Summary: Leading funding rounds in Europe during the week of 23–29 March.

      A week encompassing semiconductor physics, orbital logistics, defense interceptors, and carob-based chocolate highlights the diverse range of European and closely related capital at this moment. The main theme is not confined to one particular sector but rather involves a unified approach: support the infrastructure layer, whether it pertains to chip interconnects, satellite transfer vehicles, or the AI systems that underpin enterprise workflows.

      Kandou AI – $225M Series A | Lausanne, Switzerland

      Kandou AI, a Swiss semiconductor firm established in 2011 and recently renamed from Kandou Bus, has secured $225 million in a Series A round led by Maverick Silicon, with strategic involvement from SoftBank, Synopsys, Cadence Design Systems, and Alchip Technologies, giving it a valuation of $400 million. The company’s copper interconnect technology, utilizing a signaling method called Chord, offers bandwidth increases of two to four times while reducing power consumption by half, positioning it as a potential substitute for the optical interconnects anticipated to dominate AI infrastructure.

      Air Street Capital – $232M Fund III close | London, UK

      Air Street Capital has successfully closed its third fund, totaling $232 million, making it the largest solo GP venture fund raised in Europe, as reported by Sifted. The London-based firm, led by Nathan Benaich, invests in AI-focused companies at early stages and typically writes initial checks ranging from $500,000 to $15 million, with a limited allocation for growth-stage investments, up to $25 million.

      Granola – $125M Series C | London, UK

      Granola, the London-based AI meeting application, has raised $125 million in a Series C funding round led by Danny Rimer at Index Ventures, valuing the company at $1.5 billion, a sixfold increase from its valuation of $250 million less than a year ago. This funding round brings its total financing to $192 million and positions Granola’s meeting recording capabilities as enterprise AI infrastructure rather than merely a productivity tool.

      Ysios Capital InceptionBio – €100M fund | Barcelona, Spain

      Ysios Capital, the largest life sciences venture capital in Spain, has introduced InceptionBio, a €100 million fund exclusively aimed at developing biotechnology firms from spinouts of Spanish universities and research centers, with CDTI serving as an anchor limited partner. The fund aims to tackle the riskiest and often overlooked stage in biotech, transforming lab discoveries into viable companies with sufficient capital to achieve the preclinical data necessary to attract institutional investors.

      Credo Ventures – $88M Fund V close | Prague, Czech Republic

      Credo Ventures has finalized its fifth fund, amounting to $88 million, marking its largest fund to date, and an increase from the €75 million fourth fund closed in 2022. This continues its fifteen-year strategy of providing the first institutional investment for founders in Central and Eastern Europe and their diaspora. The

      Prague and Krakow-based firm, which made early investments in UiPath and ElevenLabs, typically writes checks ranging from $1 million to $5 million at the pre-seed stage.

      360 Capital – €85M deeptech fund | Paris, France

      360 Capital, a Paris-Milan venture capital firm managing over €500 million in assets, has raised €85 million for a new deeptech fund backed by at least one European defense prime. The firm is shifting towards dual-use technologies at the intersection of software, hardware, and national security. This fund clearly aligns European defense ambitions with a deeptech investment strategy, a trend observable among several continental funds.

      PaperShell – €40.3M EU Innovation Fund grant | Tibro, Sweden

      PaperShell, a Swedish deeptech company that produces structural composite materials from kraft paper and a biobinder derived from agricultural waste, has signed a Grant Agreement with the European Commission under the EU Innovation Fund, unlocking €40.3 million as part of an €83 million project aimed at expanding its Tibro facility to a capacity of 23,000 tonnes per year by 2030. The material, which has been NATO-approved and is being shipped to customers in construction, defense, electronics, and transportation, is claimed by the company to be stronger than plastics and lighter than aluminum.

      PAVE Space – $40M seed | Renens, Switzerland

      PAVE Space, a 2024-founded Swiss startup spun out of EPFL’s student rocketry program, has raised $40 million in one of the largest seed rounds ever in the European space sector, led by Visionaries Club and Creandum. The company aims to develop a fleet of orbital transfer vehicles that can move satellites from their launch orbit to their operational orbit in less than 24 hours, compared to the six to twelve months typical of current onboard electric propulsion.

      Lace Lithography – $40M Series A | Bergen, Norway

      Lace Lithography, a Norwegian startup established in 2023 by physicist Bodil