15 May 2025: The new Horizon Europe work programme, a fresh angel syndicate for Europe’s deeptech PhDs, and more

Welcome to the bi-weekly “Inside European Deep Tech” newsletter, compiled by Robin Wauters, founder of boutique communications agency Profoundo, board member of the European Startup Network, and formerly founding editor and CEO of Tech.eu.

This edition comes early as I'm leaving on vacation tomorrow morning, followed by a trip to Berlin where I'll be the GITEX Europe stage. Reach out if you want to meet up there!

There are now close to 70,000 subscribers to this newsletter; I invite each and every one of you to provide feedback so I can upgrade it. 💪🏻

Periodic reminder that I'm always up for a chat about how to upscale your communication and media strategy, so do hit me up if you want to have a conversation.

Now, let’s get to it for newsletter issue #9; there's a lot to cover.

Must-reads

• The European Commission is investing over €7.3 billion through its newly adopted Horizon Europe work programme for 2025 to strengthen Europe's research and innovation engine and global edge.

• EIC Board calls for national and regional synergies to boost deep tech innovation

• Europe’s Deep Tech Moment

• European Innovation Council calls for charm offensive, and practical help, to lure start-up founders and staff turned off by Trump

• Capital flies into Europe’s defence drone start-ups

• Buyout groups and VCs ready to play role in Europe’s rearmament

• Florian Seibel, controversial defence tech unicorn founder, wants to bring the Anduril mindset to Quantum Systems

• UK pension funds to unlock £50 billion for startups and infrastructure

• The Most Overhyped Deeptech Trend in 2025—Don’t Fall for It!

• Spin-offs: Europe’s innovation edge is hiding in plain sight

• EU sails past deadline to tame AI models amid vocal US opposition

Insights: data, research, interviews and profiles

• British compute sector surged ahead in 2024, report shows

• European startup founders grapple with growth paradox, Slush’s new survey reveals

• The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and the European Patent Office (EPO) have shared a factsheet summarising the results of their ongoing cooperation on learning and knowledge-sharing initiatives.

• Sequoia in Europe: George Robson on Scaling Global Ambitions, Deep Tech, and the European VC Landscape

• Unveiling EuroStack: Tech Solutions Made in Europe go live

• "Celebrating Imperial’s role in UK’s thriving innovation ecosystem"

• Sebastian Pollok on Building Visionaries Tomorrow & Europe’s Deep Tech Renaissance

• Latvia's top 10 deep-tech startups

• The State of the Swedish Tech Ecosystem

• The 2025 edition of the Swiss Biotech Report provides key 2024 metrics and statistics compared to previous years.

• How has the war impacted Ukraine’s venture capital market?

• From Zurich to Silicon Valley: New Swiss Podcast Reveals the Real Stories Behind AI Startups, Scaleups, and Global Tech Momentum

Opinions worth reading

• Defending Europe’s future by investing in deep tech – Trisha Saxena (NIF)

• The EU wants American AI researchers? Good luck with that

• Is France Losing Its AI Funding Mojo?

• Why Portugal Is Becoming Europe’s New Startup Powerhouse

• Accelerating Defense Innovation Across Europe

• What early-stage startups need is a runway, not a roadblock

Selected news items

• Bosch Ventures launches its sixth fund at €250 million despite market uncertainty

• German Quantum Systems raises €160 million to target global leadership in aerial intelligence solutions

• Parloa, a Berlin-born innovator in Agentic AI for customer experience, has secured $120 million in Series C funding, bringing the company’s valuation to $1 billion

• Alice & Bob to Build $50 Million Advanced Quantum Lab in Paris

• Amid Greek tech boom, a prominent seed-stage firm locks down €75 million

• British spacetech Space Forge raises record £22.6 million Series A for manufacturing in space

• Business Finland has awarded €15 million in funding to AMD Silo AI. Business Finland also commits to funding R&D projects of other companies and research organizations in the collaborative network

• Conception X launches angel syndicate for Europe’s deeptech PhDs

• New Competitiveness Fund may include research and innovation, Séjourné says

• Lilium’s financial collapse triggers CustomCells insolvency at core German sites

In other links

• What's the carbon footprint of using ChatGPT?

• The British Business Bank, the UK’s economic development bank, is increasing the amount it invests in funds that finance ventures emerging from academic research, as the government seeks to boost support for university spinouts and attract third-party capital to the sector.

• New technology from British startup Silence Speaks enables an AI-generated sign language avatar to effectively give the deaf and hard of hearing an interpreter in their pocket

• Helsing outlines plan for unmanned mini submarines for naval surveillance

• Latvian startup launches autonomous drone killer for NATO armies

• Eyeo exits stealth to give cameras human-like colour vision

• Swiss delegation begins China visit in Hong Kong to deepen digital innovation ties

Upcoming events in Europe for your calendar

• 21-23 May - Latitude59 - Tallinn, Estonia 🇪🇪

• 28-29 May - Infoshare - Gdańsk, Poland 🇵🇱

• 28-29 May - Dublin Tech Summit - Dublin, Ireland 🇮🇪

• 2-7 June - SXSW London - London, UK 🇬🇧

• 4-5 June - ARCTIC15 - Helsinki, Finland 🇫🇮

• 4-6 June - South Summit - Madrid, Spain 🇪🇸

• 11-14 June - VivaTech - Paris, France 🇫🇷

• 19-20 June - TNW Conference - Amsterdam, The Netherlands 🇳🇱

The scrolled-all-the-way-down extras

• Jane Goodall on hope, AI, and the natural world

• What happens when you follow the Bible literally for a whole year?

• David Attenborough at 99: ‘I will not see how the story ends’

• "There are legitimate benefits of barefoot walking. But let us turn to the podiatrists for more on that."

• The jokes that have made people laugh for thousands of years

• One-Shot Scenes in Film and TV, Definitively Ranked

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