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A new recreation of the Moon on Earth has sparked hopes of a “European renaissance” in space. Known as LUNA, the futuristic facility was inaugurated today in Cologne, Germany. The ceremony showcased several striking features, from a 700-square-metre replica of the lunar surface to a Sun simulator that mimics the Moon’s phases.  Also in the pipeline are a gravity offloading system and an adjustable ramp...

Welcome to the new episode of the TNW Podcast — the show where we discuss the latest developments in the European technology ecosystem and feature interviews with some of the most interesting people in the industry. In today’s episode, Linnea and Andrii talk about energy use at data centres, the state of Northvolt, submarine communications, and a few things in between. You will also...

As part of the EU’s drive to become the first climate-neutral region globally by 2050, it has championed a number of initiatives to encourage more sustainable business practices that contribute to this goal. Most recently in July the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) came into force to galvanise businesses in select sectors to actively support this aim.   Part of the EU’s Circular Economy...

London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin are the leading VC ecosystems in Europe, but the region is significantly lagging behind the US and Asia. That’s according to the latest report by Pitchbook analysts, who ranked global VC ecosystems based on their development and growth level. They used data related to deals, exits, fundraisings, and overall activity from the last six years, between Q3 2018 and...

As artificial intelligence continues to reshape the tech landscape, developers are increasingly faced with the task of selecting which programming languages are the most beneficial and effective in terms of AI development. Taking into consideration the rapid growth of AI and machine learning, is one programming language better poised to address the demands of this evolving field? Java has been a programming stalwart since...

UK-based scaleup Beam, born from the recent merger of offshore tech companies Rovco and Vaarst, has launched the “world’s first” autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) driven by AI.   The mini-sub can perform complex underwater tasks with no human intervention whatsoever. There’s nobody piloting it, nobody directing it where to go, no need for pre-mission planning, the company says. However, a remote operator can take...

The vaccine market might be a crowded one, but London-based Vicebio aspires to cement its own place within it. The startup announced today it has raised $100mn in Series B funding for the development of its next-generation vaccines for respiratory viruses. Vicebio aims to deliver vaccines that are highly effective, easy to manufacture, and ready-to-use in prefilled syringes. The key to achieving this result...

Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) is not a new topic in the European startup space — in fact, it’s been talked about and debated for years on end. Yet, when you follow discussions and investment patterns closely and work with enough seed- and early-stage startups, it’s apparent that the topic of ESG is also riddled with misconceptions. These are often perpetuated, shared, and...

NATO-backed Ephos announced today the opening of a production facility dedicated to glass-based quantum photonic chips — a world first, according to the startup. These chips can power quantum applications in computing, sensing, and communications, as well as improve the performance of classical computing. Founded in 2022, Ephos has developed a proprietary manufacturing process that enables it to move away from silicon and build...

Future Tech Ventures (FTV), a new venture capital firm focusing on startups in the Northern Netherlands, officially launched yesterday in Groningen. FTV debuted with a €20mn fund that will support at least 50 high-tech startups in the proof-of-concept phase. The investment period is set between 2024 and 2029. “Startups are often in a very early phase where funding is difficult to secure, and there are...

The NATO Innovation Fund (NIF) has announced its first investment in quantum tech, leading a €5mn seed round. The recipient is Southampton University spinout Aquark Technologies, which has developed a unique quantum sensing technology. Aquark’s patented cold atom system can be used as an alternative position, navigation, and timing (PNT) device, independent from satellites and thus immune to external tampering such as GPS interference....

This year, Air Canada lost a lawsuit against a customer who was misled by an AI chatbot into purchasing full-price plane tickets, being assured they would later be refunded under the company’s bereavement policy. The airline tried to claim the bot was “responsible for its own actions.” This line of argumentation was rejected by the court and the company not only had to pay...

Amid the AI boom, data centres are consuming alarming amounts of electricity. They’re also responsible for 1% of global energy-related emissions. By 2030, their power demand could increase by 160%. Switzerland-based Lightium aims to provide a solution. The young startup announced today it has raised $7mn in seed funding to both accelerate the performance of data centres and reduce their energy consumption with a...

Ekaterina Zaharieva hasn’t even started work as the EU’s first startup commissioner, but tensions are already rising around her role. The Bulgarian politician was nominated for the job on Tuesday. Alongside startups, her brief will also cover research and innovation. But first, her appointment needs approval from the European Parliament. Her critics hope that confirmation never comes. Here are three big reasons for their opposition....

In its most expensive project to date, Germany’s Cyber Agency (Cyberagentur) has awarded three different contracts to four quantum computing startups — Quantum Brilliance, ParityQC, Oxford Ionics, and neQxt. Their mission is to deliver the world’s first quantum computer for “mobile security and defence” by 2027. After that, phase four of the project will kick in, and only one of the candidates will remain....

 Welcome to the new episode of the TNW Podcast — the show where we discuss the latest developments in the European technology ecosystem and feature interviews with some of the most interesting people in the industry. In today’s episode, Linnea and Andrii talk about flight tracking and its community, the new European Commission, health trackers for pets, revisiting Prince of Persia, and much...

A German drone firm claims to have made a “major breakthrough” in autonomous swarm technology. Munich-based Quantum Systems announced on Tuesday that it has successfully flown AI-controlled Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) in swarms. The company said the AI ensured “reliable mission execution” — even when individual drones completely failed. The system also operated effectively under radio interference. Commissioned by the German Armed Forces, the...

Espoo outside of Helsinki is turning into quite the quantum hub. The city’s latest addition to the Finnish quantum computing ecosystem is QMill. The newly minted algorithm startup just raised €4mn in seed funding to leverage near-term hardware to deliver real benefits to industry through quantum computing.  “There is momentum growing at the moment [in quantum], and investors can see that a lot of...

Ekaterina Zaharieva has been nominated as the EU’s first ever commissioner for startups, the bloc’s chief Ursula von der Leyen announced today. Zaharieva served as Bulgaria’s deputy prime minister for judicial reform and foreign affairs between 2017 and 2021. She’s currently a member of the Bulgarian Parliament. Von der Leyen has now proposed Zaharieva as the designated commissioner for startups, research, and innovation. “We must...

Data centres gobble up roughly 2% of global electricity, which translates to around 1% of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions.   Streaming Netflix, storing stuff in the cloud, and meeting up on Zoom are just some of the online activities fuelling machines’ appetite for energy. But perhaps the biggest culprit of all is artificial intelligence.  AI models require immense amounts of computational power to train and...

Flink, one of the few rapid grocery delivery startups left operating in Europe, has secured $150mn to grow its business in Germany and the Netherlands. The funding comprises $115 million in equity and $35 million in debt, with backing from both new and existing investors, including BOND, Northzone, and supermarket chain REWE. This reportedly brings the company’s valuation to nearly $1bn. With the fresh...

In a first for London, electric drones will soon fly urgent blood samples between Guy’s and St Thoma’s hospitals in the centre of the city. The upcoming flights are part of a joint pilot between the NHS, healthcare logistics startup Apian, and drone manufacturer Wing, a subsidiary of Alphabet, spun out from the company’s moonshot factory X. The aim is to improve patient care...

Oftentimes, even in the tech world, people equate the term quantum computing to something almost mysterious. But as much as concepts of quantum mechanics such as superposition and entanglement may seem akin to magic, they still happen (in the context of quantum computing) on pieces of hardware.  While research breakthroughs will be crucial in scaling quantum computing as a technology, ramping up hardware production...

Lithium-ion batteries are a critical element for our transition away from fossil fuels. It is equally critical to ensure the sustainability of their supply chains for the benefit of society and businesses alike. The mining process of the raw materials necessary for lithium batteries has long been linked not only to pollution, but also to human rights abuses. New research from Infyos, an AI-powered...