps digital first brands manage omnichannel support at scale. The company expanded across Europe and the United States, raised large funding rounds, and acquired knowledge base and conversational AI products to broaden its suite. Dixa is a notable Copenhagen based SaaS scale up.
StartupGrowthCustomer ExperienceSaaS
Warsaw, Poland · StartupDocPlanner is a Polish-founded healthcare booking and patient engagement platform operating brands such as ZnanyLekarz and MioDottore. The group expanded across Europe and Latin America and in 2017 acquired Germany’s Jameda, strengthening its presence in the DACH market; its TuoTempo brand deepened the practice management stack for larger healthcare providers. DocPlanner is backed by investors including Point Nine Capital, Goldman Sachs Private Capital, and One Peak Partners. The company connects patients with doctors while offering clinics scheduling, CRM, and telehealth tools.
StartupLate StageHealthtechMarketplace
Paris, France · StartupHealthtech leader with a major Berlin office and a leading position in Germany’s healthcare market.
StartupGrowthHealthtechSoftware
Lisbon, Portugal · StartupDOJO AI is an AI marketing operating system for challenger brands, unifying strategy, content, SEO, and paid media workflows through agent-based automation. The company announced a USD 1M pre-seed round led by HEARTFELT with participation from COREangels and Axel Springer Porsche, and reports more than 20 clients across the US and UK including PensionBee, Unbabel, and Amplemarket.
StartupEarly StageMarketingAISaaS
Istanbul, Turkey · StartupMobile gaming studio behind Royal Match, building polished, high-grossing casual puzzle titles.
StartupLate StageGamingMobile
Graz, Austria · StartupEaselink develops Matrix Charging, an automated hands-free EV charging system that connects vehicles to ground charging pads without manual cable handling. It positions against charging ecosystem players such as IONITY, EV Connect, and ChargePoint.
StartupGrowthGreen EnergyEV ChargingMobility
Warsaw, Poland · StartupCircular-economy startup commercializing technology to upcycle spent coffee grounds into bio-based ingredients, including oils, antioxidant fractions, polymer feedstocks, and protein-rich additives for cosmetics, packaging, and food supply chains.
StartupEarly StageClimate TechCircular EconomyBioTech
Stockholm, Sweden · StartupEinride is the Swedish pioneer of autonomous freight, best known for its cab-less "Pod" trucks that are designed from the ground up without a driver. Rather than retrofitting automation into traditional vehicles, Einride built a purpose-made electric platform paired with remote operations. Its "Mesh" system allows a single human operator to supervise multiple autonomous pods in real time from a control center, enabling higher utilization while keeping safety oversight in the loop.
The year 2026 is a defining moment for Einride. In November 2025, the company announced a $1.8B merger with Legato Merger Corp. III to list on the NYSE, a deal expected to close in the first half of 2026 and provide more than $300M in growth capital. This public-market transition gives Einride the balance sheet to scale fleet deployments, charging infrastructure, and regulatory approvals across key logistics corridors.
By mid-2026, Einride is executing on major commercial contracts with GE Appliances in the United States and DP World in the UAE. It does not sell trucks in the traditional sense; it sells freight capacity as a service (FaaS), bundling vehicles, energy management, and its digital "Saga" operating system that optimizes routes, energy usage, and scheduling. The 2026 focus is on "Einride Grids": dense regional networks in Northern Europe and the US Southeast where autonomous pods handle repeated hub-to-hub routes, driving down costs compared to diesel trucking while cutting emissions.
Einride's ecosystem ties include Norrsken House in Stockholm and early innovation pilots through Plug and Play. Its investor base blends Nordic growth capital and strategic logistics backing: EQT Ventures, NordicNinja, Maersk Growth, Soros Fund Management, and Temasek are among the key supporters. In 2026, Einride stands out as the most mature European autonomous freight platform, combining electric hardware, autonomy software, and logistics orchestration into a single commercial service. The company is also investing in safety validation, regulatory engagement, and remote-operations tooling to scale autonomy responsibly across multiple jurisdictions.
StartupLate StageMobilityLogisticsAutonomous Vehicles
Warsaw, Poland · StartupA decacorn AI audio company co-founded by Polish-raised engineers, focusing on AI-powered voice technology and generation.
StartupDecacornAIAudioVoice Technology
Warsaw, Poland · StartupA decacorn AI audio company with Polish roots, co-founded by Polish individuals, offering advanced text-to-speech and voice AI technologies.
StartupAIAudio Tech
London, United Kingdom · StartupAI voice synthesis platform creating realistic multilingual speech for dubbing, audiobooks, and virtual agents.
StartupGrowthAIAudio
Stockholm, Sweden · StartupExeger manufactures Powerfoyle, a patented solar-cell material that converts both indoor and outdoor light into usable electricity. The flexible material is designed for seamless integration into consumer products, enabling self-charging devices without external cable charging in many use cases.
StartupGrowthHardwareCleanTechMaterialsConsumer Electronics
Lille, France · StartupWarehouse robotics unicorn valued at $2B+ whose Skypod system uses fleets of robots to automate order fulfillment for global customers like Decathlon and Gap.
StartupLate StageRoboticsLogistics
Graz, Austria · Startupfaaya collective is an art-commerce platform that sells fine-art prints from emerging artists and produces on-demand prints locally in Graz, positioned as a sustainability-focused alternative to larger print marketplaces.
StartupEarly StageCreative IndustriesE-commerceArtTech
Kullavik, Sweden · StartupFashionLab is a Swedish fashion content platform that uses generative AI to produce product imagery and video for apparel brands at scale. The product replaces parts of traditional studio production by generating brand-aligned visuals with customizable models, scenes, and localization variants. The company has operational ties to the Eurasian ecosystem through the 500 Eurasia program.
StartupEarly StageFashionTechGenerative AIEnterprise SaaS
Kyiv, Ukraine · StartupFINMAP is a Kyiv-based cash-flow management and financial analytics platform for SMEs. Built to replace spreadsheet-heavy finance workflows, it gives founders a simple dashboard for real-time visibility into balances, forecasts, and cash gaps. The product integrates with banks and payment services across Europe and supports international expansion in Central and Eastern Europe.
StartupGrowthFinTechB2B SaaSFinancial Analytics
Munich, Germany · StartupFINN is a car-subscription platform serving consumers and businesses with an all-inclusive monthly model that bundles insurance, maintenance, and roadside support. The company has expanded B2B fleet workflows with automated management tools and EV-focused offerings for employee mobility programs.
StartupGrowthMobilityE-commerceAutomotiveB2B
Munich, Germany · StartupLong-distance mobility network operating intercity buses and trains across Europe.
StartupGrowthMobilityConsumer
Warsaw, Poland · StartupAI-enabled business management platform combining ERP, HR, finance, and projects for SMBs.
StartupEarly StageEnterprise SoftwareAI
Warsaw, Poland · StartupCloud contact center and customer communications software provider serving enterprise and mid-market teams with omnichannel support workflows.
StartupGrowthSaaSCloudCustomer Support
Bratislava, Slovakia · StartupFuergy builds smart battery storage systems branded as brAIn, optimizing energy use for buildings and commercial facilities. Its platform automates when to store and discharge solar energy, and can trade energy on markets to lower bills. As energy price volatility persists in Europe, Fuergy’s systems are gaining traction among enterprise and real-estate operators. By 2026, Fuergy is one of Slovakia’s fastest-growing energy-tech companies.
StartupGrowthEnergyTechStorageSoftware
Zug, Switzerland · StartupGAIMIN is a Web3 distributed cloud infrastructure platform that uses gamers' unused computing power, including GPUs, for HPC and AI workloads. The company reported more than USD 1.79M in funding, launched the GMRX token, partnered with ecosystems such as Movement Labs and BNB Chain, and secured cloud-compute support from Aethir's ecosystem fund. In decentralized resource and staking markets, it competes with larger platforms such as Lido, Kiln, and Ubitus.
StartupGrowthCloud SolutionsWeb3AI Infrastructure
Berlin, Germany · StartupExperiential travel marketplace curating tours, attractions, and local guides across Europe.
StartupGrowthTravelMarketplace
Baku, Azerbaijan · StartupGlorri is a Baku-based HR software platform that unifies sourcing, applicant tracking, hiring collaboration, and onboarding workflows into one system. The product targets fragmented recruiting stacks used by growing teams and enterprise HR units, with a focus on reducing time-to-hire and process overhead. It gained regional visibility through the 500 Global in Eurasia accelerator.
StartupEarly StageHR TechB2B SaaSRecruitment
Barcelona, Spain · StartupOn-demand delivery super-app for food, groceries, and courier services across Southern and Eastern Europe.
StartupLate StageOn-DemandLogistics
Vienna, Austria · StartupGoStudent is an online tutoring platform providing paid, one-to-one video-based tuition to students.
StartupGrowthEdTechTutoringEducation
Kyiv, Ukraine · StartupAI-powered writing assistant offering grammar, clarity, and tone suggestions across browsers, apps, and keyboards, with freemium and enterprise plans.
StartupGrowthAIProductivityEdTechSaaS
Kosice, Slovakia · StartupGymBeam is the leading fitness and nutrition D2C brand in Central and Eastern Europe. It uses aggressive data analytics and direct-to-consumer distribution to launch, test, and scale new supplements and wellness products faster than traditional competitors. By 2026, GymBeam is a major ecommerce scale-up with exceptional revenue growth and a growing international footprint, positioning it as a potential IPO or strategic exit candidate.
StartupLate StageE-commerceD2CConsumer Health
Paris, France · StartupH (formerly Holistic) represents France’s second-wave AI builders: less focused on text generation and more focused on action. Founded in 2024 by a team that included former DeepMind researchers such as Charles Kantor and Laurent Sifre, the company drew attention with a seed round that eclipsed prior European records, signaling investor appetite for agentic AI. H’s core thesis is that the next leap is not bigger language models but AI systems that can plan, execute, and verify multi-step workflows across real software interfaces. The company frames this as “RPA 2.0,” using vision-language models to interact with screens and applications rather than brittle scripts and APIs. The firm’s early months were turbulent, including leadership turnover in late 2024, but the product roadmap accelerated. In November 2025 H launched Runner H, a vision-language agent that can see a desktop and operate mouse and keyboard actions to complete tasks such as booking travel, compiling invoices, or processing customer tickets. The release of Surfer-H-CLI soon after gave developers a programmable surface for building web agents, which helped H win mindshare with the European developer community. An acquisition of Mithril Security in 2025 signaled a focus on secure, private agent deployment — a crucial requirement for enterprise adoption, where the biggest fear is an autonomous agent mishandling data or credentials. H is deeply embedded in the Paris AI ecosystem, with early incubation support from Aglae Ventures and strong ties to the Paris AI Hub around Sorbonne and Ecole Polytechnique. Its backers read like a who’s-who of strategic supporters: Accel led financing, Eric Schmidt invested personally, and strategic relationships with Amazon and UiPath position H as a bridge between cloud infrastructure and automation workflows. French tech patrons Xavier Niel and Bernard Arnault provide both capital and political signal value. By early 2026, H is widely watched as a potential category leader in action-oriented AI, competing to become the default “application layer” for autonomous digital workers across Europe’s enterprises.
StartupSeedAIAutomationEnterprise Software
Prague, Czech Republic · StartupHedepy is an online therapy platform connecting patients with certified psychotherapists via video. It has expanded across more than ten European markets, offering multilingual access and flexible scheduling. The service addresses mental health capacity shortages by making therapy easier to access and scale. By 2026, Hedepy is a leading Czech health-tech company in digital mental health.
StartupGrowthHealthtechMental HealthMarketplace
Tbilisi, Georgia · StartupHelio.ai is an AI-powered recruiting platform from Tbilisi focused on automating candidate screening and improving hiring quality. The product combines ATS workflows, multilingual CV matching, and behavioral assessment tools to help teams make faster, less biased hiring decisions. The company has expanded across regional markets with backing from Georgian and international investors.
StartupGrowthHR TechAISaaS
Munich, Germany · StartupHelsing is a defense technology company building AI software systems for democratic governments and armed forces in Europe. Its platform fuses data from radar, drones, optical and infrared sensors to provide real-time situational awareness and operational decision support. After major growth financing in 2025, Helsing expanded across core European defense programs and into autonomous systems, including the HX-2 platform.
StartupLate StageDefense TechAIGovTechComputer Vision
Copenhagen, Denmark · StartupHemab is a clinical-stage biotech company developing prophylactic therapies for severe bleeding and thrombotic disorders. Founded by biotech operators with Novo Nordisk roots, the company engineers antibody-based treatments aimed at preventing episodes before they occur in underserved rare-disease populations.
StartupGrowthBiotechLife SciencesHealthTechPharma
London, United Kingdom · StartupVirtual and hybrid event platform enabling immersive conferences, expos, and town halls.
StartupGrowthEventsSoftware
Kaunas, Lithuania · StartupHostinger is a web hosting and cloud services provider offering hosting, domains, and website tools. Launched in 2004 as a Lithuania-based startup, it serves over 4 million people in 150+ countries.
StartupGrowthWeb HostingCloudInfrastructure
Szczecin, Poland · StartupE-commerce SaaS platform enabling merchants to run online stores, integrate marketplaces, and manage order operations at scale.
StartupGrowthSaaSE-commerceRetail Tech
Berlin, Germany · StartupModular vertical farming network bringing fresh, low-footprint produce into urban retail and hospitality.
StartupGrowthAgriTechClimate
Wroclaw, Poland · StartupHealth AI company building medical guidance and triage tools for providers, insurers, and digital health platforms. Its platform automates symptom assessment and patient routing in multiple languages across international markets.
StartupGrowthHealthTechAIDiagnostics
Bratislava, Slovakia · StartupInnovatrics is a global leader in biometrics, known for highly accurate fingerprint and facial recognition algorithms. Its technology is used by governments and enterprises for elections, border control, national ID systems, and KYC compliance. The company is established, profitable, and influential in the identity market, exporting Slovak engineering excellence into critical infrastructure worldwide.
StartupGrowthBiometricsSecurityAI
Bratislava, Slovakia · StartupInoBat builds custom-designed batteries for demanding applications such as aviation, premium EVs, and performance mobility. Unlike standard gigafactory players, InoBat focuses on tailored R&D, pilot production, and high-value customers that require specialized chemistry and form factors. By 2026, the company is a strategic player in the EU battery value chain with backing from partners like Rio Tinto and Gotion High-Tech, positioning Slovakia as a serious contributor to Europe’s energy storage ecosystem.
StartupGrowthEnergyBatteriesManufacturing
Warsaw, Poland · StartupCreator-economy ad platform connecting brands with livestreamers through automated micro-sponsorships. It places lightweight, context-aware overlays in live broadcasts and supports large-scale campaigns for gaming and media brands.
StartupGrowthMarTechCreator EconomyAdvertising
Prague, Czech Republic · StartupInventoro provides AI-driven sales forecasting and inventory optimization for SMB retailers. The platform recommends what to order, when to reorder, and how to reduce dead stock, helping merchants improve margins. It integrates with POS and ecommerce systems to automate demand planning without enterprise complexity. By 2026, Inventoro is a fast-growing Czech AI retail-tech company.
StartupGrowthAIRetailSaaS
Munich, Germany · StartupSpace launch company developing cost-efficient small and medium-lift rockets to give Europe independent access to orbit.
StartupGrowthSpaceAerospace
Kolding, Denmark · StartupJust Eat began in Kolding in 2001 as one of the first online takeaway ordering marketplaces in Europe. After early traction in Denmark, the company relocated to London and expanded aggressively across Europe and beyond through acquisitions and country launches. Just Eat listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2014 and later merged with Takeaway.com, forming one of the largest food delivery groups globally. The company is a defining example of a Danish startup scaling into a multi-billion euro public business.
StartupGrowthMarketplaceFood DeliveryE-commerce
Ljubljana, Slovenia · StartupKatalist is a Slovenian-founded generative AI startup building a video pre-production platform for scripts, shot planning, and storyboard generation. The system emphasizes character and scene consistency across sequences to support creative teams, agencies, and marketing workflows. The company emerged from the 500 Eurasia ecosystem and scales internationally from its CEE roots.
StartupEarly StageCreative TechGenerative AISaaS
Prague, Czech Republic · StartupKeboola provides an all-in-one data operations platform for connecting, cleaning, and orchestrating data pipelines. It is known for flexibility, modularity, and an enterprise-grade pay-as-you-go model. The company has been profitable for years and raised a late Series A to accelerate global expansion. By 2026, Keboola is a trusted DataOps layer for mid-market and enterprise customers.
StartupGrowthDataOpsETLEnterprise Software
Vilnius, Lithuania · StartupKilo Health is a digital health and wellness company building and scaling health products, serving 7+ million customers with 30+ products globally.
StartupGrowthHealthTechWellnessDigital Health
Brno, Czech Republic · StartupKiwi.com is an online travel agency that combines flights across carriers through its virtual interlining technology.
StartupLate StageTravelOnline Travel AgencyMarketplace
Stockholm, Sweden · StartupKlarna is a Swedish fintech company that pioneered the “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) model globally. Founded in 2005 by Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Niklas Adalberth, and Victor Jacobsson, Klarna started by offering online shoppers in Sweden a way to purchase goods on invoice (pay after delivery). Over the next decade, the company expanded across Europe and beyond, becoming a dominant online payments provider. As of 2021, Klarna was Europe’s highest-valued private tech company at $45.6 billion, reflecting meteoric growth fueled by consumers’ appetite for installment payments. Klarna’s app and services allow users to split purchases into interest-free installments or pay later, and it partners with over 450,000 retailers worldwide, including global brands like H&M, IKEA, and Nike. The company has over 150 million users across 45 countries and handled $80 billion in transaction volume in 2021. Klarna’s journey, however, has seen dramatic swings: after reaching a $45B valuation in mid-2021, a combination of rising interest rates and tech market downturn led to a downround in 2022, cutting its valuation to $6.7 billion (an 85% drop). The company restructured, laying off 10% of its staff, and refocused on profitability. By 2023, Klarna returned to profit and saw renewed growth, aided by expanding beyond BNPL into a full shopping app with price comparison, loyalty features, and banking services (Klarna obtained a banking license in Europe in 2017). In 2025, Klarna reportedly delayed an IPO amid market volatility but ultimately went public in September 2025, raising $1.37 billion. Despite valuation fluctuations, Klarna remains the global leader in BNPL, with a strong brand among Gen Z and millennial shoppers. Its journey from a small Stockholm startup to a financial giant serving 65 million customers (2025) at one point valued at $75 billion exemplifies the rise (and resiliency) of Europe’s fintech sector.
StartupLate StageFintechPayments
Nitra, Slovakia · StartupKleinVision is the creator of the AirCar, a dual-mode vehicle that can drive on roads and transform into a certified aircraft. The AirCar has received a Certificate of Airworthiness and completed cross-country test flights, making it one of the few credible flying-car projects globally. By 2026, the company is working toward small-scale production and licensing partnerships, including interest from international markets such as China.
StartupGrowthAerospaceMobilityEngineering
Brno, Czech Republic · StartupKontent.ai is a headless CMS platform that helps organizations manage and deliver content across channels.
StartupGrowthCMSSaaSDeveloper Tools
Copenhagen, Denmark · StartupLabster builds virtual laboratory simulations for science education, letting students run experiments in a 3D environment and learn through interactive missions. Founded by researchers from the Technical University of Denmark, Labster works with universities and schools worldwide to expand access to lab learning and reduce costs. The platform integrates with learning management systems and has been used by hundreds of institutions. Labster became a global reference for VR and simulation based STEM education.
StartupGrowthEdtechVRSTEM
Stockholm, Sweden · StartupLassie is a digital pet-insurance company that combines coverage with preventive-care engagement. The app uses education modules and behavior incentives to reward owners for proactive pet health practices, linking prevention to premium outcomes.
StartupGrowthInsurtechPet TechConsumer Health
Prague, Czech Republic · StartupLiftago is a ride-hailing and delivery marketplace connecting customers with professional taxi drivers and courier services.
StartupGrowthMobilityLogisticsMarketplace
Munich, Germany · StartupElectric vertical takeoff and landing jets designed to unlock zero-emission regional air travel.
StartupGrowthAerospaceMobility
Yerevan, Armenia · StartupLiveBoard is an interactive digital whiteboard platform from Yerevan used by tutors, educators, and remote teams for real-time collaboration. The product supports live drawing, shared lessons, PDF workflows, and session recording across tablets, mobile, and web. The company has grown through the Eurasian startup ecosystem and targets international e-learning markets.
StartupGrowthEdTechProductivityCollaboration
Stockholm, Sweden · StartupFounded in 2023, Lovable builds an AI-powered full-stack software development platform that converts natural-language prompts into deployable applications. The product generates real frontend and backend code, integrates directly with GitHub, and is used by both non-technical founders for MVP creation and enterprise teams for rapid prototyping.
StartupLate StageAIDevToolsSoftwareB2B SaaS
Warsaw, Poland · StartupGenerative AI copilot for 3D game development and visualization workflows, with a strong focus on Unreal Engine production pipelines. The platform helps teams create assets and scene components faster while reducing technical bottlenecks for creators.
StartupEarly StageAIGamingDeveloper Tools
Bratislava, Slovakia · StartupLuigi’s Box provides advanced search and product recommendation for ecommerce sites, boosting conversion by understanding intent, typos, and synonyms. Its tooling has become a de facto standard across CEE ecommerce, with strong adoption among mid-market retailers. By 2026, Luigi’s Box is one of the region’s top AI-powered ecommerce infrastructure companies.
StartupGrowthE-commerceAISaaS
Paris, France · StartupHome insurance startup focusing on prevention, fast claims, and digital-first service.
StartupSeries CInsurtechConsumer
Aarhus, Denmark · StartupLunar is a Danish digital bank founded in Aarhus in 2015 to deliver a mobile first banking experience for consumers and small businesses. After starting as a fintech app layered on partner infrastructure, Lunar secured its own banking license in 2019 and expanded across the Nordics. The app offers current accounts, cards, budgeting tools, business banking, and investment features, positioning Lunar as a regional challenger bank. The company has raised major funding rounds and remains a prominent Nordic fintech.
StartupGrowthFintechBanking
Lisbon, Portugal · StartupLyzer is a Logistics-as-a-Service platform for retail and e-commerce operations, covering order management, warehouse picking optimization, and last-mile orchestration. In July 2025, the company announced a EUR 10M Series B and reported over EUR 160M in GMV plus more than 500,000 fulfilled orders across the Iberian peninsula.
StartupGrowthLogisticsSupply ChainSaaS
Prague, Czech Republic · StartupMalcom Finance (formerly 4Trans) provides factoring and financing for truck drivers and logistics SMEs. Its underwriting leverages real-time telematics and operational data to assess risk more accurately than traditional banks. This enables faster payouts and more flexible credit for transport operators who are cash-flow constrained. By 2026, Malcom is a fast-growing Czech fintech focused on the logistics economy.
StartupGrowthFintechLogisticsLending
Paris, France · StartupFreelance talent marketplace active across France and Germany, connecting independent professionals with enterprise clients.
StartupGrowthMarketplaceHR Tech
Berlin, Germany · StartupComposable banking platform letting digital lenders and neobanks launch services quickly.
StartupGrowthFintechSoftware
Bratislava, Slovakia · StartupMatsuko builds real-time holographic communication, enabling lifelike 3D telepresence using only a smartphone camera. The technology captures and transmits volumetric video without requiring VR headsets for capture, making it a practical “Skype for holograms.” By 2026, Matsuko has partnered with major telecoms such as Deutsche Telekom and Orange to demonstrate 5G use cases and positions itself as a leader in next-gen communication.
StartupGrowthXRTelecomAI
Warsaw, Poland · StartupBiotech skincare startup developing bio-identical melanin from stem-cell-based processes to improve UV protection and skin health. The company focuses on long-duration photoprotection and alternatives to conventional sunscreen formulations.
StartupEarly StageBiotechSkin HealthConsumer Health
Brno, Czech Republic · StartupMewery is a food-tech and biotech startup cultivating pork meat using microalgae-based processes. The hybrid approach reduces the cost and complexity of lab-grown meat by combining cell cultivation with plant inputs. This positions the company to deliver cultured meat products faster and at lower price points than traditional cellular agriculture methods. By 2026, Mewery is a notable Central European pioneer in sustainable protein.
StartupEarly StageFoodTechBiotechClimate
Prague, Czech Republic · StartupMews is a cloud-native property management system built to replace legacy hotel software with an API-first platform. It powers hotel operations from booking and pricing to payments and guest communications, enabling chains to modernize at speed. By 2026, Mews is aggressively acquiring smaller travel-tech vendors and expanding global enterprise contracts, positioning itself as the default operating system for modern hospitality. The company is a Czech-born unicorn with a strong international footprint and deep Prague engineering roots.
StartupLate StageHospitalitySaaSTravel
Hamburg, Germany · StartupMicroHarvest produces microbial protein using agricultural side streams and a rapid fermentation process designed to deliver sustainable protein ingredients in around 24 hours. The company reported over USD 10.2M in venture funding from investors such as Astanor, Happiness Capital, Simon Capital, and FoodLabs, and received a EUR 5.5M German government grant in February 2026 for an industrial-scale Leuna plant expected to produce about 15,000 tonnes of protein annually.
StartupGrowthFoodTechBiotechClimate Tech
Paris, France · StartupMarketplace and commerce platform with a significant London presence hosting SaaS and retail community meetups.
StartupGrowthE-commerceSaaSMarketplace
Paris, France · StartupFounded in April 2023 by former Google DeepMind and Meta AI researchers, Mistral AI has become one of Europe's most valuable AI startups. The company builds frontier large language models such as Mistral Large and Mixtral and follows an open-weight plus enterprise deployment strategy. Its products are used via API, cloud partners such as Microsoft Azure, and local deployments for regulated organizations requiring data control and model transparency. Le Chat is the company's conversational interface built on its model stack.
StartupLate StageAIGenerative AIOpen SourceEnterprise Software
Amsterdam, Netherlands · StartupPayments infrastructure provider helping EU businesses accept local and global methods.
StartupGrowthPaymentsFintech
Eindhoven, Netherlands · StartupConstruction robotics company building agile bricklaying robots that automate urban infill projects.
StartupGrowthRoboticsConstruction Tech
Krakow, Poland · StartupPolish e-commerce platform for electronics and consumer goods with nationwide retail logistics and fulfillment operations.
StartupGrowthE-commerceRetailMarketplace
Bratislava, Slovakia · StartupMultiplexDX focuses on precision cancer diagnostics, developing visualized diagnostic tests aimed at reducing misdiagnosis in oncology. Its work is particularly focused on breast cancer and improving clinical decision confidence. By 2026, the company is a high-impact biotech research player in the Slovak ecosystem with expanding clinical collaborations.
StartupEarly StageBiotechDiagnosticsHealth
Graz, Austria · StartupMultivative builds modular prototyping systems and Pick2Place workflows to accelerate electronics and hardware development for manufacturing teams, with a practical focus on SMEs.
StartupEarly StageManufacturingIndustrial AutomationHardware
Warsaw, Poland · StartupAI assistant for small business owners that automates website operations and digital marketing workflows, focusing on generating leads and managing core online presence tasks with minimal manual setup.
StartupEarly StageAISMB ToolsMarTech
Berlin, Germany · StartupN26 is a Berlin-based digital bank with a mobile-first current account and financial products for consumers across Europe. In May 2024, BaFin lifted the growth restrictions previously imposed on the bank, clearing the way for renewed customer expansion. In 2025 N26 rolled out free stock and ETF trading for all eligible customers, adding investing to its core banking offering. The company positions itself as a full-stack European challenger bank with a focus on product breadth and operational discipline.
StartupGrowthFintechBankingWealth
Warsaw, Poland · StartupDeep-tech company founded in 2020 building photocatalytic air purification systems. Its titanium-dioxide-based approach targets gases, bacteria, and viruses without traditional replaceable filters, enabling deployments in transport, buildings, and food environments.
StartupEarly StageDeep TechCleanTechHealthTech
Stockholm, Sweden · StartupPreventive health company offering AI-assisted full-body scanning clinics for early detection of risks.
StartupGrowthHealthtechDiagnostics
Paris, France · StartupNeoplants is one of Europe's most consumer-friendly deep-tech startups, known for engineering "plants with a purpose." Its flagship product, Neo P1, is a golden pothos that has been genetically modified to actively metabolize volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as formaldehyde and benzene—pollutants common in homes due to paint, furniture, and cleaning products. Rather than simply filtering air passively, the plant converts toxins into harmless sugars and amino acids, turning living organisms into functional indoor air purifiers.
The company began commercial sales in the United States, where GMO consumer regulations are more permissive, but 2026 marks a strategic pivot back to Europe. Neoplants is positioning itself to launch in the UK and select EU markets as the New Genomic Techniques (NGT) framework evolves. This regulatory shift is crucial: it could unlock a path for consumer biotech products to be sold in Europe at scale. Neoplants is actively engaging with regulators and policymakers to ensure its products meet safety and transparency standards, framing its technology as a climate and public-health benefit rather than a controversial GMO niche.
Neoplants is also a serious biotech company under the consumer-friendly brand. It operates a 12,000-square-foot R&D facility in Saint-Ouen, Paris, with capabilities closer to a pharma lab than a greenhouse. The 2026 R&D pipeline includes plants engineered to capture CO2 at orders-of-magnitude higher rates than typical trees, targeting corporate offices and commercial spaces where sustainability investments must be visible and measurable. That positions Neoplants for a dual-market strategy: consumer air purification today, B2B climate infrastructure tomorrow.
The company's ecosystem roots are strong. The founders, Lionel Mora and Patrick Torbey, met at Entrepreneur First in Paris, and Neoplants was an early resident at Station F. It also benefited from the Wilco healthcare and biotech accelerator. Its investors reflect the blend of deep-tech and consumer focus: True Ventures led the seed, Heartcore Capital and Collaborative Fund support the consumer angle, and angels such as Niklas Zennstrom and Xavier Niel provide strategic visibility. In 2026, Neoplants represents a "solarpunk" vision of European tech—advanced biology that is both functional and approachable, turning climate and health solutions into products people can live with.
StartupEarly StageBiotechConsumerClimate
Budapest, Hungary · StartupInsurance comparison and brokerage platform helping consumers compare policies and purchase coverage online across CEE markets.
StartupGrowthInsurtechFintechMarketplace
Warsaw, Poland · StartupPolish-Israeli medtech startup developing VGuard, a non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation system aimed at improving cognitive outcomes in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. The company is advancing clinical validation and regulatory pathways across Europe and the US.
StartupEarly StageMedTechNeuroTechHealthTech
Baku, Azerbaijan · StartupNEXUS (Nexus Lab) is a Baku-based climate aviation software startup focused on reducing non-CO2 flight impact, especially contrail-related warming. The platform uses atmospheric and flight optimization modeling to help airlines adjust routes and altitudes while balancing operations and environmental goals. It emerged through the 500 Eurasia ecosystem and aligns with growing European non-CO2 compliance requirements.
StartupEarly StageClimate TechAviationSaaS
Warsaw, Poland · StartupFoodtech company focused on premium boxed diet subscriptions and personalized meal plans for consumers in Poland.
StartupGrowthFoodTechE-commerceConsumer
Vilnius, Lithuania · StartupNord Security is a cybersecurity company building privacy and security products such as NordVPN, NordPass, NordLocker, and NordLayer.
StartupLate StageCybersecurityPrivacySoftware
Tallinn, Estonia · StartupNortal is a digital transformation and technology company serving governments and enterprises worldwide.
StartupGrowthGovTechDigital TransformationEnterprise Software
Stockholm, Sweden · StartupNorthvolt is a Swedish battery manufacturer founded to build a European supply of sustainable lithium-ion cells. In November 2024, Northvolt AB filed for Chapter 11 protection in the United States to pursue a financial restructuring while seeking strategic solutions for Northvolt North America. On March 12, 2025, the company filed for bankruptcy in Sweden and a trustee was appointed to oversee the process. Northvolt remains a landmark industrial project for Europe’s battery ambitions, but its current status is restructuring and insolvency rather than a typical growth-stage startup.
StartupIndustrial Scale-upClimateIndustrialEnergy
London, United Kingdom · StartupDesign-led consumer electronics brand behind transparent Android smartphones and earbuds.
StartupGrowthConsumer ElectronicsHardware
London, United Kingdom · StartupNscale develops and operates AI-native infrastructure, including modular data center capacity optimized for high-density GPU workloads. The company focuses on sovereign and energy-efficient compute supply for enterprise and model providers, and has expanded rapidly through large infrastructure financing and strategic partnerships.
StartupGrowthAI InfrastructureCloudWeb HostingHardware
Graz, Austria · StartupNuki provides smart-lock and access-control products that enable secure keyless entry and remote door management via mobile devices. Its competitive set includes Latch, igloohome, August, and Assa Abloy.
StartupGrowthSecuritySmart HomeIoT
Oxford, United Kingdom · StartupBiotech company using AI and genomics to develop RNA therapies targeting chronic liver disease.
StartupGrowthBiotechHealth
Prague, Czech Republic · StartupOddin.gg is a B2B provider of esports odds feeds, risk management, and trading tools. It supplies real-time probabilities for esports titles such as Counter-Strike and League of Legends, enabling betting operators to price markets reliably. The company has become a global leader in esports wagering infrastructure. By 2026, Oddin.gg is one of the Czech Republic’s most internationally recognized gaming-tech exports.
StartupGrowthEsportsBettingData
London, United Kingdom · StartupAI-driven materials discovery company designing carbon-capture sorbents and cooling materials for clean energy.
StartupEarly StageAIClimate Tech
London, United Kingdom · StartupOvermind provides a security and control layer for agentic AI deployments in enterprise systems. The platform supervises autonomous agent behavior in live workflows and intervenes when actions appear unsafe, adversarially influenced, or outside policy constraints.
StartupEarly StageCybersecurityAIB2B SaaS
Paris, France · StartupUtilities and subscription management platform with one of the largest French startup teams in Barcelona.
StartupGrowthInsurtechUtilitiesConsumer
Berlin, Germany · StartupParloa is the German champion of enterprise AI for customer service. While consumer chatbots attract headlines, Parloa has built the operating system for large contact centers, enabling non-technical teams to deploy AI agents that handle complex voice and chat interactions. Its platform is trusted by large European enterprises such as Allianz, Decathlon, and Swiss Life, and it focuses on governance, compliance, and integration with legacy systems rather than flashy demos.
In January 2026, Parloa announced a $350M Series D led by General Catalyst, reportedly valuing the company at about $3B. The round validated its strategic shift from "chatbots" to "agent fleet management." Parloa does not just deploy a single bot; it manages and audits thousands of agents, ensuring they remain compliant, minimize hallucinations, and integrate cleanly with back-office systems such as SAP and Salesforce. This operational emphasis is why Parloa has become the default choice for risk-sensitive industries like insurance, retail, and financial services.
Parloa's 2026 roadmap is "voice-first AI." The company has developed speech-to-speech models that reduce the latency and robotic cadence that make older IVR systems frustrating. Its agents can handle interruptions, use backchannel cues, and operate across regions with language and accent adaptation, which is critical for multinational contact centers. With fresh capital, Parloa is acquiring smaller AI boutiques to consolidate the European market and is building a significant presence in New York to serve Fortune 500 clients in North America.
The company is deeply connected to the Berlin AI ecosystem, with ties to Merantix and the wider Berlin AI Campus, and it has a strategic relationship with Microsoft for Startups and Azure deployment. Its investor base includes General Catalyst, Altimeter Capital, EQT Ventures, Newion, and Senovo, giving it a mix of global growth capital and specialized SaaS expertise. In 2026, Parloa stands out as Europe's clearest enterprise AI winner in customer service: a scaled, governance-heavy platform that makes autonomous agents safe and effective inside the largest organizations.
StartupGrowthAICustomer ServiceEnterprise Software
Tbilisi, Georgia · StartupPayze is a Tbilisi-based fintech company building payment infrastructure for merchants in emerging markets, with a focus on CIS and regional cross-border commerce. Founded in 2020, the platform offers unified online payment acceptance and automated split payments for marketplaces and e-commerce operators. Payze is backed by ecosystem supporters including Y Combinator, 500 Global (via 500 Georgia/Eurasia), and GITA.
StartupGrowthFinTechPaymentsB2B SaaS
Paris, France · StartupAccounting and financial management platform growing its engineering footprint in Spain.
StartupGrowthFintechAccountingSaaS
Munich, Germany · StartupPersonio is a Munich-based HR software company that has become one of Europe’s most valuable SaaS startups. Founded in 2015 by Hanno Renner (CEO) and three co-founders from the Technical University of Munich, Personio set out to streamline HR management for small and mid-sized businesses. Its cloud platform offers an “all-in-one” suite – from recruiting and applicant tracking to payroll, attendance, and performance management. Personio’s focus on Europe’s underserved SME segment paid off spectacularly: as of 2024, the company serves 12,000+ customers across 70 countries (primarily firms with 10–2,000 employees). This rapid growth attracted major VC funding. Personio became a unicorn in January 2021 with a $1.7 billion valuation, and by October 2022 it raised a $200 million Series E extension at a staggering $8.5 billion valuation – making it one of Europe’s most valuable private tech companies at the time. Investors like Index Ventures, Accel, Lightspeed, and Greenoaks have backed Personio. The company has since expanded to 8 offices (including London, Dublin and Amsterdam) and grown to about 2,000 employees. Despite the size, Personio continues to post strong metrics: in 2023, revenue reportedly doubled and the firm reached over 15,000 customers by 2025. Personio’s success is often attributed to its user-friendly, modular platform tailored to non-technical HR teams at smaller companies. It integrates with 100+ other business tools and emphasizes automation of routine HR tasks. Now valued at $8.5 billion+, Personio is widely seen as a future IPO candidate and a role model for Europe’s B2B SaaS boom – proving that an “SMB HR” niche can scale to a global category leader.
StartupGrowthHR TechSoftware
Bratislava, Slovakia · StartupPhotoneo is the global leader in 3D robotic vision, providing high-precision scanning and perception systems for industrial automation. Its spin-off Brightpick extends the stack into autonomous mobile robots for warehouse fulfillment, enabling end-to-end automation of the picking process for ecommerce and logistics giants. By 2026, the group is a Series B+ scale-up competing globally with the leading AMR vendors and is a flagship example of Slovak deep-tech reaching world-class manufacturing and robotics deployments.
StartupGrowthRoboticsAutomationAI
Tbilisi, Georgia · StartupPhubber is a Tbilisi-based fashion re-commerce marketplace combining social feed dynamics with C2C and B2C commerce. The platform helps users sell pre-loved apparel and enables local fashion brands to reach buyers with integrated payments, logistics, and trust features. It emerged as a breakout startup from the 500 Georgia/Eurasia ecosystem.
StartupGrowthE-commerceFashion TechMarketplace
London, United Kingdom · StartupPhysicsX applies machine learning and generative AI to advanced engineering simulation across aerospace, automotive, and energy systems. The platform accelerates design loops by reducing simulation time for fluid, thermal, and structural modeling, helping industrial teams move from concept to validation faster.
StartupGrowthAIEngineeringDeep TechManufacturing
Paris, France · StartupBusiness planning platform offering collaborative budgeting, forecasting, and scenario modeling.
StartupGrowthAnalyticsEnterprise Software
Vilnius, Lithuania · StartupBaltic e-commerce marketplace group operating local platforms across Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland under brands including Pigu and Hobby Hall.
StartupGrowthE-commerceMarketplaceRetail
Warsaw, Poland · StartupBiotech drug-discovery company developing PKL-021, a small-molecule MMP inhibitor program for acute neuroprotection after stroke and traumatic brain injury, with additional applications in field-ready snakebite treatment.
StartupEarly StageBiotechDrug DiscoveryNeuroTech
Tallinn, Estonia · StartupPipedrive is a sales CRM platform built to help small businesses manage pipelines and grow revenue.
StartupGrowthSaaSCRMSales
Berlin, Germany · StartupCollaborative presentation platform built for modern teams rolling out investor decks and roadmaps.
StartupGrowthProductivitySaaS
Copenhagen, Denmark · StartupPleo is a company spend platform that issues smart cards, automates expense reporting, and gives finance teams real time visibility into employee spending. Founded in 2015 by Jeppe Rindom and Niccolo Perra, Pleo scaled across Europe with a product that blends payment cards, receipt capture, approvals, and accounting integrations. The company has raised multiple large rounds and reached unicorn status while serving tens of thousands of businesses. Pleo remains one of Denmark's most visible fintech success stories.
StartupGrowthFintechExpense Management
Copenhagen, Denmark · StartupPodimo is a Copenhagen founded subscription platform for podcasts and audiobooks, focused on local language content and creator revenue sharing. Launched in 2019, the company built exclusive catalogs in markets such as Denmark, Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands, and later expanded to Latin America. Podimo uses a subscription model that pays creators based on listen time, giving podcasters an alternative to advertising. The company has raised significant funding to scale its content studio and international footprint.
StartupGrowthMediaSubscriptionAudio
Paris, France · StartupPoolside is arguably the most important "import" to the European AI ecosystem in the last decade. Founded by Jason Warner (former CTO of GitHub) and Eiso Kant, the company started in the United States but relocated its headquarters to Paris in 2024 to tap France's deep talent pool in mathematics, systems engineering, and AI research. Its mission is unusually ambitious: not just to build code autocomplete, but to create the world's most capable AI for software engineering, with a long-term goal of systems that can build and evolve software autonomously. This framing has made Poolside a defining player in the AI-for-developers category.
By 2026, Poolside has established itself as a core node in the "Paris AI Triangle" alongside Mistral and H. After a massive $500M Series B in late 2024 led by Bain Capital Ventures, the company launched its flagship foundation model trained on a distinct corpus of code, software architecture, and repository-level structure. The emphasis on engineering artifacts rather than general internet text allows Poolside's models to reason about large codebases, infer intent from architectural patterns, and propose higher-level refactors instead of one-off snippets. This technical posture differentiates Poolside from generalist models and makes it uniquely useful for enterprises grappling with decades of technical debt.
The company's 2026 platform looks less like a plugin and more like a "shadow engineering team." Poolside can analyze legacy banking systems, plan migrations across stacks, and coordinate changes across modules while preserving compliance and auditability. That capability has made it a darling of large financial institutions such as HSBC and Citi, and it explains why strategic investors are embedded alongside venture capital. Poolside is also scaling Project Horizon, a 2-gigawatt AI data center campus in Texas in partnership with CoreWeave, while keeping its research and model development anchored in Paris. This split setup reflects a broader pattern: US-scale compute, European R&D depth.
Poolside's ecosystem ties are deep. It is a central node at Station F and an active participant in the Paris AI Hub, and its relocation is often cited by the French government as a proof point for attracting foreign tech leadership. The investor roster underscores its strategic importance: Bain Capital Ventures led the growth round, DST Global joined as a late-stage backer, Xavier Niel provided early strategic support to facilitate the Paris move, and Nvidia is a hardware partner. In 2026, Poolside stands out as Europe's most credible attempt to build an AI-native software engineering stack at frontier scale.
StartupGrowthAIDeveloper ToolsInfrastructure
Bratislava, Slovakia · StartupPowerful Medical builds clinical-grade AI for cardiology. Its flagship product, PMcardio, can diagnose acute heart attacks by analyzing a photo of a 12-lead ECG, outperforming average human interpretation in critical scenarios. The system is FDA and MDR certified and is being rolled out in hospitals across Europe and the UK. By 2026, Powerful Medical is one of the region’s most credible medical AI companies with global regulatory traction.
StartupGrowthHealthtechAIDiagnostics
London, United Kingdom · StartupPraktika.ai is an AI-native language learning platform focused on conversation-first fluency practice with realistic voice avatars. Founded in 2022, it helps users overcome speaking anxiety through real-time feedback on pronunciation and grammar, personalized lesson paths, and adaptive roleplay. The company has reported strong commercial traction and is backed by investors including Blossom Capital, Creator Ventures, and 500 Global.
StartupGrowthEdTechAIE-learning
Graz, Austria · StartupPredicting Health develops AI-based clinical risk prediction tools that analyze patient data to support early intervention and improve care quality. The company is a spin-off from the KAGes Data Science Team in Graz and operates in the same category as platforms like PIPRA.
StartupEarly StageHealthcareAIHealthTech
Prague, Czech Republic · StartupProductboard provides the operating system for product teams, helping companies collect user feedback, prioritize features, and align roadmaps. Dual-headquartered in Prague and San Francisco, it is widely adopted by global enterprises and scale-ups alike. By 2026, Productboard is a category leader in product management software and a major employer of Czech engineering talent. Its platform underpins product decision-making for thousands of teams worldwide.
StartupLate StageSaaSProductivityEnterprise Software
Poznan, Poland · StartupHospitality software company providing booking engines, channel management, and CRM tools for hotels and resorts.
StartupGrowthSaaSTravelTechB2B
Munich, Germany · StartupProxima Fusion is a deep-tech fusion energy company spun out from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in 2023. It is developing quasi-isodynamic stellarator systems designed for stable, commercial fusion power generation and is targeting a demonstrator pathway toward net-energy performance in the next decade.
StartupGrowthDeep TechCleanTechEnergyClimate Tech
Zagreb, Croatia · StartupDeveloper platform using generative AI to help teams build software products from natural language requirements. The startup is part of the CEE builder ecosystem and raised seed funding with backing from Inovo Venture Partners.
StartupEarly StageDeveloper ToolsGenerative AIAI
Berlin, Germany · StartupQdrant (pronounced "Quadrant") provides the memory layer for AI applications. As companies build AI agents in 2026, they quickly discover that large language models do not remember internal company data. Qdrant solves this by offering a high-performance vector database that stores embeddings for documents, images, and conversations and retrieves the most relevant context in milliseconds. That capability is the foundation of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) and agent workflows across enterprises.
Born as an open-source project in Berlin, Qdrant has become a default choice for teams building on modern AI stacks, especially in Rust and performance-critical environments. Its adoption accelerated because it can run anywhere—from embedded devices to large Kubernetes clusters—without locking users into a proprietary cloud. This flexibility, combined with strong performance and transparent licensing, has allowed Qdrant to surpass older competitors in developer mindshare and production deployments. By late 2025 it had raised a Series B and was widely described as a "soonicorn" within the AI infrastructure category.
The 2026 breakthrough is Qdrant's hybrid search engine. Pure vector search captures semantic similarity but can miss precise keyword matches that matter in enterprise contexts. Qdrant combines semantic retrieval with keyword filters and metadata constraints, enabling queries such as "find a part like this" while also honoring exact identifiers like "Part #404-X" or compliance tags. This hybrid approach is now table stakes for enterprise RAG, and it has made Qdrant the database of choice for large-scale deployments at organizations such as Discord, Mozilla, and Deloitte.
Qdrant Cloud is the company's managed service offering and is growing quickly as enterprises move from prototypes to production. It provides enterprise controls, observability, and multi-region deployments without sacrificing the portability that developers expect from the open-source core. Qdrant's ecosystem roots include Techstars Berlin and a strong open-source community, where the project has amassed tens of thousands of GitHub stars. Its investor base includes Spark Capital, Unusual Ventures, 42CAP, and IBB Ventures, giving it both global capital and local Berlin support. In 2026, Qdrant is the clearest European winner in vector databases: the infrastructure layer that lets AI systems remember and reason over real company data.
StartupGrowthAIInfrastructureDeveloper Tools
Paris, France · StartupBusiness banking platform expanding aggressively into Germany and Italy to serve European SMEs.
StartupGrowthFintechBanking
London, United Kingdom · StartupDecision intelligence platform that links enterprise data to fight fraud, manage risk, and deepen customer analytics.
StartupGrowthAIAnalytics
Gilching, Germany · StartupManufacturer of autonomous fixed-wing VTOL drones used for battlefield reconnaissance and intelligence.
StartupGrowthAerospaceDefense
Riga, Latvia · StartupRebookify is a Riga-based travel automation platform that helps agencies recover margin from fluctuating hotel rates. The system tracks refundable bookings, detects equivalent lower-priced alternatives across suppliers, and alerts agents to rebook at better prices with minimal manual work. The company combines AI-driven matching with travel operations workflows for B2B agencies.
StartupEarly StageTravelTechB2B SaaSAI Automation
Vienna, Austria · Startuprefurbed is an online marketplace for refurbished products, including electronics, household items, and sports equipment.
StartupGrowthMarketplaceCircular EconomyE-commerce
Prague, Czech Republic · StartupResistant AI focuses on AI-driven fraud detection for financial services, specifically identifying manipulated documents used in KYC and onboarding. Its models detect fake paystubs, doctored IDs, and synthetic documents that bypass traditional checks. As digital fraud grows more sophisticated, Resistant AI has become a critical partner for fintechs and banks. By 2026, it is a leading Czech player in the FinTech security category.
StartupGrowthFintechCybersecurityAI
Kyiv, Ukraine · StartupOverview: Respeecher is a cutting-edge AI voice synthesis startup that enables one person's voice to be transformed into the voice of another specific person, with uncanny realism. In other words, it's known for its voice cloning technology. Respeecher's system takes in an actor or user's speech and outputs audio that sounds like a target voice - be it a famous actor, a historical figure, or anyone for whom it has trained a model. This technology has huge applications in entertainment: filmmakers can revive voices of actors from years past, game developers can have characters speak in iconic voices, and creators can produce content where, say, a celebrity appears to narrate (with permission). What makes Respeecher stand out is the high fidelity of the cloned voices - they are nearly indistinguishable from the real person, capturing emotion and intonation accurately. Respeecher provides its tech via a software interface; typically, a voice model is trained on recordings of the target voice, and then a voice actor provides performance which is converted. Importantly, Respeecher emphasizes ethical use: it requires consent from the voice owners and has gained a reputation for an "ethics-first" approach in the emerging synthetic media field. Founding Story (2018): Respeecher was founded in February 2018 in Kyiv, Ukraine by Alex Serdiuk, Dmytro Bielievtsov, and Grant Reaber. Serdiuk and Bielievtsov are Ukrainian, and Reaber is an American speech technologist - the trio met through mutual research interests in speech processing. They realized that recent advances in deep learning could make high-quality voice conversion possible, and they set out to create a system far beyond the rudimentary voice changers of the past. In 2018-2019, they went through the Comcast NBCUniversal LIFT Labs Accelerator (powered by Techstars) in the US, which gave them industry connections. Early on, Respeecher got a lucky break: it was approached to work on a high-profile but secret project - which turned out to be Lucasfilm's The Mandalorian (Season 2 finale in 2020). The task was to recreate the voice of a young Luke Skywalker as he would have sounded in the 1980s, using Mark Hamill's old recordings. Respeecher delivered successfully, astonishing Hollywood sound engineers. This successful debut put Respeecher on the map in the film industry. In subsequent months, they also worked on a Super Bowl commercial voicing Vince Lombardi (AI-cloned from archival audio). The Ukrainian team, working under NDA, built these groundbreaking demos which then led to word-of-mouth referrals in Hollywood. Product and Use Cases: Respeecher's core product is delivered as a service to content creators. A client provides audio of the target voice (e.g., recordings of a person) and Respeecher trains a custom voice model. Then the client (often a voice actor or the person themselves) provides the new dialogue, which Respeecher's system converts into the target's voice. One notable use case was the documentary short film "In Event of Moon Disaster" - Respeecher recreated President Nixon's voice to simulate him reading a speech that was written in case Apollo 11 failed, and this project won an Emmy Award in 2021 for Outstanding Interactive Media (Respeecher's team was credited for the voice work). Another big use case: Darth Vader's voice in 2022's Obi-Wan Kenobi series - James Earl Jones, aged 91, could no longer perform with the same power, so Lucasfilm used Respeecher to generate Vader's lines using Jones' archival voice data. This was done with Jones's consent (he effectively authorized the AI recreation of his iconic voice). The result was so good that audiences thought Jones had recorded the lines himself. Outside of film/TV, Respeecher has been used in video games (e.g., to recreate voices of deceased voice actors so characters can return), and in music - in 2022, it enabled artist Aloe Blacc to perform a song where his voice was converted to sound like the late Avicii's voice, as a tribute. Researchers and archivists have also shown interest in using it to restore voices for people who lost theirs (like throat cancer patients), although that's still experimental. Traction and Achievements: Though a B2B company, Respeecher gained public fame because of the high-profile nature of its projects. By 2022, virtually every Star Wars fan and many industry professionals had heard of Respeecher due to media coverage of its involvement in resurrecting Luke Skywalker's youthful voice and Darth Vader's classic tones. The company has a relatively small number of clients (dozens of studios, game companies, etc.), but each project is high value. Its technology earned it an Engineering Emmy Award in 2021, and it won TechCrunch's Startup Battlefield (audience choice) at CES in 2020. In terms of funding, Respeecher raised about $1.5M in early 2020 (around the Techstars time), and as of 2021 it had raised over $3M in total from investors including Techstars, ff Venture Capital, and Acrobator Ventures. The team remained fairly lean (under 50 people) but comprised specialized AI researchers and sound engineers. Financially, Respeecher's revenue grew with each Hollywood contract; while not public, one can infer that by 2022 it was profitable or close, given the repeat work from Disney/Lucasfilm and others. One of Respeecher's achievements is also on the ethical front: in 2023 it was one of ten companies (alongside OpenAI and TikTok) to sign the Partnership on AI's framework for responsible media, committing to practices like obtaining consent, watermarking AI content, etc. This proactive stance has made them a trusted partner in an area often seen with suspicion (deepfakes). The war in Ukraine did pose a challenge - much of Respeecher's team was Kyiv-based, and during the Russian invasion in Feb 2022, the team amazingly continued working (the Obi-Wan Kenobi Vader voice project was completed in the spring of 2022 while Kyiv was under threat). This dedication further earned them respect in the industry. Key Partnerships: Respeecher's notable partnerships are with major studios like Disney/Lucasfilm, and with game studios such as CD Projekt Red (who used Respeecher in 2023 to voice a character in Cyberpunk 2077 in Polish, whose original actor had passed away). It also collaborated with the creative team of the documentary "Val" to recreate actor Val Kilmer's voice, which he lost due to cancer (Kilmer and his son provided the training data). Each successful partnership validates the tech and leads to more clients. On the academic side, Respeecher worked with medical research to explore giving people who lost their voice (e.g., ALS patients) a chance to speak in their own reconstructed voice - a heartwarming application of the tech. Future Outlook: Respeecher sits at the forefront of AI in media. The demand for voice cloning is likely to increase - whether to dubbing movies in a star's own voice across languages, bringing historical figures' voices to life for museums, or personal uses (with permission, someone might license their voice). The company's focus will be to maintain quality leadership as big players (like Microsoft or Google) also invest in voice AI. Respeecher's Ukrainian origin is a source of pride: it shows that despite adversity, Ukrainian tech can lead globally in innovation. The founders have expressed interest in eventually developing real-time voice conversion (currently it's not instant, it takes some processing time) and making the tech more accessible perhaps in creator tools. But they tread carefully to avoid misuse. In summary, Respeecher is a Ukrainian deep-tech startup that achieved what was once sci-fi - lending voices across time and space - and has done so responsibly. By powering some of Hollywood's most iconic moments with AI, it has cemented itself as a trailblazer in synthetic audio. As long as movies and games want to push creative boundaries, Respeecher's technology will likely be in the credits, helping the impossible become possible in voice. Sources: en.wikipedia.org, failory.com, techcrunch.com, youtube.com.
StartupGrowthAIMediaAudioDeep Tech
London, United Kingdom · StartupRevolut is a British fintech company offering a “super-app” for digital banking and financial services. Launched in 2015 by founders Nik Storonsky (a former Credit Suisse trader from Russia) and Vlad Yatsenko (Ukrainian developer), Revolut began as a multicurrency travel card allowing users to spend and transfer money globally with minimal fees. It quickly evolved into a full-featured neobank. As of 2025, Revolut operates in 48+ countries and has 65 million customers worldwide, making it one of the fastest-growing fintechs ever. The app provides a suite of services: GBP and EUR bank accounts, debit cards, currency exchange for 30+ currencies at interbank rates, stock and crypto trading, person-to-person payments, bill splitting, and more. Revolut’s growth has been astonishing – it surpassed £3.1 billion in annual revenue in 2024 with £1.1 billion operating profit. The company has raised over $1.7 billion from investors like SoftBank, Tiger Global, and TCV, reaching a private valuation of $33 billion in 2021. In late 2025, a secondary share sale reportedly valued Revolut at $75 billion, vaulting it among the world’s most valuable fintechs. Revolut’s journey has not been without challenges: it faced regulatory hurdles (e.g. its UK banking license was long-delayed), compliance scrutiny, and had to strengthen its governance as it scaled. Nonetheless, the company achieved profitability in 2021 and has continued to grow its user base across Europe, North America, and Asia. Revolut’s mission is to become a “global financial super-app”, consolidating banking, investing, insurance, and payments in one place. It has introduced products like “Revolut Junior” accounts for kids, pay-later services, and expanded into credit in select markets. With over 10,000 employees worldwide, Revolut is now a regulated bank in the EU and other jurisdictions. Its story from scrappy travel card startup to a $75B-valued fintech giant with 65 million users epitomizes Europe’s fintech rise and the potential of challenger banks to rewrite banking norms.
StartupLate StageFintechConsumer
Warsaw, Poland · StartupCybersecurity startup launched in 2022 offering a European-focused cyber threat intelligence platform. It monitors darknet, deep web, and messaging channels for leaks and compromised credentials and helps teams detect phishing domains before campaigns go live.
StartupEarly StageCybersecurityThreat IntelligenceSaaS
Graz, Austria · StartupRobotDreams develops AI diagnostics software that analyzes blood data to accelerate detection of acute conditions such as acute coronary syndrome, competing in AI-enabled in-vitro diagnostics.
StartupEarly StageHealthcareDiagnosticsAI
Prague, Czech Republic · StartupRohlik Group is the Czech Republic's flagship ecommerce and logistics scale-up, often compared to Ocado for its vertically integrated model. The company dominates online grocery across Central Europe and operates the Knuspr brand in Germany and Austria, pairing premium assortment with fast delivery windows. By 2026, Rohlik is heavily automating fulfillment to push down unit economics while expanding warehouse capacity across CEE. Its influence is outsized locally, acting as a talent magnet and a repeat-founder factory for the Prague ecosystem.
StartupLate StageE-GroceryLogisticsMarketplace
Prague, Czech Republic · StartupRossum specializes in intelligent document processing, moving beyond basic OCR to cognitive data capture. Its AI reads invoices, shipping manifests, and other structured documents with human-like accuracy, automating workflows for logistics, manufacturing, and finance. The company is scaling rapidly in the US market and positioning itself as the backbone for enterprise document automation. By 2026, Rossum is one of the Czech ecosystem's most credible soonicorns.
StartupGrowthAIEnterprise SoftwareAutomation
Milan, Italy · StartupMobile payments network enabling peer-to-peer transfers and low-cost in-store payments without cards.
StartupGrowthFintechPayments
Bratislava, Slovakia · StartupSeak Energy develops smart infrastructure systems that control street lighting and EV chargers over existing power lines, avoiding costly new cabling. This retrofitting approach allows cities to digitize “dumb” infrastructure quickly and affordably. By 2026, Seak Energy is expanding across municipalities seeking low-cost modernization of public assets.
StartupGrowthSmart LightingSmart CityEnergy
Warsaw, Poland · StartupMedTech robotics startup behind FIDI, an assistive feeding robot for people with upper-limb disabilities. The system combines 3D vision, AI, and adaptive utensils to align with user posture and pace.
StartupEarly StageMedTechRoboticsAssistive Tech
Bratislava, Slovakia · StartupSensoneo provides enterprise-grade smart waste management systems that digitize collection workflows for cities and waste operators. Using ultrasonic sensors in bins and route-optimization software, it helps cities like Madrid and Prague reduce costs and emissions. The company is expanding into deposit return systems (DRS) software and broader circular-economy infrastructure. By 2026, Sensoneo is a recognized European leader in smart waste.
StartupGrowthWaste ManagementSmart CityIoT
Warsaw, Poland · StartupFoodTech startup producing plant-based cheese alternatives from Polish lupin beans. The products target high protein and melt performance for mainstream consumer use in dairy-free diets.
StartupEarly StageFoodTechConsumerSustainability
Brno, Czech Republic · StartupSewio builds ultra-wideband (UWB) real-time location systems (RTLS) for indoor asset and people tracking.
StartupGrowthIoTIndustrialRTLS
Bratislava, Slovakia · StartupSimplicity is a GovTech and smart-city super-app that aggregates municipal news, payments, notifications, and city services into a single mobile experience. The platform evolved from local deployments in Slovakia and Europe into a US-focused expansion strategy, winning contracts with cities seeking a modern digital engagement layer. By 2026, Simplicity is a fast-scaling civic tech company turning city services into a unified digital channel.
StartupGrowthGovTechSmart CitySaaS
Copenhagen, Denmark · StartupSiteimprove provides a website governance and digital experience platform covering accessibility, SEO, and content quality.
StartupGrowthSaaSDigital ExperienceMarTech
Tallinn, Estonia · StartupSkeleton Technologies develops high-power energy storage solutions based on Curved Graphene for transportation, grid, and industrial use cases.
StartupGrowthEnergy StorageCleanTechIndustrial
Graz, Austria · StartupsmaXtec builds ingestible sensor and AI monitoring systems for dairy cows to detect health issues early and improve herd management decisions, competing with precision livestock platforms such as Allflex, CowManager, and Nedap.
StartupGrowthAgriTechIoTAI
Berlin, Germany · StartupEmbedded banking platform providing regulated accounts, cards, and payments APIs.
StartupGrowthFintechBanking
Paris, France · StartupSports gaming and digital collectibles platform with a major commercial office in London serving UK partnerships and sports leagues.
StartupGrowthWeb3SportsGaming
Warsaw, Poland · StartupInfrastructure automation platform for engineering teams using Terraform, OpenTofu, CloudFormation, Pulumi, and Ansible. Spacelift helps enterprises manage IaC workflows, policy controls, and secure cloud deployments at scale.
StartupGrowthDeveloper ToolsCloud InfrastructureDevOps
Riga, Latvia · StartupSpotwise.ai is a Riga-based B2B SaaS company that automates competitive radio advertising intelligence for broadcaster sales teams. Its AI continuously monitors radio streams, detects and transcribes ads, identifies advertisers, and routes actionable leads to CRM workflows. The platform is built for multilingual markets and positioned for European media groups operating across fragmented language regions.
StartupEarly StageAdTechAISales Intelligence
Tallinn, Estonia · StartupStarship Technologies builds autonomous sidewalk delivery robots for last-mile grocery, food, and package delivery.
StartupGrowthRoboticsLogisticsLast-Mile Delivery
Stockholm, Sweden · StartupStegra (formerly H2 Green Steel) is one of Europe’s most ambitious industrial decarbonization projects, aiming to rebuild steelmaking around renewable energy and green hydrogen. The company is building a fully integrated production campus in Boden, northern Sweden, where abundant hydropower and regional mining supply chains converge. The core innovation is the direct-reduction process: instead of using coal to reduce iron ore, Stegra uses green hydrogen, cutting CO2 emissions by roughly 95% compared with blast-furnace steel. That technical shift is the foundation for a new European supply of low-carbon steel, which is increasingly demanded by automakers, construction firms, and consumer brands. The company rebranded to Stegra in September 2024 to signal that it is more than a steel mill. Its long-term platform vision is to combine renewable power, hydrogen production, and mineral processing into a repeatable template for heavy industry. By 2026, the Boden plant is reported to be more than halfway constructed, with gigascale electrolyzers (supplied by Thyssenkrupp Nucera) being installed and key offtake contracts signed. Customers reportedly include Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Scania, and IKEA, and more than half of initial output has been pre-sold — a strong indicator that the “green premium” market is real. Stegra’s financing structure is as notable as its technology. Rather than relying solely on venture capital, the company blends project-finance debt with growth equity, totaling more than €6.5 billion in commitments. This makes it one of the largest private industrial raises in Europe and a flagship case for climate infrastructure funding. Its origins are tied to Vargas Holding, a Swedish venture-builder that also co-founded Northvolt and Polarium, acting as an institutional co-founder rather than a conventional accelerator. Early support from EIT InnoEnergy helped validate the project at the EU level. Stegra’s investor roster reflects its strategic importance: Altor Equity Partners, GIC, Just Climate, Temasek, and Porsche SE are among its backers. In 2026, Stegra represents the “Northvolt effect” done right: a proof that Europe can re-industrialize around clean energy and keep advanced manufacturing on the continent. If it succeeds, it will be a template for decarbonizing other hard-to-abate sectors, from cement to fertilizers, and a cornerstone of Europe’s green-industry competitiveness.
StartupGrowthClimateIndustrialEnergy
Linz, Austria · StartupStoryblok is a headless CMS that helps developers and marketing teams build and manage content across channels.
StartupGrowthCMSSaaSDeveloper Tools
Bratislava, Slovakia · StartupSudolabs is a product studio and venture builder that designs and engineers high-end digital products for US startups. While technically a studio, it functions as a talent engine and a behind-the-scenes contributor to multiple venture-backed successes. By 2026, Sudolabs is one of the most respected engineering partners in the region.
StartupGrowthProduct StudioVenture BuilderSoftware
Bratislava, Slovakia · StartupSuperScale delivers revenue optimization for mobile games, combining AI with expert growth teams to revive older titles and improve monetization for new launches. The company partners with major global studios and provides a services-plus-software model that drives measurable uplift. By 2026, SuperScale is a leading Slovak gaming analytics and growth platform.
StartupGrowthGamingAnalyticsSaaS
Paris, France · StartupEmployee experience platform blending benefits, rewards, and wallet tools for hybrid teams.
StartupSeries CFintechHR Tech
London, United Kingdom · StartupAI video creation platform that turns scripts into multilingual clips with photorealistic avatars.
StartupGrowthAIMedia
Bratislava, Slovakia · StartupTachyum is developing the Prodigy Universal Processor, a bold attempt to unify CPU, GPU, and TPU workloads into a single hyperscale chip. The vision is a high-efficiency architecture that could dramatically reduce data center power consumption and cost. By 2026, the company is in moonshot territory, with tape-out success positioned as a potential disruption to incumbent giants like Nvidia and Intel. It is one of the most ambitious semiconductor bets in Central Europe.
StartupGrowthSemiconductorsHardwareAI Infrastructure
Copenhagen, Denmark · StartupTactile is a Copenhagen-based mobile games studio focused on casual puzzle games such as Lily’s Garden and Cookie Cats.
StartupGrowthGamingMobileEntertainment
Warsaw, Poland · StartupTalkie.ai is a Polish conversational AI platform focused on healthcare voice automation for hospitals, clinics, and medical contact centers. The product handles appointment workflows, prescription-related requests, triage-first routing, and self-service call handling through localized NLP and no-code configuration. Built in Poland with expansion across Europe and the US, it targets high-volume patient communication with compliance-oriented integrations.
StartupGrowthHealthTechConversational AIB2B SaaS
Prague, Czech Republic · StartupTatum is a developer platform that unifies dozens of blockchain protocols into a single API, allowing enterprises to build crypto features without specialized blockchain teams. The platform abstracts wallet creation, transactions, and smart contract interactions into simple endpoints. By 2026, Tatum positions itself as the “Stripe for crypto infrastructure,” serving banks and fintechs that want to launch regulated digital-asset services. Its focus is on reliability and developer speed rather than speculative crypto exposure.
StartupGrowthBlockchainInfrastructureDeveloper Tools
Ghent, Belgium · StartupTechWolf builds an AI-based workforce intelligence platform that helps enterprises transition to skills-based operating models. By integrating with HR systems, it infers employee skills, identifies gaps, and supports internal mobility and planning decisions at large-company scale.
StartupGrowthHR TechAIB2B SoftwareEnterprise Tech
Copenhagen, Denmark · StartupTemplafy is an enterprise content enablement platform that keeps documents, presentations, and emails on brand and compliant. Founded in Copenhagen in 2014, the company integrates with tools like Microsoft Office and Google Workspace to centralize templates, assets, and dynamic content. Templafy serves global enterprises with millions of users and automates governance for marketing, legal, and sales teams. It is one of Denmark's most successful B2B SaaS scale ups.
StartupGrowthB2B SaaSDocument Automation
Yerevan, Armenia · StartupText'nPayMe is a Yerevan-based fintech startup building keyboard-first payment experiences for peer-to-peer and micro-transactions inside messaging flows. Its infrastructure enables users to initiate secure transfers directly within chat interfaces without switching to separate banking apps. The company emerged from the 500 Eurasia ecosystem and targets embedded finance use cases for banks and digital platforms.
StartupEarly StageFinTechPaymentsEmbedded Finance
Munich, Germany · StartupBuilding reusable Nyx capsules to ferry cargo to the ISS and future commercial space stations.
StartupGrowthSpaceLogistics
Szczecin, Poland · StartupCustomer service platform for small and midsize businesses combining live chat, AI chatbots, and helpdesk automation. Tidio helps e-commerce teams improve support response times and drive conversion from website traffic.
StartupGrowthSaaSMarTechCustomer Support
Berlin, Germany · StartupSustainable micromobility operator running e-scooters, e-bikes, and shared mopeds in cities.
StartupGrowthMobilitySustainability
Copenhagen, Denmark · StartupToo Good To Go is a marketplace that helps consumers buy surplus food from restaurants, bakeries, and supermarkets at a discount, reducing food waste. Launched in Denmark in 2015, the app scaled across Europe, North America, and Australia, building a global community that has saved millions of meals. The company combines sustainability impact with a simple consumer pickup model and has become one of the best known Danish climate tech exports. It also runs programs that help businesses prevent waste and educate consumers about food labeling.
StartupGrowthMarketplaceFood WasteSustainability
Pasching, Austria · StartupTractive builds GPS tracking and health-monitoring products for dogs and cats.
StartupGrowthPet TechIoTWearables
Copenhagen, Denmark · StartupTradeshift was founded in Copenhagen in 2010 by veterans of Denmark's e-invoicing infrastructure and set out to modernize global trade workflows. Its cloud platform connects buyers and suppliers for e-invoicing, procurement, and supply chain finance, using open standards and a network model. Tradeshift scaled to a global footprint with headquarters in San Francisco and offices across Europe and Asia, and it achieved unicorn status after major funding rounds. The company is a flagship Danish fintech and B2B SaaS success.
StartupGrowthFintechSupply ChainB2B SaaS
Vilnius, Lithuania · StartupTransferGo is an international money transfer company focused on migrants, serving customers in 160+ countries.
StartupGrowthFintechPaymentsRemittances
Graz, Austria · StartupTrever provides a digital-asset operating system for financial institutions to trade, settle, and manage cryptocurrencies and tokenized securities. In market positioning it overlaps with infrastructure providers such as Fireblocks and Metaco.
StartupGrowthFinTechDigital AssetsB2B SaaS
London, United Kingdom · StartupMobile games company scaling casual puzzle and card titles to millions of players.
StartupGrowthGamingMobile
Copenhagen, Denmark · StartupFounded in 2007 by Peter Holten Muhlmann, Trustpilot is a Copenhagen-born consumer reviews platform that helps people share feedback about businesses and helps companies respond to and learn from customers. The platform operates a freemium model, pairing public reviews with paid tools for analytics, review invitations, and trust widgets. Trustpilot scaled internationally, opened major offices in London and New York, and went public on the London Stock Exchange in 2021. Today it hosts hundreds of millions of reviews and remains one of Denmark's best known global software successes.
StartupGrowthSaaSReviewsE-commerce
Prague, Czech Republic · StartupTwisto is a fintech offering buy-now-pay-later and online payment solutions for consumers and merchants.
StartupGrowthFintechPaymentsBNPL
Bucharest, Romania · StartupUiPath is a public company (NYSE: PATH) founded in Bucharest and now headquartered in New York, with major operations in Romania. The company has evolved from RPA tooling into an AI-powered business automation platform and in 2024 introduced its agentic automation platform to orchestrate AI agents and workflows. UiPath remains one of Europe’s most visible tech alumni stories, combining global scale with Romanian roots.
StartupPublicAutomationEnterprise SoftwareAI
Copenhagen, Denmark · StartupUnity Technologies was founded in Copenhagen in 2004 as a small game studio and evolved into the Unity game engine, a widely used platform for building 2D, 3D, and real time experiences. Unity helped democratize game development with a friendly pricing model, cross platform deployment, and a massive developer ecosystem. The company expanded into industries like automotive, architecture, and simulation, and it went public on the NYSE in 2020. Unity remains one of the most influential Danish founded technology companies in the global developer tools space.
StartupGrowthGamingDeveloper Tools3D
Odense, Denmark · StartupUniversal Robots was founded in Odense in 2005 and pioneered collaborative robots that are safe, flexible, and easy to program for small and mid sized manufacturers. The company introduced affordable robotic arms like the UR5 and helped establish the global cobot category. After strong growth, Universal Robots was acquired by Teradyne and continued expanding its product line and ecosystem. It is a cornerstone of Denmark's robotics cluster and a global automation leader.
StartupGrowthRoboticsIndustrialAutomation
Yerevan, Armenia · StartupUteach is an all-in-one e-learning platform built in Yerevan for independent educators, creators, and learning businesses. The product combines course hosting, live lessons, branded school websites, payments, quizzes, and certificates in a single stack so creators can launch and monetize digital academies faster. The company scaled through the 500 Eurasia ecosystem while serving an international user base.
StartupGrowthEdTechCreator EconomySaaS
Tallinn, Estonia · StartupVeriff provides AI-powered online identity verification to help businesses prevent fraud and meet compliance needs.
StartupGrowthIdentity VerificationAIFraud Prevention
Dunkirk, France · StartupVerkor is the industrial champion of the French "Battery Valley" and one of Europe's most important energy manufacturing plays. While many battery startups emphasize chemistry R&D, Verkor's differentiator is execution at scale. Its gigafactory in Dunkirk, which began commissioning in late 2025, is designed to reach 16 GWh of annual capacity—enough to power roughly 300,000 electric vehicles. The facility is among the most advanced battery plants in Europe, built to supply automotive OEMs with locally produced, low-carbon cells.
The year 2026 is Verkor's start-of-production milestone. Its cells are the core of the new Alpine A390 and other Renault Group EV programs, giving the company a high-profile anchor customer and a direct path to volume demand. Verkor positions itself around "low-carbon performance" by combining France's low-emission nuclear grid with a highly digitized Industry 4.0 production system that reduces scrap rates and energy intensity. The company argues that its batteries carry a materially smaller carbon footprint than cells manufactured in coal-heavy regions, which is increasingly important as automakers track embedded emissions across supply chains.
Beyond production, Verkor is investing in future chemistry and process innovation. The Verkor Innovation Centre (VIC) in Grenoble is expanding its work on next-generation chemistries, including sodium-ion cells that reduce reliance on lithium and cobalt. This R&D focus strengthens supply-chain resilience and creates optionality for lower-cost, lower-risk storage solutions as electric mobility scales. Verkor's roadmap also includes tighter integration between materials sourcing, cell design, and recycling, positioning it to meet Europe's stringent regulatory requirements on battery sustainability and traceability.
Verkor is backed by a mix of strategic and infrastructure capital. Macquarie Asset Management and Meridiam provide long-term project finance muscle, Renault Group anchors demand and industrial validation, EQT Ventures provides growth capital, and Sibanye-Stillwater supports raw material security. It was co-founded and supported early by EIT InnoEnergy and has strong operational ties to Schneider Electric, which helped design its digital factory systems. With support from the Macron administration and the European Investment Bank, Verkor has become a poster child for European industrial sovereignty. In 2026, it stands as proof that Europe can manufacture critical clean-tech hardware at global scale—and do it with a lower-carbon footprint.
StartupGrowthEnergyManufacturingClimate
Paris, France · StartupLuxury fashion resale platform with strong operations and authentication teams in Spain.
StartupGrowthMarketplaceFashionCircular Economy
Vilnius, Lithuania · StartupVinted is Europe’s largest marketplace for second-hand fashion and one of Lithuania’s biggest tech success stories. In 2024 the company reported EUR 813m in revenue and EUR 76.7m net profit, underlining a profitable recommerce model at scale. Beyond the core marketplace, Vinted has expanded into logistics through Vinted Go and payments via Vinted Pay. The company has also grown through targeted acquisitions, including Trendsales in Denmark (2024) and luxury resale marketplace Rebelle (2022). With its mission to make second-hand the first choice, Vinted sits at the intersection of circular economy, logistics, and consumer marketplaces.
StartupLate StageMarketplaceCircular EconomyLogistics
Copenhagen, Denmark · StartupVivino is a Copenhagen founded wine discovery app that lets consumers scan labels and access crowd sourced ratings, tasting notes, and pricing. Founded in 2010 by Heini Zachariassen and Theis Sondergaard, Vivino built the largest wine data community and later expanded into a full marketplace where users can buy wines directly. The company has grown to tens of millions of users and has raised significant venture funding to expand internationally. Vivino is a standout Danish consumer tech company that blended mobile, computer vision, and commerce.
StartupGrowthMarketplaceConsumerE-commerce
Warsaw, Poland · StartupCleantech spinout from Warsaw University of Technology building autonomous floating WaterStation units for inland water monitoring. The platform combines disposable electrochemical sensors with forecasting models to detect and predict ecological threats.
StartupEarly StageClimate TechCleanTechWater Tech
London, United Kingdom · StartupWayve is the UK's flagship autonomous driving startup and a differentiated answer to Waymo. While many competitors depend on heavy lidar stacks and pre-mapped environments, Wayve pioneered end-to-end deep learning for driving. Its "AV2.0" approach trains a single model to perceive and drive directly from camera inputs, enabling generalized behavior in new cities without expensive high-definition maps. This learning-based philosophy positions Wayve as a software company that can scale autonomy across geographies more rapidly than hardware-heavy rivals.
The period from 2025 to 2026 has been transformative. After a blockbuster $1B Series C in 2024, Wayve entered advanced talks for a further $2B round in late 2025, with SoftBank and Microsoft reportedly doubling down. That capital is fueling the rollout of the Gen 3 AI Driver, built on Nvidia's THOR compute platform and designed to handle long-tail edge cases. The system can reason about ambiguous road behavior in ways that rule-based stacks struggle with, such as anticipating risky cyclists or interpreting human gestures at crossings.
By 2026, Wayve is no longer just a research lab. It has launched commercial pilot programs in London and Munich with grocery delivery fleets, working with partners like Ocado and Asda. The company's strategy is firmly B2B: licensing its Driver software to automotive OEMs and fleet operators who want Level 3/4 autonomy without spending billions to build a full stack in-house. This positions Wayve as a middleware layer for autonomy rather than a consumer-facing brand, and it aligns with the industry's shift toward autonomous logistics and commercial fleets.
Wayve's origin story is closely tied to Entrepreneur First, where co-founders Alex Kendall and Amar Shah met and launched the company. Its headquarters in London's King's Cross Knowledge Quarter keeps it adjacent to DeepMind, the Crick Institute, and a dense cluster of AI talent. The investor list reflects both strategic and financial backing: SoftBank led the Series C, Microsoft provides cloud infrastructure via Azure, Nvidia is a strategic hardware investor, and Uber is a partner for potential robotaxi deployment. Early deep-tech support came from Eclipse Ventures. In 2026, Wayve represents Europe's most credible attempt to build generalized, map-light autonomy at scale.
StartupLate StageAIAutonomous VehiclesMobility
Krakow, Poland · StartupLow-code enterprise automation platform used to build and run business process applications across large organizations.
StartupGrowthSaaSLow-codeEnterprise Software
Prague, Czech Republic · StartupWoltair is a digital marketplace and installation platform for heat pumps and solar systems. It streamlines the complex process of finding qualified contractors, securing subsidies, and completing installations. By 2026, the company is a notable Czech green-tech player pushing heat pump adoption across Central Europe. Its operational advantage is a software-driven workflow layered on top of local installer networks.
StartupGrowthGreenTechEnergyMarketplace
Copenhagen, Denmark · StartupZendesk was founded in Copenhagen in 2007 by Mikkel Svane, Morten Primdahl, and Alexander Aghassipour to make customer support software simpler and more usable. The company built a cloud helpdesk that unified email, chat, voice, and social support, then expanded rapidly after relocating headquarters to San Francisco while keeping Danish roots. Zendesk went public in 2014 and later returned to private ownership in 2022, but it continues to shape the global customer experience software market and remains a landmark Danish founded SaaS company.
StartupGrowthSaaSCustomer Support