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Bunq has become the latest fintech to enter the crowded European stock trading market. The Amsterdam-based neobank yesterday announced its new Stocks product, which it claims is “tailored to digital nomads.” The Dutch bank already provides in-app portfolio investing options in environmentally-friendly companies. Stocks significantly expands the offerings. Users can now invest in popular US and EU public companies as well as multi-asset ETFs. Stocks on offer include Apple, Tesla, and Nvidia. For the first three months, there is no trading commission. This will then rise to €0.99 per trade. Users can buy and sell stocks in fractional shares, starting…This story continues at The Next Web

Bunq has become the latest fintech to enter the crowded European stock trading market. The Amsterdam-based neobank yesterday announced its new Stocks product, which it claims is “tailored to digital nomads.” The Dutch bank already provides in-app portfolio investing options in environmentally-friendly companies. Stocks significantly expands the offerings. Users can now invest in popular US and EU public companies as well as multi-asset ETFs. Stocks on offer include Apple, Tesla, and Nvidia. For the first three months, there is no trading commission. This will then rise to €0.99 per trade. Users can buy and sell stocks in fractional shares, starting…

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The United Arab Emirates, and Dubai in particular, has long been the gateway to the Middle East for international businesses. The Emirate is first in the world in terms of attracting Greenfield foreign direct investment and continues to attract major tech players, with Amazon, Google, Cisco, Oracle, Dell, and IBM all using Dubai as their headquarters in the MENA region. But recently, the city has become a haven for international tech startups looking to scale operations and reach new markets — attracting founders and investors from Europe to the Emirate. Most recently, London-based fintech Revolut, which set up a branch…This story continues at The Next Web

The United Arab Emirates, and Dubai in particular, has long been the gateway to the Middle East for international businesses. The Emirate is first in the world in terms of attracting Greenfield foreign direct investment and continues to attract major tech players, with Amazon, Google, Cisco, Oracle, Dell, and IBM all using Dubai as their headquarters in the MENA region. But recently, the city has become a haven for international tech startups looking to scale operations and reach new markets — attracting founders and investors from Europe to the Emirate. Most recently, London-based fintech Revolut, which set up a branch…

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London-based Convergence has raised $12mn in pre-seed funding to further develop its personal AI agents, which can learn using long-term memory much like humans do. Behind the startup are machine learning engineers Marvin Purtorab (CEO) and Andy Toulis (CTO). The duo met at Shopify while working on recommender systems and AI assistants. In 2023, they joined enterprise AI startup Cohere. In April 2024, they founded Convergence, assembling a team of Google DeepMind, Meta, and OpenAI alumni. Convergence’s Proxy AI agent has been developed for both employees and consumers. For employees, it can automate administrative and repetitive tasks and workflows to…This story continues at The Next Web

London-based Convergence has raised $12mn in pre-seed funding to further develop its personal AI agents, which can learn using long-term memory much like humans do. Behind the startup are machine learning engineers Marvin Purtorab (CEO) and Andy Toulis (CTO). The duo met at Shopify while working on recommender systems and AI assistants. In 2023, they joined enterprise AI startup Cohere. In April 2024, they founded Convergence, assembling a team of Google DeepMind, Meta, and OpenAI alumni. Convergence’s Proxy AI agent has been developed for both employees and consumers. For employees, it can automate administrative and repetitive tasks and workflows to…

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London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin are the leading VC ecosystems in Europe, but the region is significantly lagging behind the US and Asia. That’s according to the latest report by Pitchbook analysts, who ranked global VC ecosystems based on their development and growth level. They used data related to deals, exits, fundraisings, and overall activity from the last six years, between Q3 2018 and Q2 2024. The development rankings are based on size and maturity, while the growth rankings are based on short-, medium-, and long-term growth momentum. Only two European cities among the best-developed ecosystems Only London and Berlin…This story continues at The Next Web

London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin are the leading VC ecosystems in Europe, but the region is significantly lagging behind the US and Asia. That’s according to the latest report by Pitchbook analysts, who ranked global VC ecosystems based on their development and growth level. They used data related to deals, exits, fundraisings, and overall activity from the last six years, between Q3 2018 and Q2 2024. The development rankings are based on size and maturity, while the growth rankings are based on short-, medium-, and long-term growth momentum. Only two European cities among the best-developed ecosystems Only London and Berlin…

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As artificial intelligence continues to reshape the tech landscape, developers are increasingly faced with the task of selecting which programming languages are the most beneficial and effective in terms of AI development. Taking into consideration the rapid growth of AI and machine learning, is one programming language better poised to address the demands of this evolving field? Java has been a programming stalwart since its inception in 1995, and remains one of the most popular languages for web applications and big data processing, however, Kotlin, a relatively new kid on the block, is nipping at its heels. 5 jobs hiring…This story continues at The Next Web

As artificial intelligence continues to reshape the tech landscape, developers are increasingly faced with the task of selecting which programming languages are the most beneficial and effective in terms of AI development. Taking into consideration the rapid growth of AI and machine learning, is one programming language better poised to address the demands of this evolving field? Java has been a programming stalwart since its inception in 1995, and remains one of the most popular languages for web applications and big data processing, however, Kotlin, a relatively new kid on the block, is nipping at its heels. 5 jobs hiring…

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UK-based scaleup Beam, born from the recent merger of offshore tech companies Rovco and Vaarst, has launched the “world’s first” autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) driven by AI.   The mini-sub can perform complex underwater tasks with no human intervention whatsoever. There’s nobody piloting it, nobody directing it where to go, no need for pre-mission planning, the company says. However, a remote operator can take over if required.  The underwater drone is equipped with so-called edge AI. This is when AI models are deployed inside devices, instead of linking to them via the cloud, which is the case with generative AI…This story continues at The Next Web

UK-based scaleup Beam, born from the recent merger of offshore tech companies Rovco and Vaarst, has launched the “world’s first” autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) driven by AI.   The mini-sub can perform complex underwater tasks with no human intervention whatsoever. There’s nobody piloting it, nobody directing it where to go, no need for pre-mission planning, the company says. However, a remote operator can take over if required.  The underwater drone is equipped with so-called edge AI. This is when AI models are deployed inside devices, instead of linking to them via the cloud, which is the case with generative AI…

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The vaccine market might be a crowded one, but London-based Vicebio aspires to cement its own place within it. The startup announced today it has raised $100mn in Series B funding for the development of its next-generation vaccines for respiratory viruses. Vicebio aims to deliver vaccines that are highly effective, easy to manufacture, and ready-to-use in prefilled syringes. The key to achieving this result lies in using a novel approach called molecular clamp technology. The technology was first invented by Paul Young, Daniel Watterson, Keith Chappell, and their research groups at The University of Queensland in Australia. It is licensed…This story continues at The Next Web

The vaccine market might be a crowded one, but London-based Vicebio aspires to cement its own place within it. The startup announced today it has raised $100mn in Series B funding for the development of its next-generation vaccines for respiratory viruses. Vicebio aims to deliver vaccines that are highly effective, easy to manufacture, and ready-to-use in prefilled syringes. The key to achieving this result lies in using a novel approach called molecular clamp technology. The technology was first invented by Paul Young, Daniel Watterson, Keith Chappell, and their research groups at The University of Queensland in Australia. It is licensed…

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Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) is not a new topic in the European startup space — in fact, it’s been talked about and debated for years on end. Yet, when you follow discussions and investment patterns closely and work with enough seed- and early-stage startups, it’s apparent that the topic of ESG is also riddled with misconceptions. These are often perpetuated, shared, and fed by investors — and can be detrimental when digested by up-and-coming companies. In these challenging economic times, it may be tempting to deprioritise areas like ESG. But, this is precisely when we need to dig…This story continues at The Next Web

Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) is not a new topic in the European startup space — in fact, it’s been talked about and debated for years on end. Yet, when you follow discussions and investment patterns closely and work with enough seed- and early-stage startups, it’s apparent that the topic of ESG is also riddled with misconceptions. These are often perpetuated, shared, and fed by investors — and can be detrimental when digested by up-and-coming companies. In these challenging economic times, it may be tempting to deprioritise areas like ESG. But, this is precisely when we need to dig…

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NATO-backed Ephos announced today the opening of a production facility dedicated to glass-based quantum photonic chips — a world first, according to the startup. These chips can power quantum applications in computing, sensing, and communications, as well as improve the performance of classical computing. Founded in 2022, Ephos has developed a proprietary manufacturing process that enables it to move away from silicon and build photonic chips with glass substrates — the same material used in optical fibres. Photonic chips use photons (simplified, these are tiny light particles) to carry and process information. They also rely on optical fibres to enable…This story continues at The Next Web

NATO-backed Ephos announced today the opening of a production facility dedicated to glass-based quantum photonic chips — a world first, according to the startup. These chips can power quantum applications in computing, sensing, and communications, as well as improve the performance of classical computing. Founded in 2022, Ephos has developed a proprietary manufacturing process that enables it to move away from silicon and build photonic chips with glass substrates — the same material used in optical fibres. Photonic chips use photons (simplified, these are tiny light particles) to carry and process information. They also rely on optical fibres to enable…

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Future Tech Ventures (FTV), a new venture capital firm focusing on startups in the Northern Netherlands, officially launched yesterday in Groningen. FTV debuted with a €20mn fund that will support at least 50 high-tech startups in the proof-of-concept phase. The investment period is set between 2024 and 2029. “Startups are often in a very early phase where funding is difficult to secure, and there are significant risks related to technology, market, and team,” Niek Huizenga, fund manager at FTV, said in a statement. For this reason, the VC firm is also offering business support, networking opportunities, and guidance. The fund was…This story continues at The Next Web

Future Tech Ventures (FTV), a new venture capital firm focusing on startups in the Northern Netherlands, officially launched yesterday in Groningen. FTV debuted with a €20mn fund that will support at least 50 high-tech startups in the proof-of-concept phase. The investment period is set between 2024 and 2029. “Startups are often in a very early phase where funding is difficult to secure, and there are significant risks related to technology, market, and team,” Niek Huizenga, fund manager at FTV, said in a statement. For this reason, the VC firm is also offering business support, networking opportunities, and guidance. The fund was…

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