Startup news for the weekend week 21/26

Funding & promotion

Vilnius bets €100,000 each on 100 new startups

Vilnius is targeting the next generation of founders and strengthening its role as a startup hub in Europe: early-stage investors FIRSTPICK and Lost Astronaut want to jointly finance 100 young startups over the next three years. Each will receive up to 100,000 euros as well as access to mentors, workshops and international VC networks. The initiative is a response to the global trend of ever younger AI founders and is intended to support first-time founders in particular in building scalable technology companies. At the same time, the Lithuanian startup ecosystem continues to grow strongly. The total value now stands at 15.5 billion euros, while around 77 million euros were invested in pre-seed and seed start-ups in 2025 alone. With additional initiatives such as Tech Zity and Basedspace, Vilnius is specifically expanding its infrastructure and community offerings for young entrepreneurs.

Joachim Herz Foundation invests 20 million euros in DeepTech fund

The Joachim Herz Foundation is investing 20 million euros in the new Marvelous Scito Fund as an anchor investor, thereby focusing on the industrial scaling of scientific breakthroughs in Germany. Together with the Berlin-based investment platform, the aim is to close one of the biggest financing gaps in the German innovation system: the lack of capital between research, prototype development and industrial scaling. The fund invests in deep tech start-ups in areas such as advanced materials, robotics and waste valorization and combines traditional venture capital investments with operational support via the "Marvelous Catalyst" unit. This connects start-ups with industry partners at an early stage in order to accelerate market validation and scaling. For the Joachim Herz Foundation, the investment also marks its entry into venture capital as a new asset class with a long-term, impact-oriented focus.

ComplyDo closes pre-seed round with YC investment

Berlin-based startup ComplyDo (Y Combinator F25) has closed a pre-seed financing round of 1.3 million US dollars, led by investors including Y Combinator, adesso ventures, a16z Scout and Twenty Two Ventures. The startup is developing an AI-based compliance engine for large companies that automatically extracts regulatory requirements from standards such as ISO, NIS2 or DORA, compares them with internal guidelines and continuously monitors them for changes. The aim is to replace manual GRC processes and significantly increase the efficiency of compliance teams. Customers are already using the solution in production environments, while the company says it continues to focus strongly on product-driven growth without a major go-to-market focus.

Douglas and Huge Thing support female founders in CEE

The startup accelerator Huge Thing is launching a new edition of the "Female Fundraising Academy" for female founders from Central and Eastern Europe together with the retail group Douglas. The program is aimed at early-stage tech startups in the pre-seed and seed phase and is designed to prepare women specifically for fundraising processes and investor meetings. In addition to workshops on financing strategies, company valuation and negotiations, participants have access to mentors, industry experts and VC speed dating. A special focus this year is on start-ups from the beauty and related technology sectors. The background to this is the continued low participation of female start-up teams in the European venture capital market. Applications for the program are open until 18 June. Click here to the application form.

DIGITALHUB.DE invests again in EdTech startup Lenabo

DIGITALHUB.DE is making its first follow-on investment and doubling its stake in Bonn-based EdTech startup Lenabo. The company is developing a smart audio system for children in which an intelligent speaker is inserted into various plush figures and plays age-appropriate content such as stories, educational content or sleep melodies. Since the initial investment in 2024, Lenabo has been able to build its smart toy ecosystem with the support of the HUBGRADE accelerator program, expand partnerships and successfully implement series production and the market launch of the so-called "Lenabies" in 2025.

Tokenize.it integrates AI agents for automated startup fundraising

The Berlin-based FinTech Tokenize.it is expanding its fundraising platform with so-called "agentic fundraising" functions. Using a new MCP connector, AI systems such as Claude can interact directly with the platform and create investment offers, create employee shares or identify suitable investors, among other things. By connecting to a well-known data provider, investor searches, pitch deck creation and outreach processes can also be automated. The aim is to make the fundraising process easier for founders and to outsource more administrative tasks to AI systems. Tokenize.it enables digital participation processes based on tokenized participation rights and also offers its own secondary market for trading them.

Cooperations & partnerships

First Private launches ETF offensive with NaroIQ

First Private Investment Management is expanding its offering to include active ETFs and ETF share classes by entering into a strategic partnership with the infrastructure FinTech NaroIQ. With the help of NaroIQ's digital ETF infrastructure, the capital management company intends to launch its own active ETFs via the existing KVG license in the future without having to rely on external white label structures. The first ETF launch is planned for the second half of 2026. The background to this is the strong growth of the European market for active ETFs, which has recently seen significant growth according to Morningstar. In the long term, the infrastructure will also be available to external fund initiators via the First Private Investment Partners platform.

BIOTRONIK and Charité cooperate on digital cardiology

The medical technology company BIOTRONIK is launching a strategic research and innovation partnership with Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the German Heart Institute Foundation in the field of digital and translational cardiology. The aim of the collaboration is to develop AI-supported applications, networked healthcare technologies and new implant-based therapies for cardiovascular diseases. Initial projects are focusing on digital simulation environments and the use of artificial intelligence in cardiac medicine. The partners are also planning joint training and further education programs for cardiology specialists. BIOTRONIK and the foundation are also supporting the establishment of an independent endowed professorship for digital and translational cardiology at Charité in order to further expand Berlin's role as a European center for digital cardiac medicine.

Mentessa and Mentimeter cooperate

The Munich-based AI company Mentessa and the Swedish platform Mentimeter are launching a strategic partnership with a focus on the DACH region. At the heart of the collaboration is the expansion of the Leadership Circle, a community for managers and modern work culture initiated by Mentimeter. Both companies want to promote formats that strengthen exchange, collaboration and inclusive leadership. Mentessa will contribute its AI-based platform for mentoring and learning culture, while Mentimeter will provide interactive tools for meetings and workshops.

Awards & Events

Wellcome and Nature launch world's largest prize for mental health research

The health charity Wellcome and the science journal Nature have announced the world's largest mental health research prize. The Wellcome Prize for Mental Health Science recognizes scientific breakthroughs in the areas of anxiety disorders, depression and psychosis and is aimed at research teams and SMEs worldwide. The main prize is endowed with 1 million US dollars , with three further finalists receiving 250,000 US dollars each. We are looking for pharmacological, psychological, social or digital approaches with scientific evidence and real social benefit. Applications are open until September 18, 2026, with the winners to be announced in 2027. To Registration here.

Digital Logistics Award starts application phase

The application phase for the Digital Logistics Award 2026 has started. We are looking for start-ups and corporate innovation teams with digital solutions for the logistics industry - especially in the areas of AI, robotics, IoT and digital platforms. The finalists will have the opportunity to present their concepts to more than 500 industry decision-makers at the Zukunftskongress Logistik 2026. Further information and the application are available via Digital Logistics Award.

UV Energy honored as "Founder of the Month"

The city of Böblingen has honored Steffen Theurer, CEO of the GreenTech startup UV Energy, as Founder of the Month. The start-up develops AI-supported solutions for parking lot photovoltaics and combines solar power plants with automated planning and profitability analysis. With the help of the "UV 360°" platform, areas can be analyzed using satellite data and offers can be created within a few minutes. UV Energy also relies on so-called Power Purchase Agreements (PPA), which allow companies to use solar plants without having to make an initial investment of their own. A first PPA project has already been launched together with Synapticon, which is also based in Böblingen.

VINCI Energies focuses on AI start-ups in "Startup Speed Dating 2026"

As part of its startup program "VINCI Energies Startup Connect", VINCI Energies is inviting startups across Europe to Startup Speed Dating 2026 to get to know practical AI solutions for industry, energy, buildings and ICT. Under the motto "Expertise Meets AI", young companies have until 31 May to submit their tried-and-tested solutions in areas such as generative AI, computer vision and predictive AI and develop concrete partnerships through to go-to-market in matchmaking sessions with experts from the VINCI network. Applications for proposal preparation, engineering, construction, operations, occupational safety and internal functions such as HR or IT are particularly in demand. The format follows a venture client approach: start-ups are given direct access to real use cases, can test their solutions in complex industrial environments and, if successful, quickly roll them out on a large scale. If you want to know more about the topic, you should definitely take a look at our Venture Clienting World!

"Energy Startup Cup" brings energy innovations to Berlin

At the Energy Startup Cup on July 1, 2026 at the Future Energy Lab in Berlin, 16 startups will present their solutions for the energy, heating and mobility transition. The spectrum ranges from AI-supported building optimization and sustainable battery storage to hydrogen technologies, charging infrastructure, balcony power plants and off-grid energy systems. In a tournament format, the teams pitch in front of the jury and audience to reach the final and win the trophy. The competition is organized by the energy accelerator AXEL in cooperation with the German Energy Agency (dena). AXEL has been supporting founders from the energy industry on their way to market maturity since 2018 and has already supported more than 280 start-ups.

Mergers & acquisitions

Mistral takes over Emmi AI

The French AI company Mistral AI is taking over the Linz-based deep tech start-up Emmi AI, a spin-off of the Johannes Kepler University Linz and the AI company NXAI. Emmi AI develops so-called "Physics AI" models to simulate complex physical processes for industries such as automotive, aviation and semiconductors. The purchase price was not disclosed, but according to industry insiders, the deal is one of the largest startup exits in Austria. Instead of a planned Series A financing, Emmi AI deliberately opted for Mistral AI after negotiations with several AI companies, also with a view to European technology sovereignty. The entire team will be taken over, and Linz is to be expanded into an important Mistral location with around 100 employees in the future. The Emmi AI brand is to be integrated into a new industrial and engineering unit of Mistral in the medium term. A strong signal for Linz, but also a very strong signal for spin-offs from European universities, which will really make their mark on the market.

Swapfiets takes over Dance

The Dutch bike subscription provider Swapfiets is acquiring the Berlin-based e-bike start-up Dance, thereby expanding its market position in the European bike subscription segment. Dance will remain an independent brand, and co-founder and CEO Christian Springub and the teams will stay on board. As a result of the integration, Swapfiets will grow to 45 cities and around 290,000 members across Europe, including a stronger presence in Paris, Berlin and Hamburg. In future, the joint fleet will comprise more than 75,000 e-bikes on subscription. The acquisition is supported by Pon Holdings, which sees further growth potential in the market for subscription-based urban mobility.

More exciting news

Harburg district awards charging infrastructure concessions

As part of the Harburg model, the district of Harburg has awarded three concessions for the construction of around 200 locations with more than 600 public charging points. The contract was awarded to Vattenfall, Qwello Deutschland and Wirelane. The project was accompanied by the Berlin-based consultancy firm M3E, which has been supporting site planning, market exploration, Europe-wide tendering and project management since 2024. The aim is to gradually expand a nationwide charging network by 2030, combining local charging and fast-charging infrastructure in the region. The project is considered a possible model for the development of municipal charging infrastructure in rural regions.

Corti launches AI funding program for AI health start-ups

The Danish healthtech company Corti has announced an international funding program for AI startups in healthcare and life sciences. With the Startup Acceleration Program, Corti supports young companies without investment requirements in the development of regulatory compliant AI applications and aims to mitigate high entry barriers in the European healthcare market. The background to this is stricter requirements such as the EU AI Act and MDR certification, which, according to Corti, can result in costs of up to 600,000 euros. Participants will receive access to Corti's clinical AI stack "Symphony", regulatory advice and technical support, among other things. The company also refers to benchmark results in which its own model performed better in the healthcare sector than solutions from OpenAI and Anthropic. The aim of the program is to bring specialized AI applications for clinical workflows to market faster.

Osborne Clarke founds AI start-up for automated regulatory monitoring

The commercial law firm Osborne Clarke has founded its own startup, Justima, for the first time in its 250-year history. The AI platform automates the monitoring of European regulation for legal and compliance departments and analyzes more than 200 legal and regulatory sources every day. Companies only receive the changes that are relevant to their business model. Justima was founded by Alexander Lilienbeck and Christian Braun, joined by Osborne Clarke partner Gereon Abendroth as Chairman & Managing Director. The solution is primarily aimed at international corporations and SMEs with complex compliance requirements. According to the company, around 60 companies have already registered for early access, including DAX 40 and Fortune 500 companies.

getolo expands into Spain with pet health insurance

Berlin-based InsurTech getolo is bringing its digital pet health insurance product petolo to Spain, continuing its international growth trajectory. After entering the market in France, the company is now also offering Spanish pet owners digital insurance services for dogs and cats - including fast reimbursement, transparent tariffs and telemedicine services. Together with DA Direkt and under the umbrella of the Zurich Group Germany, getolo aims to benefit from the growing pet market in Spain, where many animals have not had health insurance to date. According to the company, it already serves more than 265,000 customers across Europe through its dentolo, petolo and vitolo brands.