ASML backs €110M Dutch deeptech fund for quantum, semiconductors

Mar15
by on March 15, 2024 at 2:06 pm
Posted In: Uncategorized


The pride and joy of the Dutch tech ecosystem, ASML, has featured heavily in the news this past couple of weeks, after news broke the government was scrambling to keep the company in the country. However, ASML’s plans to potentially relocate due to difficulty securing talent and infrastructure bottlenecks does not mean it is not still actively supporting the Dutch tech ecosystem. The company has just contributed an undisclosed amount to Eindhoven-based DeepTechXL’s €110mn fund. The VC is  looking to invest in deeptech startups in the fields of quantum technologies, photonics, semiconductors, and other complex mechanical engineering. “DeepTechXL is much…

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UK fusion startup trials plasma-stabilising laser for ‘holy grail’ of energy

Mar15
by on March 15, 2024 at 11:27 am
Posted In: Uncategorized


British startup Tokamak Energy is testing a new type of laser that it says is “crucial” to stabilising fusion reactions — the same atom-fusing process that powers the Sun and promises to deliver virtually limitless, clean energy.   The Oxford-based company is building ST40, a donut-shaped machine that in 2022 became the first privately-owned fusion reactor to reach 100 million °C — six times as hot as the core of our closest star. This is generally regarded as the temperature threshold whereby fusion reactions can become self-sustaining.  During fusion, atoms merge together. This produces huge amounts of power in the form…

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French MoD taps 5 startups to develop fault-tolerant quantum computer

Mar14
by on March 14, 2024 at 4:35 pm
Posted In: Uncategorized


Quantum computers have an almost mythical status among data scientists and researchers. The dream of emerging out of the NISQ (noisy intermediate-scale quantum) era into a world of fault-tolerant qubits generating unbreakable encryption or solving climate change keeps many startups going despite difficult investment propositions with longer return horizons. But quantum technologies don’t only inspire wonder and excitement — they are also a growing geopolitical concern. More and more countries are setting up ambitious quantum strategies, and the US has placed export controls on equipment that supports quantum technology development to China. As part of its €1bn National Strategy for…

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UK looks to nature to train AI at 0.1% of the cost

Mar13
by on March 13, 2024 at 4:08 pm
Posted In: artificial intelligence, UK


Computing power to develop artificial intelligence does not come cheap. While you can build a simple AI chatbot for next to nothing, training a fine-tuned model on large data sets can cost millions of dollars. In order to lower the costs associated with training AI the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency, or ARIA, has launched a programme called Scaling Compute. The initiative is committing £42mn to find new, more economic alternatives to the energy-intensive hardware currently utilised to support the explosion in demand for compute driven by the arrival of generative AI. And it is encouraging funding applicants to…

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Brain stimulation tech wins €5M to fight depression at home

Mar12
by on March 12, 2024 at 4:45 pm
Posted In: Uncategorized


Depression affects approximately 280 million people all over the world, and disproportionately affects the female population — it is 50% more common in women than men. Treatments range from psychotherapy and lifestyle adjustments to antidepressants and more experimental concepts: brain stimulation therapies. Sooma, a medtech startup based in Helsinki, Finland, is focused on the latter. The company has developed a portable brain stimulation device for Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS). Its neuromodulation device is already the most prescribed tDCS therapy worldwide, with over 20,000 people having received treatment. Sooma announced today it has secured additional growth funding of €5mn to…

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