Vodafone’s startup incubation joint venture Tomorrow Street has brought in more artificial intelligence (AI) and automation capabilities with the newest additions to its scaleup portfolio. Following the completion of its SCALEUP X acceleration programme in December 2023, Tomorrow Street has selected three AI-focused automation companies to join its family of scaleup partners: Emplay, Squirro, and Workato. The partner portfolio comprises eleven companies, more than half of which are based in the USA. They were chosen from a cohort of 20 companies over a six-month process designed to help find innovative scaleups that meet Vodafone’s needs. The common theme among the new partners is AI-based business process automation. The incubator is now “actively scouting for scaleup companies that excel in digital transformation and customer experience” and will start another cohort for the 2024 SCALEUP X programme this summer. https://www.telcotitans.com/vodafonewatch/tomorrow-street-adds-ai-and-automation-smarts-to-vodafones-scaleup-accelerator/7980.article

Vienna-based Elevator Ventures, a venture capital manager of Raiffeisen Bank International, announced on Monday that it has launched — EV II, a €70M Venture Capital fund, investing in innovative companies in the Series A and B stage. The VC will continue to support startups in Fintech & Beyond Banking with a €70M fund participation by RBI, Raiffeisen-Holding Niederösterreich-Wien, and Raiffeisen-Landesbank Steiermark. https://siliconcanals.com/news/startups/elevator-ventures-launches-70m-fund/

Blackswan Space has secured $800k in pre-seed funding round. The company, based out of Vilnius, Lithuania, is looking to develop software products for complex space & defense missions. The funding round was led by ScaleWolf, a hybrid accelerator and fund for defense tech with participation from Linas Sargautis, co-founder of NanoAvionics, Lemonade Stand, Baltic Sandbox Ventures, and Vladas Lašas – a serial entrepreneur and angel investor. https://www.satellitetoday.com/finance/2024/04/08/blackswan-space-secures-pre-seed-funding/

German agritech Weenat has raised an $8M Series C round for its meteorological sensors that help farmers conserve water. The funding will enable Weenat to expand across Europe. Founded in 2014, Weenat established itself by launching the first wireless weather station connected to a mobile application. Since then, the company has developed its R&D capabilities - enhanced by its acquisition of Waether Measures in 2021 - in order to cultivate in-house proficiency in engineering, machine learning, agronomy and metrology. Other investors in this round include Pymwymic, LIBERSET, and IDIA Capital Investissement. https://tech.eu/2024/04/09/weenat-raises-8m-series-c-for-water-monitor/

Austrian fintech startup Monkee, a pioneer in the area of "Save Now Buy Later" raised a seven-figure investment and is expanding its reach to over 150,000 account holders through a partnership with Vereinigte Volksbank Raiffeisenbank eG. This infusion of capital — the company has previously raised over €2.5 million — supported by new and existing investors, fuels Monkee's ambitions for further growth and expansion. The alliance with VVRB strengthens Monkee's product offering, particularly for long-term savings, and bolsters customer trust through a reputable banking partner. https://tech.eu/2024/04/10/monkees-save-now-buy-later-model-gains-momentum-with-new-seven-figure-investment/

German medtech spinout Enatom has received €900,000 to develop its holographic models of human anatomy, which give medical students with a VR headset the ability to study anatomical structures in 3D. The funding will be used to expand Enatom's technical and sales teams The round was co-led by LUMO Labs, NOM and UNETI Ventures and follows earlier funding from G-Force Capital and Triade Investments. Enatom was spun out of University Medical Center Groningen, who also provided financial support. https://tech.eu/2024/04/11/enatom-raises/

Berlin-based Torg, a B2B startup digitising product sourcing to bring buyers and suppliers together, has raised an oversubscribed €2.7M Seed round to transform food & beverage sourcing with its AI-powered platform. The funding will fuel the company’s platform development, supplier database expansion, and the creation of more “intuitive” tools to streamline sourcing processes. The investment was led by Connect Ventures. Existing investor FoodLabs and new investors, including Sondo, Ventures Together, Sameer Singh, and Jonas Meynert (co-founder of Lanch), also participated. https://siliconcanals.com/crowdfunding/torg-raises-2-7m/