Spain’s tech sector offers a view into Draghi’s ‘Innovation Gap crisis’

Sep27
by on September 27, 2024 at 7:23 am
Posted In: Uncategorized


This month, the European Commission published Mario Draghi’s long-awaited EU competitiveness report. Its key finding? The EU must overcome the innovation gap to prevent economic slowdown. According to the report, only four out of the 50 leading tech companies across the globe are based in Europe. In his address to the European Parliament, the former Italian premier said: “The core problem in Europe is that new companies with new technologies are not rising in our economy. In fact, there is no EU company with a market capitalisation over €100 billion that has been set up from scratch in the last…

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Arm: AI will turn smartphones into ‘proactive assistants’

Sep26
by on September 26, 2024 at 4:20 pm
Posted In: Insider


Arm wants to upgrade the brains inside our mobile devices. The chip designer — whose architectures power 99% of smartphones — envisions AI bringing a new wave of breakthroughs to our handsets. The company outlined this plan after the release of Llama 3.2 — Meta’s first open-source models that processes both images and text.Arm said the models run “seamlessly” on its compute platform. The smaller, text-based LLMs — Llama 3.2 1B and 3B — are optimised for Arm-based mobile chips. Consequently, the models can deliver faster user experiences on smartphones. Processing more AI at the edge can also create energy and cost savings. These enhancements…

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VC investment in European defence tech to hit record $1B in 2024, report finds

Sep25
by on September 25, 2024 at 11:01 pm
Posted In: Uncategorized


Following a five-fold growth since 2018, VC investment in Europe’s defence tech is set to hit a record year in 2024, as it’s on course to reach $1bn. According to a new Dealroom report, Europe is now at the heart of an investment surge, as governments turn to the defence tech sector to strengthen national security in response to escalating geopolitical instability. “As we face war on European soil for the first time in decades, the urgency to strengthen our security and build a modern defence software stack has never been greater,” said Jeannette zu Fürstenberg, managing director and head…

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London, Paris, Amsterdam are the leading VC ecosystems in Europe, report finds

Sep24
by on September 24, 2024 at 11:13 am
Posted In: Uncategorized


London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin are the leading VC ecosystems in Europe, but the region is significantly lagging behind the US and Asia. That’s according to the latest report by Pitchbook analysts, who ranked global VC ecosystems based on their development and growth level. They used data related to deals, exits, fundraisings, and overall activity from the last six years, between Q3 2018 and Q2 2024. The development rankings are based on size and maturity, while the growth rankings are based on short-, medium-, and long-term growth momentum. Only two European cities among the best-developed ecosystems Only London and Berlin…

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Future Tech Ventures launches with €20M fund for startups in Northern Netherlands

Sep20
by on September 20, 2024 at 2:48 pm
Posted In: Uncategorized


Future Tech Ventures (FTV), a new venture capital firm focusing on startups in the Northern Netherlands, officially launched yesterday in Groningen. FTV debuted with a €20mn fund that will support at least 50 high-tech startups in the proof-of-concept phase. The investment period is set between 2024 and 2029. “Startups are often in a very early phase where funding is difficult to secure, and there are significant risks related to technology, market, and team,” Niek Huizenga, fund manager at FTV, said in a statement. For this reason, the VC firm is also offering business support, networking opportunities, and guidance. The fund was…

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