H Company alums seek $30m
by Damisola Sulaiman
Good morning John,
Yesterday afternoon, Sifted hosted its first edition of the Onstage Demo Day since acquiring the company in July, with 19 early-stage startups pitching to an audience of VC firms, angels, LPs and operators in the heart of London’s trendy Soho district.
The final selection emerged from over 1,300 applications, whittled down with the help of a VC advisory board, offering a glimpse of what the next generation of European tech innovation might look like.
Europe’s founders and VCs are hoping physical AI could be the continent’s chance to catch up with the US and China. Several startups that stood in the spotlight at Onstage were looking to be at the forefront of the opportunity.
Six of the 19 startups that pitched had designed products built to tackle challenges in the physical world, from robot software to drones and AI-run factories.
Among them was Mile Robotics, which is building simulations that stress-test robots, and Ohm Lab, which uses AI to program industrial robots.
Meanwhile, CircuitNinja runs AI-powered circuit board microfactories, while IONA Logistics supplies autonomy software for delivery drones. Coffee AI is developing augmented reality glasses to guide skilled tradespeople.
And SteffiCare is building AI-powered companion robots for older people. Read the full dispatch here.
Elsewhere today:
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👀 Exclusive: A trio of H Company alumni, including the business’s former CTO, is seeking $30m for a new startup.
🤝 Ex-Meta chief scientist Yann LeCun and Mistral CEO Arthur Mensch backed Enact Intelligence’s $30m pre-seed.
📈 Legal AI startup Legora raised $550m at an $8.8bn valuation, as it looks to accelerate its expansion in the US and other international markets.
💰 Pigment raised a $250m Series E funding round led by the EU’s Scaleup Europe Fund.
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🇮🇹 Italian startups are growing up — with bigger early-stage rounds and more late-stage money, data shows.
🇳🇴 More startup ‘mafias’ are coming in Norway, predicts Oslo-based VC.
☘️ Ireland’s AI scene has buzz. Now it needs breakouts.
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As agents take on real tasks and real judgement calls, businesses are being forced to decide what oversight actually looks like once humans step back. Join Sifted and Box on October 28 at 12pm GMT / 1pm CET to unpack how growing companies can build security, compliance and trust into agent deployment without grinding teams to a halt.
If you’d like to submit a deal, let us know.
Paris, France-based Elax Energie, which installs connected thermostats on electric water heaters, raised €30m in funding from investors including Noria and Crédit Mutuel Impact.
Reykjavik-based Arctic Therapeutics, which develops genetics-driven treatments for dementia and autoimmune and inflammatory skin diseases, raised $21.5m in funding from investors including Pekron, Sanos Group, Kaldbakur and Landvættir.
Eindhoven, Netherlands-based Photon Bridge, which develops laser technology that combines light from many low-power semiconductor lasers to supply optical interconnects for AI data centres, raised €10m in funding. Amadeus APEX Technology Fund and 360 Capital led the round and were joined by investors including Innovation Industries, Faber and Brabant Development Agency.
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