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One of Europe’s leading climate tech VC firms has called for a “fundamental redesign” of traditional computing methods amid surging energy consumption from AI applications. The Berlin-based World Fund warns that simply transitioning data centres to renewable power will not be enough to fully decarbonise AI compute.  “We need to rethink the way we go about computing, from the materials and chips we use to...

Gone are the days when a bean bag and free kombucha made your office cool. Today’s top tech talent wants something far more valuable: their health. That’s the view of Lucien Engelen, a renowned healthcare innovation expert, who believes workplace wellbeing is about to spark a seismic shift. This transition will not only transform employment perks, but also create a new tech market. Engelen’s...

The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Rosalind Franklin rover is back on course for a landmark trip to Mars, where it will probe the red planet for signs of extraterrestrial life.  ESA initially designed the Mars rover alongside Roscosmos, Russia’s space agency, as part of the ExoMars programme. The vehicle was set to launch in 2022, but when Russia invaded Ukraine, ESA severed ties with...

German startup Isar Aerospace launched its Spectrum rocket from Andøya Spaceport in Norway today, marking the first-ever vertical orbital rocket launch in Western Europe. Spectrum blasted off at 12:30 PM CEST (11:30 BST) but lost control at about 25 seconds into the flight. A video from the launch shows the rocket wobble, pitch over, and then plummet back to the ground, where it collided...

Five high-flying scaleups from the Benelux region have made it into TECH5 — the “Champions League of Technology.” The classy quintet joins an exclusive group of Europe’s fastest-growing tech companies. Over the next two months, they will join six other regions — the Nordics, Southern Europe, France, the Baltic States, DACH, and the UK & Ireland — in a competition for the crown of hottest...

A coalition of European startups has urged swift action to slash burdensome EU regulations after a landmark declaration from the D9+ group of digitally advanced nations. The declaration stressed the need for “removing barriers” and “simplifying EU rules and procedures.” Ministers from all 13 countries in the D9+ — Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain,...

Tesla’s sales in Europe have plummeted by 42% this year, according to the latest figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. Tesla’s slip came despite total EV sales on the continent rising 28% over the same period. Analysts have linked the slump to Tesla’s aging model lineup and growing backlash against CEO Elon Musk’s increasingly polarising behaviour.   Whatever the reason, Andrew Fellows, an automotive...

A new algorithm has improved the ability of quantum computers to model new materials and chemicals by a factor of 10. That’s according to its developer, UK startup Phasecraft.  The Bristol- and London-based company describes the breakthrough as the largest single leap in quantum simulations to date — moving us a step closer to real-world quantum applications. Quantum computers improve on classical simulations by...

The Netherlands has ranked 10th in a global index of tech competitiveness, ahead of the entire G7 group of the world’s largest so-called “advanced” economies. The country was praised for its thriving digital economy, mature biotech and semiconductor industries, and strong digital skills underpinned by “engineering excellence.” London-based Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) and consultancy SThree produced the index, which ranks 35...

Last week, Elon Musk’s Starlink internet service was installed at the White House. A week before that, Donald Trump promoted Tesla on the White House front lawn, after rallying people to buy the company’s cars and stock.  The Trump administration’s endorsements of Musk’s companies are attracting growing scrutiny. Critics argue that they’re breaking laws and threatening democracy. For the world’s richest man, the relationship...

Just five months after surpassing ASML, German software giant SAP has overtaken Novo Nordisk to become Europe’s most valuable listed company. SAP’s shares rose 1.6% on Monday, bringing its market cap to €313bn. That was just enough to nudge Danish weight loss drugmaker Novo off the top spot.  SAP’s stock has risen more than 40% in the past year, amid booming demand for its...

Finnish startup Distance Technologies emerged from stealth last year with a technology it claims can turn any transparent surface into a mixed reality (MR) display. Now, it has teamed up with Patria to trial the tech on the defence firm’s armoured vehicles. The partners will jointly develop a heads-up display for Patria’s six-wheel drive armoured personnel carrier. The system will display 3D tactical data,...

The European Space Agency has released the first major batch of data from its “dark universe” telescope Euclid. What’s inside could change our understanding of dark matter and the expansion of the universe. The data comprises just one week’s worth of deep field images from three points in space. They make up just 0.4% of the vast area Euclid will capture, which scientists say...

Aerospike rocket engines are the stuff of legend in the space industry. Conceived in the 1960s, their unique spiked-nozzle design promises better efficiency, reusability, and performance at all altitudes. But their complexity — and the shutdown of major space programmes towards the end of the 20th century — meant they never entered the mainstream.  But now, startups are dusting off old designs and using...

Oslo-based startup Visoid has raised €700,000 in seed funding for its AI software, which helps architects turn their 3D models into striking renders within seconds.  For architects and designers, a good render can mean the difference between winning or losing a client. However, rendering typically requires a lot of time, effort, expertise — and money. Tools like Visoid look to disrupt the status quo....

Dutch unicorn Mews will most likely list in the US instead of in Europe if the hospitality management company goes public, its CEO and co-founder Matthijs Welle told TNW.  “An IPO is one of the options that we would consider for the future, and if we were to go down that route, a listing in the US is the most likely option, although it...

Irish startup Equal1 has unveiled the world’s first quantum computer that runs on a hybrid quantum-classical silicon chip.  Dubbed Bell-1 — after quantum physicist John Stewart Bell — the computer weighs around 200kg and plugs into a regular electrical socket. The rack-mountable machine is designed to simply slot into high-performance computing (HPC) data centres alongside standard servers.  Equal1’s CEO Jason Lynch told TNW that...

Baby Elon Musk. Shrimp Jesus. The Titanic colliding with an iceberg lettuce. Social media is saturated with AI slop — low-quality, often ridiculous and sometimes disturbing images, videos, or words created using generative artificial intelligence.  While some AI slop is glaringly fake, a lot isn’t. I remember the first time AI hoodwinked me. It was a striking video I saw on Instagram of a...

A new startup called Skylark has taken flight today — with TNW lending an extra set of wings. The company launches with a central mission: empowering non-technical founders to quickly create high-quality Minimum Viable Products (MVPs). To bring their plans to life, Skylark has created an AI-enhanced framework that promises rapid, efficient iteration cycles. Freelance developers apply the framework to build the MVP. While...

For nearly two decades, TNW Conference has been a launchpad for the next big things in tech. The likes of Slack, Wise, Bolt, and Trello all made their mark on our stage before becoming global brands. Visionary leaders from Google, Meta, and Reddit have joined them to share the strategies behind their success, while star speakers Edward Snowden, will.i.am, and Lila Ibrahim have explored...

When the modern-day internet began emerging in the early 2000s, finding hosting services and resources to run the new wave of dynamic web applications was hard. You needed a database to store application data. These were slow, expensive, and unreliable, regularly bringing applications to a grinding halt when a single instance failed. You needed a server to run interpreted languages like PHP, Python, or...

Renewed calls for Google to sell Chrome have reignited demands for the company to also divest Android. An executive at Murena, a French smartphone startup, said today that breaking up the businesses is the only way to end Google’s “cycle of domination”. The appeal follows a Friday court filing from the US Department of Justice (DOJ). The filing reaffirmed a proposal for Google to...

With their heavy battery packs, EVs are hardly known for being lightweight. That is, perhaps, until now.  British startup Longbow — founded by former Tesla, Lucid, and Polestar execs — emerged from stealth today with plans for two new ultralight EVs. The company bills the cars as “spiritual successors” to the iconic Lotus Elise and Jaguar E-Type. The first of the pair is Speedster, a...

French satellite operator Eutelsat was thrust into the spotlight last week as a potential replacement for Elon Musk’s Starlink in Ukraine — and potentially, broader Europe.  Eva Berneke, Eutelsat’s CEO, said the company was in advanced discussions with the EU about expanding its internet service in Ukraine. She also said Eutelsat was in “very positive talks” with Italy to provide an encrypted communications service...

Social media platform X was hit by a series of outages yesterday in what its owner Elon Musk has called a “massive cyberattack” stemming from Ukraine. Analysts believe the disruption was caused by botnets — but finding the culprits will be a tall order.   The outages began at around 14:00 CET and lasted for most of the afternoon, trailing off at around 18:00,...

EU governments are in talks with four European satellite firms about providing a back-up service for Starlink in Ukraine, as the region pushes to boost tech sovereignty amid mounting transatlantic tensions.  Starlink has provided a vital communications system to Ukraine’s military since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022. It allows the armed forces to coordinate drone strikes, identify targets, and stream battlefield data to...

Edge Impulse, a TNW community member that produces an AI platform for developers, has been acquired by American chip giant Qualcomm for an undisclosed sum.  Qualcomm said it had bought Edge Impulse to boost its machine learning software capabilities, particularly for its Dragonwing line of AI-powered chips.  Nakul Duggal, Qualcomm’s head of IoT, said the acquisition would strengthen his firm’s “leadership in AI” and...

Elon Musk’s allegiance to Trump is once again stirring up controversy — this time over Starlink. The satellite internet provider, owned by Musk’s firm SpaceX, has become embroiled in a hot debate among Italian politicians, as Rome weighs its strategic alliances amid mounting tensions between Europe and the US. Italy’s right-wing League party is pushing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government to choose Starlink to...

AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, or DeepSeek have radically disrupted the way we access and generate information. However, these systems are general — they are jacks of all trades but masters of none.  Increasingly, though, scientists are training AI to solve very specific problems and fast-track everything from creating new drugs to designing fusion reactors. One area where they’re gaining traction is enhanced material...

Interplanetary travel might be about to get a whole lot faster — and hotter.  UK startup Pulsar Fusion today unveiled “Sunbird,” a nuclear fusion-powered rocket concept that could halve the time it takes to travel across our solar system — and, maybe, beyond it.  Machine learning models show the rocket could potentially propel a spacecraft with a mass of about 1,000kg (2,200lb) to Pluto...

Europe’s space launch industry reopened for business today when the Ariane 6 heavy rocket lifted off at 17:24 CET from a spaceport in French Guiana. Originally scheduled for December, the Ariane 6 mission was delayed first to February 26 and subsequently to March 3 due to issues in transporting the satellite to the launchpad. However, just minutes before Monday’s launch, engineers identified an “anomaly” in...

As Elon Musk was saluting Donald Trump in the US Congress yesterday, the South African’s divisive politics were opening new doors to his business rivals in Europe. Musk’s role in the White House had already been linked to Tesla sales and stock tanking. Now, the repercussions appear to have spread to SpaceX. The fallout centres on the company’s Starlink satellite internet service. The network...

Hospitality scaleup Mews, based at TNW City in Amsterdam, has secured $75mn in its third major cash injection of the last year. The round follows a raise of $100M in credit financing in September and a $110mn equity round in March 2024 — when the startup became a unicorn. In total, Mews has bagged over $500mn to date, making it one of the Netherlands’...

Fintech startup Cino, a TNW community member, has secured €3.5mn for its shared payments app that lets friends and family pay together.  Cino is designed for tech-savvy Gen Z’ers, who expect to split bills instantly and effortlessly together without “financial awkwardness,” the company said. Unlike payment request apps like Tikkie — ubiquitous in the Netherlands — Cino splits bills in real-time, so you don’t have...

The obscure world of quantum computing is emerging from the lab and into the public domain — fuelled by Big Tech’s recent progress in quantum processors. In the past few months alone, Google launched a chip called Willow, Microsoft unveiled Majorana, and this week, Amazon revealed Ocelot.  While tech giants are making great strides, these companies are still working in dozens of qubits —...

Opera has previewed a new AI agent feature that promises to complete online tasks on your behalf, based on simple, written prompts.  Want to book a flight but don’t want to spend ages comparing prices? Tell the bot your preferred flight times, seats, and budget and it’ll get to work in the background, letting you carry on with whatever it was you were doing....

British autonomous driving startup Wayve is set to establish a testing and development hub in Germany as it prepares to deploy self-driving vehicles in Europe’s largest automotive market.  Wayve’s new hub will be built near Stuttgart, home to big name car brands including Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and Audi. Alex Kendall, co-founder and CEO of Wayve, called it the “perfect place” for the company to accelerate...

Germany’s armed forces have commissioned Bremen-based startup Polaris to develop a two-stage, fully reusable hypersonic space plane — and given the team just three years to build it.  Dubbed Aurora, the 28-metre-long aircraft will be part rocket, part plane — designed to take off and land on a runway but also blast through the atmosphere and place payloads up to 1-ton in low-Earth orbit. ...

For decades, European tech insiders have looked across the Atlantic with a mix of admiration and frustration. Casting envious eyes on the deep-pocketed VCs, an enormous consumer market, and a pipeline of elite talent, they often view the US as a promised land for business growth. The sentiment fuels calls for Europe to replicate Silicon Valley’s model. But Vidya Peters, CEO of Dutch unicorn DataSnipper,...

Gene-edited pig livers, synthetic embryos, and 3D-printed tissue implants… the world of organ transplantation is becoming increasingly bizarre as scientists explore high-tech ways to keep people alive.  These experiments are birthing new business opportunities. One company cashing in is University of Oxford spinout OrganOx, which this week secured $142mn in funding to fuel its expansion in the US as it mulls a potential IPO.    ...

Most of us share and store huge amounts of personal data online, from our names and addresses to photos of our loved ones. In many ways, firms like Apple, Google, and Meta are the gatekeepers of this sensitive information. But what happens when the authorities come knocking? It appears that Silicon Valley often rolls over and complies.  Over the last 10 years, Apple, Google,...

German startup Proxima Fusion — whose team includes engineers from MIT, Google, SpaceX, and McLaren — has unveiled a fusion energy reactor design it believes offers the quickest route to commercially viable fusion power. Dubbed Stellaris, the machine is a quasi-isodynamic (QI) stellarator with high-temperature superconducting (HTS). This type of reactor uses complex, twisted magnetic fields to confine hot plasma, creating the conditions needed...

As the US and China pursue dominance in the global technology race, concerns are mounting among European founders that the region’s entrenched bureaucracy is impeding its capacity for innovation and growth. The EU is going “overboard on tech regulation,” said Job van der Voort, CEO and founder of Remote, an HR tech company valued at over $3bn. “It’s stifling innovation and it’s a massive...

Two European sports tech startups are heading to the US for an R&D programme run by media giant Comcast. Ireland’s Orreco will cross the Atlantic with a trove of athletic performance software, while Iceland’s Oz Sports will bring an AI-driven camera system. On arrival, the duo will join Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech, a six-month accelerator.  During the programme, the companies will tap into expertise from...

Dutch software firm Bird is moving most of its operations out of the Netherlands and opening new global hubs as it seeks a reprieve from “overregulation” in Europe, said co-founder and CEO Robert Vis. “The AI Act, financing, compensation, taxes, employment law — starting and running a company [in Europe] is hard,” Vis told TNW, adding that there are “too many disparate markets that...

Europe’s biggest food delivery firm Just Eat Takeaway.com is set to be acquired by tech investor Prosus for €4.1bn, in one of the biggest acquisitions in the history of Dutch tech.  Prosus — the investment arm of South African tech firm Naspers — has agreed to buy Just Eat Takeaway’s shares at €20.30 each in an all-cash offer. That’s a 22% premium over the...

Elon Musk’s MAGA politics are fast becoming a mega problem for Tesla. New registrations of Tesla vehicles plummeted across Europe last month amid widespread boycotts against the EV brand. While broader economic forces are at play, Musk’s role in the Trump administration and his open support of far-right politicians appears to be fuelling his company’s precipitous fall from grace — and gifting rival brands...

Europe’s startup scene has entered troubled waters. Long overshadowed by Silicon Valley and now being chased down by China, the continent is urgently looking for boosts. Increasingly, the search is leading to ecosystems.  The ecosystem model creates networks of individuals, organisations, and resources. Their shared expertise and resources can produce a multiplier effect, driving innovation and accelerating growth. A core component of European ecosystems is the...

A British R&D unit that’s been compared to DARPA is funding synthetic muscles, electronic skin, and mechanical hands for a robotics dexterity project. The Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) today unveiled the 10 teams selected for the programme. Their mission: usher in a new era of dexterity that will transform robotics and human productivity. Members of the group span startups, university labs, public...

Shares in European aerospace and defence companies soared to record highs this week, elevating expectations for the continent’s military tech startups. Britain’s BAE Systems leapt by 9% on Monday, while Germany’s Rheinmetall jumped by 14%. Stocks in Sweden’s Saab, Italy’s Leonardo, and France’s Thales also boomed. By the day’s end, the Stoxx Europe aerospace and defence index had hit an all-time peak. Military tech...