Biotech, booking hacks, billion-euro raises, and much more...
What's Up Tech? #218
Welcome to our 218th newsletter, written with 🖤 by Annika Bautista, Sarah Luna Mongin, Aris Sevastianos, Caroline Baltrusch, Henrik Jacobsen, Lena Müller, Philipp Boxler and Augustin Droste zu Senden.
🔍 Topics we'll cover this weekGeneral news from the week: a new AI Factory launch in Europe 👀
Fundraising news from the week: France and UK drive the news with “TikTok for travel” and smart drug design
Up-and-coming ventures to watch: from paperwork to pregnancy, newbies fixing the hard stuff 💪
🆕 Product news from the week: scroll to find out what’s up 🌎
Internships & Job offers of the week
Enjoy the read! 💛
🤑 Fundraising of the week🧪 Isomorphic Labs secures $600 million to revolutionize AI-driven drug design (🇬🇧)
Isomorphic Labs, a leader in AI-driven drug discovery, has raised $600 million in its first external funding round. The round, led by Thrive Capital, will fuel the development of its next-generation AI drug design engine and progress its therapeutic pipeline into clinical trials.
The company aims to transform drug discovery through groundbreaking AI models like AlphaFold 3, developed with Google DeepMind, to accelerate treatments in oncology and immunology. This significant funding will enable the company to expand its team and continue innovating in life sciences.
Alphabet’s AI Drug Discovery Platform Isomorphic Labs Raises $600M from Thrive
🦾 CMR Surgical raises $200 million to compete with Intuitive Surgical in the US (🇬🇧)
UK-based CMR Surgical has raised $200 million in debt and equity to boost its expansion in the US and challenge its $180 billion rival Intuitive Surgical. The funding round, supported by SoftBank, LightRock, Ally-Bridge, and debt provider Trinity Capital, will accelerate the commercialization of CMR's Versius surgical robot, used in over 30,000 surgeries globally. 🌍
This investment solidifies CMR's position as the best-funded surgical robotics startup, with a valuation of $3 billion. The company is focused on advancing its robotic platform for soft tissue surgeries and tapping into new markets, especially in the US.
SoftBank Backs Surgical Robotics Startup CMR Surgical in $200M Round
📊 Pennylane raises €75 million to take over Europe’s accounting stacks (🇫🇷)
French fintech unicorn Pennylane just locked in €75 million in fresh capital to fuel its European takeover. The round was co-led by Sequoia Capital, CapitalG (Alphabet’s VC arm), and Meritech Capital Partners. The company’s valuation has now doubled to ~$2.2 billion, impressive for a startup launched in 2020.
Pennylane offers slick accounting software that consolidates financial data in real-time, so startups, SMEs, and accountants can stop playing Excel tag and start making smarter, faster decisions. The tech is especially timely with Europe-wide e-invoicing mandates rolling out—meaning Pennylane isn’t just a tool, it’s becoming a compliance essential.
The cash will go toward staffing up (from 550 to 800 people by end of 2025) and expanding beyond France. Think of it as TurboTax meets QuickBooks, but with a chic French accent and EU-wide ambitions. 😉
French Unicorn Pennylane Scores €75M Funding, as CapitalG Joins Investor Roster
♻️ Fairmat raises €51.5 million to give carbon fiber a second (and third...and 50th) life (🇫🇷)
Fairmat, a French deeptech startup tackling the mess of composite material waste, just raised €51.5 million in its Series B. The round was led by Bpifrance’s large venture fund and Slate VC. It's also Fairmat’s third round in just over three years.
The company’s patented Infinity Recycling tech lets it recover carbon fibers intact, meaning it can recycle composites almost endlessly, without compromising on quality. Their “FairFactories” in France and the US combine robotics, AI, and sensors to automate recycling at industrial scale. The new funds will triple production, power global expansion, and push into sectors like mobility, electronics, and energy.
So far, Fairmat’s been the eco-MVP of sports gear, now supplying top running, racquet, and outdoor brands. With €50 million in annual contracted revenue and 2,900 tonnes of materials secured, it’s proving that circularity isn’t just planet-friendly—it’s commercially hot too. 🔥
Fairmat Secures €51.5M Series B to Close the Loop on Material Recycling
🚢 Sedna raises $10 million to clean up the maritime world's messy inbox (🇬🇧)
London-based Sedna just locked in $10 million in debt financing, with the round led by CIBC Innovation Banking. The startup tackles one of the least sexy but most stubborn problems in maritime logistics: email overload. Sedna’s AI-powered platform pulls vital info (e.g., cargo details and vessel names) from high-volume emails and links it to ops systems like SAP and Veson Nautical, so teams stop drowning in their inboxes.
Founded by serial maritime tech founder Bill Dobie, Sedna is going full throttle to turn email chaos into operational gold. The funds will fuel expansion, deeper integrations, and even smarter AI. Clients have seen up to an 80% productivity bump and 200% increase in operator capacity.
Oh, and they already claim the largest customer base in maritime communications, thanks in part to their 2024 acquisition of Nordic IT. Turns out, fixing email might just be the next big trade route. 💻
Sedna Secures $10M to Lead AI-Powered Maritime Communication
✈️ Unravel raises €6.3 million to turn TikTok-style travel videos into instant bookings (🇬🇧)
London-based Unravel just snagged €6.3 million in Series A funding to bring its AI-powered, video-first travel booking platform to more markets. The round was led by Nauta Capital.
Unravel calls itself the "TikTok of Travel," and it’s not just a flex. The platform lets banks, airlines, and fintechs embed shoppable, influencer-driven travel videos directly into their apps and loyalty programs. See a street food tour in Bangkok? Book it instantly without ever leaving your bank app. Their AI matches wanderlust with frictionless bookings. 🤳
The B2B model is already making noise across Asia and the Middle East. With this fresh cash, Unravel plans to expand across Europe and the UK, while beefing up its team in AI/ML, digital commerce, and enterprise partnerships. Oh, and they claim a 10x conversion lift for partners using their tech.
🔥 Up-and-coming startups to watch🗣️ voize raises €9M to fix broken documentation workflows (🇩🇪)
Berlin-based healthtech startup voize has raised €9 million in Seed funding led by HV Capital, with participation from Y Combinator, redalpine, and HPI Ventures.
voize’s AI-powered speech recognition tool allows caregivers to dictate notes via smartphone, automatically generating structured patient documentation. Already used in ~600 care facilities, the tech reduces documentation time by an average of 39 minutes per shift.
With this funding, voize plans to expand into hospitals and broaden its AI for industrial use cases. The startup, inspired by the founders' personal caregiving experience, is now helping tens of thousands of professionals reclaim time from tedious admin. ⏳
🔬 UniteLabs raises €2.77 million to bring AI-powered automation to biotech labs (🇩🇪)
Munich-based UniteLabs has secured €2.77 million in Pre-Seed funding to build the operating system for Lab 4.0.
Did you know? Over 90% of lab devices can't easily work together. UniteLabs fixes this by connecting lab equipment and software through one flexible platform. It lets labs pull data in real time, automate tasks, and get ready for AI—solving one of biotech’s biggest problems: disconnected lab systems.
The spin-off from Technical University of Munich (TUM), aims to accelerate digital transformation in life sciences by dismantling vendor silos and enhancing data integrity. With this fresh funding, UniteLabs plans to scale its platform, grow the team, and help biotech labs future-proof their infrastructure. 📈
UnitedLabs €2.77M Pre-Seed to Streamline Laboratories with AI
🌸 Calla Lily Clinical Care secures £1 million to advance treatment for threatened miscarriage (🇬🇧)
London-based Calla Lily Clinical Care has raised £1 million in non-dilutive funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Their goal is to accelerate the development of Callavid, a unique treatment that combines a drug and a medical device to help women at risk of miscarriage. The company is leading the way in targeted vaginal drug delivery, aiming to improve early pregnancy outcomes. In the UK alone, threatened miscarriage affects over 150,000 women each year.
This funding will enable Calla Lily to expand clinical trials, validate its hormone-supporting technology, and move closer to regulatory approval. With a mission to modernize gynecological care through science and empathy, the startup is setting new standards in reproductive health innovation. 🚼
Calla Lily Clinical Care Raises £1M to Treat Threatened Miscarriage
📰 Tech news of the week🧠 LUMI AI Factory launches to empower European startups with supercomputing-grade AI (🇫🇮)
LUMI AI Factory, one of the European Union’s first official AI Factories, has launched in Kajaani, Finland. The aim is to provide European startups, SMEs and researchers with free access to world-class compute, datasets and AI expertise.
Hosted by CSC, the IT Center for Science and supported by several European countries, including Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Norway and Poland, LUMI aims to accelerate AI innovation across key sectors such as manufacturing, healthcare and communications.
The factory runs entirely on carbon-free renewable energy and its excess heat helps warm homes in the city of Kajaani. So yes, four AI models could help fight climate change and keep someone’s sauna heated. 🥵
LUMI AI Factory Empowering European Startups and SMEs to Unlock AI’s Full Potential
📰 Product news of the weekKlarna hits pause: IPO plans shelved…for now
The line blurs: GPT-4.5 quietly aces the Turing Test
From Parliament to pitch decks: British MP unveils ‘Y Combinator for Wales’
👔 Internships & job offersInternships
Analyste PE Impact - bpifrance (Paris)
VC Platform Intern - EQT (London)
Visiting Analyst - Merantix Capital (Berlin)
Jobs
Analyst, Marketplaces & Consumer - Speedinvest (Paris, Berlin, Munich)
Principal - redalpine (Zurich)
VC Associate - Founders Future (Paris)
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