The investment round was co-led by Dutch investors SHIFT Invest and Invest-NL, with participation from existing backers World Fund, Project A and Vsquared Ventures. PAYBACK founder and DeepTech investor Alexander Rittweger also joined the round. VÆRIDION has raised approximately €60 million to date, excluding the newly announced EU grant.

Ivor van Dartel, founder and CEO of VÆRIDION, says: “Over the past year, we have turned the Microliner from a validated design into hardware, with exceptional capital efficiency. Our propulsion and battery technology is now being tested at our own facility in Oberpfaffenhofen. This equity round enables us to build our first conforming aircraft. The Commission’s selection of CAROLUS supports the next step: establishing the industrial capability for Microliner production.

“Building out of Europe, our mission is to make regional flying commercially viable and accessible again, in Europe and for operators worldwide.”

VÆRIDION’s announcement comes amid other European funding rounds for next-generation aircraft and aerospace technologies in 2026.

In France, AURA AERO announced a €50 million Series B to advance its electric and hybrid-electric aircraft programmes, while HyLight raised €13 million for hydrogen-powered autonomous airships. In the UK, Greenjets secured €35 million for aerospace propulsion technology and Skyfly raised €8.91 million for electric aircraft development.

Elsewhere, Denmark’s Acodyne secured €2.5 million for unmanned cargo aircraft, while Germany’s SPREAD AI raised €25 million for industrial engineering software serving sectors including aerospace.

Together with VÆRIDION’s €30 million equity round, these selected announcements represent approximately €164.4 million in financing, excluding VÆRIDION’s separately selected EU grant.

EU-Startups previously covered VÆRIDION’s €14 million Series A in December 2024, led by returning investor World Fund.

Daria Saharova, Managing Partner at World Fund, adds: “For the past half century, Airbus has shown that Europe can build aircraft the world buys. VÆRIDION is writing the next chapter with a fully electric aircraft, built in Bavaria, with a clear path to certification. Investing in the future of aviation is Europe’s power play, and I am proud to back Ivor and the team.”

Founded in 2021 by former Airbus manager Ivor van Dartel and headquartered in Munich, VÆRIDION is developing fully electric aircraft designed to make short-distance regional aviation more economically viable.

Its flagship aircraft, the Microliner, aims to carry nine passengers over distances of approximately 400 kilometres, connecting regional destinations that have become increasingly difficult to serve profitably using conventional aircraft.

The €30 million investment will finance the development of VÆRIDION’s first certification-conforming aircraft and further propulsion testing. Meanwhile, the €94.5 million Innovation Fund grant is intended to support the CAROLUS project, which will establish and scale up a final assembly facility at Oberpfaffenhofen Airport, near Munich.

The project was selected from 358 applications as one of 12 large-scale projects, making VÆRIDION the only German company and the only aviation project selected in this category. The grant remains subject to the completion of an agreement expected in 2027.

The Microliner combines a glider-inspired wing with patented modular battery technology and a multi-engine propulsion system driving a single propeller. It is being developed in passenger and cargo configurations, with a targeted range of 400 kilometres carrying nine passengers under Instrument Flight Rules, or up to 550 kilometres carrying four passengers under Visual Flight Rules.

The company is targeting operating costs below €0.40 per seat-kilometre, which it believes could allow operators to offer tickets at prices comparable to first-class journeys on Germany’s ICE high-speed trains. Its broader ambition is to restore regional connections, including services linking smaller German cities and airfields that are no longer served by commercial airlines.

Thijs Gitmans, General Partner at SHIFT Invest, adds: “Regional aviation is one of the clearest cases where electrification makes both environmental and commercial sense. VÆRIDION has chosen a certification pathway regulators already understand and has delivered real hardware on a disciplined budget. We are proud to lead this round and to back a European champion in electric flight with European funding.”

The company reports customer commitments for more than 130 aircraft, representing a potential value exceeding €730 million. Its launch customer is Belgium-based ASL Group, with the first Microliner delivery targeted for 2030.

In March 2026, VÆRIDION opened its production and testing facility at Oberpfaffenhofen Airport, where it has since powered on its electric engine for the first time. The facility was acquired following the insolvency of German electric aviation startup Lilium.

The startup is now preparing to integrate its battery packs and propulsion system into a ground-testing platform known as a copper bird. Alongside wind-tunnel testing, this work will support the development of its first certification-conforming prototype, currently targeted for late 2027 or early 2028.

With engineering activities in Munich and Delft, and production planned in Bavaria, VÆRIDION intends to expand its European team as it progresses towards flight testing, certification and industrial production.

The post Germany’s VÆRIDION raises €124 million to bring electric regional flights closer to reality appeared first on EU-Startups.

The company optimises standalone battery storage and co-located renewable-plus-storage projects, with more than 1.2 GWh under contract and in operation.

Martin Kievit, CEO and co-founder of Green Voltis, said, “Every new gigawatt of renewables makes Europe’s grid harder to balance, and flexibility now sets the pace of the energy transition. We built Aether and Chronos to turn storage and renewable plants into assets the grid can rely on and investors can bank on. The next wave of demand comes from AI. Data centres need power faster than grids can deliver it, and the intelligence that operates a battery can also manage a data centre’s energy. Green Voltis will provide the AI energy infrastructure layer between the grid and compute. With Lochpine Capital as a long-term partner, we are ready to build it.”

Founded in 2024 by Kievit, Ali Shi, and Gino Zhang, Green Voltis is an AI-native platform that trades, protects, and optimises renewable energy assets across markets and years. It claims to replace manual energy trading and fragmented EMS tools with a fully autonomous AI optimisation system.

According to the company, as Europe builds battery storage faster than ever, grid connections are slowing and becoming more complex, and new grid-forming requirements have added another hurdle that many control systems weren’t built for. This has led to prices across day-ahead, intraday, and balancing markets now moving every 15 minutes, making revenues hard to predict and projects harder to finance.

Green Voltis claims to cover the full path from grid connection to trading. Its engineering team handles hot commissioning and ancillary-services prequalification, so projects start earning sooner. 

Its energy management system, designed in Sweden and called Chrono, controls the site, is certified against grid codes and supports grid-forming operation. Aether AI, its trading agent built on time-series foundation models, forecasts prices and stacks revenue and capacity across several markets at the same time, rather than committing a battery to one market at a time. 

Additionally, the Swedish startup offers bankable commercial structures, including revenue sharing, tolling and revenue floors, that help owners secure project finance.

Green Voltis reported that its managed assets have consistently outperformed the Clean Horizon index, an independent benchmark for battery storage revenues. The company has market access in place or underway in 10 European countries.

The company is now applying the same capabilities to AI infrastructure. In Europe’s main data centre hubs, grid connections can take seven to ten years, and regulators from Ireland to Finland are starting to require new data centres to provide grid flexibility. 

Through its Power-to-Compute business, Green Voltis aims to connect the grid on one side and compute on the other, running data centre sites as grid-friendly flexible assets so that compute can get power sooner. It has a pipeline of around 120 MW of powered land in the Nordics and will partner with compute operators to develop it.

Blake Niu, Partner and Head of Private Equity at Lochpine Capital, said, “As renewables take a larger share of the energy mix, grid connection and power trading are becoming key to the value of energy assets, and they are among the scarcest capabilities in Europe’s energy transition. 

“We followed this field for a long time before choosing Green Voltis. The team combines AI-native technology with a global industrial perspective, and its operating results, which have consistently beaten the industry benchmark, show what it can do. We believe Green Voltis can become a leading operator of flexible energy assets in Europe and create greater value where AI and energy meet.”

The company plans to use this capital to expand R&D on Aether AI and Chronos, grow the business in key European markets, and build out the company’s Power-to-Compute business.

The post Stockholm’s Green Voltis raises €13.5 million to operate and trade battery storage across European power markets using AI appeared first on EU-Startups.

While venture capital often dominates conversations about startup funding, business angels play an important role in Europe’s technology ecosystem, particularly at the earliest stages. It is no surprise therefore that a 2025 report by the European Parliamentary Research Service identifies business angels as a major component of the EU’s innovation ecosystem.

From established investors with extensive portfolios to entrepreneurs-turned-angels backing emerging technologies, this alphabetical list highlights 50 women shaping the European Tech landscape today.

Ana Barjasic is the founder and CEO of Connectology, an angel investor and an ambassador for the European Innovation Council. She supports early-stage companies through investment, fundraising expertise and initiatives connecting European founders with international capital.

Andrea Sinclair is a UK-based angel investor, member of the HERmesa investment syndicate and Venture Partner at Ascension. With extensive early-stage investment experience, she was individually named as an investor in women’s health startup PeriPear’s 2026 pre-seed funding round.

Annegien Blokpoel is the founder and Managing Partner of PerspeXo and founder of Catalyst Impact Investment Club, focusing on early-stage impact investing and sustainable technologies. She was named Europe’s Female Angel Investor of the Year in 2024.

Bettine Schmitz is the co-founder and General Partner of Auxxo Female Catalyst Fund and a co-founder of the Evangelistas angel network. With her investments, Bettine supports women-led and mixed-gender founding teams across Europe’s technology sector.

Céline Lazorthes is a French entrepreneur, angel investor and founder of Leetchi, the FinTech business behind Mangopay. She backs early-stage technology companies, with personally attributed investments in HealthTech startups Lucis and DermaScan during 2026.

Christina Caljé is the founder and CEO of TINTT, an independent angel investor and startup adviser. Her historical investment portfolio includes Lalaland, Newcon and Lucky Sweater, reflecting her interest in emerging technology and consumer businesses.

Cintia Mano is a Portuguese angel investor, COREangels partner and former CEO of COREangels International. She has personally invested in more than 30 startups and was recognised as Europe’s Female Angel Investor of the Year in 2025.

Constanze Buchheim is the founder and Managing Partner of i-potentials, a German leadership advisory firm, and an experienced business angel. Her historical startup investments include Delivery Hero and Empion, alongside her work advising technology companies on leadership and scaling.

Debbie Wosskow is a British entrepreneur, angel investor and co-chair of the Invest in Women Taskforce. A co-founder of WJV and Executive Chair of The Better Menopause, she has backed early-stage businesses including Hybr and advocates for greater access to investment capital for women founders.

Deepali Nangia is a Partner at Speedinvest, co-founder of Alma Angels and an experienced independent angel investor. Her personal investments include PensionBee and Planera, and she works to increase women’s participation in early-stage investing across Europe.

Emilie Dellecker is the co-founder of FoodHack, HackGroup and HackCapital, supporting investment and entrepreneurship in the food technology sector. She invests through the FoodHack angel syndicate and was individually named among the angels participating in Bright Biotech’s 2022 funding round.

Fiona Pathiraja is the Managing Partner of Crista Galli Ventures, a former NHS doctor and an experienced HealthTech angel investor. She has backed early-stage healthcare businesses including Skin Analytics and Jude, focusing on technologies that improve healthcare delivery and patient outcomes.

Georgie Smallwood is the Chief Product and Technology Officer at Moonpig Group, founder of Auxilia Global and an early-stage technology investor. Her investment experience includes backing emerging startups such as LiSA, alongside supporting women in technology and entrepreneurship.

Gesa Miczaika is the co-founder and General Partner of Auxxo Female Catalyst Fund and an experienced business angel. She has personally backed early-stage businesses including Lilio Health and focuses on expanding investment opportunities for female and mixed-gender founding teams.

Gloria Bäuerlein is the founder and General Partner of Puzzle Ventures and an experienced early-stage angel investor. Having previously made more than 25 angel investments, she now backs emerging technology businesses through her venture capital firm.

Helen Oldham is the co-founder of Lifted Ventures, a board member of the UK Business Angels Association and an experienced angel investor. Her personal startup portfolio includes Future Greens and BindEthics, while Lifted Ventures helps connect women-led businesses with early-stage investment capital.

Helena Torras is a Spanish entrepreneur, business angel and Managing Partner of PaoCapital. She has personally invested in early-stage technology companies including Abiquo, Marfeel and TeamEQ, alongside holding board and advisory positions in the Spanish startup ecosystem.

Ilinca Paun is a Romanian angel investor, startup adviser and founder of Bravva Angels, a community supporting women-led and mixed-gender founding teams. Her personal investment portfolio includes Flip, Bright Spaces, Unfrosen and Spark School.

Itxaso del Palacio is a General Partner at Notion Capital and an experienced independent angel investor. Her historical personal investments include BridgeU, Trouva and Leaf.fm, alongside her institutional investment experience supporting European business software companies.

Jane Walerud is a Swedish entrepreneur, DeepTech angel investor and Partner at Walerud Ventures. An early backer of technology companies including Klarna, Lensway and Bluetail, she also serves as co-founder and Executive Chair of climate technology company Paebbl.

Janneke Niessen is the Founding Partner of CapitalT, a serial technology entrepreneur and an experienced angel investor. She supports early-stage technology companies and advocates for greater diversity and inclusion within Europe’s startup and investment ecosystems.

Jessica Holzbach is a German FinTech entrepreneur, co-founder of Penta and Partner and CEO Germany at 0TO9. She also invests personally in early-stage FinTech, artificial intelligence and DeepTech businesses, with documented angel-investing activity as recently as 2024.

June Angelides is a Venture Partner at Samos Investments, founder of Levare Ventures and an experienced angel investor. Her historical personal investments include Sojo and By Rotation, and she supports early-stage founders, particularly women and entrepreneurs from underrepresented backgrounds.

Katja Ruhnke is the Chair of Business Angels Deutschland and co-founder of CK Venture Capital, an investment vehicle through which she and her sister deploy their own capital into startups. Her investments include Mediaire, Fabit, Carbonwave and fairafric, and she was named Germany’s Business Angel of the Year in 2023.

Kerstin Bock is the co-founder and CEO of Openers, a German communications and startup advisory business, and an independent angel investor. Her investment experience includes backing companies such as Levy Health, Ordinary Seafood and The Climate Choice, both personally and through angel-investment programmes.

Laura Modiano works with the startup ecosystem across EMEA at OpenAI and is an independent early-stage angel investor. She supports emerging technology companies and was personally named among the investors in AI writing startup Marker’s 2026 seed funding round.

Lea-Sophie Cramer is a German entrepreneur, angel investor and co-founder of AMORELIE, the sexual wellness e-commerce company. She backs early-stage businesses across consumer and technology sectors and was individually named as an investor in robotics startup Sitegeist’s 2026 funding round.

Lina Chong is a Partner at HV Capital and an experienced early-stage investor with a background in personal angel investing. Her investment experience includes startup Odin, alongside her work supporting technology companies through European venture capital.

Louise Herping Ellegaard is a Danish entrepreneur, founder of Clio Online and an angel investor known for her appearances on the investment television programme Løvens Hule. In 2026, she was named as the investor behind a DKK 1 million investment in mental health education business Psykoterapeuterne.

Lurdes Gramaxo is a Partner at Bynd Venture Capital, President of Investors Portugal and an experienced business angel. Recognised as Europe’s Female Angel Investor of the Year in 2020, she focuses on supporting early-stage technology and sustainability businesses across Portugal and Spain.

Maria Raga is a Venture Partner at Creandum, former CEO of Depop and an experienced angel investor. She backs early-stage consumer and technology companies and was personally named among investors in eComID and District during 2026.

Mariana Bozesan is a serial entrepreneur, impact investor and co-founder of AQAL Capital, an investment business focused on sustainable innovation. She has extensive early-stage investment experience and was recognised as Europe’s Female Angel Investor of the Year in 2019.

Mary McKenna is the co-founder and Chair of AwakenAngels, co-founder of AwakenHub and an experienced independent angel investor. With approximately 35 personal startup investments, she was recognised as Europe’s Female Angel Investor of the Year in 2023 and advocates for greater female participation in angel investing.

Melanie Gabriel is the co-Director and COO of the ETH AI Center, co-founder of Yokoy and a board member of Swiss angel investor network SICTIC. She is also an independent angel investor supporting early-stage technology businesses within Switzerland’s startup ecosystem.

Nina Dremelj is the Managing Partner of Vesna Deep Tech Venture Fund, President of Business Angels of Slovenia and an experienced angel investor. She has personally backed more than 18 early-stage startups and works to strengthen investment networks across Central and Eastern Europe.

Paola Bonomo is an experienced Italian angel investor and Vice Chair of Italian Angels for Growth, one of Italy’s established angel investment networks. Her historical investments include AdEspresso, and she was recognised as Europe’s Female Angel Investor of the Year in 2017.

Rachel Delacour is a French technology entrepreneur, co-founder and CEO of Sweep and an experienced business angel. She personally backs early-stage startups, including women-led businesses, and focuses on supporting technology entrepreneurship and sustainability-focused innovation.

Raja Skogland is a Norwegian angel investor, founder of The Visionary Company & VC and a board member of the Norwegian Business Angel Network. Her investment experience spans more than 70 startups through direct and indirect investments, with a focus on supporting early-stage founders and entrepreneurship across the Nordics.

Roberta Lucca is the co-founder of Bossa Studios, an experienced angel investor and former Venture Partner at Octopus Ventures. She has personally backed more than 20 startups, particularly in technology, gaming and creative industries.

Rupa Popat is the founder and Managing Partner of Arāya Ventures and an experienced independent angel investor with more than 30 personal startup investments. Her portfolio includes businesses such as The Lowdown, Jude and Sojo, and she was individually named among investors in Sync Savings during 2026. See her interview here.

Sarah Turner is the co-founder and CEO of Angel Academe, a UK-based angel investment network supporting technology companies with female founders. An experienced angel investor herself, she works to mobilise private capital for women-led startups and increase the representation of women in early-stage investing.

Sarah Wood is the co-founder and former CEO of Unruly, the advertising technology company, and an experienced angel investor. She supports early-stage businesses across technology and wellbeing and contributes to startup growth through investment, mentoring and board positions.

Selma Prodanovic is the founder of 1MillionStartups, an experienced business angel and startup ecosystem builder based in Austria. She has a history of personal startup investments and has supported female angel investing through initiatives including Rising Tide Europe.

Sherry Coutu is an entrepreneur, founding member of Cambridge Angels and established early-stage technology investor. With a historical portfolio of more than 50 startup investments, she has contributed to the development of the UK’s angel-investing and technology entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Simone Brummelhuis is the Founding Partner of Borski Fund, founder of The Next Women and an experienced angel investor. She supports early-stage businesses and women entrepreneurs and was recognised as Europe’s Female Angel Investor of the Year in 2021.

Sophia Bendz is a Partner at Cherry Ventures and an experienced independent angel investor who has backed numerous early-stage technology startups. She was individually named as an angel investor in Scape’s 2026 seed funding round and continues to support emerging European technology founders.

Triin Hertmann is an Estonian angel investor, President of the Estonian founders Society and former co-founder of Grünfin. She reported five new and two follow-on angel investments in 2025, including investments involving MarkeDroid, Supersimple, Knowzilla, Elnora and Yaga.

Vera Elizabeth Baker is a Partner at 4P Capital, independent angel investor and startup mentor working across European and North American investment ecosystems. She has made more than 30 personal angel investments, with an individually tracked investment in Juniper during 2024.

Verena Pausder is a German entrepreneur, angel investor and Chair of the German Startup Association. An experienced backer of early-stage technology businesses, she was personally named among the investors in construction robotics startup Sitegeist’s 2026 funding round.

Yvonne Bajela is the founder and Managing Partner of Evertrue Capital and an experienced independent angel investor. Her historical personal investments include Sojo, Jumba and LottieLabs, alongside her work backing emerging technology businesses through venture capital.

BTW: Are you a corporate or investor looking to invest or acquire exciting startups in specific markets? Check out our Startups Sourcing Service!

The post Top 50: Women business angels shaping European Tech appeared first on EU-Startups.

Many companies have tested AI, but few have scaled it across their workflows and systems. Opus closes this gap. Opus starts with how a process really runs today, and then redesigns it for AI. The result is a workflow built for the real world, which allows AI to scale in daily operations. Every run of the workflow and every decision, whether made by an AI agent or a person, is recorded.

Over time, this creates a digital twin of the organisation’s processes. Companies can always show what happened, why it happened, when, and based on which data. Before a project starts, Opus calculates what the new process will deliver, and it measures the result after go-live. Opus is now launching in the DACH region. The focus is on insurance, healthcare and other regulated industries, where strict rules make reliable and traceable AI especially valuable.

Why is 2026 the right moment for European enterprises to move AI from pilots to production, and why is DACH both a demanding and promising market?

AI models are no longer the bottleneck. When pilots fail, the reasons are usually operational: old systems are hard to connect, results are not measured, and there is no governance. These are exactly the problems we built Opus to solve. Opus takes an existing process, redesigns it for AI, and runs it in production with full governance and a complete audit trail. Today, this works reliably in regulated environments. That is why we are bringing Opus to DACH now.

DACH is a demanding market. Regulation is strict, data must stay in the region, and buyers expect governance from day one. But this is also what makes the market so promising. Banks, insurers and healthcare providers here run large, document-heavy back offices. This is exactly where reliable, well-governed AI creates the most value. 

What most often prevents European companies from scaling AI beyond pilots, and how should they choose the processes and solutions most likely to deliver value?

I see three main reasons why pilots stall. First, they are built on assumptions, not on the real process, so the first exception breaks them. Second, integration and governance come too late. Third, nobody owns a clear target, and often there is no way to measure success at all.

Good starting points share a few traits. The work is high-volume and repetitive. It spans several systems and involves many documents and exceptions. And someone owns the result. But the most important criterion is the return on investment. Not every process that can use AI should use AI.

AI pays off when we redesign the process, not just automate it. That is why, at Opus, we start by mapping how a process really runs today and measuring its baseline: time, cost, quality and error rates. Opus draws on its Work Knowledge Graph, a proprietary model of over a million enterprise processes organised by industry and jurisdiction. Then we calculate the expected return of the redesigned process, ideally before anything is built or changed. Once the new workflow is live, we measure again. This way, the value is clear before the project starts and provable after it goes live.

Then start with one process, prove it on real data within weeks, and expand from there. Choosing well also means knowing where AI does not belong. If an existing system already handles a process end to end, leave it alone.

Beyond cost savings, how should companies measure the success of AI-driven automation?

Cost savings are easy to report, but they are rarely the biggest benefit. I recommend five measures:

• Capacity: Can the team handle more work without adding people?
• Quality: How accurate is each field, for each case type? Measure this on test data that was never used for training. A single “97% accurate” number hides too much.
• Exceptions: A high automation rate is not enough. A wrong result that slips through unnoticed is worse than one that is flagged.
• Cycle time: How long does a case take from start to finish? Most delays come from waiting for human review, not from the machine.
• Auditability: In regulated industries, full traceability is a result in itself.

One example from our work: with Opus, a financial regulator cut licensing reviews from weeks to minutes of structured preparation, and every step remained fully traceable.

With the EU AI Act and strict data-protection rules, how can regulated sectors such as insurance and healthcare turn compliance and governance into a competitive advantage?

Many companies see governance as a cost. I see it as the thing that lets you go live. In regulated industries, the key question is not “Can AI do this?” It is “Will this pass risk, legal and security review?”

Governance becomes an advantage when it is built in from the start. That means AI acts within clear limits, humans approve the critical steps, every action is logged, and sensitive data stays in the company’s environment. This is how we built Opus: governance is part of the foundation. Every run and every decision is recorded, and over time this builds a Digital Twin of the organisation: a living model of how the business runs and what each part of it is worth. Companies that add compliance later often cannot use AI in these processes at all.

One more point: credibility with risk teams comes from precision. Be clear about which rules apply to you, from the EU AI Act to BaFin or FINMA. And never claim more than you can prove.

As AI agents take on more complex workflows, how will the relationship between employees and AI evolve, and what role do leadership, trust, and culture play?

Nobody can say how work will look in ten years. But for the next few years, we have a clear view. AI will free up a large share of the time knowledge workers spend today on routine tasks like typing, searching and checking. We should not pretend otherwise.

The real question is what happens with that time. If companies redesign their processes now, they can create meaningful new responsibilities for these people. Employees can then focus on the work where their judgement counts and where they create real value: complex cases, difficult decisions and contact with customers.

But these new roles do not appear on their own. They must be made visible. When we map a process with Opus, we define exactly where AI does the work and where a human needs to decide. This makes the human role clear from the start, instead of leaving it to chance.

This is where leadership matters most. Leaders need to explain openly what will change, and show employees where their future role lies. Trust grows when people can see that AI works within clear limits, and when they help shape the new processes themselves. Culture follows when people experience that AI takes over routine work, not their responsibility.

Over the next three to five years, where can European businesses differentiate from the US and China in enterprise AI, and what should leaders do today to prepare?

Europe will probably not build the biggest AI models. But that is not where most value will come from. Europe’s strength is trusted, well-governed AI in regulated industries, built under its own rules and in its own languages. That is a real advantage, if leaders use it.

There are four things leaders should do now:

1. Start with reality. Map how your processes really run today, including all the exceptions and workarounds. The process in the handbook is rarely the process people actually follow. With Opus Discover, AI agents interview the people doing the work and map how the process really runs, including the exceptions and workarounds.
2. Define your KPIs before you start. Decide what should improve, for example cycle time, quality or capacity, and measure where you stand today. Without a baseline, you cannot prove success.
3. Think in processes, not in tools. Don’t buy a new AI tool for every task. Look for a platform that can run many processes in one place, with one standard for governance.
4. Plan the new roles early. Decide where people will add value once AI takes over routine work, and communicate it openly.

The winners will not be the companies with the biggest models. They will be the ones that turned AI into part of how they operate, while others were still running pilots.

The post “AI pays off when we redesign the process, not just automate it”: Opus’ DACH lead Xenia Schmahl (Sponsored) appeared first on EU-Startups.

Key points:

• Why existing agricultural drones on the market fell short on reliability, and why ABZ decided to build its own hardware from the ground up
• How technology is transforming the day-to-day work of farmers, even in a sector that looks traditional from the outside
• Building for customers who prioritise reliability over exciting technology, and the engineering lessons that come with it
• How the war in Ukraine has reshaped Europe’s drone industry: manufacturing capacity, investment, and the shift toward local production
• ABZ’s stance on dual-use and defence applications versus staying focused on agricultural and civilian industrial use cases
• Scaling across 40+ countries with divergent UAV regulations, and a look at what drones may routinely do in agriculture within five to ten years

In this episode, we sit down with Károly Ludvigh, CEO and co-founder of ABZ Innovation, one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of heavy-duty agricultural and industrial drones.

Headquartered in Hungary, ABZ Innovation designs and builds drones for spraying, spreading, cleaning, and specialized industrial applications – combining high-payload hardware, modular architecture, and a European full-stack autonomy platform to turn drone technology into a practical automation tool for complex environments.

With operations in more than 40 countries and a newly opened manufacturing facility in Szentendre that stands among Europe’s largest civilian drone factories, ABZ sits at the heart of the continent’s fast-growing drone and AgTech ecosystem.

Károly’s path to building one of Europe’s most ambitious drone companies is anything but conventional. From his years in tech journalism to building drone systems as a hobbyist in a basement over a decade ago, his journey reflects a philosophy that runs through everything ABZ does: simplicity and reliability over hype.

When the company set out to offer drone-based crop spraying, it discovered that the products available on the market simply couldn’t deliver the dependability a sustainable business required – so ABZ built its own drones from the ground up.

We explore what it takes to build technology for customers who need reliability above everything else, how farmers – often seen as working in a traditional sector – are embracing dramatic technological change, and how the war in Ukraine has reshaped Europe’s drone industry, from manufacturing capacity to investment appetite and the push to build more technology locally.

Károly also shares his perspective on dual-use and defence applications, Europe’s quest for genuine technological sovereignty in drones, and what it takes to scale drone technology across more than 40 markets with wildly different regulatory environments.

This episode of the EU-Startups Podcast is brought to you by Integrated Systems Europe (ISE), the annual tech show for the audiovisual and systems integration industry. Through its Innovation Park, ISE connects startups with global industry leaders, investors and partners to help accelerate their growth. ISE 2027 takes place from 2–5 February at Fira de Barcelona, Gran Via, under the theme “When Worlds Unite”, offering emerging businesses a unique opportunity to showcase their innovations and connect with the global AV industry. Registration is now open!

The post The EU-Startups Podcast | Interview with Károly Ludvigh, CEO and co-founder of ABZ Innovation appeared first on EU-Startups.

The round was led by Picus Capital and Visionaries; they also led Kabilio’s pre-Seed round. CDTI, Spain’s public agency for technological innovation, also participated. 

“Nobody becomes an accountant to chase receipts, and nobody starts a business to do paperwork, yet that is where so much time gets lost. We built Kabilio to let AI handle the repetitive work and the accountant stays in control. This funding takes us from automating isolated tasks, to giving firms an agent that carries out complete workflows under their direction,” said Jose Ojeda, co-founder and Co-CEO of Kabilio.

Founded in 2025 by Jose Ojeda and Álex Valls, Kabilio has developed a platform that uses generative AI to help accounting advisors and their clients modernise the way they collaborate. 

Kabilio began with pre-accounting, collecting and preparing documents and data for bookkeeping, a task typically done manually. The company says that on Kabilio, AI reads invoices and suggests how to book them, matches bank transactions, prepares the reconciliation, and flags what needs a professional’s eye, without changing the tools the firm already uses; the accountant reviews and approves rather than types.

It claims to cut time spent on bookkeeping and reconciliation by around 60%. “The rails were also built for what comes next: every document, transaction and entry is structured data, with the firm’s rules and decisions recorded alongside it, so an agent can take over the work,” the company mentioned in the press release. 

The company also announced that it is now launching its own AI accounting agent, starting with firms’ core internal workflows. The agent can retrieve invoices and statements from client emails, match and reconcile bank transactions, validate entries, and follow up on missing paperwork.

The Spanish startup also notes that in order to streamline data collection, the agent can also communicate directly with clients via email and WhatsApp to request additional documents and information. Accountants give instructions in plain language and decide, client by client, exactly how much autonomy the agent receives. 

The company also launched Kabilio Empresas in September for SMEs, which lets clients invoice, connect their bank accounts, and track cash flow on the same platform their accounting firm uses.

It also notes that information reaches the firm as soon as it’s recorded, so it works with live data year-round, not just at tax deadlines. Kabilio works only through the accounting firm, which decides which clients join the platform and what the agent does for them. Fiscalidad Inteligente and Alemany Assessors already use the technology to manage a large part of their client portfolios, Kabilio revealed. 

In a later phase, the company will extend the agent to its clients. Using the shared platform, it will issue invoices, chase late payments, and request missing receipts on behalf of business owners. It will also answer everyday tax and accounting questions in seconds, not days. 

“An agent is only as good as the data it works on. That is why we are bringing the firm’s clients onto the same platform: the moment a business issues an invoice or a payment hits its bank, the firm has it and the agent will be able to act on it. The firm is freed from busy work, and its clients feel the difference,” said Valls, co-founder and Co-CEO of Kabilio.

The company plans to use this round to fund the next phase of a plan Kabilio has followed since launch: first a system to boost accountants; next introducing an AI workforce to handle repetitive tasks under accountants’ direction; and finally, extending that workforce to the firm’s clients through a shared platform.

Kabilio will close 2026 working with more than 500 accounting firms, with notable customers including Adlanter, as well as Solfico and Gemap, part of the iusTime group. The company has grown to 80 people, more than half in product and engineering.

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In an announcement titled “The Sequoia of Tomorrow”, the firm outlined several sweeping changes and confirmed that it has raised €8.89 billion ($10 billion) in new funds. The biggest announcement is that it no longer sees the need for a physical European presence. While the firm is exiting Europe, three of its four London-based partners have decided to remain in Europe rather than relocate to California.

“We are closing our London office, which means several people will be leaving Sequoia.  This is not about the team – they are excellent. We simply don’t see the need for a local presence. We believe that Europe will continue to produce outlier founders and companies, and that we can continue to provide world class support from our home base in the Bay Area,” the firm said.

Despite being offered the opportunity to move to San Francisco, three of Sequoia’s four London-based partners – Luciana Lixandru, Julien Bek, and George Robson – have opted to remain in Europe. Anas Biad is the only London-based partner who has confirmed he will relocate to the United States and remain with Sequoia.

Lixandru joined Sequoia in 2020 as its first European partner and has backed companies such as Trade Republic, Pennylane, and Rillet. “My conviction on Europe hasn’t moved, and neither am I; when given the opportunity to move to San Francisco, I chose to stay here and focus on this wonderful, imperfect ecosystem.  Europe is where my family is, and where I want to build,” she wrote on LinkedIn.

She further confirmed that she will remain a Sequoia partner, continue serving on portfolio company boards, and also invest personally in the next generation of European founders.

Bek, who spent a decade investing in European founders through Sequoia, backing companies including Revolut, Miro, Attio, and Dust, added that he is already thinking about what the next decade in European venture could look like.

“My heart is in Europe, and I’ve decided to stay here. I’ll continue supporting the founders I work with and serving on my boards,” he said.

The closure of Sequoia’s London office follows a similar move by fellow US VC giant Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), which shuttered its London office in early 2025, less than two years after opening its first international outpost in the UK.

After roughly 20 years of expansion, during which it built multiple businesses across geographies, Sequoia says it is now pulling back to focus on what it does best: high-conviction, highly selective venture capital investing.

As part of this restructuring, the firm has decided to simplify the structure of the Sequoia Capital Fund, sunset its batch accelerator Arc and Scouts programmes, and streamline both its operational and investing teams. It is also eliminating the distinction between its Early and Growth stages, consolidating into one team under a single mission. The firm is also doing away with its Monday partner meeting cycle.

“Founders operate 24/7, and so do we.  Founders shouldn’t have to adhere to our process – we will do our best to adhere to yours,” the firm added.

European founders have already weathered a16z’s exit and now need to prepare for a phase where Sequoia may be hard to reach, especially without a local partner to back them. While the firm has insisted it can keep backing European companies from its Bay Area base, the attention will be on the UK partners who decided to stay, and the European tech ecosystem will watch their next move closely.

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The round was led by Orano Ventures Fund/Supernova Invest, with participation from investor Bidra Innovation Ventures. Existing backers Oxford Science Enterprises, BGF, GGF, Volta Energy Technologies, and the University of Oxford also participated in the round.

“We back companies whose technologies support a sovereign, sustainable industrial transition. FluoRok has already shown its process works at pilot scale, and taking hydrogen fluoride out of fluorochemical production tackles a safety and supply problem the whole industry shares. We are pleased to join a strong group of investors supporting the team as it moves to industrial scale,” said Florian de Beauchaine, Investment Manager, Orano Venture Fund/Supernova Invest.

FluoRok says its Series A funding round exceeded its original target and included several angel investors, smaller partners such as EverQuest Capital Partners, CPI Enterprises, and WS Investment, as well as approximately €1.15 million ($1.3 million) in grant funding from Innovate UK through its Investor Partnerships programme.

Founded in 2022, FluoRok is a University of Oxford spin-out developing a patented manufacturing platform that bypasses the conventional HF-based process used to produce fluorochemicals entirely. Conventional fluorochemical production has relied on a 250-year-old process that depends on HF, one of the most hazardous chemicals in industrial use, and high-purity fluorspar predominantly sourced from China, creating safety, supply, and cost risks.

FluoRok bypasses this process by relying on mechanical activation combined with base chemistry to unlock fluorine from lower-grade mineral sources and even fluoride-containing industrial waste streams, under controllable conditions. The process runs on off-the-shelf industrial equipment, which makes it faster and easier to scale.

The company targets critical end markets including pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and lithium-ion battery manufacturing, sectors where fluorochemicals are indispensable but supply remains heavily concentrated and hazard-prone.

Dr. Gabriele Pupo, founder and CEO, FluoRok, said, ”We are thrilled to welcome new investors on our journey to fundamentally change how the world makes fluorochemicals, with safer chemistry and better economics.”

“Closing another oversubscribed round, backed by both new and existing investors from around the world, is a testament to the strength of our technology, the incredible commercial traction and the speed of execution of the FluoRok team. This funding will ensure FluoRok can swiftly move from start-up to scale-up and take a further step towards becoming a large-scale industrial manufacturer,” he added.

FluoRok says it has completed pilot qualifications and established strong commercial traction with key customers, with products being validated by more than ten partners across eight countries and three continents.

The Series A funding round builds on the €12.43 million ($14 million) secured in previous rounds and more than €11.54 million ($13 million) in UK and European public funding to date. It plans to use the new capital to transition from startup to industrial scale, including building demonstrator facilities for its reagents and battery electrolyte salts, expanding its team, and deepening its commercial partnerships.

The company also plans to scale its platform for next-generation battery products such as LiFSI and FEC, and for a waste-to-value stream that transforms fluorinated polymer waste, over 25,000 tonnes of which is incinerated annually in Europe alone, into high-value chemical intermediates.

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The round saw participation from existing investors Highland Europe and Mangrove Capital Partners as well as a credit facility from funds and accounts managed by BlackRock. This follows their €50 million Series A, as reported by EU-Startups in December 2025, bringing total funding to date to €97 million ($110 million).

Hyoung-Ung Kim, CFO of Titan OS, says: “Three years after launch, Titan OS is already in millions of homes and continues to deliver strong year-on-year growth as Europe’s leading independent operating system for connected TVs.

“Investments from BlackRock alongside Highland Europe and Mangrove gives us the capital to build on that foundation, expand into new markets, and do it from a position of financial strength. Our goal is clear: to become a true global player, built from Barcelona, in a market currently dominated by US and Asian companies.”

In 2026, EU-Startups has reported further investment in adjacent marketing technologies, including Sweden’s Funnel (€67.1 million), UK-based Searchable (€11.9 million) and Dragonfly AI (€5.7 million), Portugal’s DOJO AI (€5.1 million), Sweden’s Fluencify (€3.7 million), the Netherlands’ Aizy (€2 million) and Spain’s Modelia (€1.03 million).

Together, these 2026 rounds amount to approximately €96.5 million, or €136.5 million including Titan OS’s new financing.

Laurence Garrett, General Partner at Highland Europe, adds: “Since our first investment, we’ve watched the Titan team build a rare flywheel. TV makers earn a share of the revenue their screens generate for years after the sale. Advertisers reach millions of homes across many TV brands. And unlike the walled gardens, Titan is a partner, not a competitor. That attracts more TV brands, which brings more viewers and more advertisers. We’re excited to double down.”

Founded in 2023 by entrepreneur Jacinto Roca, previously founder of Wuaki.tv (acquired by Rakuten), and his co-founders Timothy Edwards, Miquel Barba and Tobias Pfalzgraff, Titan OS offers an independent, Linux-based smart TV OS that replaces platforms like Android TV or Roku on television screens.

For TV manufacturers (like Philips and JVC), it provides customisable software and a revenue-sharing advertising model, allowing brands to earn continuous money from on-screen ads and pre-installed Free Ad-supported Streaming TV (FAST) channels. For everyday viewers, it delivers a smooth, localized user interface that bundles major global apps, live television, and free streaming content into a single smart TV home screen.

Titan OS has reportedly scaled revenues by 15 times and licensed its technology to major global TV brands including Philips, AOC, JVC, Vestel, Skyworth and Sharp.

With this new round of funding, Titan OS will strengthen its position as an independent TV OS from Europe, expand its global OEM partnerships, and invest further in product innovation and advertising technology that enhance both user experience and monetisation opportunities for its ecosystem partners.

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The financing will support the company’s expansion in Germany, where it aims to install at least 1 GW of battery storage capacity annually from 2027 onwards. This follows their 2025 €300 million growth-equity investment.

“As demand for energy flexibility grows, we need to scale not just our battery storage capacity, but also the way we finance it. By bringing together physical infrastructure financing and our virtual flexibility model, we can expand more efficiently and respond to our customers’ evolving needs. This is an important step towards our ambition to become a leading independent provider of energy flexibility in Germany,” says Daniel Witvoet, CFO at Return.

Return’s financing comes amid a series of European investments in battery storage and grid flexibility reported by EU-Startups in 2026.

In Germany, Munich-based Entrix raised €43 million for battery optimisation and flexible energy trading, while encosa secured €25 million to expand commercial and industrial battery storage.

In Return’s home market, Amsterdam-based Ore Energy raised €37.3 million to scale long-duration battery technology, and Utrecht-based Eddy Grid secured €7.5 million for renewable energy asset optimisation.

Together with other comparable announcements across Europe, these rounds represent approximately €158.2 million in EnergyTech financing.

Dominik Thumfart, Head of Infrastructure & Energy Origination, Deutsche Bank, adds: “Battery storage plays a crucial role in Germany’s energy transition, by assisting with optimising the revenue potential of intermittent power generation plants and ensuring grid stability. We are pleased to support Return with a financing structure built to scale and structured to meet the capital expenditure needs of Return’s German BESS project pipeline.”

Founded in 2021 by Willem-Jan Schutte and Daniel Witvoet, Return is headquartered in Amsterdam and operates across several European energy markets. Schutte, the company’s CEO, previously co-founded solar energy company Sunrock, while Witvoet, who serves as CFO, also has a background in renewable energy investment and entrepreneurship.

Return has since expanded its activities across the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Spain, focusing on developing, owning and operating large-scale battery storage infrastructure.

With the new financing structure, Return plans to invest between €750 million and €1.2 billion annually in German battery storage projects from 2027, depending on market conditions. The company expects these investments to support increasing demand for energy flexibility as Germany continues to integrate wind and solar power into its electricity system.

The initial framework covers three battery storage projects in Germany with a combined capacity of 117 MW. Under assumptions of four-hour battery duration and two full charging and discharging cycles daily, the facilities could discharge approximately 341,640 MWh annually, equivalent to the yearly electricity consumption of around 100,000 German households.

The investment follows several commercial agreements that have strengthened Return’s position in the German energy market. ENGIE recently expanded its partnership with Return to 400 MW of contracted battery flexibility, while Centrica Energy signed a separate agreement covering 100 MW.

Beyond Germany, Return also works with energy companies including Vattenfall, Essent and Eneco in other European markets.

The German financing builds on a model Return has already implemented in the Netherlands. Earlier in 2026, its Sirius battery storage project reached financial close under a broader financing framework covering multiple storage developments. The new German arrangement extends this approach by connecting financing for physical battery infrastructure with the company’s virtual flexibility services.

Marc Schmitz, Head of Project Finance Europe at Rabobank, says: “Germany needs more flexible capacity as wind and solar generation grows. This facility helps direct investment into large-scale battery storage. Supporting technologies that enable the further growth of renewable energy is a key part of Rabobank’s approach to the German energy transition.

“We are delighted to further strengthen our relationship with Return and support its expansion into Germany. Building on our previous transactions together, we are combining our advisory, underwriting, project finance and hedging expertise to help Return realise its growth ambitions.”

Return currently has an active development portfolio exceeding 8 GW and aims to deliver more than 5 GW of battery storage capacity by 2030. Its expansion into Germany forms part of a broader European strategy focused on addressing the growing need for energy flexibility as renewable electricity generation increases.

The financing represents a step in Return’s plans to scale its Virtual Flexibility Portfolio (VFP), a platform that combines battery storage capacity from multiple facilities into a single virtual portfolio. The approach allows energy companies to access flexible electricity storage capacity without having to manage individual battery assets.

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