European deeptech funding rounds: September 7-13, 2026

Behind the billions, different ways of financing risk

What does the company develop, who leads it, who is providing the capital, and which milestone does it need to reach? These four questions offer a different way of reading European deeptech funding. Beyond the headline figures, this selection of ten deals brings together very different businesses: AI model developers, a spacecraft manufacturer, energy infrastructure developers, medical device manufacturers and industrial software providers.

Two companies with outsized capital needs

Mistral AI: from AI models to the infrastructure that runs them

Founded in France in 2023, Mistral AI is led by Arthur Mensch, co-founder and CEO, alongside Guillaume Lample, chief science officer, and Timothée Lacroix, chief technology officer. The company develops AI models and the tools that enable businesses and public-sector organisations to customise and deploy them, and to build their own applications. Its offering also includes the computing capacity needed to run them.

Its €3 billion Series D, announced on September 8 at a post-money valuation exceeding €21 billion, is led by Samsung Electronics, with the Scaleup Europe Fund, managed by EQT, and PSG Equity as co-leads. Advent, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg are joining the round. Participating existing investors include ASML, NVIDIA, Bpifrance, a16z, General Catalyst, Index Ventures, Lightspeed and Salesforce Ventures.

The proceeds are intended to fund research, model training, computing capacity and infrastructure, as well as international commercial expansion.

The Exploration Company: delivering cargo to space stations and bringing it back to Earth

Founded in 2021 and led by co-founder Hélène Huby, The Exploration Company develops reusable spacecraft. Its Nyx programme is designed to transport cargo to orbital stations and return it to Earth. The company is also developing Storm, a high-thrust reusable rocket engine, in a programme separate from the capsule.

On September 8, the company announced a $450 million Series C, equivalent to approximately €388.2 million. The round is co-led by Bessemer Venture Partners, Atomico and the Scaleup Europe Fund managed by EQT. Existing investors Balderton Capital, Plural, Cherry Ventures and Red River West are also participating.

The proceeds are intended to support the Nyx demonstration mission, including docking with the International Space Station and returning to Earth, as well as Storm testing, recruitment and production capacity. The transaction remains subject to the applicable regulatory approvals.

Energy: financing assets, not just technology

Tavion: building and operating battery parks

Swedish company Tavion is led by Emad Zand, formerly responsible for battery systems at Northvolt. It develops, owns and operates large-scale electricity storage facilities. Its business is about building assets that can store electricity and provide grid services, rather than inventing a new battery chemistry.

Its €50 million financing combines €34 million in equity and €16 million in debt. The equity tranche is co-led by Leitmotif and Oberon Capital Management, alongside existing investors BackingMinds and Course Corrected. The lenders providing the debt tranche are not named in the announcement reviewed.

The funds are intended, among other uses, to finance its first three battery parks in Poland, with a combined capacity of 69 MW. Tavion is covered here as an infrastructure deployment business: the primary use of capital is to build physical installations that will then need to generate revenue once commissioned and operational.

HVR Energy: deploying hydrogen refuelling stations

Spain’s HVR Energy designs, builds and operates hydrogen refuelling stations for mobility. Its leadership separates the roles of Luis Felipe Suárez-Olea del Arco, chair, and Santiago Ramas, CEO. The company deploys and operates the infrastructure required to support hydrogen-powered vehicles.

Its €20 million Series A, announced on September 9, brings together Sandton, contributing €15 million, Barents Re, contributing €3 million, and Langur, contributing €2 million. The financing is intended to support the expansion of its Spanish network and strengthen the company’s technical and operational capabilities.

As with Tavion, the risk to assess is not purely technological: it also concerns the rollout of the installations and the extent to which they are used. These two deals should therefore not be treated as equivalent to financing a scientific breakthrough.

Healthcare: four companies, four stages of development

Implicity: helping cardiologists make use of data from implants

France’s Implicity is led by Dr Arnaud Rosier, a cardiologist, electrophysiologist and co-founder. It develops a remote monitoring platform that aggregates and analyses data from implantable cardiac devices, helping medical teams manage alerts and identify important information. Implicity does not manufacture the implants: it provides the software layer used to monitor them.

The company has secured €35 million in growth equity in a transaction led by IRIS, alongside Five Arrows, the alternative investment arm of Rothschild & Co. It says it monitors more than 120,000 patients daily across more than 250 medical centres.

The financing is intended to strengthen its commercial expansion in the United States, consolidate its European presence and support new predictive and diagnostic algorithms.

Ethris: developing mRNA medicines for respiratory diseases

Based near Munich, Ethris is led by Dr Carsten Rudolph, co-founder and CEO. Its other co-founder, Christian Plank, is chief technology officer. The biotech develops mRNA medicines and vaccines, including technologies for local delivery through nasal administration or inhalation.

The European Investment Bank is providing €30 million in venture debt under HERA Invest. This is debt financing, not a new equity round or a grant. The agreement was signed on July 31; the bank’s press release was published on September 11.

The proceeds are intended to support the clinical development of its respiratory portfolio, including ETH47, an experimental drug candidate designed to stimulate local immune defences against viral infections.

Neurent Medical: treating chronic rhinitis with a minimally invasive device

Ireland’s Neurent Medical is led by Brian Shields. It develops NEUROMARK, a device that uses radiofrequency energy to target nasal nerves involved in the symptoms of chronic rhinitis. Its offering is aimed at ear, nose and throat specialists and involves a minimally invasive procedure.

The company has secured a €25 million growth debt facility from Claret Capital Partners. The financing is intended to support commercial rollout, particularly in the United States, and strengthen its sales and marketing capabilities.

The key distinction is the financing instrument: Claret is providing debt, not a new equity round.

Deneb Medical: combining robotics and lasers in spinal surgery

Based in San Sebastián, Deneb Medical was co-founded by Aritz Lazkoz and Juan Arregui Altuna. It develops IZAR, a spinal surgery system combining robotics, laser technologies and artificial intelligence. The platform aims, among other things, to bring together surgical planning, guidance and tissue treatment procedures. The sources reviewed identify the co-founders but do not establish how executive responsibilities are currently divided.

The company has completed a €14.7 million equity capital increase: €7.2 million from SETT, the Spanish Society for Technological Transformation, €2.5 million from Kutxa Fundazioa, through its Bidelagun programme, and €5 million from an unnamed US multinational medical device company.

The financing is intended to support the development of IZAR, preparations for its market launch and team expansion. According to the announcement, the industrial partner is also expected to facilitate integration into surgical platforms and access to commercial networks.

AI and industry: financing the architecture or its adoption

Arlequin AI: analysing complex data for investigations and decision-making

Founded in Paris in 2024, Arlequin AI is led by Hugo Micheron, co-founder and CEO, alongside Antoine Jardin, co-founder and chief technology officer. Its platform connects heterogeneous data to help organisations conduct investigations and make decisions, particularly in security, defence and fraud prevention.

Its €28 million Series A is co-led by redalpine and OTB Ventures, with Bpifrance’s Defence Innovation Fund. Existing investors Vsquared Ventures and 10x Founders are participating, alongside Xavier Niel and ZEBOX, the CMA CGM group’s accelerator.

The round is intended to fund the development of topological neural networks, the architecture underpinning the company’s next technological milestone, as well as its commercial rollout. Arlequin therefore combines a platform already in use with a research bet.

CloudNC: automating CNC programming

The UK’s CloudNC is led by Theo Saville, co-founder and CEO. Its CAM Assist software helps machine shops prepare machining operations on computer numerical control (CNC) machines by automating part of the programming process. The company therefore sells software tools to manufacturers, not machine tools.

CloudNC has announced $20 million in new capital, equivalent to approximately €17.3 million. The transaction is led by Nimble Ventures, alongside Calculus Venture Capital, Entrepreneur First and LM Ventures, Lockheed Martin’s investment vehicle.

The proceeds are intended to accelerate the adoption of CAM Assist and the development of other tools, including Quote Agent, which focuses on preparing quotations.

At the edge of the deeptech category: two specialised AI business models

Two additional deals illustrate the distinction between deeptech and applying AI to a particular business activity. They are not included in the ten main deals.

Cato, based in Milan, is led by Andrea Zorzetto, co-founder and CEO, alongside Matteo Bossolini, co-founder and chief technology officer. Its software helps companies identify relevant public tenders, analyse their requirements and prepare bids. Its €6 million seed round is led by Keen Venture Partners, alongside Italian Founders Fund and existing investors Vento, Heartfelt, Moonstone, BHeroes, Alecla7 and Nova Venture.

Limetax, based in Berlin, combines acquisitions of accounting and tax advisory firms with the deployment of AI tools. Christoph Gamon is CEO, Maximilian Meyer is chief operating officer and Christoph Dansard is chief technology officer; all three are co-founders. Its €36 million financing comprises €6 million in equity, in a round led by Motive Partners, alongside Activant and Heliad, and a €30 million acquisition facility, provided by a consortium of German banks that are not named in the announcement.

Who is prepared to finance which stage?

Examining the companies and their backers reveals several different funding configurations. Mistral brings together industrial groups, financial investors and public capital around a research and infrastructure effort. The Exploration Company is drawing on an international investor syndicate to reach milestones in spacecraft development. The Scaleup Europe Fund participates in both deals, but its presence alone does not establish how comprehensively European funding needs are being met.

In healthcare, IRIS and Five Arrows are backing Implicity with equity, while the EIB and Claret are providing debt to Ethris and Neurent respectively. At Deneb, a public investor, a regional foundation and an industrial company are contributing to the same equity capital increase. Knowing the identity of the funder is not enough: the financing instrument, its purpose and the conditions governing access to the funds also need to be examined.

This snapshot shows companies financing different stages: research, clinical trials, in-flight demonstrations, software sales or asset construction.

Nor can investor nationality alone determine who controls a company. That requires examining shareholdings, voting rights and governance beyond the funding announcement. We will aim to bring greater clarity to this issue in future editions.

Methodology

This edition covers ten main deals and two examples of specialised AI businesses. It is not intended to be exhaustive and does not provide a market-wide funding total. Tavion and HVR Energy are covered as infrastructure deployment businesses, distinct from companies whose advantage rests on a scientific or engineering breakthrough.

The reporting period covers public announcements identified between September 7 and 13, 2026, rather than necessarily the dates on which agreements were signed or funds disbursed. Equity and debt remain distinct. The size of a facility does not confirm that it has been fully drawn down. Existing investors are listed as participants in the new financing only where their participation has been reported to us.

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