~the-next-web | Bookmarks (223)

Back in the early 2000s, Estonia was rapidly modernising, shaking off the remnants of Soviet influence. It was ambitiously transforming itself into a digital society with innovations such as e-government and online voting.  And, of course, it gave birth to Skype, the company that would launch the small Baltic nation’s journey towards becoming a startup powerhouse and a “unicorn country.” Since then, Estonia has...

Swedish startup Heart Aerospace has unveiled its first full-scale demonstrator hybrid-electric aircraft as it targets commercial flight by the end of 2029, a year later than previously planned.  Heart revealed the prototype, dubbed HX-1, at its hangar in Gothenburg yesterday, which we toured earlier this year.   The HX-1 prototype outside Heart’s hangar in Gothenburg, Sweden. Credit: Heart Aerospace The company will initially use the...

Every week, millions of adults pretend that they’re football managers. I am one of them. We live out our dreams in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL), an online game that’s become a global phenomenon.  With a budget of 100 million (digital) pounds, we build virtual squads of footballers. If their real-life counterparts play well, we win points. By the end of the season, the...

Paris-based AI startup Poolside is in discussions to raise nearly $500mn at a $3bn valuation, Bloomberg reports.   Poolside is developing a ChatGPT-like large language model (LLM) that writes software code — but the business plan remains hush-hush. The company has yet to launch its first product. However, on its website Poolside states that it is currently training its LLM by “allowing it to improve...

German startup Reverion has secured $62mn as it looks to scale a mini power plant that can generate clean energy, capture CO2, and make hydrogen all in one shipping container-sized unit.  “Reverion’s technology works very efficiently in both ways — you can use the plants to store that energy and provide it back to the grid when there is demand,” Christoph Baumeister, principal at...

A Ukrainian startup forged by war is bringing counter-disinformation to the business world. Osavul was founded in 2022 to fight Russian propaganda. To analyse the threats, the company applied AI analytics to the information landscape. The startup surveys open-source data from social media, websites, and messaging apps. It then identifies harmful narratives — and the sources spreading them.  The narratives have diverse forms. Osavul...

Tech Nation has announced the 25 startups that will participate in the second cohort of this year’s Future Fifty programme — the UK’s only accelerator that focuses on late-stage companies. Future Fifty supports startups from the Series B to the IPO stage and beyond. Since its launch in 2013, it counts alumni such as Revolut, Monzo, and Skyscanner. “We use mechanisms of access and...

What’s the best way to attract attention for your startup from a room full of investors, journalists, potential partners, customers, and talent all in one go? For early-stage startups, entering pitch battle competitions is a cost and time-effective way to get in front of the right audiences. Rather than pitching to individual investors, prove your product and team’s value in one quick-fire shot. Let...

One of the most popular pastimes you may or may not have heard about is flight tracking.  For instance, in September 2022, the Royal Air Force Boeing C-17A Globemaster III carrying Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin from Edinburgh to an RAF base outside of London was followed by close to 5 million people.  It is also a goldmine for data. Popular flight tracking websites display...

Fashion app Depop has unveiled new AI gear from the firm’s tech wardrobe. The second-hand marketplace can now generate an entire listing from a single photo. Launched today, the feature is designed to accelerate the listing process. All users need to do is upload their image and hit “Generate Description.” Image recognition and GenAI will then create the listing description. The system will also...

 Welcome to the new episode of the TNW Podcast — the show where we discuss the latest developments in the European technology ecosystem and feature interviews with some of the most interesting people in the industry. In today’s episode, Linnea and Andrii talk about quantum accelerators, major job cuts at WeTransfer, a planet that never was, and a few things in between. You’ll...

Spatium Medical, a spinoff from the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, has raised €5mn to improve laparoscopy with its smart insufflation device. Insufflation refers to the process of introducing gas, typically CO2, into the abdomen, in order to “inflate” it and create enough workspace for the surgeon. However, the use of pressurised CO2 gas comes with a series of disadvantages, especially in high pressures....

A Dutch startup has made the cut for NATO’s DIANA accelerator, which aims to build tech edges over the alliance’s adversaries. The company, named Lobster Robotics, develops underwater drones that survey the seas. Despite their small size and low costs, the robots are packed with powerful sensors.”It’s the quality and scalability of our data that sets us apart,” CEO Stephan Rutten said in June....

Nik Storonsky founded Revolut in 2015, gradually engaging consumers with the world of neobanks. Despite ups and downs throughout its journey, last month the startup became Europe’s most valuable private tech company reaching a valuation of $45bn. Storonsky is also among the European founders who have set up funds for other startups. In 2022, he launched VC firm QuantumLight, which focuses on AI-driven investments. QuantumLight...

Mario Draghi has sounded the alarm about the EU’s competitiveness — and future — as it is again failing to translate ideas and ambition into technological innovation. In a report commissioned by the bloc’s chief Ursula von der Leyen, Draghi stressed that a pronounced growth slowdown has widened the GDP gap between the Union and the US. This slowdown is closely linked to sluggish...

Tech giant Microsoft and leading quantum computer developer Quantinuum have hit two more significant markers on the path towards scientific quantum advantage. They have successfully created 12 highly reliable logical qubits and demonstrated a hybrid end-to-end chemistry simulation, utilising a combination of HPC, AI, and quantum. The logical qubit breakthrough was achieved on Quantinuum’s H2 trapped-ion 56 physical qubit quantum computer using Microsoft’s Azure...

If you’ve lost your motivation—or as some would say, your mojo—as a software developer, it’s likely because it hasn’t been the most fun time to be in the industry with layoffs rocking teams and worker morale since mid-2022. Given this context, it isn’t too surprising that Stack Overflow’s most recent Developer Survey found that less than a third (32.1%) of professional developers are happy...

In two separate cases today, the EU’s Court of Justice ruled in favour of back taxes and fines against Apple and Google totalling €15.4bn, a major victory in the bloc’s ongoing battle with big tech.   In the first ruling, the EU’s highest court has ordered Apple to pay Ireland €13.1bn in back taxes, bringing an end to the biggest tax dispute in history.  The...

Every January, startups, Fortune 500 companies, investors, gadget geeks, and media from across the globe flock to Las Vegas to discover the next big trends in technology. In 2024, CES welcomed 135,000 attendees, 40% of whom came from 150 different countries. With major media outlets keeping their eyes and ears on the show floor, CES has enabled some newbie entrepreneurs to sweep up thousands...

Cambridge-based CardiaTec has raised $6.5mn to accelerate drug discovery for cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attacks and strokes. Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death globally, claiming the lives of 17.9 million people each year. Yet our knowledge of their underlying biology is still limited, hindering the effectiveness of clinical trials and drug solutions. CardiaTec aims to address this knowledge gap with a...

The governmental deep tech funding landscape in the UK has been in a bit of a turmoil over the past few months. Funds have been promised by one government and then whisked away by another in the space of less than a year. While the UK government recently announced £100mn in support for five “quantum hubs,” the country’s quantum sector is concerned over the...

German startup Cylib has broken ground on its first industrial-scale battery recycling plant, just months after it raised €55mn in the largest-ever funding round for a European battery recycling company.  The state-of-the-art facility, located at Chempark on the outskirts of Düsseldorf, will spread across three football pitches. Once operational — scheduled for 2026 — the plant is slated to recycle 30,000 tons of EV...

Atomico, one of the largest venture capital firms in Europe, has raised $1.24bn to support startups in the region. This is its largest fundraise to date, Atomico says, although falling slightly short of its initial target of $1.35bn. The total amount is a combination of two different funds. The first fund has secured $485mn for early-stage companies, primarily targeting Series A, but also including...

Developers talk a lot about “immutability.” Outside the technical world, it usually means something negative: unmoving, inflexible, and entrenched. However, in the technical field, these features become an advantage and mean that a system is reliable and reproducible. Like many concepts and trends in technology, it’s nothing new. NixOS (more on it later) has existed for over twenty years, and ChromeOS is probably the...