3 hours ago
1
Europe should beryllium known for BottleCap AI, not bottle headdress memes. With its tongue-in-cheek name, this Prague-based AI startup is 1 of the teams that VCs deliberation you should know.
It is not that European startups ne'er chopped done the sound — Lovable and Mistral AI are impervious of it. But determination are galore much that don’t person nine digits successful yearly recurring revenue yet and that insiders are inactive tracking precise closely.
That’s wherever this database comes in. Over the past fewer weeks, we asked investors astatine immoderate of Europe’s champion known task funds to urge 2 startups each: 1 from their portfolio (because they liked the startup good capable to invest) and 1 extracurricular of it (because they are the startup experts but can’t put successful them all). We besides threw successful a fewer picks of our own.
From pre-launch to unicorn, these startups are astatine antithetic stages successful their journey, and from antithetic sectors. Due to our methodology, they whitethorn not bespeak wherever the region’s hottest hubs are, but they bash bespeak however deep tech talent could assistance Europe play its ain cards successful the AI race.
Alta Ares
Recommended by Julien Codorniou, wide partner, 20VC.
What it does: Alta Ares develops AI-powered counter-drone systems.
Why it’s worthy watching: Defense tech has gone from pariah to trending, peculiarly successful Europe, wherever the warfare successful Ukraine was a wake-up telephone for armies to modernize. Alta Ares’ interceptors reply a request for cheaper solutions to observe and combat drone incursions.
Techcrunch event
San Francisco, CA | October 13-15, 2026
Apron
Recommended by Jan Hammer, partner, Index Ventures (investor).
What it does: Apron provides invoice absorption for tiny concern owners.
Why it’s worthy watching: SMBs tin beryllium a lucrative conception for fintech companies; concern owners are consenting to walk astatine slightest immoderate wealth to prevention time, and determination are millions of them.
Botify
Recommended by Claire Houry, wide partner, Ventech (investor).
What it does: Botify helps brands summation their visibility successful AI searches.
Why it’s worthy watching: Companies are inactive scrambling to regenerate SEO with generative motor optimization (GEO) — but this Disrupt NY 2016 alum has already embraced the shift. Botify has competitors successful its caller field, specified arsenic Otterly.AI and Profound, but besides large customers, from Macy’s to The New York Times.
BottleCap AI
Recommended by Julien Codorniou, wide partner, 20VC (investor).
What it does: BottleCap AI develops efficiency-focused foundational LLMs and apps.
Why it’s worthy watching: With a founding trio that includes an entrepreneur who sold his erstwhile institution to Meta and 2 AI researchers, BottleCap adopted a dual approach. The startup is gathering its ain models and releasing apps built connected apical of them, including Pulse, an AI-powered quality app.
Cailabs
Recommended by Flavia Levi, concern manager, Join Capital.
What it does: Cailabs develops photonics for aerospace, defense, and concern applications.
Why it’s worthy watching: Cailabs is based connected precocious probe connected the subject of light, which it present applies to faster and much robust information transmission. Backed by nationalist and backstage investors, it plans to deploy 50 optical crushed stations to enactment increasing request for laser communications with satellites.
Cailabs’ turnkey optical crushed station.Image Credits:CailabsCala
Recommended by TechCrunch’s Anna Heim.
What it does: Knowledge graph for AI agents.
Why it’s worthy watching: Cala plans to physique the cognition furniture that AI agents are missing. Its laminitis is Elisenda Bou-Balust, a high-profile Spanish entrepreneur and AI adept who sold her erstwhile institution Vilynx to Apple successful 2020.
Flower
Recommended by Pär-Jörgen Pärson, partner, Northzone (investor).
What it does: Renewable vigor management.
Why it’s worthy watching: Wind and star vigor are inherently variable. Flower leverages AI and artillery vigor retention systems to marque their usage much predictable. This Swedish institution besides precocious raised over $60 cardinal successful bonds to support connected scaling.
Fundamental
Recommended by Jonathan Userovici, wide partner, Headline (investor).
What it does: Foundation AI for large information analysis.
Why it’s worthy watching: Fundamental’s instauration model, Nexus, focuses connected helping enterprises gully insights from their data. The institution conscionable emerged from stealth successful February, but it is already valued astatine $1.4 cardinal pursuing a $255 cardinal Series A.
Gradium
Recommended by Jonathan Userovici, wide partner, Headline.
What it does: AI dependable models.
Why it’s worthy watching: Gradium’s AI models tin beryllium utilized for real-time text-to-speech that gives AI agents a dependable successful aggregate languages. A spinout of French AI laboratory Kyutai, this ElevenLabs challenger raised a $70 cardinal effect round of its own.
HappyRobot
Recommended by Pablo Ventura, wide partner, Kfund.
What it does: AI agents for analyzable usage cases.
Why it’s worthy watching: HappyRobot, a startup backed by a16z and Y Combinator, is 1 of galore gathering AI agents, but its absorption is connected making definite that these tin beryllium deployed and present ROI. It is headquartered successful the U.S., but its 3 co-founders and portion of its squad are Spanish.
Inbolt AI robot successful deployment.Image Credits:InboltInbolt
Recommended by Claire Houry, wide partner, Ventech.
What it does: Physical AI for factories.
Why it’s worthy watching: Mixing AI and robotics, Inbolt improves and expands automation successful manufacturing, from the automotive manufacture and electronics to location goods accumulation lines. The startup says it is already progressive successful much than 70 factories.
Legora
Recommended by Pär-Jörgen Pärson, partner, Northzone.
What it does: AI level for lawyers.
Why it’s worthy watching: With accrued contention from mainstream LLMs, ineligible tech volition besides beryllium astir marketing. Grab the popcorn for Harvey v. Legora aft Legora one-upped its rival by enlisting Jude Law to beryllium the look of its brand. That’s 1 constituent for the Swedish-born startup, which is now headquartered successful New York but is inactive 1 of Stockholm’s rising AI stars.
Macrodata Labs
Recommended by Floriane de Maupeou, principal, Serena Data Ventures.
What it does: AI grooming information infrastructure.
Why it’s worthy watching: “Every beardown exemplary starts with large data,” Macrodata Labs claims connected its “coming soon” landing page. But the startup won’t physique that data; its upcoming level volition supply different companies with tooling to make coagulated grooming datasets.
Multiverse Computing
Recommended by TechCrunch’s Julie Bort.
What it does: Offers compressed versions of unfastened value models similar OpenAI, Meta, DeepSeek, and Mistral AI.
Why it’s worthy watching: Multiverse Computing‘s tech takes a proven exemplary and makes it smaller and little costly to operate, particularly connected a company’s ain hardware. Co-founded by CTO Román Orús, a prof astatine the Donostia International Physics Center, the Spanish startup has raised $250 million.
Optics11
Recommended by Flavia Levi, concern manager, Join Capital (investor).
What it does: Fiber-optic sensing systems.
Why it’s worthy watching: Optics11’s exertion makes it imaginable to show instrumentality underwater and successful likewise harsh conditions. Its imaginable successful preventing disruptions to subsea infrastructure and vigor grids helped the startup unafraid task indebtedness from the European Investment Bank.
Pennylane
Recommended by Jan Hammer, partner, Index Ventures.
What it does: Finance absorption level for SMBs.
Why it’s worthy watching: Pennylane started retired with accounting, but it has bigger plans. Like galore different growth-stage fintechs, this French unicorn has expanded its scope, with the ambition to physique a unified fiscal operating strategy for SMBs successful Europe.
PLD Space
Recommended by TechCrunch’s Anna Heim.
What it does: Launches rockets.
Why it’s worthy watching: PLD Space is portion of Europe’s propulsion for abstraction autonomy. After successfully launching a suborbital rocket successful 2023, it is presently processing a reusable orbital launcher for tiny satellites. Last month, the Spanish institution secured a $209 cardinal Series C round led by Mitsubishi Electric that brought its backing to much than $350 million.
PLD Space’s MIURA 1 abstraction rocket during its presumption successful Madrid successful 2021.Image Credits:Eduardo Parra / Europa Press via Getty Images / Getty ImagesProxima Fusion
Recommended by Daria Saharova, wide partner, World Fund.
What it does: Nuclear fusion.
Why it’s worthy watching: The contention for an alternate to atomic fission is on, and Proxima Fusion is 1 of Europe’s strongest contenders. The VC-backed institution precocious secured $460 cardinal from the authorities of Bavaria to enactment its plans to physique a fusion powerfulness works successful Europe, starting with a demonstration stellarator adjacent Munich.
Roofline
Recommended by Floriane de Maupeou, principal, Serena Data Ventures (investor).
What it does: Software for AI exemplary deployment connected precocious chips.
Why it’s worthy watching: University spinout Roofline bridges the spread betwixt AI and an progressively fragmented hardware furniture with bundle that lets users deploy models efficiently connected antithetic types of chips.
Space Forge
Recommended by Daria Saharova, wide partner, World Fund (investor).
What it does: Space Forge manufactures semiconductor components successful space.
Why it’s worthy watching: In-space manufacturing is connected the emergence — for pharmaceutical applications and for chips, which are Space Forge’s focus. With other tailwinds from geopolitics, the startup is already forging ahead: It precocious generated plasma successful debased Earth orbit.
Theker
Recommended by Pablo Ventura, wide partner, Kfund (investor).
What it does: Robots arsenic a service.
Why it’s worthy watching: Theker is 1 of respective startups backed by Zara proprietor Inditex done a dedicated money managed by Mundi Ventures. Theker’s AI-enabled robots could assistance the retail elephantine amended its logistics, but the startup is besides pursuing usage cases successful discarded absorption and nutrient and beverage production.
When you acquisition done links successful our articles, we whitethorn gain a tiny commission. This doesn’t impact our editorial independence.
English (US) ·