Good news from around Europe
US VC FirstMark: ‘Europe is underrated’ right now among American investors Powered by WPeMatico https://sifted.eu/articles/europe-underrated-us-vc-firstmark-capital/
The scaleup challenge: Accelerating defence tech innovation in Europe Powered by WPeMatico https://sifted.eu/articles/scaleup-challenge-defence-tech-innovation-brnd/
The European founders who’ve set up funds Powered by WPeMatico https://sifted.eu/articles/european-founders-funds/
Mecka AI nears $500M valuation in Sequoia-led deal amid rush for robot training data The round for the two-year-old startup is coming together months after Mecka announced its Series A. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/11/mecka-ai-nears-500m-valuation-in-sequoia-led-deal-amid-rush-for-robot-training-data/
Khosla Ventures is opening a New York office this fall — its first outpost outside Sand Hill Road “It’s actually allegedly being built out now,” said Rabois, who has clearly dealt with a missed construction timeline or two. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/11/khosla-ventures-is-opening-a-new-york-office-this-fall-its-first-outpost-outside-sand-hill-road/
Y Combinator’s Garry Tan wants US open-weight AI labs to ‘distill’ frontier models, too Tan wants smaller, American open-weight AI labs to use the same kind of training techniques on American frontier AI labs, giving the U.S. a more robust set of open-weight options that aren’t Chinese. Powered by WPeMatico
OpenAI’s feud with mathematicians is only escalating Twenty-five leading mathematicians signed an open letter arguing that AI labs are threatening their intellectual work. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/11/openais-feud-with-mathematicians-is-only-escalating/
One week left to book your exhibit table at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 Only one week left to secure your exhibit table. Tables are limited and can sell out before the September 18 deadline. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/11/one-week-left-to-book-your-exhibit-table-at-techcrunch-disrupt-2026/
Robutler raises $400K from ZAS Ventures to build the ‘YouTube of software’ Robutler has raised $400,000 from ZAS Ventures, a US-based venture capital firm investing in AI, SaaS, and robotics companies founded by Ukrainians. The investment, made across ZAS Ventures’ Fund I and Fund II, marks the first institutional check
Antler research reveals Europe’s unicorn boom is masking an early-stage funding crisis Today a new report reveals that while a new generation of rocketship unicorns are breaking records for funding rounds and valuations in Europe, the early-stage funding pipeline is collapsing. Announced today in London at global VC Antler’s European Founder