In the world of technology, every day, we come across multiple news that hit the headlines in terms of funding, breakthroughs, or acquisition.
Amid our busy lives, it’s easy to miss out on important news stories that can impact our world.
As we near the end of the week (29th July – 2nd Aug), it’s always a good idea to catch up on some of the news stories that might have slipped under our radar.
Here’s a brief roundup of some key stories that you might have missed this week.
Rillet raises €12.3M to build next-gen accounting platform
Barcelona/New York-based Rillet is the first modern ERP that automates accounting for high-growth companies.
The company’s platform is designed to tailor to the workflows of accounting and finance teams, such as automated invoicing, revenue recognition, prepaid, and investor reporting.
The company recently announced that it has secured $13.5M (approximately €12.3M) led by Creandum and First Round Capital, with participation from individual investors including Chad Byers (Susa Ventures), Kevin Hartz (founder of Eventbrite and Xoom), the former Chief Accounting Officer of Facebook and Stripe, and the Controller at Ramp.
The funding will be used to grow the team and expand to support new customers in new verticals from e-commerce to fintech.
Kennet VC raises €266M to invest in B2B SaaS companies
A few days back, the UK VC Kennet raised €266M for its largest fund to date, Kennet VI. The UK VC has already begun investing this capital in B2B SaaS companies across Europe, including Screendragon in Ireland and the UK and Fluid Topics in France.
Kennet VI builds on the success of the previous funds, with over 25 years of experience and a proven track record. Despite the challenging environment, the firm raised its largest fund and achieved successful exits, such as Eloomi, in January 2024, generating a 3.1x cash multiple.
This follows numerous successful exits in recent years, including Nuxeo (5x), Dext (3.8x), CrossBorder Solutions (6.4x), Rimilia (2.5x), and Impartner (2.6x).
Kennet focuses exclusively on investing in established, high-growth B2B SaaS technology companies that are founder-owned and either highly capital efficient or fully ‘bootstrapped’ – built without external capital.
Luminous XR gets €1.1M to create metaverse-style training programmes
Newcastle-based Luminous XR, a company specialised in the field of extended reality (XR) software, announced that it has secured £1M (approximately €1.1M) from the North East Venture Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Mercia Ventures.
Luminous XR’s platform enables developers to create metaverse-style training programs and simulate real-life scenarios (for example, for health and safety training). It is particularly popular with clients in the energy, manufacturing, and industrial sectors.
The company has also developed a virtual reality content authoring tool, FLOW, which will be launched in late summer and will make it easier and faster to create training content by removing the need to write code.
Metafuels and PSI to build a pilot facility for sustainable aviation fuel
Zurich-based climate tech startup Metafuels and the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) secured a CHF 4.4M grant from the Swiss Federal Office of Energy.
The funds will contribute to the implementation and operation of a pilot facility based on Metafuels’ sustainable aviation fuel (e-SAF) technology, aerobrew, which is being developed in collaboration with the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, Switzerland’s largest research institute for natural and engineering sciences.
The facility will be installed at the PSI campus in Villigen AG and will focus on demonstrating groundbreaking sustainable aviation fuel technology for large-scale commercial deployment.
Metafuels is an aviation tech startup focused on the development and deployment of proprietary sustainable fuel technologies, with an initial focus on synthetic aviation fuel.
The Paul Scherrer Institute PSI develops, builds, and operates large, complex research facilities and makes them available to the national and international research community.
The institute’s key research priorities are in the fields of future technologies, energy and climate, health innovation, and fundamentals of nature.
MARCLEY secures €4M to advocate solar power adoption
Hannover, Germany-based greentech startup MARCLEY was founded by three energy experts: Florian Schnipkoweit, Florian Schulte, and Friedrich Grimm.
The German company advocates for the adoption of solar power in apartment buildings as part of the shift towards renewable energy.
The company’s comprehensive solution handles the expenses and management of solar systems without requiring condominiums, individual owners, or cooperatives to make financial investments or dedicate resources and time.
Recently, the company raised €4M in a fresh funding round led by investors Virida Capital, a new energy-hardware VC (part of the Green Giraffe Group), the Munich-based VC Venture Stars, as well as business angels including Emma Tracey and Florian Bennhold.
Moon Rover scores €3.2M to develop “Project Aldous”
Stockholm-based Moon Rover, a game development studio working on creating cooperative titles set in a systemic and emergent world, raised $3.5M (approximately €3.2M) in a fresh funding round from Korean publisher NCSoft.
The company will use the funds to accelerate the development of “Project Aldous,” a system-driven cooperative FPS based on an exciting original IP.
Chromacity bags €1.18M to develop next-gen ultrafast laser sources
Edinburg-based Chromacity is developing the next generation of ultrafast laser sources for scientific research and industrial applications, including life science imaging, spectroscopy, fundamental research, security & defence, environmental sensing, and semiconductor failure analysis.
The company fuses solid-state and fiber-based technology to develop a range of fixed wavelength and tunable laser sources.
Chromacity recently secured €1.18M in funding from existing investors Eos Advisory, Kelvin Capital, and Scottish Enterprise.
This funding will support the launch of its ultrafast laser technology for the healthcare market.
Additionally, it received funding from the UK Government’s Innovate UK programme to develop technology for monitoring agricultural emissions.
WISE SpA secures €25M to improve spinal cord stimulation solution
WISE SpA is a pioneering medical device company specialising in advanced implantable electrodes for neuromonitoring, neuromodulation, and brain-machine interfacing (BMI).
Recently, the company has secured €25M in a Series D funding round (equity and venture debt loan) from the European Investment Bank (EIB), supported by InvestEU.
The funding will help the Italian company to accelerate both the development of the Heron lead, WISE’s cutting-edge solution for spinal cord stimulation, and the commercial development of the WISE Cortical Strip (WCS), WISE’s unique electrode for neuromonitoring.
The primary objective of this new financing round is to complete the development, certification, and test in a first-in-human study of the Heron lead, claims the company.
Meddenovo Drug Design raises €1M to transform drug design
Villeurbanne, France-based Meddenovo utilises advanced molecular modeling and the unique properties of cyclic peptides to revolutionise drug design.
Recently, the company raised €1M in a pre-seed funding round from ACT Venture Partners.
Co-founded by Dr. Ilke Ugur Marion and Dr. Antoine Marion, Meddenovo aims to bring high levels of computational chemistry and simulation techniques together with research groups and companies for joint drug discovery.
The company intends to use the funds to enhance its AI-driven capabilities, transition to a SaaS model, and expand its partnerships and customer base.
Credo AI bags €19.2M to help organisation build AI responsibly at scale.
Credo AI aims to empower organisations to responsibly build, adopt, procure, and use AI at scale.
The company’s Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) platform for AI helps organisations measure, monitor and manage AI risks while ensuring compliance with emerging global regulations and standards, like the EU AI Act, NIST, and ISO.
Recently, the company secured $21M (approximately €19.2M) in funding from CrimsoNox Capital, Mozilla Ventures, and FPV Ventures, with participation from existing investors Sands Capital, Decibel VC, Booz Allen Hamilton, and AI Fund.
The latest capital injection brings the total funding to $41.3M (approximately €38.1M). Credo AI will use the new funding to expand its strategic GTM efforts, intensify product innovation in governance intelligence, and enhance its capability to serve as the central hub for AI governance.
Shot Scope secures €7.8M to help golfers improve their game
Edinburgh, Scotland-based Shot Scope specialises in offering a range of products to improve the way golfers access distances on the golf course, through both GPS wearables and laser rangefinders.
Recently, the company raised $8.5M (approximately €7.8M) in a Series B funding round led by Guinness Ventures, which invested $4M (approximately €3.6M).
The funding round also included investment from key participants — Scottish Enterprise, Growthdeck, The SideBySide Partnership, and Edinburgh-based Equity Gap, alongside Virgin Money providing $1.9M debt finance as part of the funding round.
The company will use the funds to bring its subscription-free, game-enhancing technology, such as GPS wearables, laser rangefinders, and shot-tracking devices, to golfers around the globe, offering more in-depth performance analytics.
Masterplace raises €1.8M for its AI-based edtech platform
Barcelona-based Masterplace is an AI-based edtech platform that assists tutors in creating, delivering, and monetising comprehensive courses through artificial intelligence.
Through this platform, students can access a wide range of courses adaptable to their contexts, while Web3 technology ensures the intellectual property rights of both course content and its development for both students and teachers.
Recently, the Spanish company raised $2M (approximately €1.8M) in funding from a group of business angels and Ilya Rouss, founder of Masterplace.
The company will use the funds to develop a platform ideal for individuals looking to start a teaching career without prior experience, as well as for students without formal qualifications seeking to enhance their skills or change careers.
SAMEDAY acquires Hungarian company – Pactic Group
Sofia-based SAMEDAY is the regional courier company that offers both door-to-door delivery services and deliveries to over 5,000 easybox lockers.
Recently, the company announced the acquisition of a new Hungarian company – Pactic Group, following the expansion of its out-of-home delivery infrastructure in Bulgaria and Hungary.
With the acquisition of Pactic Group, SAMEDAY Group will improve its services for customers engaged in cross-border deliveries, expanding its service coverage in multiple European markets.
