Dario Maccarrone

When Fabrizio Del Maffeo co-founded Axelera AI, he wasn’t chasing buzzwords. He was solving a real problem: making cutting-edge AI actually usable at the edge. From launching the company with backing from Bitfury and IMEC, to assembling a world-class team in just weeks, Fabrizio’s journey is pure execution. The result? A purpose-built chip that combines performance, efficiency, and simplicity — built not in Silicon Valley, but in Europe. In a world obsessed with cloud AI, Axelera AI is quietly reshaping the edge. And they’re doing it fast. 🧠⚡️ Read the full interview here 👉 https://lnkd.in/dWcY4ePg #EdgeAI #StartupStory #AIHardware #TechLeadership #VerveVC #AxeleraAI #DeepTech

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LegacyCo firms buy every innovation. NewCo needs just one: coherence. LegacyCo acquires hundreds of digital companies. Invests billions in AI. But the bigger they grow, the less coherent they become. The very act of becoming everything makes it impossible to be anything with excellence. Talent flows to returns, not bureaucracy. And returns increasingly flow to coherence. The Coherence Premium Each acquisition adds another translation layer. Each platform requires another governance committee. Their data exposes the truth: massive AI adoption, minimal usage. When Zhang Ruimin eliminated 12,000 managers at Haier and replaced them with 4,000 autonomous micro-enterprises, revenue doubled from $20B to $40B. Not because he added capabilities. Because he removed friction. The Accountability Arbitrage LegacyCo celebrates carrying billions in indemnity insurance. But this "absolution as a service" model amplifies their fundamental weakness. When you sell accountability arbitrage, you attract clients who want to outsource responsibility, not build capability. The very clients who need transformation most seek protection from it. NewCo doesn't need billion-dollar coverage because they're not in the absolution business. Judgment as Architecture Distributed judgment isn't about empowerment. It's about velocity. NewCo: Teams own P&Ls. Engineers deploy without approval chains. Authority follows expertise, not org charts. LegacyCo: Information flows up. Decisions flow down. By the time judgment reaches information, the moment has passed. Coherence rewards high-variance contributors; those whose impact scales with autonomy. Their talent doesn't leave for better titles. They leave for the ability to act on what they know. The Depth Advantage Markets increasingly reward depth over breadth. LegacyCo builds broader moats. NewCo builds deeper ones. LegacyCo's advantages global scale, regulatory expertise matter less when clients need answers in hours, not weeks. NewCo doesn't try to out-LegacyCo LegacyCo. They change what strategic value means. Not better video stores but streaming. Not faster consulting but continuous intelligence. Speed beats scale. Coherence beats capability. Markets move faster than managers. Always. LegacyCo will keep acquiring. Keep growing. NewCo needs only one advantage: coherence. The market has already started deciding. (Full post sent to newsletter subscribers)

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Can this partnership give startups the ultimate boost? I am sharing with StartupValley Magazine how InnoSource Ventures AG and W Ventures David Warschawski and Sam Tomlinson decided to formalize their partnership after years of successful collaboration, creating a true bridge between the #US and #Europe. By combining networks, expertise, and resources, this alliance opens up new opportunities for visionary founders to scale faster, reach further, and drive meaningful global change. Thank you to Sabine Elsaesser for the interview. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/dJqm8H_Q #Startups #Innovation #VentureCapital #VC #GlobalGrowth #Partnership

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🔥 Europe’s startup scene just got a big reality check — and the results are impossible to ignore. At Nordic Tech Week, Norrsken VC dropped the largest impact pulse report to date, built on insights from 660 founders & investors. The verdict? ➡️ Impact-optimism is on the rise. Highlights that stood out: 🚀 60% of founders + investors say the future looks bright 📈 this optimism has increased in 2025. 💶 3 out of 4 investors are doubling down on impact bets ⚡️ Energy. Industrials. Healthcare. → The sectors to watch But let’s be real: Europe’s still holding itself back. The potential is massive — if we dare to unlock it. Reach out to us at Norrsken Evolve if you are a pre-seed founder building in resilience and sustainability. 👉 Full report in comments. Props to the team for putting this together: Per Frykebrant, David Frykman, Tove Larsson, Beata Enwall, Agate S. Freimane, Ludvig Bergstrom

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🚨 BREAKING: HappyRobot just raised a $44M Series B to build the AI workforce for the real economy It is incredible to see European founders, and in this case Spanish founders, pushing the frontiers of AI, scaling from Silicon Valley, and competing on a global stage Pablo Palafox, Luis Paarup, and Javi Palafox are building AI workers that already power more than 70 enterprises including DHL, Ryder, and Werner. These agents take on the messy, mission critical work that keeps the supply chain moving, from booking and payments to recruiting and operations The round was led by Base10 Partners (Adeyemi Ajao) with participation from a16z, Array Ventures, Y Combinator, Samsara Ventures, Tokio Marine, WaVe X, WiL, and others Proud to be an investor in this journey. This is only the beginning and the future ahead is incredibly exciting. They are only getting started 🚀 Would you trust an AI workforce to run your operations? You definitely should:

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Big news for Innovation and Europe's startup ecosystem! Bavaria just greenlit non-profit foundations to invest up to 5% of their assets in VC funds—without risking their tax status. This could unlock €100B in capital, bridging the gap with the US and supercharging German innovation. Game-changer alert! 🚀💡 #Startups #VentureCapital #Germany #Innovation #Bavaria

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FemWealth Issue 227 highlights 💌 In the Spotlight 💸 Co-founded and led by Bianca Cefalo, Space DOTS® helps space tech manufacturers and operators to detect, interpret, and attribute natural and human-originated threats in orbit. The London-based company announced a $1.5M Seed round led by Female Founders Fund. Startup News: - Co-founded by Haya Odeh, Replit, a San Francisco-based agentic software creation platform, secured $250M at a $3B valuation - Co-founded by Sylvie Menezo, SCINTIL Photonics, a France-based company that develops light-based components to enable AI chips to connect better and faster in data centres, raised a $58M Series B - Led by Dr Daniela Marino, CUTISS AG, a Swiss clinical-stage biotech developing personalised, scalable skin tissue therapy, raised €57.9M in Series C - Led by Kate Condliffe, Diana Health (We're Hiring!), a New York City-based network of women’s health practices, closed $55M in Series C  - Founded and led by Alyx van der Vorm, Clyx, a US social platform that helps users find community events to join, closed a $14M Series A - Co-founded by Ioana Hreninciuc, Runware, a San Francisco startup providing a unified platform that delivers the latest AI models, raised a $13M Seed round  - Co-founded by Marianne Tikkanen, Puro.earth, a Helsinki-based company that brings together suppliers of carbon net-negative technologies and companies seeking to reduce or offset their carbon footprints, raised $12.8M in Series B - Co-founded and led by Avencia Sanchez-Mejias PhD, IntegraTherapeutics, a Barcelona startup that develops next-gen gene writing tools, raised $12.6M - Founded and led by Michelle Lee, Medra , a San Francisco startup developing AI-powered robotics for labs, raised $11M in Pre-Seed and Seed - Co-founded and led by Michal Lupu, Blocks, an Israeli AI-native platform that lets organizations build intelligent work tools and AI agents through simple conversation, raised $10M in Seed  - Co-founded and led by Noel Pugh, Lōvu Health, a California-based digital maternal health platform, raised $8M in Series A - Co-founded and led by Doris Messina,Tot, an Italy-based business platform for administrative and financial management, raised €7M in Pre-Series A - Co-founded by Hanah-Marie Darley, Geordie AI, a London startup building security tools for enterprises adopting AI agents, raised a $6.5M Seed   - Co-founded by Dr Jackie Matthew, Fraiya Ultrasound, a UK startup providing AI-powered pregnancy ultrasound technology, raised £3.5M in Pre-Seed - Co-founded by Tara O'Driscoll, PhD, Dr. Sioned Fôn Jones, and Lydia Mapstone, PhD, BoobyBiome, a London company developing a device universally compatible with breast milk storage bottles that absorbs oxygen to maintain microbiome viability, raised £2.5M in Seed  - Co-founded by Tanja Danner and Professor Aasa Feragen, Prenaital, a Danish startup providing AI-powered prenatal screening tech, secured $1.57M Read more and subscribe [link in comments section]

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⚡ From energy vision to profitable reality. In just 8 months, Cloover (Jodok Betschart) scaled from €1M → €5M ARR (5x) — all while reaching profitability. With €1.2B in funding lines secured and hundreds of installers onboarded across 4 markets, they’re building the “Shopify of Energy.” But what’s just as striking? 🌍 Europe is fast becoming the epicenter of climate-tech. From Berlin outward, a new wave of startups is scaling faster than ever — and Cloover is one of the clearest signals. Profitable growth + massive market tailwinds = a European powerhouse in the making. 💡 For more real-time revenue updates like this, check out Specter.

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