Good news from around Europe
Sam Altman’s thank-you to coders draws the memes Altman expresses gratitude for people who knew how to write their code from scratch. The internet replies with salty jokes. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/18/sam-altmans-thank-you-to-coders-draws-the-memes/
Meta is having trouble with rogue AI agents A rogue AI agent inadvertently exposed Meta company and user data to engineers who didn’t have permission to see it. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/18/meta-is-having-trouble-with-rogue-ai-agents/
FBI is buying location data to track US citizens, director confirms FBI director Kash Patel told lawmakers that the agency is actively purchasing commercially available location data, which can track Americans without needing a warrant. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/18/fbi-is-buying-location-data-to-track-us-citizens-kash-patel-wyden/
Agent debugging startup Laminar raises $3M seed to tackle the observability gap in AI agents Laminar today announces a $3 million seed round led by Atlantic.vc, with participation from Y-Combinator, AAL.vc, and notable angels including Ben Sigelman, co-creator of OpenTelemetry and Ant Wilson, CTO of Supabase. Founders Robert Kim (CEO)
OakNorth reports nudge up in profits, delays net zero target by 10 years OakNorth, the UK challenger lending bank, has reported a nudge up in year-on-year pre-tax profits in 2025 from £215m to £223m, helped by US growth. The SoftBank-backed bank, however, delayed its net zero target by ten years. OakNorth
Young “bug bounty hunter” bags $6M pre-seed round for security startup A French cybersecurity startup founded by a 23-year-old who made a name for himself as a professional “bug bounty hunter”, earning hundreds of thousands of pounds from Facebook and Google in rewards, has raised a $5.9m pre-seed round. Lupin &
CiaoDott raises €1.5M pre-seed to bring vertical voice AI to Italy’s medical sector CiaoDott a vertical voice AI for the Italian medical sector, has raised €1.5 million Pre-Seed. The Techshop led the funding round, with Vento, Club degli Investitori, Growth Engine, and Alpha Venture. Founded in 2025, CiaoDott aims to
WorkFlex secures €37M to automate cross-border workforce compliance WorkFlex, a platform whose compliance risk engine automates compliance for cross-border business travel and workforce mobility, today announced it has raised €37 million in investment led by Spectrum Equity. As global business travel continues to grow and cross-border work becomes more common,
New €70 million GVC Gaesco fund targets InfraTech startups focused on energy, industry and digital infrastructure GVC Gaesco Alternative Investments, an investment arm of the Barcelona-based financial group GVC Gaesco, has launched a €70 million fund focused on Infratech startups developing the physical and digital infrastructure of the new economy.
Berlin’s Upvest raises €108 million to scale securities infrastructure for banks and FinTechs Upvest, a German investment infrastructure provider, today announces a €108 million ($125 million) financing round to accelerate the modernisation of legacy banking systems across Europe and the UK. The €78 million ($90 million) equity round is led