The article introduces five newly founded European startups – Generative Robotics, nestermind, Datasphere Analytics, Merlin and Riemann Robotics – highlighting them as brand‑new companies that readers should watch.
Astute, a Belgrade‑based startup founded in 2025 by Vida Stanić and Abhishek Manikandan, secured €1.03 million in a pre‑seed round led by Flyer One Ventures. The funding will be used to launch its AI‑powered platform that automates creator partnerships for B2B marketers, addressing the fragmented process of finding and managing newsletter, podcast and social media influencers.
UK‑based water‑tech startup Metal Morph secured £700k in pre‑seed funding, co‑led by Sustainable Ventures and Green Angel Ventures, to scale its infrastructure‑as‑a‑service solution that recovers aluminium and iron‑based chemicals from municipal and industrial wastewater, aiming to create a circular supply chain and reduce costs and emissions.
In 2017 a group of young visionaries in Berlin, led by Polish entrepreneur Konrad Maruszewski, launched Cringle with the idea that sending money should be as simple as sending a text message. The venture later failed to attract investment, unlike the successful BLIK service.
Zerolook, a Swiss startup based in Zug, secured €1.6 million (about $1.9 million) in a pre‑seed round led by London‑based Playfair. The funding will be used to launch its first version of an AI‑powered flight‑shopping API that predicts itineraries and prices, helping airlines and travel agencies handle the high volume of AI‑generated searches without incurring excessive computation costs. The round also included Vento Ventures, TrueSight Ventures, Alpha Venture and several angels.
Copenhagen‑based startup Palette raised €3 million in a pre‑seed round led by Ugly Duckling Ventures to build a model‑neutral operating system that lets AI‑native teams integrate and switch between different AI models while preserving company context.
Estel Technologies, a Bulgarian AI‑native sales platform for tech staffing firms, raised €270,000 in a pre‑seed round led by Vitosha Ventures, with participation from angel investor Kerem Basak, to enhance its demand verification and lead‑scoring technology and expand across Europe and into the US.
Belgian tech‑bio startup Sightera Biosciences raised €3 million in a pre‑seed round led by Entourage, with participation from Anacura and QBIC, to scale its AI‑native platform that uses patient‑derived samples for oncology and fibrosis drug discovery.
Cornea Sense, a Finnish medtech startup spun out from Aalto University, has raised over €1.1 million in pre-seed funding to develop non-invasive corneal hydration measurement technology combining terahertz sensing and optical coherence tomography (OCT). The funding includes contributions from Innovestor Angel CoFund, Business Finland, and angel investors.
Norrsken Evolve, a Danish pre-Seed fund, closed a €62 million oversubscribed fund and established its Amsterdam office to address gaps in the Dutch pre-Seed ecosystem. The fund will invest in climate, health, and resilience startups, with a focus on early-stage Dutch companies.