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Welcome to another edition of 🔍 Startup Researcher - Europe, your essential digest delivering the latest news and premium insights on startups and venture capital across the region 🌍
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📰 Important News
- UK government scrapped the proposed 20% exit tax on entrepreneurs after backlash, reinforcing a pro-business, innovation-friendly stance.
- AI pioneer Yann LeCun is preparing to leave Meta to launch a startup focused on machine reasoning and perception, reshaping the global AI landscape.
- Bumper gained FCA approval to offer regulated consumer credit in the UK, launching PayLonger to extend vehicle repair financing for drivers.
- Epidemic Sound launched Studio, an AI tool that instantly auto-soundtracks videos using its music catalogue, giving creators faster workflows.
- Proxify partnered with P10Y to add Stanford-based analytics to its platform enabling transparent real-time insights.
💸 Top Funding Rounds
- Zilch obtained $176.7 million in debt and equity to scale its AI payments platform across EMEA with new products and expansion plans.
- Manual secured a $120 million non-dilutive facility from General Catalyst to scale its GLP-1 men’s weight loss platform in the UK, Brazil, and more.
- FMC raised $116 million to commercialize its DRAM+ and 3D CACHE+ technologies for AI data centers and edge computing.
- T-Therapeutics expanded its Series A to $91 million to advance TCR-CD3 bispecific therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases in the UK.
- Amenitiz closed a $45 million Series B round to expand its all-in-one hotel software, improving automation, AI tools, direct revenue, and efficiency.
💰️ Notable Exits
- Einride is planning to go public via a $1.8 billion SPAC merger with Legato Merger Corp III to fund its autonomous electric freight expansion.
- Rumble announced plans to acquire Northern Data for up to $970 million, gaining 22,400 GPUs and data centers to expand into cloud and AI.
- DataCamp acquired Optima to launch an AI-native learning engine that personalizes data and AI courses for individuals, teams, and enterprises.
- EU-Startups was acquired by Hungary’s MeOut Group to scale its European startup media, events, and community while keeping editorial independence.
- Purple merged with Splash Access to build a more comprehensive and secure global WiFi platform for enterprise, hospitality, MDU, and education.
🏦 About Investors
- Zürcher Kantonalbankclosed a $216 million first tranche of Swiss Growth Fund II to back European growth companies.
- Oyster Bay VCclosed an oversubscribed $115.5 million Fund II to support European food tech focused on sustainability and innovation.
- Backed VC raised $100 million for its Backed 3 fund to support 100 frontier tech startups at pre-seed and seed stages.
- Vendep Capital secured $92.6 million for Fund IV to invest in early B2B SaaS startups across the Nordics and Baltics.
- Unconventional Ventures reached a $57.7 million first close for Fund II to back diverse European founders building scalable solutions.
🚀Startup of the Week
Introducing our Startup of the Week 🏆
Zilch
London-based Zilch, founded in 2020 by CEO Philip Belamant, is building a new kind of consumer credit platform around responsible Buy Now, Pay Later. Authorized by the FCA, it uses open banking data and soft credit checks to assess affordability while letting more than five million users pay interest-free anywhere Mastercard is accepted. The company recently raised $176.7 million in a mix of debt and equity led by KKCG and BNF Capital, alongside an expanded securitization facility with Deutsche Bank, to fuel marketing, product innovation and potential M&A. With AI tools like its Intelligent Commerce engine, Zilch aims to eliminate high-cost credit and rewrite the economics of everyday spending.
💼 Investor of the Week
Introducing our Investor of the Week 🏆
Oyster Bay VC
Founded in 2018 in Hamburg, Oyster Bay Venture Capital is an entrepreneur-led VC backing early-stage food technology startups reshaping the global food system. The firm, backed by institutional investors such as the European Investment Fund and KfW, typically leads Seed and Series A rounds and invests alongside its partners’ own capital. With Fund II, an oversubscribed vehicle of more than $100 million closed in late 2025, Oyster Bay is doubling down on sectors like ag-tech, food-tech, and sustainable materials, with portfolio standouts including GoodBytz, Nukoko, Arda Biomaterials, and Seedalive. Led by Managing Partner Felix Leonhardt andFounding Partner Christoph Miller, it aims to bridge the climate investment gap in food and turn impact-driven innovators into future champions.
🤑Opportunity Radar
Call for Applications: The Imagine H2O Accelerator
The Imagine H2O Accelerator is now open for applications until December 19, 2025, offering a zero-equity program designed to help early-stage water and climate tech founders scale globally. Startups gain access to world-class mentorship, pilot funding, investor networks, and a strong industry ecosystem, with participation open to teams worldwide. The 2026 program cycle begins soon, supporting innovators developing breakthrough solutions across water management, quality, access, and sustainability. Apply now to accelerate your technology and enter new markets.
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