23 February 2026: IQM's going public; OpenClaw creator joins OpenAI; FT ranks Europe’s leading start-up hubs; and more

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

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

A word from our partner Deep Tech Momentum (DTM):

Deep Tech Momentum (DTM) is on a mission to strengthen European competitiveness, resilience and technological sovereignty by building the #1 marketplace for deep tech and AI on the continent.

DTM 2026 will bring together 3,000+ Europe's boldest senior innovation leaders, top startup and scale-up founders, and leading investors across energy, defence, manufacturing and robotics, advanced materials, high-performance computing, and space – with a shared goal to accelerate the adoption of commercially-ready, next-horizon technologies.

The program includes an AI Productivity Summit, Venture Clienting & CVC Summit, CXO Sovereignty Summit, LP-GP Marketplace as well as high-level industry and public sector speakers.

DTM also features a unique format of highly-curated 1:1 meetings to accelerate deep tech Go-to-Market where attendees engage directly with Europe’s leading network of 300+ corporate innovation leaders with budgets to deploy deep tech solutions at scale.

To learn more, visit www.deeptech.build

Below, please find a tightly curated list of links for anyone with a vested interest in the European deep tech space:

Must-reads

• Austrian creator of viral OpenClaw joins OpenAI + "OpenClaw, OpenAI and the future" by Peter Steinberger himself

• IQM Quantum Computers to list shares in US at initial $1.8 billion valuation

• The AI startup that has quietly become one of Europe’s most valuable companies | Fortune

• The ‘made in Europe’ conundrum

• Ex-DeepMind scientist David Silver seeks $1bn for ‘superhuman intelligence’ startup, in a deal that could mark Europe’s biggest ever seed round

• MEPs call for EU Darpa dedicated to defence innovation

• EU leaders welcome Enrico Letta plan to deepen single market

• France’s Startup Engine Just Broke Records. So Why Is Bpifrance Sounding the Alarm?

• The UK’s ‘deep tech’ sector: a paradox for policymakers and institutional investors

• EU invests €700 million in newly opened NanoIC, Europe's largest Chips Act pilot line

• Mistral boss calls for European unity in AI race, as pledges €1.2bn Swedish data centre investment

• Momentum behind technology transfer grows in central and eastern Europe

• Power, Incentives, and Europe’s Next Wave of Innovation

Insights: data, research, interviews and profiles

• FT ranking: Europe’s leading start-up hubs 2026

• New EU Study and Data Dashboard Reveal the Scale and Structure of Europe’s Gender Investment Gap in Deep Tech

• Dealroom and NATO Innovation Fund: European Defence, Security & Resilience Startups Smash Record with $8.7B Raised in 2025

• Investors pour billions into Europe’s AI and defence start-ups

• Why Sweden has so many unicorns

• EIC selects 40 new Transition projects to bring research results closer to market

• Deep Tech Startups & Venture Capital: An Analysis of 2025

• Deep tech stands out in Dutch tech scene + Dutch deeptech secures critical funding to bridge innovation gap

• Climate VCs face a tough market. Here are the funds due to raise in 2026

• EU competitiveness, the Single Market, and the Omnibus | EuropeChats with Ann Mettler

• Better coordination for a more efficient European energy system

• Tom Wehmeier, Atomico: "𝖳𝗈𝖽𝖺𝗒 𝗆𝖺𝗋𝗄𝗌 𝟫𝟢 𝖽𝖺𝗒𝗌 𝗌𝗂𝗇𝖼𝖾 𝗐𝖾 𝗉𝗎𝖻𝗅𝗂𝗌𝗁𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖲𝗍𝖺𝗍𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝖤𝗎𝗋𝗈𝗉𝖾𝖺𝗇 𝖳𝖾𝖼𝗁"

• The EIC Accelerator October '25, 2025 and Cumulative Results

• Pre-seed funding for deep tech: how to raise on proof

• Deep Tech Realism: Identifying Opportunities In AI, Space And Compute

• Riemer Smink reflects on FORWARD.one’s strategy, why sales still decides who wins, and what it will take to build Europe’s next generation of industrial champions

• Lithuania leads Baltic startup resurgence with record €238M funding and surge in exits

• Investment Trends 2026: What’s Hot and What’s Not for CEE Investors

Opinions worth reading

• Europe is not thinking straight on competitiveness

• OpenClaw proves you were right about Europe

• Trump’s creation: A Europe that spends more on defense — and can stand up to the US

• EU capitals say deleting US tech is not realistic

• Eurazeo partner Hala Fadel on whether Big Tech will eat AI startups’ lunch

• EQT: Attention Is Just the Start: Seizing Europe’s Strategic Tech Opportunity

• Deep tech: what it is, what it isn’t, and what proof looks like

• Can the UK own its quantum future?

• Are world models Europe’s chance to win in AI?

• Mistral CEO Arthur Mensch issued a stark warning against American dominance of AI

• Judith Dada, general partner at Visionaries Club: 'I'm deeply troubled by what lies ahead for Europe’

• Can Berlin become Europe’s most builder-friendly tech city in 24 months?

Major European deep tech startup and scale-up news

• Finland's IQM to become one of Europe's first listed quantum companies at $1.8 billion valuation

• AI Firm Multiverse Said to Hit €1.5 Billion Value With New Funds

• 25-year-old founder raises $220mn for secretive UK AI chip start-up

• Mistral AI buys Koyeb in first acquisition to back its cloud ambitions

• Drone startup Stark claims unicorn valuation following German armed forces deal

• Eutelsat gets nearly 1 billion euros in French-backed ECA financing

• Munich, Germany-based Quantum Systems, which develops drones for defence and surveillance missions, raised €150m in debt funding from the European Investment Bank, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank and KfW

• UK-based Tem raises $75M to remake electricity markets using AI

• Constellr snaps up €37M to expand its thermal satellite imaging

• AI field operations startup FYLD raises $41M to help build large-scale infrastructure - SiliconANGLE

• Andercore Raises $40M in Series B Funding

• SatVu closes a £30M funding round to accelerate its multi-satellite constellation

• Germany's NexWafe secures €26 million in EIC funding

• Stacks lands $23M to automate accounting close

• Mining startup Hades raises €15m as demand for critical minerals heats up

Major European deep tech investor news

• EIB is investing €300 million in Seaya's next 'megafund'

• Quantonation, a Paris-based VC firm focused on quantum technologies, has closed a €220m early-stage fund

• French VC Elaia reaches €120 million first close for new multi-stage B2B technology fund

• HERAN Partners grows to €90 million for second healthtech fund

• Denmark’s sovereign LP fund, the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO), has its sights set on backing a lot more VC funds investing in defence tech

• Berlin-based “AI roll-ups” investment firm Tenet launches

• STAC, Scotland’s industry-led technology accelerator, has appointed Jim Rowan as its new Chair as the organisation launches a £15 million investment fund

• Cambridge based venture funder ET Capital has revealed the first round close of an innovative £270k fund

In other links

• STATION F launches F/ai, the first-ever AI program to bring together all major AI leaders

• Imec inaugurates NanoIC pilot line, accelerating innovation in sub-2nm systems-on-chip

• Turning strategy into action: Commission launches Frontier AI Grand Challenge

• EU Inc is starting to take shape

• MSCA awards €404.3 million to postdoctoral researchers

• Netherlands eyes DARPA-like agency for tech breakthroughs

• 🤖 La Machine #63: Europe’s AI Reckoning – Scale Or Fail

• Dutch Court Orders Probe Into Chinese-Owned Nexperia

• Daniel Ek and Peter Thiel-backed start-ups win German military drone contracts

• 28DIGITAL and e-Novia Announce Strategic Partnership to Accelerate European AI Spin-offs

• The ‘Consumerisation’ of Defence

• EU Parliament blocks AI tools over cyber, privacy fears

• Raspberry Pi soars 40% as CEO buys stock, AI chatter builds

• What are deep technologies or ‘deep tech’?

• Quantum Systems founder sold stake in ARX Robotics before launching a similar product.

• The European network of hubs for startups and scaleups is born: proposals until 10 March

• Robotic lab start-up makes case for €500M EU-funded materials testing facility

• 28DIGITAL and Hellenic Centre for Defence Innovation Forge Strategic Partnership to Accelerate Greece's Deep Tech Ecosystem

The scrolled-all-the-way-down extras

• ‘Giant superatoms’ unlock a new toolbox for quantum computers

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