Weekly RoundUp #02 — Say hello to Europe’s new Unicorns
Four new unicorns, a $3B valuation for Parloa, and a European ecosystem that is officially wide awake.
📅 January 12 – 16, 2026 | Read time: 5 mins
👋 The Week in Review
What a great week to be a European VC. Even if their pockets might now feel a little light after all these mega rounds… France, Germany, Belgium and Lithuania welcomed new unicorns. At the same time Parloa tripled its valuation to $3B dollars with a new crazy round. Let’s hope that this whopping beginning of the year will augur an outstanding year for European tech.
As Harry Stebbings, the pope of VC media, rightfully said: “If you are not bullish on Europe right now I can categorically tell you, you have s*** dealflow and need to improve.”
LFG! 🇪🇺
Let’s dive into the data.
📰 News of the Week
The Big Story: The Unicorn Velocity
Parloa hits $3B valuation following a $350M Series D
The Berlin-based conversational AI platform is proving that enterprise automation is where the real scale is happening. This round cements their global leadership in AI customer service, signaling that “agentic AI” has moved from hype to high-stakes enterprise integration.
Harmattan AI secures $200M Series B to become Europe’s latest defense unicorn
Aerospace giant Dassault Aviation led this round into the Paris-based autonomous drone specialist already nicknamed “The European Anduril.” As Europe pushes for strategic autonomy, Harmattan is leading the sovereign defense tech charge with Programs of Record already signed with the French and British Ministries of Defence.
Mannheim’s osapiens hits unicorn status with $100M led by BlackRock and Temasek
Sustainability and supply chain transparency are no longer “nice to haves.” This investment from Decarbonization Partners (a BlackRock/Temasek JV) confirms the massive institutional appetite for ESG-tech that unifies compliance with radical operational visibility.
Aikido Security disrupts AppSec to hit a $1B valuation in record time
Reaching unicorn status in just three years with a $60M Series B, Aikido proves a lean, developer-first approach can beat bloated incumbents. Their rise reflects a market shift where engineering teams, rather than just CISO offices, drive security adoption.
Cast AI joins the unicorn club with strategic backing from Korea’s Shinsegae
Following a strategic investment from the Korean giant, the cloud cost optimization platform has officially crossed the $1B threshold. This milestone reinforces the Baltic tech scene’s strength and the global demand for autonomous, cross-cloud efficiency.
Pennylane reportedly preparing $200M round with TCV and Blackstone
According to l’Informé, the French accounting unicorn is set to raise nearly $200M. The entry of heavyweights like Blackstone and TCV suggests an aggressive European expansion to consolidate its position as the financial operating system for SMEs.
🇪🇺 Deals of the Week
🔍 The Deep Dive
HOLYWATER (CreativeTech) | Series A | €19M
The Deal: Kiev-based AI-first media company introducing innovative approach to content creation raised €19M.
The Investors: Led by Horizon Capital, backed by US investor Endeavor Catalyst, and media and entertainment production firm WheelHouse
The Analysis: HOLYWATER is riding the wave of studio-quality, short-form digital storytelling. Their ecosystem includes My Drama for micro-dramas, My Passion for digital book publishing, My Muse for AI-generated vertical videos, and Freebit for ad-supported vertical streaming. By cracking the code of Gen Z content consumption, Holywater is perfectly positioned to capitalize on the booming micro-drama market, which is rapidly expanding from Asia into Europe and the US, while capturing the vertical streaming shift led by TikTok.
What’s Next: The funding will enable the development of more shows, expansion into more genres, and the optimization of their proprietary distribution engine.
Luna Systems (Mobility) | Seed | €1.5M
The Deal: Dublin-based AI-powered camera systems that improve safety for cyclists and motorcyclists through real-time alerts and post-ride analysis secured €1.5M.
The Investors: Led by Fundracer Capital and EIT Urban Mobility, backed by Enterprise Ireland.
The Analysis: While cars have been equipped with collision alerts, blind spot detection, and other safeguards for years, cyclists and motorcyclists remain exposed to significant unnecessary risks. Luna Systems tackles this safety gap by pioneering computer vision applied to Advanced Rider Assistance Systems (ARAS). They deliver high-performance monocular 3D reconstruction and low-latency edge inference, specifically optimized for constrained compute environments. This translates into two core products:
A Dual AI camera system for direct integration by vehicle manufacturers, including safety features typically reserved for cars, positioning the company as a long-term tech partner rather than a standalone gadget maker.
A consumer product: an AI camera for cyclists connected to a smartphone app that records incidents and maps post-ride data to identify dangerous road segments.
As urbanization and eco-consciousness drive more people toward cycling, providing tech for everyday users, where existing innovations are usually reserved for professionals, represents a massive untapped addressable market.
What’s Next: Finalizing production-ready AI camera hardware, launching their first consumer-facing product, and expanding OEM integrations for e-bikes and motorcycles.
⚡ Deal Flow
🇮🇪 Equal 1 (Semiconductors) — €52M: Dublin-based quantum semiconductor startup developing silicon-based quantum computing technology.
🇫🇷 MyCophyto (AgTech) — €16M Series A: Pioneer tech in the field of biostimulants and soil regeneration.
🇩🇪 NetBird (Cybersecurity) — €8.5M Series A: Berlin-based open-source network security platform providing European VPN alternative.
🇨🇭 Ahead Health (HealthTech) — €5.1M Seed: Zurich-based AI-powered preventive healthcare platform.
🇨🇭 Alphalum (Hardware) — €3.6M Series A: Lausanne-based optics and sensing platform for smart glasses.
🇬🇧 Verna (ClimateTech) — €3.5M Seed: Platform turning nature recovery programs into measurable action through software-driven environmental impact monitoring.
👉 See the full database of 70+ rounds from this week: here.
💸 New Dry Powder
Spotlight: Rosberg Ventures 🇬🇧 — €86M
Former F1 champion Nico Rosberg secured his third fund for a total of €86M, reaching a total of €172M AUM. His winning strategy? Applying his learnings from Formula 1 to professional investing: taking the risk even when the chances are low and preparing well so that you can mitigate negative impacts whenever they come. With a dual strategy of FoF and direct investment in European startups, like it did with success stories Fuse Energy, Jack & Jill, or Black Forest Labs, Rosberg Ventures writes checks between €1M to €4M.
Other Fund Launches:
🇩🇰 BioInnovation Institute (€736M): Massive backing from the Novo Nordisk Foundation for Life Sciences to support life sciences and deeptech startups across Denmark and Europe.
🇩🇪 DTCP (€500M) : A new dedicated vehicle for defense and resilience, targeting Series A to C with €20M average checks.
🇫🇷 Servier Ventures (€200M): Strategic corporate fund focusing on Oncology and Neurology.
🇳🇱 PureTerra (€150M): Water tech fund focused on global water scarcity solutions.
🇪🇪 e2vc (€100M): Fund III to support early-stage emerging Europe startups.
Thank you for reading !
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See you next week for more Tech & VC insights.
Best,
Agathe