19 December 2025: China reverse-engineers EUV machine; big plans and valuations for Yann LeCun and Lovable; EIC Board changes and more

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

There are more than 75,000 subscribers to this newsletter; I invite each and every one of you to provide feedback so I can upgrade it over time. 💪🏻

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.

Must-reads

• How China built its ‘Manhattan Project’ to rival the West in AI chips

• Where Europe Builds From Here: Science, Solopreneurs & the New Macro Reality

• Commission looks to speed up access to EIC funding

• How ASML’s CEO Plans to Keep Pace With Soaring AI Demand

• How a non-profit research lab produced France’s hottest new AI start-up

• Europe has a solid basis for battery and electric vehicle manufacturing growth

• QuantumDiamonds invests over €150M for quantum chip inspection facility

• Automobile : pour Verkor, qui inaugure sa gigafactory de batteries à Dunkerque, le plus dur commence

• Inside Ignite Next: the new scaleup program supercharging Europe’s deeptech

Insights: data, research, interviews and profiles

• European Expansion: New Hubs for UK Deep Tech Startups

• The Midas List Europe 2025: Shaping The Next Era Of European Tech

• 18 Deep Tech Startups from CEE You Should Keep an Eye On

• Wennink report shows urgency, discomfort: “The future won't wait”

• Inventions in quantum technologies surge five-fold in last decade

• The biggest European deeptech deals in H1 2025

• Mapping French TechBio: 40 Companies Mixing Biology, Data, and AI

• 10 Irish start-ups that made a raise and a splash in 2025

• Polish Ecosystem Report 2025

Opinions worth reading

• NATO Innovation Fund chair Fiona Murray: ‘The threat from Russia is extremely real’

• "Amid the economic gloom, the UK's tech firms give us a reason to celebrate"

• At the end of 2025, what is the state of the current deep-tech landscape?

• How Borderless Deep Tech Is Changing Innovation

• Techleap and TNO warn "it’s a new ballgame" for Dutch deeptech

Major European deep tech startup and scale-up news

• Nvidia and Alphabet VC arms back vibe coding startup Lovable at $6.6 billion valuation

• Meta’s Yann LeCun targets €3bn valuation for AI start-up

• Elvy raises €500M to power its next-generation energy solution

• KKR and Premialab Announce A $220m Strategic Investment To Power Next Phase Of Global Growth

• Neural Concept raises $100M to scale AI-native engineering

• JPMorgan-Backed Exein Raises €100 Million to Halt Car Hackers

• PolyAI raises $86M

• Fuse Energy hits $5B valuation after $70M from Balderton and Lowercarbon

• Cambridge spinout Nu Quantum attracts $60 million investment for quantum computer networking

• Quantum Systems Acquires FERNRIDE to Expand into Autonomous Ground Systems

• Destinus raises €50M facility to expand autonomous flight production

• Mirelo raises $41M from Index and a16z to solve AI video's silent problem

• Qargo expands AI-driven transport management with $33M Series B

• Enlightra exits stealth with $15M to power energy-efficient AI data centre lasers

• Tether Backs Italian Humanoid-Robotics Firm as AI Push Builds

Major European deep tech investor news

• EIB Group renews record-high financing target of €100 billion to boost Europe’s strategic and technological independence

• Kibo Ventures hits €80m first close of new fund, doubles down on rest of Europe

• VC firm U2V launches $70m fund to back European university spinouts

• PSV Hafnium hits €60M close for DTU spinouts in AI and cleantech

• Helsinki's Cloudberry Bags €30M for Semis, Photonics Startups

In other links

• Sweeping changes to EIC board as it prepares future expansion

• Programme to imagine ‘big if true’ scientific visions arrives in the EU

• EIB to boost lending for EU defence projects in 2026

• Anduril Brings Its Billion-Dollar Drone Playbook to the UK

• Europe Quietly Switched On the Quantum Internet (...Months Before Anyone Noticed)

• EQT Cuts Deal For 10,000 Humanoids From Robot Startup It Backs

• Google DeepMind to build materials science lab after signing deal with UK

• Volkswagen to End Production at German Plant, a First in Company History

• French Tech Wire: Ÿnsect’s Bug Dream Squashed

• Quantum Systems and Frontline Robotics set up Europe’s first foreign drone production line for Ukraine

• KSUM German consortium join hands to boost deep-tech startups

• NEOS7 Launches Modular XR and AI Solutions to Empower European SMEs

The scrolled-all-the-way-down extras

• Microsoft’s Mustafa Suleyman: ‘AI Is Already Superhuman’

• The Best Electronic Tracks of 2000-2025

Thanks for signing up and following along.