VC Angle Weekly Briefing #31: Lovable Hits $6.6B Valuation, LeCun Targets €3B for AMI Labs & Nvidia Acquires SchedMD
VC Angle Weekly Update #31
Hey - welcome to the thirty-first 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:
Lovable triples valuation to $6.6B five months after Series A
Yann LeCun leaves Meta, seeks €500M at €3B valuation for AMI Labs
Nvidia acquires Slurm developer SchedMD, releases Nemotron 3 models
QuantumDiamonds invests €150M+ for Munich quantum chip facility
Commission pilots fast-track EIC funding process
⏱️ 4:19 Reading Time
📰 What Happened This Week
Stockholm-based Lovable raised $330 million at a $6.6 billion valuation, tripling its worth five months after its $1.8 billion Series A in July. The vibe-coding startup hit $100 million ARR within eight months of launching in 2024, then doubled to $200 million ARR four months later. CapitalG and Menlo Ventures led the Series B, with Khosla Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, and Databricks Ventures participating. CEO Anton Osika rejected investor pressure to move to Silicon Valley, though the company faced scrutiny in November for not paying VAT taxes.
The European Commission is piloting a new approach to accelerate EIC funding access, giving programme managers authority to invite promising projects for immediate assessment without the standard application process.
Nvidia acquires Slurm developer SchedMD, releases Nemotron 3 models
Nvidia acquired SchedMD, the developer of Slurm workload management system used for high-performance computing and AI, with plans to keep it open source and vendor-neutral. The chipmaker also released the Nemotron 3 family of open AI models for building AI agents, including Nano for targeted tasks, Super for multi-agent applications, and Ultra for complex tasks.
QuantumDiamonds invests over €150M for Munich chip inspection facility
QuantumDiamonds will invest over €150 million to build a quantum-based chip metrology production facility in Munich, with expected support under the European Chips Act. The TU Munich spin-off develops Quantum Diamond Microscopy systems that detect chip defects missed by conventional techniques, with Q1 2026 installations planned in the US and Taiwan. The company chose Germany over Phoenix, Arizona.
Meta’s Yann LeCun targets €3B valuation for AI startup before launch
Yann LeCun is in early talks to raise €500 million for Advanced Machine Intelligence Labs at a €3 billion valuation ahead of its January launch. The Meta chief AI scientist, leaving after 12 years, has tapped Nabla founder Alexandre LeBrun as CEO. AMI Labs will develop world models—AI systems that understand the physical world for robotics and transport applications. Meta is not investing but will partner with AMI Labs to access and commercialize the technology.
🔍 Reads & Reports
ASML CEO details High NA transition as Nvidia pushes beyond Moore’s Law
ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet said the company is working with chipmakers to finalize High NA EUV machines for high-volume manufacturing in 2027-2028, as Nvidia demands chips that increase transistor counts 16x every two years versus traditional 2x under Moore’s Law.
The Dutch company expects revenue to rise 15% this year to €32.5 billion with profit up 27% to €9.6 billion, holding 100% market share in advanced lithography equipment. Intel received the first High NA machine in 2023 and is preparing for mass production, while closest rival SMEE in China lags 10-15 years behind technologically. ASML has already begun research on next-generation Hyper NA technology for deployment next decade.
a16z outlines 15 AI ideas for 2026 as focus shifts to execution
Ruben Dominguez brings a report from over 50 a16z partners contributed to the firm’s annual list of AI ideas for 2026, marking a shift from copilots to systems that replace entire workflows. Recurring themes include (1) agent-native infrastructure becoming standard, (2) execution mattering more than interfaces, and (3) small teams gaining disproportionate leverage through AI orchestration.
Key predictions span prompt-free applications that act proactively, systems of record losing ground to execution layers, ChatGPT emerging as an AI app store, and multi-agent orchestration reshaping Fortune 500 companies.
💶 Where Funds Went (Or Will Go)
Startups
🇩🇪 Trade Republic → Confirmed decacorn status following a secondary share sale, reaching a €12.5B valuation (no new primary capital raised).
🇬🇧 Lovable → Raised $330M Series B at a $6.6B valuation
🇮🇹 Exein → Raised an additional €100M to expand its embedded cybersecurity platform.
🇨🇭 Neural Concept → Raised $100M Series C to scale AI-native engineering.
🇳🇱 Destinus → Secured a €50M financing facility to expand autonomous flight production.
🇬🇧 PolyAI → Raised $86M Series D to scale its AI assistant tech.
🇫🇷 Lucis → Raised $8.5M Seed to expand preventive healthcare testing across Europe.
🇵🇱 Jutro Medical → Extended Series A to €36M to scale AI-enabled primary care services.
🇬🇧 Ankar → Raised $20M Series A to build defensible IP innovation platform.
🤝 M&A
🇨🇭 HomeBuddy → Acquired for $190M in a Swiss–US cross-border deal.
🇬🇧 Monzo → Acquired digital mortgage broker Habito
🇫🇮 Bought → Acquired luxury rental platform Robes Rental
🇩🇪 Quantum Systems → Acquired FERNRIDE to expand its defence autonomy technology stack.
Investors
🇩🇪 Picus Capital → Closed a €150M preferred equity vehicle
🇪🇸 COFIDES → Committed up to €10M into the Creas Impacto II fund.
🇬🇧 MD One Ventures & Randox → Launched a joint security and biotech accelerator
👋 That’s a wrap for this week.
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