Renow, the Nordic startup modernising how returned and second-hand goods are handled and resold, has raised €1.8 million in seed funding to expand its AI-powered recommerce platform across Northern Europe, opening new hubs in Sweden and Norway, and aiming to launch in the Danish and Beneluxian markets.

Orbit Capital is bringing venture debt to Central and Eastern Europe with its Growth Debt II fund. The fund will hold €100 million, allowing technology companies to accelerate further growth. This second fund follows on the success of Growth Debt I, which held €40 million.

The landscape for growth-stage fundraising has fundamentally changed. Today’s Series C and D rounds, typically involving raises of $50–100 million or more, are significantly tougher than in recent years. Investors have become more selective, valuations more restrained, and expectations for business performance far more rigorous.

While innovation and ambition are not bound by gender, the systems that support early-stage business growth too often are. Securing investment is a critical milestone for a startup, but the pathway is often uneven for founders.

Work AI leader Glean has announced it raised $150 million in Series F financing, bringing its valuation to $7.2 billion.

Multiverse Computing has developed CompactifAI, a compression technology capable of reducing the size of LLMs (Large Language Models) by up to 95% while maintaining model performance. Having spent 2024 developing the technology and rolling it out to initial customers, the company has announced a €189 million ($215 million) investment round.

Perci Health, the UK’s most comprehensive virtual cancer clinic, has successfully raised a total of £7.7 million funding, after closing a new £3 million round, doubling the original £1.5 million target.

Abacum announces that it has raised a $60 million Series B round led by San Francisco-headquartered Scale Venture Partners.

OpenTrade has announced it raised an additional $7 million in strategic funding led by Notion Capital and Mercury Fund, with participation from existing investors AlbionVC, a16z crypto, and CMCC Global.

Nova has raised €3.2 million in a funding round led by CDP Venture Capital, through the ServiceTech segment of its Corporate Partners I Fund. The round also saw participation from BY Venture Partners and angel investors from the Doha Tech Angels network.

Q5D has raised $13.5 million in funding to advance its robotic cells that automate product electrification, bringing its total funding to $16.7 million. This new funding includes a $2.6 million grant (£2.0 million) from Innovate UK and a $10.9 million Series A co-led by existing investors, Lockheed Martin Ventures, Chrysalix, and Maven SWIF, with other investment from SOSV, UKI2S, UntroD, and CPI Enterprises.

Mobito, a Brussels-based mobility data analytics platform, has secured €1 million in funding to enhance its technology infrastructure and expand its footprint across Europe.

Northern Gritstone has announced a commitment to invest £1.8 million into Apini, a small molecule drug development programme being advanced by Syncona’s accelerator Slingshot Therapeutics.  

Pactum announces its Series C fundraise of $54 million. This round, led by global software investor Insight Partners, brings the company’s total funding to date to more than $100 million and will help bolster enterprise procurement with agentic AI solutions that work alongside humans to negotiate and close supplier deals at scale. 

ReSpo.Vision has raised €4.2 million in its latest funding round. The investment will accelerate the company’s mission to reshape how fans experience football and how broadcasters, leagues, and federations deliver it – by bringing unprecedented insight and immersion to the game.

Guardz, the cybersecurity company empowering Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and IT professionals to protect small and medium-sized businesses, has raised $56 million in Series B funding led by ClearSky, with participation from new investor Phoenix Financial and existing investors Glilot Capital Partners, SentinelOne, Hanaco Ventures, iAngels, GKFF Ventures, Lumir and others.

Swiss healthtech Aeon has closed a €8.2 million seed round, as it builds the world’s most advanced platform for early detection and preventive healthcare.

Lendorse, the Berlin-based startup removing financial barriers for driven international students, has raised €1.75 million in a funding round co-led by LUMO Labs and Soulmates Ventures, with participation from PI Impact and angel investor Daniel Naber.

AI-powered fintech, Aibidia, has closed its Series B funding round at $28 million to expand its tax technology operations into the US market.

Latent Technology, the game technology company focused on AI-driven physical animation, has closed an $8 million seed funding round co-led by AlbionVC and Spark Capital.