Year: 2026

Instarc raises €1.25M to scale its cloud-native compliance platform Tallinn-based regtech company Instarc has secured a €1.25 million strategic investment to support the commercial rollout of its cloud-native compliance platform in South Africa. The investment was led by HFO Investments, with Athena Capital and Option 3 Capital advising on the

INLEAP Photonics raises €20M to expand laser counter-drone systems German deeptech company INLEAP Photonics has raised approximately €20 million in seed funding to scale its laser-based counter-drone technology for defence and critical infrastructure applications. The round was led by UVC Partners, with participation from HTGF in Germany, Poland’s Balnord, Estonia’s

Cambridge University spinout launches AI model “competitive” with OpenAI and Anthropic A Cambridge University spinout has today launched a “frontier-class” generalist AI model which it says is competitive with OpenAI and Anthropic’s leading models and can be deployed locally.  Flower Labs is a London and Hamburg-based startup which lets companies train

Long hours and stress don’t mean your startup is toxic Powered by WPeMatico https://sifted.eu/articles/honest-about-startup-toxicity/

Daniel Ek-founded Neko Health tops latest Sifted’s Nordic ranking Powered by WPeMatico https://sifted.eu/articles/neko-health-tops-2026-nordics-ranking/

Larry Page’s flying car company Pivotal loses its CEO The company told TechCrunch he is “pursuing new endeavors.” Karklin will be replaced on an interim basis by Mike Ross, an aviation executive who joined Pivotal’s board of directors in November 2025. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/01/larry-pages-flying-car-company-pivotal-loses-its-ceo/

Reliance’s JioHotstar takes its streaming empire global — without sports JioHotstar will only have entertainment content when it launches in the UK, Canada, and Singapore. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/01/reliances-jiohotstar-takes-its-streaming-empire-global-without-sports/

Apple follows Google in adopting Trump’s ‘Lake America’ name Apple Maps is following President Trump’s executive order to change the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/01/apple-follows-google-in-adopting-trumps-lake-america-name/

AfterQuery reportedly becomes Y Combinator’s fastest-ever unicorn, now valued at $3.2B AI model-training startup AfterQuery has reportedly raised a round that valued it at $3.2 billion, just five months after announcing its $30 million Series A at a $300 million valuation in April. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/01/afterquery-reportedly-becomes-y-combinators-fastest-ever-unicorn-now-valued-at-3-2b/

OpenAI’s Astra model is on the way — and very good at breaking into computer systems OpenAI previewed the precautions it is taking as it prepares to release Astra, its newest, cyber-critical LLM. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/01/open-ais-astra-model-is-on-the-way-and-very-good-at-breaking-into-computer-systems/