Good news from around Europe
Kevin Hartz’s A* just closed its third fund with $450M The firm takes a generalist approach, backing companies across categories such as AI applications, fintech, healthcare, and security. The average check size for this fund will be between $3 million and $5 million, with the aim to back at least
Former Tesla exec and Heron Power CEO Drew Baglino has founded a heat pump startup Sadi Thermal Machines is Drew Baglino’s second startup since leaving Tesla in 2024. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/12/former-tesla-exec-and-heron-power-ceo-drew-baglino-has-founded-a-heat-pump-startup/
Musk mulled handing OpenAI to his children, Altman testifies Altman said that Musk’s focus on controlling the initial for-profit gave him pause because OpenAI was dedicated to keeping advanced AI out of the hands of a single person, and Altman, with his experience running the prominent startup accelerator Y Combinator,
Anthropic warns investors against secondary platforms offering access to its shares “Any sale or transfer of Anthropic stock, or any interest in Anthropic stock, offered by these firms is void and will not be recognized on our books and records,” the company’s support page reads. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/12/anthropic-warns-investors-against-secondary-platforms-offering-access-to-its-shares/
The future of Interreg discussed at the Leaders’ Forum On 7 May 2026, the Interreg Euro-MED Programme took part in the Interreg Leaders’ Forum under the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU 2026, gathering high-level representatives from Interreg programmes and European institutions for a full day of dialogue
Nscale secures $790M financing to underscore commitment to Norway data centre Nscale, the UK AI infrastructure startup backed by Nvidia, has secured a fresh $790m in debt financing geared towards the development of an AI data centre in Norway, where OpenAI had planned to house its ambitious Stargate Norway project.
Algorithmiq moves global HQ to Milan and raises €18M in Italy’s largest quantum VC round Quantum software company Algorithmiq has established Milan as its global headquarters, signalling its confidence and commitment to Italy and Europe as the future hub for leadership in the industrialisation of quantum algorithms. Algorithmiq has raised
Lunar co-founder exits CEO role after 11 years The co-founder of Danish digital bank Lunar is stepping down as CEO after more than ten years and is being replaced by a former Danske Bank and Saxo Bank executive. Ken Villum Klausen, Lunar co-founder and CEO, who has led Lunar since its
From outsourcing to AI-native delivery: Poland’s software evolution Poland has long been known as one of Europe’s strongest software development and IT outsourcing hubs, supplying engineering talent and enterprise delivery capabilities to companies across Western Europe and the US. While countries like Germany focused more heavily on fintech or SaaS
Grand Games raises $70M Series B to scale hybrid casual mobile games Grand Games, a mobile gaming company focused on hybrid casual titles, has raised $70 million in a Series B funding round, bringing the company’s total funding to $103 million. The round was led by Balderton Capital through its