25 August 2025: Europe risks falling behind in quantum race, but defence tech continues to heat up - and more EU deep tech insights

Welcome to the bi-weekly “Inside European Deep Tech” newsletter, compiled by Robin Wauters, founder of boutique communications agency Profoundo, board+team member of the European Startup Network, and formerly founding editor and CEO of Tech.eu.

There are now more than 75,000 subscribers to this newsletter; I invite each and every one of you to provide feedback so I can upgrade it over time. 💪🏻

Periodic reminder that I'm always up for a chat about how to upscale your communication and media strategy, so do hit me up if you want to have a conversation.

Before we get started: please have your say on the future of EU Inc!

During the next few weeks, you can help turn Europe into a place where ambitious founders actually want to stay and build tomorrow’s leading companies.

How? By sharing your opinions and (horror) stories with the European Commission before the 30th of September. And the EU Inc team wants to help you do that as quickly and efficiently as possible with a step-by-step guide to answering their survey!

The EU has a once-in-a-generation chance to implement - at a foundational level - a unified measure that will significantly boost entrepreneurs' ability to establish, develop, and grow their businesses across Europe. EU Inc has already developed a comprehensive legal proposal for a standardised, pan-European, digital-first company structure.

Now, they are advocating for a EU regulation - not a directive - to pave the way for the creation of a single legal entity that operates seamlessly across borders within the Single Market. This avoids the current patchwork of 27 different systems, which hinder efficiency and growth. Because, let’s be honest, who needs 27+ flavours of the same headache?

The questionnaire is lengthy and can be challenging to complete, but it’s a key part of the crucial public consultation - and that’s why the EU Inc team has prepared step-by-step guidance to help you respond effectively. Please share these pointers freely and widely.

Now, let’s get to it for newsletter issue #15!

Must-reads

• Economies with Anglo-Saxon Roots Dominate Technology
• Dual: Is Deep Tech Expertise the Key to European Sovereignty?
• Inside Mistral’s push into the Middle East
• EU study warns over the shortcomings of AI benchmarking
• The six months that shaped the future of Horizon Europe
• One AI company’s battle against Europe’s tech roadblocks
• The ‘vast majority’ of spacetech startups are pivoting to defence

Insights: data, research, interviews and profiles

• AI fuels uptick in US investor share of European dealmaking
• Mike Maples Jr. on Inflection Theory and Breaking Patterns in European Venture
• From Founders To Funders: Lessons On Scaling Deep Tech Startups
• Defence tech mapped: 50+ European startups shaping the sector
• "European VC valuations grew in Q2 2025 despite market uncertainty"
• "Five Lessons From Building A Deep Tech Company"
• 10 lessons from the James Webb telescope that could shape European tech
• Sweden as a Blueprint for EU Investors: Leveraging Deep Capital Markets and Productivity-Driven Growth
• The biggest robotics raises so far in 2025
• DeepMind spinout Isomorphic Labs boss: ‘I get calls from investors every week’

Opinions worth reading

• How Trump 2.0 is galvanizing European AI and defense tech
• Europe risks falling behind in quantum race
• What defence tech will look like in 10 years, according to insiders
• Why the EU needs to go hard on quantum computing software
• Quantum Systems CEO Florian Seibel: ‘Having a dictator has advantages’
• AI Depends on More Than Software
• AI in science: is it useful?

Selected news items

• German kamikaze drone maker Stark Defence is raising a funding round led by Sequoia Capital, boosting its valuation to around $500 million 18 months after its inception
• Porsche, Deutsche Telekom in Talks to Anchor €500 Million Defense Fund
• Samsung-Backed Chipmaker Axelera AI Looks to Raise €150 Million
• Aarhus University and regional partners launch €80M venture fund for research startups
• Paragraf, the UK-based company leading the way in mass-producing graphene-based electronics using industry-standard semiconductor processes, has completed a $55 million Series C funding round
• London’s Hubber, founded by ex-Tesla employees, secures €69.6M to expand urban EV charging in the UK
• Norrsken Evolve launches €57M fund to back "impact tech"
• Clean Growth Fund raises one-third of £150M fund target
• €38 million for German SaaS startup plancraft to lead AI transformation in European constructio
• US-based Events Venture Group, a braintrust of founders, serial entrepreneurs, and top-tier event operators, has reported completion of its second strategic investment – this time in Deep Tech Momentum (DTM), a leading European deep tech event platform
• Hades Mining emerges from stealth with €5.5M Pre-Seed funding

In other links

• World’s leading deep tech experts to gather in Budapest
• ‘The biggest lab we see in the world for defence’: How Darkstar’s bootcamps give founders live battlefield testing in Ukraine
• The European Investment Bank has launched the TechEU Platform, a new programme dedicated to accelerating innovation across Europe
• Europe’s thirst for AI runs into local water worries
• Anthropic offers £340k to top AI talent in European hiring spree
• First European photonics plant boosts Belgian chip industry
• Doncaster is the UK's AI hub you've never heard of
• Tekever: The defence unicorn outselling its big-spending rivals

Upcoming events in Europe for your calendar

• 27-28 August - TechBBQ - Copenhagen, Denmark 🇩🇰
• 4-5 September - Music Frontiers - Berlin, Germany 🇩🇪
• 5-9 September - IFA 2025 - Berlin, Germany 🇩🇪
• 17 September - FDDay - Paris, France 🇫🇷
• 2-3 October - NORDEEP / Nordic Deep Tech Business Summit - Espoo, Finland 🇫🇮
• 8-9 October - World Summit AI - Amsterdam, The Netherlands 🇳🇱
• 14-15 October - SaaStock Europe - Dublin, Ireland 🇮🇪

The scrolled-all-the-way-down extras

• Meet the biotech-company founders driven by their child’s rare disease
• These countries want to be the next big semiconductor hubs

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