EuroTech Podcast Weekly Wrap-Up returns with the key European tech stories from 1–10 January 2026. We cover a record start for European markets, Accenture’s acquisition of London AI firm Faculty, major funding momentum with Swap’s $100M Series C and Payhawk’s reported new raise talks, plus climate-tech consolidation as Diginex acquires Plan A. We also look at strong results from AI unicorn Quantexa and Europe’s standout showing at CES 2026, including cutting-edge deeptech and new AI-driven vehicles from BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

In the second half, we launch Part 1 of a two-episode series on European alternatives to US consumer apps. Taking a pragmatic approach, we explore realistic substitutes across messaging, social, browsers, search, email, cloud storage, maps, and mobility—highlighting where switching is easy, where it’s hard, and what digital sovereignty really means for European consumers.

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As 2025 closed, Europe is racing toward tech sovereignty. We cover the shift from US military dependency to a $1.5B European defence tech surge, plus the week’s biggest headlines in fintech and AI.

Top Takeaways:

• Defense Revolution: How startups like Quantum-Systems & Helsing are redefining the modern battlefield.
• Fintech Milestones: Monzo lands a European banking license; N26 shifts leadership.
• The No-Code Unicorn: Lovable hits a $6.6B valuation in just 12 months.
• Quantum Chips: QuantumDiamonds’ new €150M Munich facility.

Listen for: A deep dive into the 5 technologies (Drones, Jets, Hypersonics, AI, and Space) set to define European security in 2026.

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As the U.S. grew more unpredictable, Europe began to step up in 2025 — with bold AI breakthroughs, landmark fintech IPOs, momentum in climate tech, and sweeping digital regulation. This year-in-review wraps it all in sharp, simple insight for founders, investors, and anyone watching Europe’s tech awakening.

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In this week’s Euro Tech wrap-up (Nov 30 – Dec 5), we cover five major stories shaping Europe’s tech and investment landscape — and then dive deep into the future of energy and industrial competitiveness.

We cover:

• 🇮🇹 Bending Spoons buys Eventbrite in a €430m all-cash deal, as Europe’s newest decacorn continues its acquisition spree of global platforms.
• 🇪🇺 EU vs Meta: Brussels opens an antitrust probe into WhatsApp’s decision to ban third-party AI chatbots, raising big questions for AI competition and innovation in Europe.
• 🇩🇪 Germany’s new AI unicorn: Black Forest Labs raises $300m at a $3.25bn valuation, boosting Europe’s position in open-source image generation.
• 🇵🇱 OpenAI buys Warsaw’s Neptune, strengthening its AI training stack and underlining how valuable European AI tooling has become.
• 🇪🇸 Titan OS in Barcelona secures €50m to reinvent smart TV operating systems and recurring revenue for TV manufacturers.

In our deep dive, we zoom out to Europe’s long-term energy and industrial strategy:

• How renewables, smart grids and SMRs are reshaping the power system
• Why fusion, hydrogen and even space-based solar could redefine Europe’s competitiveness
• What this all means for cars, steel, chemicals, cement, data centres and the continent’s industrial base

Brought to you by eurotech.vc – empowering Europe to lead the global tech race.

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In this week’s episode of EuroTech, we break down the biggest moves shaping Europe’s tech landscape — from fintech milestones to deep-tech breakthroughs and massive industrial investments.

We cover:

• Delivery Hero’s investor pressure and what it signals for Europe’s maturing tech markets
• Atomico’s 2025 State of European Tech Report — the rise of AI startups and Europe’s trillion-euro ambition
• SAP’s EU AI Cloud and the race for sovereign AI infrastructure
• ESA’s €22.1B space budget and what it means for Europe’s geopolitical footing
• Picnic, Stellantis, CATL, Skeleton Technologies — a wave of industrial-scale innovation
• Revolut’s stunning $75B valuation, redefining what European fintech scale looks like

And in our deep dive:

"Europe in the Global AI Chip Race" — where Nvidia, Google, Huawei, and AMD fit in, Europe’s underappreciated strengths in the semiconductor value chain, and the five scenarios where Europe could leapfrog into tech leadership by 2035.

From energy storage breakthroughs to semiconductor strategy, from space to fintech, this week reveals a Europe that’s not just catching up — but actively shaping the next decade of global tech.

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Robotics funding, AI-defense alliances, EU regulation shifts, a major social media exit — and a special deep dive into General Intuition, Europe’s most ambitious frontier-AI lab.

In this week’s EuroTech episode, we break down the five biggest stories shaping Europe’s tech and investment landscape:

• Flexion raises $50M to build the AI “brain” for humanoid robots — and how it compares to another rising star, General Intuition
• Finland’s NestAI emerges from stealth with a €100M raise and strategic partnership with Nokia
• EU regulators spark controversy by proposing delays to the AI Act and loosening data privacy rules
• SIX Group outlines a pan-European SME stock market and recalibrates after Worldline’s collapse
• BeReal acquired for €500M as Voodoo expands from gaming to social networks
• UK announces new AI Growth Zones and research investments to position itself as Europe’s AI hub

Plus: a 5-minute deep dive into General Intuition, the Geneva–New York AI lab using video games to train spatially intelligent agents — and why investors believe it could become “the OpenAI of world models.”

Whether you're a founder, investor, policymaker or just curious about the future of European tech, this episode connects the dots between innovation, strategy, and geopolitics across the continent.

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In this week’s Euro Tech roundup, we unpack the biggest developments shaping European innovation — from fintech mega-rounds to AI breakthroughs, policy shifts, and major cross-border M&A.

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This episode explains how Visa and Mastercard came to dominate global card payments — and why Europe is now building alternatives. We cover the origins of the duopoly, how the bank–network relationship fuels it, and why new fintech tools still often rely on card rails.

We then dive into Europe’s strategy to regain control: instant payments, open banking, SEPA Instant, and the European Payments Initiative’s new digital wallet, Wero. The episode closes with a look at what a post-duopoly Europe could look like by 2030 and what it means for regulators, banks, fintech founders, and investors.

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