Alice & Bob raises $104M, says quantum computers based on cat qubits will be ready by 2030

Quantum computing remains something of a holy grail in the world of technology: It promises a huge leap in computing power, but only if someone can figure out how to square away the fault rates that prevent any scaling of the tech. Now, one of the more promising quantum startups in Europe is annou

Helion raises $425M to help build a fusion reactor for Microsoft

Few fusion startups have been as closely watched as Helion. The 12-year-old company is backed by Sam Altman, rumored to be in talks with OpenAI, and has a deal to supply Microsoft with electricity by 2028 — years earlier than its competitors.  The company’s unorthodox approach to fusi

Big Tech expands its reach with new startup acquisitions and investments

Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can't miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. This week’s newsletter is about startups, but it is also about Big Tech companies expanding their reach, both through acquisitions a

Nelly raises $51M to digitalize medical practices across Europe

Nelly wants to become the biggest fintech startup in the healthcare industry. The Berlin-based startup is already working with more than 1,200 medical practices in a handful of European countries. But there are thousands more that could benefit from an upgrade for their administrative workflows. T

A 24-year-old who exited his first company to Coinbase raises $3M for his next venture

At 24 years old, Pryce Yebesi already has one exit: selling his crypto invoicing company Utopia Labs to Coinbase for an undisclosed amount.  Some founders don’t just have one company in them. On Monday, Yebesi announced the launch of his new company, Open Ledger, which embeds automated

Thoras helps companies reach reliability without overspending on cloud costs

For years, twin sisters Nilo Rahmani and Jen Rahmani swapped stories — and commiserated — over the pain points they were facing in their respective engineering jobs. Nilo told technewss that a frequent topic of conversation was about frustrations over the reliability platforms they were using

UK in-home healthcare provider Cera raises $150M to scale its AI platform

Around the world, public healthcare systems have struggled to reset post-pandemic, and in particular, the increasingly aged populations in Western countries are putting pressure on services, not least in the U.K. where “NHS in crisis” is a regular headline in the media. As a result, pri

Biosphere zaps germs with UV light to make biomanufacturing cheaper

Ask any scientist that has worked with cell cultures in a lab: Contamination is high on their list of fears. Even one stray bacterium or fungal spore can spoil an entire experiment. Now imagine scaling that risk up to biomanufacturing, which uses living cells to make a range of stuff, including dr

AI startups attracted 25% of Europe’s VC funding

Venture funding into Europe is heading for a flat year, but this may obfuscate the fact that European AI startups are thriving. According to VC firm Balderton Capital and Dealroom, 25% of VC funding into the region — approximately $13.7 billion — went to AI startups this year, compared to 15%

Hotel booking platform Safara raises $14M, acquires rival Skipper

Doug Schuessler has always been a founder. This passion, which has been with him since childhood, saw him launch two startups, move to San Francisco, and take a job at Square to see what a “real rocket shop looked like.” He later became chief revenue officer at restaurant booking platf

Culina Health nabs $7.9M to provide virtual access to registered dietitians

As a dietitian, Vanessa Rissetto’s main goal is to help people stay healthy. She also knew that there were some roadblocks to achieving that. For example, the Black community deals with pressing health concerns, in addition to a disproportionate lack of access to care. More than 80% of reg

Access bets people will pay thousands of dollars a year for guaranteed restaurant reservations

Once, not long ago, booking a table at a hot new restaurant didn’t entail a midnight dash to Resy. Truly, we didn’t know how good we had it then. Hours-long lines out the door are now the norm, not the exception, in major cities from New York to Los Angeles. One reason is that restaura

African digital bank Tyme raises $250M round led by Nubank at $1.5B valuation

Tyme Group, a South African fintech, has secured $250 million in a Series D round, pushing its valuation to $1.5 billion. The funding was led by Nu Holdings, which owns Latin America's most valuable fintech Nubank, investing $150 million for a 10% stake. M&G Catalyst Fund

Gigs, an ‘MVNO in a box,’ gets $73M to power mobile network services for any company

Gigs, a platform that makes it easier for any company to become a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), has raised $73 million in a Series B round of funding. The announcement comes as countless companies have added mobile networking services to their product lineup this past year, including neo