VC Angle Weekly Briefing #14: EIB’s TechEU Aims for €250B & Europe’s “Iron Dome” Heats Up
VC Angle Weekly Update #14
Hey — welcome to the fourteenth edition of VC Angle Weekly Updates! As always, we're keeping tabs on what actually matters across 🇪🇺 European tech. If something broke the news this week and it's worth your time, it's probably below. Scroll on for the deals, roles, reads, and events you'll want on your radar.
In This Edition:
EIB’s TechEU goes live Aug 27. Cleantech first. €250B ambition.
Defense tech pops. $100M for Cambridge Aerospace; Tytan €15M+.
OpenAI reportedly chasing a $500B valuation.
EU VC valuations up. Series E+ median €1.2B; fewer down rounds.
📰 What Happened This Week
EIB Group launches TechEU Platform to mobilise €250B for European startups
The European Investment Bank Group rolled out TechEU Platform—a one-stop financing portal for European startups and scale-ups in cleantech, life sciences, and digital tech. The platform features an "Investment Readiness Checker" that matches companies with equity, debt, guarantees, and advisory services. The initiative targets 1,000 European innovators annually and debuts August 27, with initial cleantech focus aiming to mobilise €18 billion in investments.
VCs back European "Iron Dome" startups as air defense demand surges
Venture capital firms including Lakestar, Lux Capital and Accel are betting on European air defense technologies as governments seek cost-effective drone countermeasures. Cambridge Aerospace closed a $100 million round at a $400 million valuation, while Germany's Tytan Technologies raised over €15 million. The funding surge follows Russia's mass drone attacks and Trump's "Golden Dome" initiative, with startups targeting AI-powered interceptors that cost less than their targets.
OpenAI reportedly targets $500B valuation, aiming to become most valuable startup ever
OpenAI is reportedly pursuing a $500 billion valuation in its next funding round, which would surpass SpaceX, ByteDance, and even public companies like Palantir to become the world's most valuable private company. The staggering figure raises questions about whether such a valuation is justified for a company with an "astronomical burn rate," as investors bet on OpenAI becoming the next Apple or Google in the AI revolution.
Nord Security founder: EU needs to "get comfortable with failure" to compete globally
Tomas Okmanas, co-founder of $3+ billion cybersecurity group Nord Security, argues Europe must shift from regulation-first to business-first approach to match U.S. and China. The Lithuanian entrepreneur, whose NordVPN has millions of users globally, advocates for the proposed 28th regime, regulatory simplification from GDPR to AI Act, and creating a European NASDAQ. He highlights Europe's talent advantage but criticizes lengthy permit processes and risk-averse investment culture, noting he "failed with more than 30 projects before launching NordVPN."
🔍 Reads & Reports
Microsoft research reveals which 40 jobs face highest (and lowest) AI disruption risk
Microsoft released research ranking occupations by AI applicability scores, with interpreters/translators (0.49), historians (0.48), and flight attendants (0.47) topping the vulnerable list. Jobs requiring physical dexterity—phlebotomists, nursing assistants, hazardous material workers—scored lowest (0.03 or below). The data suggests cognitive work faces greater automation risk than manual labor, reshaping workforce planning for governments and VCs.
PitchBook: European VC valuations climb across all series as value-over-volume trend continues
European venture valuations rose across all funding series in H1 2025, with Series E+ seeing the biggest jump as median pre-money valuations more than doubled to €1.2 billion from €450 million in 2024. Series C-D valuations increased 55% to €251 million, while early-stage rounds saw modest gains. Down rounds declined to 15.1% of deals in H1 from 16.7% in 2024, though Q2 alone saw increases.
💶 Where Funds Went (Or Will Go)
Startups
🇨🇭 Loft Dynamics raises €22M Series B to redefine pilot training with VR simulators
🇹🇷 Midas raises €73M Series B for Turkey's largest fintech deal
🇩🇪 Stark raises €57M for weaponised drone systems
🇬🇧 Phoebe raises €15.6M for AI-driven software failure detection
🇩🇪 Hades Mining raises €5.5M Pre-Seed for deeptech mining solutions
🇬🇧 Embargo raises €3.2M to scale CRM for hospitality SMEs
🇩🇪 RedMimicry secures undisclosed Seed funding for cyberattack emulation platform
M&A
🇳🇴 Visma acquires 🇩🇪 milia.io and 🇩🇪 Taxy.io to strengthen AI-driven tax & accounting in DACH
🇺🇸 Strangeworks acquires 🇩🇪 Quantagonia to expand quantum computing capabilities in Europe
🇬🇧 Starling Bank acquires 🇬🇧 Ember to boost SME accounting services
Investors
🇸🇪 Norrsken Evolve launches €57M pre-seed fund for impact tech
🇬🇧 Clean Growth Fund raises £50M (€58M) towards its £150M climatetech target
💼 Open Roles
ALSTIN Capital → VC Analyst in Munich, Germany. Apply here.
YZR Capital → Visiting Analyst (Venture Capital) in Munich, Germany. Apply here.
Astanor → Visiting Analyst in Impact Venture Capital in Brussels, Belgium. Apply here.
Evli Growth Partners → Venture Capital Intern in Helsinki, Finland. Apply here.
👋 That’s a wrap for this week.
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