Should anyone tell you that preparing for an event is a piece of cake, run. Run far and fast. In case you don't know what I'm alluding to, it's crunch time here at Tech.eu as we gear up for our annual Summit in just 12 days' time. We've got an incredible roster of speakers lined up, and I personally can't wait to geek out on the quantum computers and space tech panels I'll be hosting.But the news cycle is a never-ending beast and it's been a busy week. Let's get you up to speed:01:49 - Paris-based EV charging infrastructure builder Driveco has raised €250 million in a new funding round.02:10 - Jolt Energy announced a €150 million investment from InfraRed Capital Partners to bring its ultra-fast charging stations to urban areas across Europe and the US.02:24 - A few weeks ago, Helsinki-based electric vehicle charging platform Virta also raised €85 million in a new funding round.02:41 - Shell struck a deal to acquire the evpass EV charging network in Switzerland.02:55 - Tesla drops prices in Spain as it goes head-to-head with Wallbox.03:23 - The E-20 highway.04:32 - What is the ultimate charging tune?05:00 - "In Norway, the Electric Vehicle Future Has Already Arrived"06:07 - Where was the first electric vehicle made? Dan thought it was Dr. Porsche in Vienna, but Nick knows the real deal.07:11 - Fiona weighs in on the Baltics and promotes Robin's appearance on The Pursuit of Scrappiness podcast.08:12 - The Scaling of Ecosystems panel with ARC CEO Stuart Grant, Maria 01 CEO Ville Simola, and BeCentral Co-founder and MD Laurent Hublet.10:30 - In contrast to Robin admitting that he doesn't make predictions on Episode 8 of Selected - The Sesamers podcast, Cate is going out on a limb and predicting ...11:03 - Green software to be the next big thing.11:25 - The ICT sector is responsible for up to 3.9% of global emissions — almost as much as the airline and shipping industries.12:20 - Cate spoke with Dr. Huamin Chen, a Senior Principal Software Engineer and Sustainability Technical team lead at the Red Hat about project Kepler.15:31 - Doing more with less.16:44 - Aiiii Carumba!17:32 - IBM goes BIG on AI.18:02 - Hugging Face, the darling of open-sourcing everything AI launches transformers agent.19:39 - Google I/O. Ohhhhhh.22:08 - Humane is starting to creep out into the world.22:59 - Everseen is using AI to help companies keep tabs on inventory. And announced a €65 million raise this week.24:22 - 23-year-old Snapchat influencer Caryn Marjorie used OpenAI’s technology to create an A.I. version of herself that will be your girlfriend for $1 per minute. Caryn. CAAAAARRRRRYYYN!25:41 - RewindAI turns the tables on investors and comes out winning big.26:44 - The EU's new rules and regs on AI - we're going deep next week. Promise.27:30 - Wingcopter announced the raise of €40 million this week alongside a pilot project that will see the drone maker flying high above German skies and delivering groceries to remote locales. Now, if Getir gets Flink and essentially creates a monopoly in the groceries-to-your-door space, do they have aspirations much bigger than just snacks? I can think of a certain book distributor that certainly went down that path.31:25 - All good things must come to an end, and so it is with Pirate Summit.All this and a whole lot more on this week's Drive at Five!

Aaaaaand we're back! Due in part to the Tech.eu editorial staff being here there and everywhere last week, the Drive at Five took a breather, but to make up for the absence Nick Stevens sits in to provide a comprehensive rundown of what went down in the world of AI this week and what the implications are.But that's not all:02:21 - Sky News reports that European e-scooter giant Tier Mobility is working with bankers at Qatalyst Partners to explore their options for a potential merger with or an outright sale of the company to one of its rivals.05:25 - The Tech.eu Summit is happening on the 24th of May in Brussels. The agenda and full speaker lineup are now live!06:17 - Ahead of the Summit, Fiona interviewed Caroline Farberger where she revealed, "I genuinely thought that the playing field was even when I lived as a man, but I only had to live as a woman for a few months to realise how wrong I had been, how little I understood."07:39 - Fiona also spoke to Tech.eu Summit edtech panelists Svenia Busson, co-founder of the European Edtech Alliance, and Manna drone delivery CEO Bobby Healy about bridging the divide between the education system and real-world employment.11:28 - AI. What a week. Nick breaks down how the employment of AI is affecting the employment of humans, most notably at Chegg, Shopify, and IBM.14:37 - The Guardian reported that a UK competition watchdog launches review of AI market.14:45 - The White House announced new actions to promote responsible AI innovation that protects Americans’ rights and safety.15:07 - The godfather of AI, Dr. Geoffrey Hinton left Google to speak out about the dangers of AI. 16:03 - A leaked document indicates that open source AI will outcompete both Google and OpenAI.19:11 - Istanbul-based Getir, who most recently raised approximately $500 million, is in talks to acquire German competitor Flink. 22:12 - At risk of a Nasdaq delisting, Lilium says it needs to raise $250 million, Tencent puts up $100 million at first close and offers more, but with a caveat.All this and more on this week's Drive at Five!

Hey, you did it! You made it through another week, but did you catch all the European tech news that's fit to print? If the answer is no, well you've come to the right spot. Now kick off those shoes, grab an icy (or steaming) beverage of your choice, and let us get you up to speed on everything that went down.Note: Please take care when removing said shoes, as it's generally frowned upon at the pub, in the tube, and can be a safety hazard whilst driving.Up this week:01:08 - 4/20, a day that will live in infamy, the day the blue tick died.02:26 - Robin discusses haircuts, specifically valuation haircuts.02:41 - Getir's raised a bunch of cash again, but has seen its valuation nearly halved to $6.5 billion.04:07 - Things aren't looking so good for Berlin-based fintech N26 and its valuation has been decreased to around $3 billion, down from a high of $9 billion.04:57 - CulturePulse raised "just shy of $1 million" in a seed funding round and is possibly de-spamming the spam?07:49 - RebelTech raised €1.5 million to help clean up the tech refurbishing process. And they're using frickin' laser beams!09:29 - Rovio. Angry Birds no more after a €706 million acquisition by Sega?12:42 - French EV maker Kate wants to get a brand new ride in your hands at a starting cost of €15,000.16:22 - John Reynolds is back with a comprehensive look at the European BNPL industry, highlighting the players worth knowing, their positioning, the rise of B2B BNPL, regulation, and much more.16:59 - Lawmakers in the European Parliament this week approved a package of rules aimed at regulating the cryptocurrency industry, aka MiCA.All this, and a whole lot more on this week's edition of the Drive at Five.

It’s not every day that we hear of a new automotive startup. Automotive accessories, parts, innovations, sure, but a full-blown tyres-to-top, bumper-to-bumper creation? Not so much.But in less than three months since announcing the acquisition of another French EV specialist, one that’s built upon the legacy of the Mini Moke, a lesser-known cousin to the iconic British Motor Corporation builds, the Mini, Kei-car inspired auto builder Kate announces today that it’s secured €7 million in a seed funding round.In an interview with Kate CEO and co-founder Matthias Goldenberg, he revealed that the €7 million will be used to accelerate R&D activities around the company’s upcoming K1 vehicle, as well as begging the development of the assembly line process.With every automaker under the sun making their own play in the hybrid and/or all-electric four-wheeled mode of transportation sector, does the world really need another player? According to Goldenberg, most certainly yes.“We have a lot of electric cars on the roads already, but the new thing is to reduce the size of the car. When you see the figures of usage of cars, you see that 98% of journeys are under 80 kilometres. And this generates 11% of CO2 emissions,” explained Goldenberg. “Right now, the car is becoming less efficient, more expensive, larger, heavier. That’s crazy.”And while in 2021, SUV sales accounted for 48% of the passenger car market in China, Goldenberg is betting the future of Kate on the shift from a bigger is better mentality will occur through necessity.“This shift will occur because of the price of the car. Today, if we would like an electric car, it’s €40,000 or €50,000. It’s very expensive and it's just impossible for all people to buy this.”Kate’s coup de grâce lies in the fact that its four-person, four-wheeled, 450kg people mover will debut at a price of just €15,000. To put that into perspective, adjusted for inflation, one of the most iconic people carriers of all time, the VW Beetle would cost in today’s EUR, €14,664, weigh 200kg more than Kate’s K1 and be powered by dead dinosaurs that have to be extracted from the ground and produce CO2 emissions whilst in use.The company is now taking orders for its Original model, a completely revamped version of the NoSmoke, a model which while offering owners the same ear-to-ear smile the vehicle has been capable of since 1959, Goldenberg admits that the vehicle is functioning as a testbed, or MVP, for the under-development flagship model the K1. Alongside real-world R&D testing and research within the Original, sales of the company’s first offer are also being used to partially fund the continued development of the K1.All in all, Goldenberg and Co. remain incredibly optimistic about what they’re working on, “With its modern design and exceptional performance, the K1 is destined to become one of the most iconic cars of our time.” And if the Beetle drew the map, the K1 appears to already be plotting its course.During our podcast/audio interview, I received a personal invitation to travel to Paris for the unveiling (and potentially a head-to-head race with the co-founders) and will report back in the coming month as to whether Kate’s K1 really is made of The Right Stuff. 

Live and direct from the Tech.eu newsroom, it's been a short week, but topics abound.This week we're talkin':00:57 - Spotted Zebra raised a seed round of $1.8 million for its workforce platform. Fiona sees this as great news for the skills gap sector, as the 'zebras are 'powering the shift to skill-based organisations’.01:24 - Lithuania’s SME Finance added another €100 million to its pot thanks to London-based Fasanara Capital.01:45 - Czech Republic has a new investment fund for AI start-ups. (AISI) AI Start-up Incubator is aiming to raise €20 million to support early-stage AI-driven companies.02:03 - CampX by Volvo Group announced that they will also be adding a focus on fintech innovations going forward to ‘better support their customers with productivity and sustainable solutions’. 03:10 - OpenAI’s ChatGPT is entering a world of regulatory pain in Europe.03:20 - Would you like to see the video version of these podcasts? Hit us up on the Tweeters and let us know.06:16 - Who's enforcing this? Is this like a Sicilian task force?08:00 - The horse has already bolted.08:24 - Remember EyeEm? Well, it looks like they're now ByeEm. Here's the story. 😞08:45 - Robin sold a photo. 10:39 - Lifetime earnings: $4.28.15:45 - Cate brings us death tech. Again. I'm starting to sense an obsession. 20:27 - Do they have to be dead?20:44 - I want to be smoked after I'm dead.22:37 - Robin's one more thing: Raspberry Pi has received fresh investment from Sony’s semiconductor unit.24:24 - Could it get me a beer?All this and a whole lot more on this week's Drive at Five!

Up this week:01:10 - Tech startup tackles Ireland's housing crisis by connecting buyers with vacant properties.08:27 - Quantexa raises a $129 million round at a $1.8 billion valuation.09:37 - Acorns has acquired GoHenry.11:49 - Parisians have voted to ban rental electric scooters in their city.12:32 - Fitfck, the dating app for ‘fit as’ singles, launches with an OnlyFans connection.15:53 - Hyperjob raises €435k to bring marketing tactics to the recruitment process.17:14 - Electric boat maker X Shore sees bow lift after €26.6 million raise.18:08 - Electric motorcycle producer STILRIDE pulls back the curtain on final design, reveals price.All this and a whole lot more!

As to be expected, lots of wheeling and dealing this week with a news cycle that was ringing off the hook. To put it mildly, if we discussed everything that happened this week, this show would run well into the wee hours of the morning.Up this week:01:10 - No Label Ventures - the new VC Firm for immigrant founders02:55 - Ireland has a new sustainability accelerator programme and everyone's invited06:25 - Norway’s 1X raised $23.5 million in OpenAi-led round, and is working its robots into the security sector. What could possibly go wrong?10:11 - Tech Nation is in talks with Founders Forum Group. Yay!12:35 - Isar Aerospace closed a €155 million round, while Virgin Orbit called it a day and is shuttering its doors effective immediately.15:00 - The European Champions Alliance is helping scaleups maintain and foster innovation in Europe. Suhweeet!18:38 - There's another event that's also helping scaleups maintain and foster innovation in Europe. Hint: May 24, Brussels.19:36 - Fiona's one more thing. That she forgot. No Lable Ventures helps folks with visas.20:28 - Robin's one more thing. By Dan. Sweden's Zound Industries turned the partnership up to 11 and acquired Marshall.All this and a whole lot more on this week's episode of the Drive at Five.

Well alright, alright, alright. Spring has sprung and what would a week without a little controversy be? This week we're looking at Hedonova and Carbonomy, or not, the JET and some not-so-nice labour actions, ridiculous funding round names, SerenityNow, DeepDrive's neck breaker of a new EV drivetrain, and Ferrari getting h4x0r3d, again. And one more thing: a Neobanks Report to end all neobanks reports.Keen listeners will recognise that we've taken a staple of the show and moved it from the very end to the very beginning. Because lulz.Up this week:00:50 - Shady actors called Carbonomy and a questionable-at-best hedge fund named Hedonova.06:16 - Tech.eu has invited Hedonova to join us for a rebuttal in a video interview format.08:11 - Just Eat Takeway, the sage continues as it said on Tuesday it will reorganise in Britain, ending an employment model called Scoober by which it employs its own couriers. 08:43 - SCOOBER!12:39 - HeavyFinance raised €3 million in a seed round aimed at fuelling expansion efforts.12:48 - Social fitness app GoJoe bags a sports star and £1.2 million in its Seed round.13:26 - emma raised $6 million in Seed funding to hire engineers for no-code platform.13:45 - Finland’s MVision AI raised €5.4 million for an AI-powered Cancer treatment planning platform.14:07 - Fiona gets creative with funding round nomenclature.15:32 - After seven years bootstrapped, IntegrityNext takes on €100 million via EQT Growth. 15:49 - Serenity NOW!17:47 - Lieferkettensorgfalts­pflichtengesetz.18:55 - i Ventures. iPod? iPad? iPhone? i Series cars ... lightbulb moment.19:16 - BMW i Ventures shifts €15 million DeepDrive’s way.20:10 - Italia’s pride tarnished as the Prancing Horse of Ferrari falls prey to ransomware.22:05 - Winningest. It is a word.22:46 - One more thing: A Neobanks Report. Go read it. Lots of numbers. And a pretty table.All this and a whole lot more on this week's episode of the Drive at Five!

Digital currencies. Love 'em, hate 'em, or ambivalent about 'em, the financial instruments are here to stay. But for all the volatility that we've seen in the markets, where exactly does Europe stake its claim in the ecosystem? And what's the deal with MiCA?I sat down with Membrane Finance co-founder and CEO Juha Viitala, and Maki.vc Partner Paavo Räisänen to find out.In this episode:02:19 - Intros and who and what Membrane Finance is, and why it matters.03:25 - What's the big deal with crypto and what's the Golden Promise?04:33 - Where it all started and where we're going.07:40 - Why is crypto plagued with horror stories?08:50 - What's the deal with the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation?09:20 - What's a stablecoin?10:27 - Who's backing the majority of stablecoins and why isn't it Europe?13:00 - A safe haven. In a good way.14:25 - Well-timed regulation.15:45 - The EUROe, a stablecoin that's tied to the Euro.17:38 - The digitally native Euro.19:32 - Where can I get my EUROe?20:42 - Better regulation in the EU market.21:43 - A "safe gateway".23:00 - The European standard.23:56 - Maki.vc's take on Membrane Finance and European crypto.

Providing one of the biggest language learning platforms on the planet, Berlin-based veteran tech scale-up Babbel has only raised a little over $30 million to date. An IPO attempt in 2021 failed to materialise, but that doesn't leave the company desperate for funding - at all. We saw down for a good (remote) chat with CEO Arne Schepker to learn more about its current status, and future plans.Babbel, the edtech company behind the eponymous popular subscription-based online language learning service, is not exactly a spring chicken anymore. Born back in 2007, the scale-up has - weirdly - picked up no more than $30 million in funding to date, despite running one of the biggest subscription-based language learning businesses on the planet.Or maybe it's not despite but thanks to that status, as the company - now with more than 1,000 employees - is generating enough cash not to think about external funding all that much. It also doesn't need to think about pursuing an IPO any time soon, which in this market is hard enough as it is.Babbel famously launched an IPO on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in 2021, but those plans were cancelled rather quickly.But meanwhile, the company kept on growing, got really big in the US, and continues to hire at a fast pace.More than enough reasons to sit down for a chat with Babbel CEO Arne Schepker, who joined the company back in 2015 and seems to have enjoyed the rollercoaster years that followed.You can watch the interview above or directly on YouTube.Also read:By helping displaced Ukrainians learn a new language, Berlin's Babbel tries to make a difference