Beyond Lovable and Mistral: 21 European startups to watch - BERITAJA
By: Albert Michael - Saturday, 02 May 2026 21:00:00 • 9 min read
Beyond Lovable and Mistral: 21 European startups to watch - BERITAJA is one of the most discussed topics today. In this article, you will find a clear explanation, key facts, and the latest updates related to this topic, presented in a concise and easy-to-understand way. Read more news on Beritaja.
Europe should beryllium known for BottleCap AI, not bottle headdress memes. With its tongue-in-cheek name, this Prague-based AI startup is 1 of the teams that VCs deliberation you should know.
It is not that European startups ne'er trim done the sound — Lovable and Mistral AI are impervious of it. But location are galore much that don’t person nine digits successful yearly recurring revenue yet and that insiders are still search very closely.
That’s wherever this database comes in. Over the past fewer weeks, we asked investors astatine immoderate of Europe’s champion known task costs to urge 2 startups each: 1 from their portfolio (because they liked the startup good capable to invest) and 1 extracurricular of it (because they are the startup experts but can’t put successful them all). We besides threw successful a fewer picks of our own.
From pre-launch to unicorn, these startups are astatine different stages successful their journey, and from different sectors. Due to our methodology, they whitethorn not bespeak wherever the region’s hottest hubs are, but they do bespeak really deep tech talent could thief Europe play its ain cards successful the AI race.
Alta Ares
Recommended by Julien Codorniou, wide partner, 20VC.
What it does: Alta Ares develops AI-powered counter-drone systems.
Why it’s worthy watching: Defense tech has gone from pariah to trending, peculiarly successful Europe, wherever the warfare successful Ukraine was a wake-up telephone for armies to modernize. Alta Ares’ interceptors reply a request for cheaper solutions to observe and conflict drone incursions.
Techcrunch event
San Francisco, CA | October 13-15, 2026
Apron
Recommended by Jan Hammer, partner, Index Ventures (investor).
What it does: Apron provides invoice guidance for mini business owners.
Why it’s worthy watching: SMBs could beryllium a lucrative conception for fintech companies; business owners are consenting to walk astatine slightest immoderate money to prevention time, and location are millions of them.
Botify
Recommended by Claire Houry, wide partner, Ventech (investor).
What it does: Botify helps brands summation their visibility successful AI searches.
Why it’s worthy watching: Companies are still scrambling to switch SEO pinch generative motor optimization (GEO) — but this Disrupt NY 2016 alum has already embraced the shift. Botify has competitors successful its caller field, specified arsenic Otterly.AI and Profound, but besides large customers, from Macy’s to The New York Times.
BottleCap AI
Recommended by Julien Codorniou, wide partner, 20VC (investor).
What it does: BottleCap AI develops efficiency-focused foundational LLMs and apps.
Why it’s worthy watching: With a founding trio that includes an entrepreneur who sold his erstwhile institution to Meta and 2 AI researchers, BottleCap adopted a dual approach. The startup is building its ain models and releasing apps built connected apical of them, including Pulse, an AI-powered news app.
Cailabs
Recommended by Flavia Levi, finance manager, Join Capital.
What it does: Cailabs develops photonics for aerospace, defense, and business applications.
Why it’s worthy watching: Cailabs is based connected precocious investigation connected the subject of light, which it now applies to faster and much robust information transmission. Backed by nationalist and backstage investors, it plans to deploy 50 optical crushed stations to support increasing request for laser communications pinch satellites.
Cailabs’ turnkey optical crushed station.Image Credits:CailabsCala
Recommended by TechCrunch’s Anna Heim.
What it does: Knowledge chart for AI agents.
Why it’s worthy watching: Cala plans to build the knowledge furniture that AI agents are missing. Its laminitis is Elisenda Bou-Balust, a high-profile Spanish entrepreneur and AI master who sold her erstwhile institution Vilynx to Apple successful 2020.
Flower
Recommended by Pär-Jörgen Pärson, partner, Northzone (investor).
What it does: Renewable power management.
Why it’s worthy watching: Wind and star power are inherently variable. Flower leverages AI and artillery power retention systems to make their usage much predictable. This Swedish institution besides precocious raised over $60 cardinal successful bonds to support connected scaling.
Fundamental
Recommended by Jonathan Userovici, wide partner, Headline (investor).
What it does: Foundation AI for large information analysis.
Why it’s worthy watching: Fundamental’s instauration model, Nexus, focuses connected helping enterprises tie insights from their data. The institution conscionable emerged from stealth successful February, but it is already weighted astatine $1.4 cardinal pursuing a $255 cardinal Series A.
Gradium
Recommended by Jonathan Userovici, wide partner, Headline.
What it does: AI sound models.
Why it’s worthy watching: Gradium’s AI models could beryllium utilized for real-time text-to-speech that gives AI agents a sound successful aggregate languages. A spinout of French AI laboratory Kyutai, this ElevenLabs challenger raised a $70 cardinal seed round of its own.
HappyRobot
Recommended by Pablo Ventura, wide partner, Kfund.
What it does: AI agents for analyzable usage cases.
Why it’s worthy watching: HappyRobot, a startup backed by a16z and Y Combinator, is 1 of galore building AI agents, but its attraction is connected making judge that these could beryllium deployed and present ROI. It is headquartered successful the U.S., but its 3 co-founders and portion of its squad are Spanish.
Inbolt AI robot successful deployment.Image Credits:InboltInbolt
Recommended by Claire Houry, wide partner, Ventech.
What it does: Physical AI for factories.
Why it’s worthy watching: Mixing AI and robotics, Inbolt improves and expands automation successful manufacturing, from the automotive manufacture and electronics to location equipment accumulation lines. The startup says it is already progressive successful much than 70 factories.
Legora
Recommended by Pär-Jörgen Pärson, partner, Northzone.
What it does: AI level for lawyers.
Why it’s worthy watching: With accrued title from mainstream LLMs, ineligible tech will besides beryllium about marketing. Grab the popcorn for Harvey v. Legora aft Legora one-upped its rival by enlisting Jude Law to beryllium the look of its brand. That’s 1 constituent for the Swedish-born startup, which is now headquartered successful New York but is still 1 of Stockholm’s rising AI stars.
Macrodata Labs
Recommended by Floriane de Maupeou, principal, Serena Data Ventures.
What it does: AI training information infrastructure.
Why it’s worthy watching: “Every beardown exemplary starts pinch awesome data,” Macrodata Labs claims connected its “coming soon” landing page. But the startup won’t build that data; its upcoming level will supply different companies pinch tooling to create coagulated training datasets.
Multiverse Computing
Recommended by TechCrunch’s Julie Bort.
What it does: Offers compressed versions of unfastened weight models for illustration OpenAI, Meta, DeepSeek, and Mistral AI.
Why it’s worthy watching: Multiverse Computing‘s tech takes a proven exemplary and makes it smaller and little costly to operate, particularly connected a company’s ain hardware. Co-founded by CTO Román Orús, a professor astatine the Donostia International Physics Center, the Spanish startup has raised $250 million.
Optics11
Recommended by Flavia Levi, finance manager, Join Capital (investor).
What it does: Fiber-optic sensing systems.
Why it’s worthy watching: Optics11’s exertion makes it imaginable to show instrumentality underwater and successful likewise harsh conditions. Its imaginable successful preventing disruptions to subsea infrastructure and power grids helped the startup unafraid task indebtedness from the European Investment Bank.
Pennylane
Recommended by Jan Hammer, partner, Index Ventures.
What it does: Finance guidance level for SMBs.
Why it’s worthy watching: Pennylane started retired with accounting, but it has bigger plans. Like galore different growth-stage fintechs, this French unicorn has expanded its scope, pinch the ambition to build a unified financial operating strategy for SMBs successful Europe.
PLD Space
Recommended by TechCrunch’s Anna Heim.
What it does: Launches rockets.
Why it’s worthy watching: PLD Space is portion of Europe’s push for abstraction autonomy. After successfully launching a suborbital rocket successful 2023, it is presently processing a reusable orbital launcher for mini satellites. Last month, the Spanish institution secured a $209 cardinal Series C round led by Mitsubishi Electric that brought its backing to much than $350 million.
PLD Space’s MIURA 1 abstraction rocket during its position successful Madrid successful 2021.Image Credits:Eduardo Parra / Europa Press via Getty Images / Getty ImagesProxima Fusion
Recommended by Daria Saharova, wide partner, World Fund.
What it does: Nuclear fusion.
Why it’s worthy watching: The title for an replacement to atomic fission is on, and Proxima Fusion is 1 of Europe’s strongest contenders. The VC-backed institution precocious secured $460 cardinal from the authorities of Bavaria to support its plans to build a fusion powerfulness works successful Europe, starting pinch a demonstration stellarator adjacent Munich.
Roofline
Recommended by Floriane de Maupeou, principal, Serena Data Ventures (investor).
What it does: Software for AI exemplary deployment connected precocious chips.
Why it’s worthy watching: University spinout Roofline bridges the spread betwixt AI and an progressively fragmented hardware furniture pinch package that lets users deploy models efficiently connected different types of chips.
Space Forge
Recommended by Daria Saharova, wide partner, World Fund (investor).
What it does: Space Forge manufactures semiconductor components successful space.
Why it’s worthy watching: In-space manufacturing is connected the emergence — for pharmaceutical applications and for chips, which are Space Forge’s focus. With other tailwinds from geopolitics, the startup is already forging ahead: It precocious generated plasma successful debased Earth orbit.
Theker
Recommended by Pablo Ventura, wide partner, Kfund (investor).
What it does: Robots arsenic a service.
Why it’s worthy watching: Theker is 1 of respective startups backed by Zara proprietor Inditex done a dedicated money managed by Mundi Ventures. Theker’s AI-enabled robots could thief the unit elephantine amended its logistics, but the startup is besides pursuing usage cases successful discarded guidance and nutrient and beverage production.
When you acquisition done links successful our articles, we whitethorn gain a mini commission. This doesn’t impact our editorial independence.
Related News
Subscribe
This article discusses Beyond Lovable and Mistral: 21 European startups to watch - BERITAJA in detail, including key facts, recent developments, and important insights that readers are actively searching for online.
