Category: Technology

A coalition of European startups quickly asked measures to cover up stressful EU regulations in accordance with A Landmark explanation From the D9+ group digitally advanced nations.

The explanation emphasized the need to “eliminate barriers” and to simplify EU rules and procedures. Minister from all 13 countries in the D9+ Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden – signed the explanation.

They emphasized the need for a “checked digital rule book” that “is deregulated” if possible and “avoids unnecessary bureaucracy”.

A startup group asked the ministers to secure their words with actions. The S9+ coalition -Anglected to give startups a voice in the political agenda of the D9+-warning that the “excessive and fragmented regulation” of Europe had become a self-imposed barrier.

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“When this explanation plays a role, the next step is clear: D9+ countries must be in the [European] The Council for simplification, harmonization and reduction of the digital regulation of the EU – and to make Europe more attractive for investments, ”Peter Kofler, chairman of S9+ member of Dänischer Entrepreneurs, told TNW.

The S9+ argues that startups are the basis of economic growth. The claim is based on solid soil. According to Acalroom.co, only 0.01% of companies create 34% of all economic value – and everyone starts as startups.

However, Europe has difficulty making promising companies. Not a single EU company that has started over the past 50 years has a market capitalization of over 100 billion euros. During the same period, all six US companies were created with an assessment of over € 1 trillion.

Hopes and fears for EU startups

In recent years, Europe has fallen behind the USA in productivity and suffered from a declining share of global technical income. The leading startups of the continent now often look overseas. Between 2008 and 2021, almost 30% of European startups worth over 1 billion US dollars worth over 1 billion US dollars were relocated Your headquarters abroad. The vast majority moved to the USA.

Many of their problems in Europe are due to suffocating regulation. For example, the GDPR costs small IT companies over 12% of its profit, accordingly Estimates of three economists from the University of Oxford.

In an explanation The S9+itself warned that “Europe cannot regulate its way out of stagnation”.

The explanation suggests specific measures to tackle the problem. His recommendations are quickly implemented The 28th regime -A proposed individual rules for the entire EU and the provision of technical-friendly zones with regulatory “sandboxes” and a gradual increase in regulatory requirements.

The AI ​​regulation is a special concern for the S9+. The coalition asked the EU to develop a regulatory framework that promotes AI innovation and at the same time guarantees fair and open data access. New compliance frameworks that emphasized S9+ should be limited to what is “absolutely necessary” – and only be introduced after consulting startups.

The S9+ also emphasized the need to concentrate on aspiring companies instead of priorizing the requirements of traditional industry giants.

“Startups do not ask for a special treatment,” said Kofler. “We ask for a flat competitive area – for access to capital, data, infrastructure and markets. If Europe wants to close it 800 billion € Investment gap, it will not happen to give old subsidies of old players. It will happen by unleash the capital and the ideas, bringing the startups with them. “

European startups are the heartbeat of the TNW conference, which takes place in Amsterdam on June 19 to 20. Tickets for the event are now for sale. Use the Code TnwxMedia2025 on the check-out to get a 30% discount on the price.

Table of contents table a massive progress to solve the access problem

AI is strongly inserted into research and medicine. The results were quite encouraging from the discovery of medicines to diagnosis of diseases. But when it comes to tasks that come into the picture in behavioral science and nuances, things are twisted. It seems that an experienced approach is the best way forward.

Experts of Dartmouth College recently carried out the first clinical study of a AI chatbot, which was specially developed to provide help for mental health. The AI ​​assistant as a Therabot was tested in the form of an app among the participants, in which serious psychological health problems were diagnosed in the USA.

“The improvements of the symptoms we observe were comparable to what is reported for traditional outpatient therapy, which indicates that this AI-supported approach offers clinically meaningful advantages,” says Nicholas Jacobson, Associate Professor of Biomedical Data Science and Psychiatry at the Geisel School of Medicine.

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A massive progress

Dartmouth College

On the whole, users who deal with the Therabot app reported average reduction in depression by 51%, which contributed to improving their general well-being. A few participants went from moderate to low levels of clinical fear and some went even lower than the clinical threshold for the diagnosis.

As part of a randomized test for controlled studies (RCT), the team recruited adults, in which a serious depressive disorder (MDD), a generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and people with clinically high risk for feeding and eating disorders (CHR-FED) were diagnosed. After a spell of four to eight weeks, the participants reported on positive results and rated the support of the AI ​​chatbot as “comparable to that of human therapists”.

For people who are exposed to the risk of eating disorders, the bot helped to reduce the harmful thoughts of body image and the weight of approximately 19%. Likewise, the numbers for generalized fears fell by 31%after interaction with the Therabot app.

In addition to reducing the signs of anxiety, users who deal with the Therabot app showed a “significantly larger” improvement in the symptoms symptoms. The results of the clinical study were published in the March edition of the New England Journal of Medicine – Artificial Intelligence (NEJM AI).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fduhq6_fe9i

“After eight weeks, all participants who use Therabot experienced a significant reduction in symptoms that look at the statistically significant,” the experts claimed and added that the improvements are comparable to cognitive gold standard therapy.

Solving the access problem

“There is no substitute for personal care, but there is far from enough providers to go around,” says Jacobson. He added that there is a lot of scope for personal and AI-controlled help to get together and help. Jacobson, who is also a senior author of the study, emphasizes that AI could improve access to critical help for the large number of people who cannot access personal health systems.

Dartmouth College

Micheal Heinz, assistant professor at the Geisel School of Medicine in Dartmouth and the leading author of the study, also emphasized that tools such as Therabot can provide critical support in real time. It is essentially everywhere where users go, and above all, it promotes patients' commitment with a therapeutic tool.

However, both experts received the risks associated with generative AI, especially in situations with high commitment. A lawsuit against the character was filed at the end of 2024.

Google's Gemini -ai -Chatbot from Google also advised a user to die. “This is for you, people. You and only you. You are not something special, you are not important and you are not needed,” said the chat bot, who is also known that it fums something as simple as in the current year and occasionally harmful tips such as adding glue to pizza.

When it comes to mental health advice, the edge of the error becomes smaller. The experts behind the latest study are aware of this, especially for people with self -harm. Therefore, they recommend vigilance about the development of such instruments and the requirement of human intervention to optimize the answers offered by AI therapists.

Five high-flying scale-ups from the Benelux region have made it in Tech5 the “Champions League of Technology”.

The classic quintet is followed by an exclusive group of Europe's fastest growing technology company. In the next two months you will connect six other regions – the Nordic, southern Europe, France, the Baltic States, roof and Great Britain and Ireland – in a competition for the crown of the hottest scale eup on the continent.

The competition ends on June 19th to 20th, when the Tech5 champion is announced on the main stage by TNW conference. But first the competitors have to win their regional title.

The challengers from the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg were selected on the basis of an analysis of their growth, their effects and their future potential. Our assessment led us to the following five finalists who are listed in random order:

1. Datasnipper

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Date ripper has developed into a bright star of Dutch technology. Over 500,000 audit and finance experts in more than 125 countries are now using the AI-operated SCALEUP software, the repeated financial and examination procedure automatically.

The company was profitable early, scaled quickly and recently met an evaluation of USD 1 billion. Under the leadership of CEO Vidya Peters – one of the Star speaker At this year's TNW Conference Datasnipper, Deloitte has been classified as the fastest growing technology company in the Netherlands for two years in a row.

After success in Europe, the company expanded worldwide and opened new offices in New York, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur and Mexico City. “That was a big part of the growth of Datasnipper” TNW told last month. “Another invests in AI.”

2. Dexter Energy

Dexterergie Plans to change the landscape for renewable energies. In order to achieve this great ambition, the ScaleUp offers a AI-controlled forecast and trade as service for the short-term trading cycle. Due to profitable trade in renewable energies, Dexter Energy wants to accelerate the transition to a cleaner, more affordable energy future.

“With our products, we enable energy companies across Europe to unlock full Potential of their wind, solar and battery portfolios, maximize efficiency, profitability, And sustainability, ”the company told TNW.

These plans have progressed quickly since Dexter Energy was founded in Amsterdam in 2017. Last year, the ScaleUp reduced emissions that were produced by 100,000 households – a number that doubles annually.

3. Gorilla

Represented Belgium, gorilla Reinvent the business activity of individual energy dealers. The company provides customers with real -time data and analyzes, which leads to a faster pricing, more intelligent decisions and a complete visibility from sale to protection.

“Our ambition is to become the commercial brain of the energy retail,” Gorilla told TNW. “The effects? A more agile industry that can actually keep up with climate, politics and consumer changes.”

The Scaleup, founded in Antwerp-based scale-up in 2018, has teamed up with many of the world's leading energy providers, including Shell, Scottishpower, Engie and Centrica Business Solutions. The investors were impressed by the progress. Last year, Gorilla collected EUR 23 million in a round of series B from the US VC company.

4. Eye safety

The top cyber security is often inaccessible to SMEs. Solutions for corporate quality can be unaffectedly expensive and complex. As a result, countless companies are susceptible to cyber threats.

Eye safety Plant to change that. The Dutch Scaleup combines a around the clock managed security operations center (SoC), integrated cyber insurance and experts guided incident reaction to the tightening of the protective measures for SMEs.

The founders of the company have profound experience with digital threats. Before they started eye safety in 2020, all three national security employees were. They are now focusing on supporting the most endangered companies. “Our approach simplifies protection and combines the detection of the advanced threat with insurance in a seamless service,” the team told TNW.

5. Gain.pro

In the lucrative world of private market intelligence ,, Gain.pro This strives to define the global standard. The Fintech, based in Amsterdam, has developed a platform that discovered powerful knowledge in order to make investment decisions.

Within the platform, human curation and generative AI combine to find, understand and pursue companies that are important for every user. The advantages have attracted a famous list of customers – including all consultants from MBB (McKinsey, Bain, BCG) and Big 4 (Deloitte, EY, KPMG, PWC).

“Our platform brings together verified public information and company -owned findings and enables users to concentrate on high -quality work that really distinguish them from each other,” said Prog. “We make the world of M&A more transparent, efficient and fair.”

What's next for the Tech5 scale -ups?

All five of these scale -ups would make worthy winners for Benelux, but only one can triumph. The winner will soon be announced. Be excited next week to meet the challengers of the next region for the Tech5 title.

Tech5 is part of a complete program for TNW conferencewhich takes place on June 19 to 20 in Amsterdam. Tickets for the event are now for sale. Use the Code TnwxMedia2025 on the check-out to get a 30% discount on the price.

Table of contents table of the future of cancer biopsy? Solving important problems with cancer treatment

In the field of medicine, non-invasive surveillance is often seen as the most promising and most challenging Avenue for health care. For example, Apple is investigating non-invasive blood sugar monitoring on the wrist, while Samsung already implemented blood pressure monitoring on smartwatch-based.

In the event of serious problems such as cancer, however, a visit to the clinic is required, which entails expensive scans and complex diagnostic processes. For example, take the diagnosis of colon cancer. In order to search for cancer growth, endoscopy or colonoscopy is the preferred method in which a pipe with a camera is pressed into the body to accept a scan.

The future of cancer biopsy?

What if the intestinal scanning could be done from the body by using a non-invasive tool that is about the size of a penny? This is exactly what experts from the University of Leeds have achieved by creating a tiny magnetic robot that is equipped with a small ultrasonic sensor that can one day remove the need for a physical biopsy.

Storm Lab / University of Leeds

The movement of the robot within the body is checked externally with a large permanent magnet kit by a joystick. Remarkably, the rolling and curved movements can also be controlled autonomously. During the tests, it was able to record high-resolution 3D scans that are required for cancer diagnosis, and also anomalies such as lesions in the intestinal wall.

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The team initially created a unique form called Oloid, which offers more freedom with movement and can easily roll in the intestinal cavity. The uniquely shaped housing was then equipped with a high frequency sensor to absorb high-resolution 3D images of the intestinal walls. The entire approach is considered a safe, cheaper and targeted manner for wider applications.

A little more than two centimeters in diameter and resin material using a 3D printer, the oloid magnetic endoscope (OME) was tested on surfaces that imitate the human intestine, the food pipe and the stomach. After the tests in the artificial intestine, the team also confirmed its effectiveness in the pig insert, a necessary step before human experiments begin in 2026.

The external magnet controls the movement of the robot in the body. Storm Lab / University of Leeds

Pietro Valdastri, professor and chairman in robotics and autonomous systems at the institute, says that OME enables the diagnosis of colon cancer and offers immediate scan results. The latter part is crucial.

Solving important problems with cancer treatment

Current biopsia methods include collecting tissue samples and sending to laboratories that can last from days to a few weeks before the results arrive. The team says that the waiting interval between diagnosis and intervention has essentially eliminated.

“This is the first time that it was possible to create high-resolution three-dimensional ultrasound images that were recorded deeply in the gastrointestinal tract or intestine from a probe,” says the technical team behind the ome and adds that such a milestone has never been reached before.

For its robot device, the team was based on a 28 MHz micro-ultrasound array to create detailed 3D scans of the intestinal walls. Medical experts can use the collected data to create cross -sectional images that are achieved under a microscope to those of regular endoscopic evaluation by tissue analysis.

Storm Lab / University of Leeds

High frequency ultrasound recording is the key here, since experts can see intestinal wall data on microscopic levels. With OME, researchers have created a tool that opens the doors for a deep scanning within the human stomach intestine tract.

“This not only makes the process more convenient for patients, but also reduces waiting times, repetition processes and relieves the fear of potential cancer results,” says Nikita Greenidge, leading author of the research published in Science Robotics Journal.

The experts are confident that OME can open the doors for significant progress in the detection of cancer and the subsequent treatment processes.

Blackrock, the world's largest asset manager, has launched its first Bitcoin product in Europe, a step that industry experts say, will help to legitimize cryptocurrencies in the mainstream financing.

“This is a groundbreaking development for crypto that shows trust in Bitcoin for mainstream investments,” said Meryem Habibi, Chief Revenue Officer at the Cryptocurrency Trading Platform Bitpace, TNW based in London.

“With this first in Europe, Blackrock not only legitimizes the asset class, but also paves the way for increased participation in institutional and retail,” she said.

The BlackRock product is referred to as “Ishares Bitcoin ETP” (Exchange-traded products). ETPs have investors buy and sell Bitcoin without having the cryptocurrency directly. They are traded on stock exchanges and pursue the Bitcoin price.

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This enables investments in Bitcoin's price movements via a traditional broker account without needing a digital wallet or doing the complexity of the direct purchase of Bitcoin.

“ETPS offer institutional investors to access crypto without exposing themselves to the risks,CCO from Coincover, said TNW.

This type of investment vehicle gains dynamics worldwide. Investors have already cast a combination $ 50 billion in Blackrocks Bitcoin ETPS in the USA.

“If Blackrock's success in the United States is doing something, this will generate considerable tributaries from institutional cash [in Europe] – Positivated the Bitcoin price and helps to promote the acceptance of crypto as an essential good for a balanced portfolio. ” Said Yeung.

Europe's ETP landscape

While Europe took over slower ETPs than the United States, it is now opening up. This is partly thanks The EU's Mica regulation (Mica), which occurred at the end of last year.

Legislation offers a clear and structured framework for the introduction of new products. In the US, the supervision is more fragmented.

In the past year, Europe had the management of USD 12 billion ETP assets. While this is still amazed compared to the United States (57 billion US dollars), it represents a tenfold increase compared to 2020.

With regard to the investment options, Europe is home to 135 ETPs – much more than the USA (35).

The biggest ETP emitters in Europe last year were the co-shares based in the USA, the 21-shares group in Switzerland and the London headquarters, etc. Pursue knowledge.

James Burnie, FinTech expert at the British law firm Gunnercooke, told TNW that Blackrock's entry into the Europa's maturing ETP market was an additional boost for the sector. “It will be traditional finances with dealing with crypto assets,” he said.

“In view of the fact that the cryptoma markets are now already considered the main hostility, such movements are now less effective,” he added. “Soon the exam will be more on a large traditional player who is not in the industry.”

Habibi -echoes Burnie's feelings for the ripeness of the sector. She argues that Blackrock's step is a more comprehensive trend of “blurred traditional finances with digital assets”.

“Crypto is becoming more and more aligned with everyday finances,” she said.

The United States has long understood a simple truth: war is not won alone, but by speed and creativity. In fact, innovation was always decisive in conflict. Armor made a knight until the crossbow came. High walls protected cities until cannons appeared. The trenches were outdated by rapidly moving mechanized forces. The lesson: A military that is not innovative is one that falls back.

Nevertheless, Europe remains an outdated model of the procurement of defense – one that favors a handful of inflated contractors who do the same old thing about the fresh ideas of startups and entrepreneurs. Against the background of serious geopolitical unrest and diplomatic realignment, this has to change.

The gap between the USA and Europe in the defense innovation is striking. At least 25% of the US defense contracts go to small companies – startups and specialist companies that build up future conflict technology. This is not an accident. The US government has intentionally promoted an environment in which defense innovation thrives.

The key to success is the agency for defense research projects (DARPA), an institution that supports risky but potentially transformative projects, and the defense innovation Unit (DIU), which helps the military to adopt aspiring innovations. Her projects also had enormous effects on civilian technologies. For example, it was Darpa financing that led to the first self-driving cars. Many engineers took part in a Darpa challenge that offered teams that could develop autonomous vehicles that were able to navigate difficult terrain without human interventions. This led to the start of Waymo, an autonomous vehicle company worth 35 billion GBP.

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In contrast, Europe remains connected to a outdated system. In Great Britain, a handful of defense companies dominate the government's procurement and leave little space for disruptive newcomers in critical areas such as Advanced materials. On the continent, defense startups are treated as speculative companies rather than an essential participant for national security. The result is an industry that moves too slowly, costs too much and the dynamics that is required for modern warfare are missing. In addition, private investors regional cultural reluctance to defend money and they have a problem.

It is ironic that this culture, which was deliberately promoted after two world wars to avoid inter-European conflicts, is now becoming an obstacle to the protection of Europe. In other words, the largest peace project in the world is now threatened if it is not taken to take the necessary steps in order to become conflict.

Europe needs a new ecosystem for defense technology

Nowhere are the costs of our complacency more clear than in Ukraine. There the war was redesigned by innovation. Small, nimble startups have built up the inexpensive drones that decrease enemy tanks worth millions. Engineers fresh from the university are programming weapons that would have been unthinkable a decade ago. This is the nature of modern warfare: high-tech, decentralized and under the direction of those who can repeat and adapt the fastest.

I personally emphasized the political decision -makers in my home Germany that it not only supports a very dangerous dependency on some suppliers to support new technology trids. These suppliers could dictate terms or hold back critical resources in times of crisis.

Europe has to rethink its defense industrial strategy from scratch – and then start moving. The first step is the common procurement. A fragmented defense market on which every country insists on having its own suppliers and prefering its own national champions only weakens Europe as a whole. We have a variety of Incompatible weapons systems for this reason. Europe could set up a basic standard for shared procurement and could create a defense ecosystem that is more competitive, cost -effective and more resistant.

Second, supply chains must be diversified and checked. The war in Ukraine has uncovered how endangered the supply networks in Europe are for disorders. A continent that cannot reliably produce and distribute the materials required during war is a continent that has already lost the fight. The guarantee of a constant and safe river of critical resources should be a priority and not a subsequent thought. There are serious gaps in our supply chains. These have to be closed – quickly.

We have to support entrepreneurs

The European governments also have to change the way they think about procurement. Startups cannot thrive if they are excluded from large contracts from the start. Governments must follow the US model: funds take brave ideas, calculated risks and support innovators before They prove themselves on the scale.

Defense innovations do not occur in session halls of established companies. It happens in the laboratories and workshops of those who are willing to challenge the status quo. The financial risk of supporting these young, hungry entrepreneurs is placed in the shadow by the threats for security, which can result from neglect.

European investments in defense startups are absolutely important and I deliberately choose this word. Nowadays a single drone can paralyze a convoy. A well -placed electronic war tool can make an air defense system useless. A targeted electromagnetic impulse (EMP) that is detonated via the continent could darken Europe overnight. AI-controlled jamming can make enemy satellites blind. These technologies shape the future of warfare. They exist now and they are increasingly accessible.

In short, the conflicts of the future are not obtained by people with the largest armies, but by people with the best technology, the fastest decision -making and the most adaptable systems. The European governments are already behind the competition. If you don't act now, you may be permanent.

It is time for Europe to see what the United States has understood for decades: innovation wins wars. And innovation begins to disturb with those who dare.

Northvolt was fueled by $ 15 billion for financing and should be Europe's success story – a local champion that can compete with Asian and American giants.

So when Northvolt registered bankruptcy last week after months of months of months Job cuts, restructuring and several failed attempts to collect more money, it gave the ambitions of Europe a massive blow to increase the domestic production of lithium-ion batteries that lead everything from EVS to smartphones.

According to Northvolt's steep fall of mercy, all of politicians and investors to their own employees of the company expressed their opinion about what went wrong. Her explanations include hard competition, extremely expensesAllegations of mismanagementAnd lack of state support.

Northvolt may be bankrupt, but the fight for a strong European ecosystem is far from over. This is the consensus of several tech investors and startups that we have spoken to in the past few weeks.

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Creation of a sustainable and competitive battery value chain in Europehowever, will be littered with challenges. One of them – competition from the east – can be insurmountable.

The continent faces two clear options: cooperation with the industry giants Asia or build a stronghold at the next border of the battery technology.

China threatens great

Northvolt was in sight to conquer 25% of the European battery market by 2030 in the hope of taking care of Chinese and South Korean companies. Together these two nations delivered Europe with 90% of its batteries last year.

While Northvolt stalled – no achievement of his goals and the loss of important customers – Chinese batteries closed one deal after the other with European car manufacturers. Remarkable among them were Gotion's partnership with Volkswagen and Catls Joint Venture with Stellantis to build a Lithium battery factory of EUR 4.1 billion in Spain.

Asian battery manufacturers have also expanded their reach in European startups. In 2023, Gothion acquired 25% of Slovakia in Inobat. The startup of the battery has been collected to USD $ 400 million to date, with Gothion being a great supporter.

“While Gothion and Inobat are pursuing very different strategies and are completely independent, Inobat has benefited from Gothion's many years of success, experience and know-how to avoid fatal mistakes”, CEO and co-founder of Inobat ” Marian Bocek tells TNW.

Gothion and inobat have formed a joint venture to build a lithium-ion battery system of € 1.2 billion in Slovakia, which were intended for completion in 2027. The batteries are intended for EVS and electric aircraft.

Inobat builds a smaller giga factor in Slovakia to produce batteries for high-performance electric vehicles. The tests for European car manufacturers, including Ferrari.

The British solid battery company Ilika is another European hopeful that uses China's battery superiority. Graeme Purdy, TThe company's CEO named a lack of “Asian partnerships” as a potential reason for the downfall of Northvolt. “Global cooperation offers the strongest way to commercial success, ”he says TNW.

Ilika sends its first pattern to 17 car manufacturers this year, the company said. Instead of building a gigafactory, the outfit, based in Great Britain, plans to licens its technology for other companies. Ilika has a long -standing research partnership with the Japanese automotive giant Toyota.

For European startups, the attraction of the partnership with East Asian battery makers is obvious. You have the efficiency of the technology, scaling and supply chain that is missing in Europe.

However, this trust is associated with risks.

Opportunities and threats

The dependence on Chinese companies has triggered several concerns. Trade Disputes, geopolitical tensions or sudden export restrictions could bring battery supply chains to chaos or even cancel existing agreements so that European companies are looking for alternatives.

Tom Johnstone, a preliminary chairman of Northvolt, has asked European politicians to invest strongly in local battery startups instead. “There are costs to pay for it, but there can be larger costs so as not to pay” Finance times. He hopes Europe the foundation “use” that Northvolt had provided to set up its own competitive battery industry.

A Northvolt Gigafactory in Sweden's icy north made Europe's first lithium-ion battery in Germany in 2021. Credit: Northvolt

Northvolt's business in Sweden is now for sale. Volkswagen, Scania and Volvo are all potential buyers while some others Experts believe A Chinese company will acquire business.

In both cases, Danijel Višević, partner and co-founder of the largest Climate Tech VC in Europe, World Fund, is of the opinion that European startups should draw their attention to promoting the next generation of the next generation from the next generation.

“When it comes to Lithium iron -phosphate (LFP) batteriesChina won, “he says.

Recharge the Europe's battery sector

Louis Fearn, director at Inmotion Ventures, Jaguar Land Rover's investment arm, argues that Europe should change its strategy. “The way forward for Europe will be not to concentrate on the challenge of China, but on securing raw materials of domestic substances and researching border technologies.”

Europe's aspiring battery player could do good to bet on the next border of the battery technology where the field is still open.

Kevin Brundish, CEO of the Dutch Batteryer Lionvolt, agrees. He is firmly convinced that Europe's know-how in the next generation of the next generation of “keeps the dream of the sovereignty of the battery under control”.

“Our robust ecosystem of startups and scale-ups is already pioneering breakthrough technologies in silicon and lithium-metal anode innovations that are essential for the next generation high-performance batteries,” Brundish told TNW.

LionVolt turned from the Holst Center from Tno to Eindhoven, the Netherlands, in 2020. The startup works on a 3D Lithium metal anode This improves energy transmission in lithium ions, sodium ions and in the future in the solid-state batteries.

LionVolt is an up -and -coming cohort of startups that want to disturb the status quo of the battery creation. Leydenjar, also from Eindhoven, makes Silicon anodes This can save up to 10 times more energy than conventional graphite tanes used in lithium-ion batteries.

Spinoff Molyon at Cambridge University has developed A Lithium-sulfur battery The It claims that the double energy density of lithium ions is twice as high. Swedens Energy builds a factory that power Zinc-ion batteries For energy storage, which is not based on lithium supply. Carbonx in the Netherlands develops alternative anode material China checked Graphite.

While most of these startups focus on sub -components, there can also be a place for larger players.

A way to battery independence

France's call was probably the only European candidate to Northvolt. Supported by Renault, Verbor has secured 3 billion € for a 16 -GWH gigafactory in Dunkirk, set To Produce batteries for 300,000 EVs annually when they are completed at 2028.

“Europe can build an end-to-end value chain for batteries; in fact Batteries are important components of both climate and defense technologies that depend on our sovereignty“, Says Višević.

For this, Europe has to invest, otherwise its battery ambitions could reach Northvolt. This requires risk capital, but also considerable public financing.

Inobat's Bocek says that Europe has to give car manufacturers an incentive to buy local batteries, just like with feed-in tariffs for renewable energies a decade ago. “Financial support and fast approval is essential,” he says.

Northvolt's case is a warning story, but not the end of the street. If Europe wants the sovereignty of the battery, it has to act decisively and pour money goods where they are most urgently needed. While foreign powers like China will undoubtedly be part of Europe's battery carriage for a while, the smartest step for Europe may not be to catch up, but to carve its own niche.

The technological sovereignty of Europe will be a hot topic at the TNW conference, which takes place in Amsterdam from June 19 to 20. Tickets for the event are now on sale. Use the Code TnwxMedia2025 on the check-out to get a 30% discount on the price.

Finnish startup distance technologies were created last year from Stealth with a technology that she claims that she can transform any transparent surface into a mixed reality display (MR). Now it has teamed up with Patria to beat the technology in the armored vehicles of the defense company.

The partners will jointly develop a head-up display for Patria's six-wheel drive Panzer staff carrier. The system points 3D-tactical data, terrain mapping and AI-controlled military knowledge directly onto the windshield. Military personnel enables to see in environments with low visibility such as darkness and smoke.

MR technology promises to remove the need for additional screens or chunky headsets. The display also remains hidden and prevents slight leaks that could show vehicle positions, said distance.

Urho Kontori, the CEO and co-founder of the startup, claims that the drivers will give the drivers “super-sensing skills”.

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“Creating XR heads-up displays that visualize mission-critical information on the windshield offers unprecedented speed, trust and decision-making on the battlefields of the future,” said Kontori, the former CTO of Varjo, another XR startup from Helsinki.

In contrast to standard heads-up displays in cars that project static or predetermined information onto the windshield, District's technology pursues the eye movements of the user and then shows the right field of light that matches where you are looking for.

The “brain” behind the system is a so -called context -related AI, A kind of artificial intelligence that understands and reacts because of its situation.

The distance can add its light field look via most LCDs. When users look through the screen, you can see a The computer-generated 3D light field mixed into the real world. That means Practically every transparent surface can turn into an MR window the windshield of a car, an F-18 fighter plane or a 6 × 6 tank vehicle.

An early prototype of the MR windshield. Distant said that Patria's final version would be of considerable quality. Credit: distance technology Oy and Patria

distance Allegations that the system can be able to “infinite” pixel depth, which means that it should cannot be distinguished from natural views. Kontori was undoubtedly inspired by his work at Varjo, which revealed the first in the world in 2023 Retina resolution XR headset.

The MR model for distance

The office left the shadow at the beginning of last year. “I am increasingly feeling that it is time for me to continue,” he said at the time in a LinkedIn post. “I leave Varjo and start something new. Nothing something that Varjo does … but pretty stunning.”

Distance is the new company. In fact, the company pursues a completely different approach than his former employer While Varjo headsets with lenses develop, distance offers the markety, aerospace and defense markets a glass-free XR technology.

In July last year, the startup was created with a prepared investment of $ 2.7 million from Stealth. Three months later it brought $ 11.1 million in a round listed by Google Ventures. Now the company wants to test its technology in the real world.

The cooperation between distance with Patria is part of the state-funded Ealliance program of the defense company, with which Finnish civil and defense technology companies are to be supported.

The partnership takes place when Europe increases defense expenditure in the middle of cooling conditions to the United States. Only yesterday, Germany tuned create a massive creation 500 billion € (€ 545 billion) for defense and infrastructure.

The European Space Agency has published the first large amount of data from its “Dark Universe” teleskoper -Euclid. What is in it could change our understanding of the dark matter and the expansion of the universe.

The data only includes a week Deep field pictures from three points in space. They only make up 0.4% of the huge areas that Euclid will grasp, which scientists say that they will be the largest 3D card in the sky that have ever been created.

WWith a scan of every region so far, Euclid has already discovered 26 million galaxies, each potentially contained millions of stars and billions of planets. The most distant of these galaxies are 10.5 billion light years away from the earth, which means that the pictures they see are almost as old as the universe itself.

The Euclidean map of the stars

The cat's eye fog, one of the most complex planetary fog that has ever been seen in space, as recorded by Euclid. Credit: ESA

Among all of these millions of galaxies are rare phenomena that are referred to as gravitational lenses or “Einstein rings” and are called such because they prove that Albert Einstein's prediction is inherited and leaning the light while crosses. The gravitational lensing occurs when a massive object like a galaxy or a black hole bends the light from a galaxy behind it – visible distortions or arches around the core of the galaxy.

In this new data system, Euclid has more than doubled the number of gravitational lenses that were recorded from space. Esa estimates that Euclid Euclid is If 100,000 strong gravitational lenses will be recorded by the end of her six-year mission, about 100 times more than currently known.

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Today's data has also resulted in an even more rare phenomenon: Double Gravitational Lensing, also known as the double source level as lensing. This happens when light flows from two distant galaxies through the same galaxy and causes a double -lensing effect.

Find double gravitational lenses

A collage of gravitational lenses from Euclid's first major data waste, which was published today. Credit: ESA

Take a look at the picture above and go into the fourth column, thirdly from below. The picture is weak, but you can see two outer arches and then two inner arches near the middle of the galaxy core. This is a double gravitational lens.

Double gravitational lenses could help scientists to better understand the dark energy and to understand the expansion of the universe, since an expanding universe will theoretically determine the angle of the arches.

“Lenses with double sources are extremely rare-few have ever been found,” said Euclidian consortium scientist Mike Walmsley at a press conference. “But we believe that we have already found four good candidates who already cover data about a fraction of the night sky from a week.

In order to find such rare phenomena that hide in the pictures of Euclid, the European Space Agency (ESA) has entered the help of thousands of volunteers and AI algorithms.

Euclids AI-Operated Galaxia finder

Euclid started in 2023, has So far observed about 14% of its total survey area. After completing the mission, the telescope will take pictures of more than 1.5 billion galaxies and send around 100 GB of data a day.

These pictures offer scientists unprecedented opportunities – and big problems when it comes to finding, categorizing and analyzing all objects in it.

In order to accelerate the process, the Euclidian consortium has developed an AI-driven Galaxy Spotter called “Zooobot”. The algorithm was trained by volunteers who scan pictures and identify every object, in the decades of work in civic science.

A collage of galaxies that were identified by AI and citizen scientists. Credit: ESA

From today's data waste, Zoobot put together a detailed catalog of 360,000 galaxies. Thousands From volunteers from the Space distorted The Citizen Science project then sorted the most promising candidates. So the gravitational lenses were identified.

“We are in a crucial moment in the fight against big surveys in astronomy. AI is a fundamental and necessary part of our process to fully use Euclid“S a big data record,” said Walmsley, who has worked on astronomical deep learning algorithms since the last decade.

A collage by Euclid Deep Field South, part of the night sky, which has never been recorded in detail before. Credit: ESA

The Dark Universum Explorer

Euclid Started with a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket by Cape Canaveral in Florida on July 1, 2023. There was its back First pictures In August of this year and in May last year, his First scientific data.

Euclid's mission is to give two of the most confusing secrets of the universe in light: dark energy and dark matter – and probably make up 95% of the cosmos. Scientists theorize that dark energy is responsible for accelerating the expansion of the universe and that dark matter acts as a cosmic glue that holds the galaxies together. However, the type of these components is still unknown.

In order to build up its 3D card of the night sky, the telescope uses two high-tech cameras: VIS that captures the cosmos in visible light and NISP, which measures the distances to galaxies and the expansion speed of the universe.

Euclid will offer us an unprecedented chronology of the history of the cosmos and help us to escape the secrets of the universe – and our own existence.

The three Deep -Field previews can now be examined in the Esasky App. Euclid Deep Field south herE, Euclid Deep Field Fornax HereEuclid Deep Field North Here.

The Dutch unicorn-Mews will most likely list in the United States instead of in Europe if the Hospitality Management Company goes public, said his CEO and co-founder Matthijs Welle to TNW.

“An IPO is one of the options that we would consider for the future, and if we put this route off, a list in the USA is the most likely option, although it is too early to specify further details about a potential list,” said Wellele.

“Most of the other vertical SaaS companies that are comparable to us are listed in the USA, where there are deeper capital markets and a strong presence of SaaS-focused investors and analysts.”

However, shaft emphasized that its current priority is growth.

“While we have thought about a possible exit, we are currently very focusing on one of the most exciting brands for the world's hospitality technology and undertakes to build one of the most exciting hotels for the hospitality technology,” he said.

MEWS, based in TNW City in Amsterdam, has built a cloud-based system that helps hotels and other hospitality companies to do tasks such as booking rooms, to get in and out of guests, to process payments and to manage household management. It also offers tools for reporting and analysis.

At the beginning of this month MEWS raised $ 75 millionAccording to the PitchBook data to $ 411 million to $ 411 million. So far, the company has acquired 12 competitors to increase its market share.

The scaleup rides rides persistent growth On a global journey to fuel its expansion. MEWS recorded growth of 50% in 2024 compared to the previous year, with the payment volume of more than $ 10 billion being processed and sales of $ 200 million exceeded. Last year, the Scaleup also received a unicorn status after collecting $ 110 million with $ 1.2 billion.

While things are going well at Mews, Welle is of the opinion that the Dutch government does not do enough to support entrepreneurs. “There is no plan for tech startups” in one recent interview. “That is the biggest problem.”

Growing concerns about Dutch plans for startups

Welle is not the only Dutch technology leader who is frustrated by the lack of support for aspiring companies.

Robert Vis, co -founder and CEO of Bird, announced last month that the company is planning to do most of his oooPerations from the Netherlands. He didn't crush his words either.

“Both the Haag and Brussels like to be more in meetings and talk more than they make shit” TNW toldAnd added that EU -political decision -makers “kill innovation”.

Job van der Voort, CEO and founder of Remote, an HR platform worth over 3 billion USD, believes that Europe as a whole does not do enough to promote the next big tech success stories.

Van der voort also warns that Strain of technical regulation Encouraging moves beyond the continent. “It always becomes unattractive to start and maintain a business here,” he told TNW last month. “That's why I say startups that they should leave Europe if they want to be successful.”

Van der Voort has followed his own advice. After he and Marcelo Lebre founded a remote in 2019, the partners decided to support the company in San Francisco. “It was just easier to start it there,” he said.

The future of Dutch technology will be a hot topic TNW conferencewhich takes place on June 19 to 20 in Amsterdam. Tickets for the event are now for sale. Use the Code TnwxMedia2025 on the check-out to get a 30% discount on the price.