In 2024, Europe’s startup ecosystem secured 6,316 funding rounds worth $39.5B — a decline from $42.8B in 2023 and $62.2B in 2022. Despite this decline, the European startup scene remains robust, with AI emerging as a disruptive force, reshaping sectors from defence technology to food tech and retail. Tech Funding News looked deeper at the hottest funding rounds that topped the charts this year. Here you go!
Verkor
Founders: Benoit Lemaignan, Christophe Mille, Sylvain Paineau, Philippe Chain, Gilles Moreau, Olivier Dufour
Founded year: 2020
Raised in 2024: €1.3b
Founded in July 2020 in Grenoble, France, Verkor aims to accelerate low-carbon battery production to meet Europe’s growing demand for EVs and support its ecological transition. The company strives to become a key manufacturer of sustainable batteries, reducing external supplier dependence while strengthening local production.
On the technology front, Verkor develops battery cells with silicon-based anodes, which offer higher energy density and longer lifespans compared to traditional graphite-based anodes. The company has also introduced its Verkor Cell platform, which is engineered for faster charging and improved energy density.
In May 2024, Verkor secured over €1.3 billion in green financing from Societe Generale, Natixis, ING Group, La Banque Postale, and Banco Santander. This funding will support the construction of Verkor’s first gigafactory in Dunkirk, France. The facility will have an initial capacity of 16 GWh and produce batteries for up to 300,000 electric vehicles per year.
Nebius
Founders: Arkady Volozh
Founded year: 2024
Raised in 2024: €667m
Founded in 2024 as a Yandex spinout in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Nebius was created to address the growing demand for AI infrastructure and services. The company aims to become a leading provider in this rapidly expanding market.
They focus on building an AI-centric cloud platform designed for intensive AI workloads, providing developers with the necessary computing power, storage, managed services, and tools to train, develop, and run their models successfully. Nebius is already expanding its infrastructure capabilities by establishing new data centres across Europe and the United States while using co-location facilities to increase capacity quickly.
In December 2024, the company raised €667m from Accel, NVIDIA, and Orbis Investment Management. These funds will accelerate the development of Nebius’s full-stack AI infrastructure, including building large-scale GPU clusters and enhancing its cloud platforms.
Mistral AI
Founders: Arthur Mensch, Guillaume Lample, and Timothée Lacroix.
Founded year: 2023
Raised in 2024: $643m
Mistral AI was founded in April 2023 in Paris by Arthur Mensch, Guillaume Lample, and Timothée Lacroix to develop open-source AI models as an alternative to major tech companies like OpenAI and Google. The founders saw an opportunity to create more efficient and cost-effective AI systems while promoting community involvement and transparency.
Mistral’s models employ a mixed transformer architecture to generate clear, context-aware text. They feature the innovative Mixture of Experts (MoE) architecture in their Mixtral 8x7B and Mixtral 8x22B models. This design activates only specific parts of the model during operation, balancing efficiency with performance.
In 2024, Mistral AI secured $643 million in Series B funding, pushing its valuation to $6 billion. General Catalyst led the round, with Nvidia, Salesforce, and Andreessen Horowitz among the investors. This investment shows growing faith in Mistral AI’s ability to challenge established AI companies, especially in open-source language models.
Odoo
Founders: Fabien Pinckaers
Founded year: 2002
Raised in 2024: €500m
Odoo, founded in 2002 by Fabien Pinckaers as TinyERP, adopted its current name in 2014. The company develops comprehensive, open-source business management software to help companies streamline operations and boost efficiency. It aims to make powerful business tools accessible to SMBs.
With Odoo, companies can manage everything from CRM to accounting and inventory through a single integrated platform. Odoo achieves this using a three-tier architecture that separates presentation, business logic, and data storage.
In November, Odoo raised €500 million at €5 billion valuation in a secondary capital transaction. CapitalG and Sequoia Capital led the funding round, which BlackRock, Mubadala Investment Company, HarbourVest Partners, AVP, and Alkeon joined.
Poolside AI
Founders: Jason Warner and Eiso Kant
Founded year: 2023
Raised in 2024: $500m
Founded in Paris by Jason Warner, former CTO of GitHub, and Eiso Kant, a serial entrepreneur who founded the software analytics firm Athenian, Poolside AI uses artificial intelligence to make software development more efficient and accessible.
The startup has pioneered Reinforcement Learning from Code Execution Feedback (RLCEF), an approach that enables its AI models to learn and improve through developer interactions. The system processes 10,000 code executions per minute and supports one million container images, demonstrating its robust performance in demanding enterprise environments.
The company has partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS), deploying its models on platforms like Amazon Elastic Cloud Compute (EC2) and Amazon Bedrock. This integration lets enterprise customers customise Poolside’s generative AI assistant with their data while maintaining security and privacy compliance.
In October 2024, Poolside AI secured $500M at a $3b valuation from Adams Street Partners, eBay, HSBC, Redpoint, StepStone, DST Global, Bain Capital Ventures, Felicis, Citi Ventures, Nvidia, Premji Invest, StepStone Group, Capital One Ventures, LG Technology Ventures, Fin Capital, Schroders Capital, Motier Ventures, and BAM Elevate. The funding will enhance Poolside’s proprietary AI models by refining their algorithms and expanding their capabilities.
New AmsterdamPharma
Founders: Michael Davidson and John Kastelein
Founded year: 2019
Raised in 2024: $453M
NewAmsterdam Pharma, founded in 2019 by Michael Davidson and John Kastelein, is based in the Netherlands and the US. It brings together two prominent figures in lipidology and cardiovascular disease research. The company aims to improve patient care where existing therapies have proven ineffective or poorly tolerated.
The startup’s primary focus is developing Obicetrapib (TA-8995), a novel cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitor. NewAmsterdam Pharma intends to establish Obicetrapib as a leading therapy for reducing low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), particularly in patients with Artery-Sclerotic Cardiovascular Disease (ASCVD) and Familial Hypercholesterolemia (FH).
In December 2024, the company completed an upsized public offering of $479 million. The offering, comprising ordinary shares and pre-funded warrants, is expected to yield net proceeds of $452.6 million after deducting underwriting discounts, commissions, and estimated expenses. These funds will support the ongoing development of Obicetrapib, which is currently undergoing pivotal Phase 3 clinical trials for treating patients with elevated LDL-C levels.
Helsing
Founders: Dr. Gundbert Scherf, Niklas Köhler, and Torsten Reil
Founded year: 2021
Raised in 2024: €450M
Established in 2021 by Torsten Reil, Gundbert Scherf, and Niklas Köhler, Munich-based Helsing emerged as a response to the growing need for advanced defence technologies that leverage AI to enhance national security and protect democratic societies.
Specifically, Helsing focuses on developing AI-powered military systems that provide situational awareness and decision-making support for armed forces. Their flagship system processes data from various sensors (electro-optical, infrared, and sonar) and military assets (drones and fighter jets) to create real-time visualisations of battlefield scenarios. This enables military personnel to make faster, more informed decisions.
Recently, Helsing unveiled the HX-2, a new strike drone designed for mass production and swarm capabilities. The HX-2 features advanced onboard AI that provides electronic warfare resistance and can operate autonomously while maintaining human oversight.
In July 2024, the company secured €450M in Series C funding from Accel, Lightspeed Venture Partners, General Catalyst Partners, Greenoaks Capital Partner, Saab Automobile, Elad Gil, and Plural. The investment will support efforts to develop Helsing’s AI technologies further, which analyse data from various defence systems and optimise the capabilities of drones and fighter jets.
Picnic
Founders: Michiel Muller, Frederik Nieuwenhuys, Bas Verheijen, Joris Beckers
Founded year: 2015
Raised in 2024: €355M
The Dutch online grocery startup Picnic was founded in 2015 by Michiel Muller, Frederik Nieuwenhuys, Bas Verheijen, and Joris Beckers. Their mission was to transform grocery shopping by offering a convenient, app-based delivery service straight to customers’ doors. The founders spotted a major opportunity in the market—at Picnic’s launch, only 1.5% of grocery shopping was done online.
Picnic uses AI to optimise its logistics and delivery operations. Their algorithms plan efficient delivery routes by grouping neighbourhood deliveries, reducing delivery times and costs. The AI systems also forecast demand to ensure product availability while minimising waste.
In January 2024, Picnic raised €355 million from notable investors, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Trust and Edeka, Germany’s largest supermarket group. The funding will help enhance Picnic’s delivery infrastructure, with plans to acquire new electric delivery vehicles as it expands its network while maintaining its commitment to sustainability.
Vinted
Founders: Milda Mitkutė and Justas Janauskas
Founded year: 2008
Raised in 2024: €340M
Vinted was co-founded in 2008 by Milda Mitkutė and Justas Janauskas in Vilnius, Lithuania. The startup originated from Milda’s personal experience when moving to a smaller apartment—she discovered she had many clothes she no longer wore. This inspired her to create an online platform where friends could browse her available clothes, a concept that quickly grew beyond her immediate circle.
Vinted’s technology stack combines web and mobile development frameworks with AI capabilities to create a seamless online marketplace for second-hand fashion. Through its focus on user experience, secure transactions, and community engagement, the company has established itself as a leader in the circular fashion economy.
Vinted recently completed a €340 million secondary share sale at a €5 billion valuation, led by the private equity firm TPG. The transaction included participation from other significant investors such as Hedosophia, Baillie Gifford, Invus Opportunities, FJ Labs, Manhattan Venture Partners, and Moore Strategic Ventures. Vinted plans to use the investment to expand into new markets and strengthen its existing presence while improving logistics and operational efficiency.
ELECTRA
Founders: Aurélien de Meaux, Augustin Derville, and Julien Belliato
Founded year: 2021
Raised in 2024: €304M
Born in Paris, ELECTRA focuses on developing a network of ultra-fast charging stations for EVs across major cities in France and beyond. Founders Aurélien de Meaux, Augustin Derville, and Julien Belliato recognised that as the transition to electric vehicles accelerates, there is a significant gap in reliable and efficient charging infrastructure. Electra aims to make EV charging as quick and easy as refuelling a gasoline vehicle.
Electra’s charging stations provide rapid charging capabilities, allowing EVs to recharge in approximately 15 to 20 minutes. The company offers a fully digital customer experience through a mobile app that enables users to book charging points, monitor charging progress in real time, and handle payments seamlessly.
In January 2024, the company secured €304M in Series B funding from Bpifrance, Eurazeo, Serena, Rive Private Investment, PGGM Investments, and 574 Invest. With this capital, the company plans to install 2,200 ultra-fast charging stations, including 15,000 charging points across Europe by 2030.
Deepl
Founder: Jarosław Kutyłowski
Founded year: 2017
Raised in 2024: €300M
Cologne-based DeepL was founded in 2017 by Jarosław Kutyłowski, the man behind Linguee, a multilingual dictionary and translation search engine. His goal was to create a quality translation service that would surpass existing solutions like Google Translate.
DeepL’s technology merges neural machine translation techniques with meticulous data quality and user experience. DeepL delivers highly accurate translations for individual users and businesses through advanced algorithms and contextual understanding.
In May 2024, DeepL raised $300 million in Series B funding, reaching a valuation of $2 billion. Index Ventures led the round, with new investors ICONIQ Growth and Teachers’ Venture Growth joining existing backers IVP, Atomico, and WiL. The company plans to strengthen its market presence, enhance research and development, and expand its enterprise client base.
