Good news from around Europe
World Fund, IQ Capital among backers of €91m QuantumDiamonds round Powered by WPeMatico https://sifted.eu/articles/world-fund-iq-capital-quantumdiamonds-round
8 stealth founders using AI to take on the industries they used to work in Powered by WPeMatico https://sifted.eu/articles/8-stealth-founders-using-ai-to-take-on-the-industries-they-used-to-work-in
The 50 fastest-growing European startup teams in H1 2026 Powered by WPeMatico https://sifted.eu/articles/the-50-fastest-growing-european-startup-teams-in-h1-2026
OpenAI says GPT 5.6 is the ‘preferred model’ for Microsoft Copilot 365 amid breakup chatter OpenAI’s new family of models will continue to power Microsoft’s suite of workplace and productivity apps. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/09/openai-says-gpt-5-6-is-the-preferred-model-for-microsoft-copilot-amid-breakup-chatter/
An AI agent startup just let its agent run its $100M fundraise Lyzr, a startup that builds AI agents for enterprises, used its own AI agent to raise a $100 million round — proof, evidently, that the product actually works. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/09/an-ai-agent-startup-just-let-its-agent-run-its-100-million-fundraise/
OpenAI launches its new family of models with GPT-5.6 OpenAI’s latest family of models promises improvements across a range of areas, including cybersecurity. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/09/openai-launches-its-new-family-of-models-with-gpt-5-6/
Fidji Simo steps down from OpenAI’s no. 2 role OpenAI’s No. 2 executive, Fidji Simo, is stepping down from her full-time role after her medical leave proved longer than expected — a leadership vacuum that comes at a tricky time as the company eyes a possible IPO and races to
Don’t want to invest in Elon Musk? Two new ETFs explicitly exclude him The new exchanged-traded funds exclude companies that are founded, controlled, or led by Elon Musk. That means no SpaceX or Tesla. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/09/dont-want-to-invest-in-elon-musk-two-new-etfs-explicitly-exclude-him/
Y Combinator-backed German startup Finto raises $3.4M, says chose Munich over Silicon Valley A German startup building AI agents for accounting today said it had deliberately opted to be based in Munich over Silicon Valley after going through Y Combinator in San Francisco and raising a £3.4m seed round. Finto
Polysense raises $10.7M to scale AI quality control for food manufacturers Belgian startup Polysense has raised $10.7 million in an oversubscribed seed funding round to accelerate the global rollout of its AI-powered quality control platform for food manufacturers. The round was led by Felix Capital, with participation from Fortino Ventures,