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20 October 2025: Europe stands to lose the chips race, struggles with its AI regulation plans, and receives a 'defence wake-up call'

Author

Robin Wauters
October 20, 2025

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.

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

  • Europe’s AI Startups Look Stateside for Bigger Checks, Quicker Deals

  • Europe Is Losing the Chips Race

  • European Union Outlines Strategies to Boost AI Adoption, Research

  • Dutch chips star exec slams EU for overregulating AI

  • A $5.4 Billion Robotics Sale Signals Europe’s Loss of Control

  • Charting the Path Forward for European Climate Tech

  • Capitalism in the AI-Powered Economy

  • Europe’s best-funded defence techs eye acquisitions as they race to commercialise

  • Autumn and Arduino Bring Out the Best of Italy

  • Vivian's Deeptech Insider: The Moment My Founders Went Silent

  • The Commission’s options for 'simplifying' the AI Act

Insights: data, research, interviews and profiles

  • 50 European corporates backing startups on the path to growth, innovation, and global impact

  • Europe’s Venture Scene Held Steady In Q3, Buoyed By Early-Stage Funding And Klarna IPO

  • A big year for defence tech (Dealroom News)

  • Venture & growth capital in Europe– mapping pension funds’ attitudes

  • Inside the UK’s innovation surge: record spinout funding, AI initiatives, and academic momentum

  • The fastest-growing hardware startup teams in Europe

  • The US now accounts for 20 of the world’s 25 most valuable companies — Europe only has 1

  • The biggest European semiconductor deals in H1 2025

  • The P&Q Interview: ESMT Berlin President Jörg Rocholl On Growth, Deep Tech & Competing For Global Talent

  • Europe’s fastest-growing spacetech startups

  • EIC programme managers have to handle up to 300 projects each

  • Commercializing Quantum Computing: How to Design Sustainable Roadmaps Across the Quantum Stack

Opinions worth reading

  • Europe should pump defence cash into its own AI, urges Mistral CEO

  • Europe's pension problem is constraining VC ambitions (PitchBook)

  • Europe needs a better chip strategy

  • The Solution to Europe’s AI Problem Is Hiding in Plain Sight

  • Need Deep Tech To Make AI Digestible, VSquared Ventures' Herbert Mangesius Says

  • Europe's defence wake-up call: why innovation can't wait

  • Can AI spark a second industrial revolution in Europe?

  • The Iron Bubble: Why defense tech might not be overhyped (PitchBook)

Major European deep tech startup and scale-up news

  • AI Agent Startup N8n Nets $2.5 Billion Valuation With Backing From Nvidia

  • UK’s Wayve in talks with SoftBank and Microsoft for $2bn fundraise

  • Warburg Pincus to buy Germany's PSI for over 700 million euros

  • Amsterdam’s Return raises €300M from pension investor APG to scale battery storage across Europe - Silicon Canals

  • Swiss-based Ecorobotix raises €129.3M for its AI-powered agriculture technology

  • Warehouse intelligence group Dexory scores £123m investment

  • Swiss AI startup General Intuition secures €114 million to bridge gaming, robotics, and drones

  • UK brain monitoring start-up CoMind goes from teenage idea to $100mn funding

  • Nordic maritime ESS firm Corvus Energy raises $60m for growth

  • FBI cyber threat adviser Filigran raises $58M

  • HyImpulse secures 45 million euros to accelerate orbital rocket program

  • Qualcomm acquires Arduino to supercharge the global maker movement

  • Helsing acquires Australian manufacturer of underwater drones

  • Italian deeptech Caracol secures €34.5M to scale its robotic additive manufacturing platform

  • Deeptech startup Encube emerges from stealth with $23m funding to shake up hardware design

  • Deep Tech Momentum secures €1M to accelerate Europe’s sovereign tech ambitions

Major European deep tech investor news

  • FORWARD.one launches €200M Fund III to fuel Europe’s industrial tech innovators

  • Greek Big Pi Ventures Closes €130M Growth Fund

  • Maia Ventures closes €55m fund to back early‑stage foodtech startups

  • Paul Veugen: "Time to build. Europe has the talent, grit, and untapped ambition to create companies that will form the foundation of our future technology. With NP-Hard v2, our new €25M pre-seed fund, we’re here to support Europe’s best builders..."

  • New DeepTech fund to support highly innovative start-ups. Up to one billion Czech crowns in the first phase

  • Mistral plots new AI-powered science research unit

  • Aleph Alpha founder quits as CEO

  • Stockholm’s top entrepreneurs join the defence race

  • European Commission cancels €45M Horizon Europe call for generative AI projects

  • Estonia's AI Leap - The Innovator

  • Horizon calls in 2026-27 lay groundwork for new AI in science strategy

  • Commission outlines support plan to get industries adopting AI

  • Widening on the table as Council begins Horizon Europe talks

  • EU Parliament plans to cut back sustainability law further

  • Startup Estonia takes Estonian deep tech startups to Singapore

  • Green steel startup Stegra downplays insolvency fears as it seeks €1 billion: 'Investors are firmly committed'

  • New grant programme for Ukrainian startups in Deep Tech, Green Tech and EdTech sectors

  • Dragon LLM unveils a “frugal” European AI

  • Creative Destruction Lab Berlin launches new stream in defense technologies

  • This French Startup Is Reinventing 3D Modeling with Gen AI

  • India, Germany Unveil Open Innovation Pact, AI Framework, Deeptech Hub

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