📅 Sep 29 – Oct 3, 2026 | Read time: 5 mins
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ElevenLabs doubled its valuation to $22B in six months without raising a single dollar of primary capital. Oura’s IPO, once one of the cleanest exit stories in European healthtech, is on hold. Nscale closed its pre-IPO financing at $3.36B and filed for NYSE. And Germany’s Reverion raised €154M to run data centres on fuel cells at 74% electrical efficiency.
📰 News of the Week
ElevenLabs reaches $22B, six months after $11B
The AI voice company completed a $300M tender offer in which employees and existing investors sold part of their shares, at a $22B valuation. In February, ElevenLabs raised a $500M Series D at $11B. The buyers include new investors such as GIC, EQT, and Goldman Sachs.
Oura delays $15B US IPO
The Finnish smart ring maker cited market uncertainty and said it has “the luxury of choosing its moment.” Revenue is expected to grow 90% in 2026. The delay is notable given the company had been one of the most anticipated European tech listings of the year.
Nscale closes $3.36B pre-IPO financing, files for NYSE
The London AI cloud company closed convertible notes led by Third Point, with Nvidia, Apollo, Citadel, Abu Dhabi Investment Council, and Wellington Management also participating. Nvidia’s $1B tranche is due in November. Nscale has filed for NYSE under NSQL targeting around $35B.
Nubank walks away from Monzo (update from W39)
Nubank scrapped acquisition talks less than a week after they became public, after its own share price dropped sharply. A standalone IPO is now the more likely path for Monzo.
🇪🇺 Top Deals of the Week
Nscale | $3.36B convertible notes | United Kingdom | AI Infrastructure | Third Point, Nvidia, Apollo, Citadel, Abu Dhabi Investment Council, Wellington Management
Reverion | €154.2M Series B | Germany | CleanTech | Kembara
Voi | €150M RCF | Sweden | Micromobility | Undisclosed
Breye Therapeutics | €67.5M Series A | Denmark | Biotech | Mission BioCapital, Novo Holdings
Metaview | €53.1M | United Kingdom | HR Tech | Insight Partners
Aptadir Therapeutics | €40M Seed | Italy | Biotech | 4BIO Capital
Restate | $20M Series A | Germany | AI | Singular, Redpoint Ventures, Capital One Ventures
IPercept | $16.5M Series A | Sweden | Industrial AI | Isogon Ventures, 2150
🚪 Exits
Onomondo | Acquired by Aspirity Partners | €100M+ | Denmark | IoT / Connectivity
🔍 My Personal Favorites
Foundational | SpaceTech | €9.6M Pre-Seed | Inflection, Backed, Final Frontier, Adjacent, Type One Ventures
London-based startup automating Satellite Laser Ranging to track satellites and orbital debris with millimetre-level accuracy, exiting stealth this week.
SLR technology spun out of Lumi Space, backed by both ESA and the UK Space Agency
Ground stations are fully automated, weatherproof, and up to 30x less expensive than legacy SLR stations
Customers already include ESA and multiple UK government departments
Osavul | Cybersecurity | €8.5M Series A | 33N Ventures, Balnord, G+D Ventures, 42CAP
Luxembourg-based AI platform scanning open-source and online data to detect hostile disinformation and threat campaigns before they materialise.
Founded by Ukrainians Dmytro Plieshakov and Dmytro Bilash in response to Russia’s invasion
Technology used by NATO for AI-powered monitoring across public and commercial data sources
Expanding from governments into critical infrastructure: energy, airports, ports, financial services
DOD Solution | DefenceTech | €1.8M Pre-Seed | Defence Builder Fund, UAID Fund, WildField Ventures, Draganfly
Estonian-Ukrainian company building AURA AI, an onboard autonomy platform for drones that enables navigation and terminal guidance when GPS or communications are degraded.
AURA AI has already been used in combat operations in Ukraine
Draganfly (Canadian drone company) joined as strategic investor
Building toward NDAA compliance for North American defence markets
💸 New Dry Powder
Headline EU VIII | $400M | Europe | AI, seed and Series A, European founders
DIG Ventures Fund III | $120M | Europe | AI-native enterprise and cloud infrastructure
Sofinnova MD Start IV | €82M | France / Europe + US | Building MedTech companies from scratch, 6-8 new companies over 5 years, oversubscribed
LAUNCHub Ventures Fund III | €65M first close (target €75M+) | CEE and Southeast Europe | Early-stage tech
Eureka Ventures | €20M | Italy | Deeptech startups
EU Scaleup Fund update: The €5B fund managed by EQT can already invest in UK companies despite the UK not being a formal contributor, per Sifted. It can also back US-headquartered companies with European roots. France had sought to block UK participation.
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See you next Monday.
Agathe