30 June 2025: NATO Summit (and Innovation Fund) ripples; Switzerland's rise as a deep tech nerve centre; 1 million talents trained; etc.

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.

There are now more than 74,000 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.

I am sending this newsletter from the ESO Supernova Planetarium in Munich, where I attended and delivered a 'storytelling in deep tech' workshop for scientists, researchers and entrepreneurs at the excellent European Spinoff Summit hosted by First Momentum and SPRIN-D.

Tomorrow, I'll be heading to Croatia where the deep tech venture builder Nuqleus is hosting the Liftoff event in Zagreb to bring together the CEE community.

Great to see all of this momentum and community building!

Now, let’s get to it for newsletter issue #12; there's a lot to cover.

Must-reads

• NATO summit: The defence ‘tech race’ is on — this is how NATO aims to get ahead

• Report highlights Switzerland as a ‘global leader in deep tech’ where startups are driving $100 billion in value

• Europeans seek ‘digital sovereignty’ as they reject US tech firms

• Inside the unravelling of the €1 billion NATO Innovation Fund: alleged conflicts of interest, departures and disorganisation at the alliance’s big VC bet

• Fusion fever: Europe’s startups race to power the future

• Viewpoint: How can Europe lead in the quantum computing revolution?

• Europe’s Sharpened Focus on Defense Creates M&A and Investment Opportunities

• The European Commission wants to make it easier for research and innovation projects to move between civilian and military programmes

Insights: data, research, interviews and profiles

• "One day after YC Spring 2025 Demo Day, we did what had to be done: Manually mapped every startup with at least one European founder in this batch."

• The 2025 Sifted AVP Transatlantic Founder Index

• New Tech Sovereignty Catalogue Announced to Map Europe’s Digital Potential

• Matthew Spence, Barclays — Why Defense Tech Is Back, IPOs Are “Sneaky Good” & The Return to Deep Tech

• Investing in defence tech: three hard-earned lessons

• "The EU budget continued to deliver and respond to crises in 2024"

• How Switzerland Transformed Itself Into A Deep Tech Global Leader

• Who’s Protecting Europe’s Future? Our New Report Reveals Why the Answer May Lie in CEE

• Latvian deep tech explores new frontiers

• Where the smart money went: Spring 2025’s lessons for European VC sector

Opinions worth reading

• European start-up ecosystems risk missing AI train

• 'Gods of Industry': how deeptech can win the new Cold War

• “Some of the best AI solutions are coming from Europe”, says OpenAI's European startup boss

• Dutch tech leaders: Europe won’t lead in AI hardware, but can in AI apps

• “Many Excellent Technologies Have Failed Commercially” – Let’s Talk About Why

• Why Europe’s next startup breakthrough might not come from a capital city

• Quantum Is Here: Europe’s Deeptech Moment

• "‘European tech’ doesn’t actually exist — and it doesn’t need to"

Selected news items

• European defense technology startup Helsing raised €600 million in a bumper new round of funding. The investment was led by Prima Materia, the venture capital firm founded by Spotify CEO Daniel Ek and by Shakil Khan

• France becomes biggest shareholder in Eutelsat, EU rival to Musk's Starlink

• European VC firm Project A closed its €325 million Fund V, increasing its total assets under management to €1.2 billion

• Isar Aerospace raises €150 million to strengthen Europe’s launch capabilities

• Norrsken Foundation is committing €300 million from its Norrsken VC, Norrsken Launcher and Norrsken Accelerator funds to invest in European startups using AI to find solutions to major challenges in climate, health, food, education, and society

• Finnish satellite startup ICEYE which is benefiting from Europe’s military spending boom expects to double sales this year to over €200 million and is exploring an initial public offering.

• Industrial AI startup PhysicsX, has raised $135 million as part of its Series B financing, bringing its total funding to nearly $170 million

• UK government invests £1 billion into tech innovation and economic growth (and invest more than £500 million in quantum computing)

• Genesis Robotics, the AI and robotics company cofounded by ex-Mistral employee Theophile Gervet, has closed an $85 million round just six months after launching

• VC firm KAYA has raised nearly €70 million for a fifth fund to continue supporting founders from the CEE region

• AI startup Tandem Health raises $50 million for healthcare co-pilot

• Sword Health has raised a $40 million funding round at a $4 billion valuation, led by General Catalyst

In other links

• EIT deep tech talent scheme reaches 1 million talents trained

• "How a swim helped launch one of Europe’s fast-moving quantum start-ups"

• “Stop censoring our bodies”: 190+ women's healthtech leaders demand action from big tech

• European VC to support UK spinouts ‘from cradle to market’

• UK government offers £200k salaries to top tech talent to ‘rewire the state’

• The Ministry of Defence-spun out startup factory you’ve never heard of

• Dutch PhD candidate brings quantum computer closer

• The British company making microchips in space

• Europe’s continuation funds surge faces growing scrutiny over asset quality

• What the UK’s industrial strategy means for startups

• Northern Gritstone raises fund for UK Northern University science and technology investments

• What happens when you let a bunch of sociologists loose in a tech lab?

Upcoming events in Europe for your calendar

• 2-3 July - Liftoff - Zagreb, Croatia 🇭🇷

• That's about it - It's summertime in Europe :)

The scrolled-all-the-way-down extras

• The African Kings Who Ruled Football

• The 'Die With Zero' Rule of Retirement

Thanks for signing up and following along.