A UK startup wants to build a cosmic radio station in the Moon’s orbit to listen to radio waves from the early universe. Blue Skies Space has secured a contract from the Italian Space Agency to design a fleet of tiny satellites that could orbit the Moon and listen for signals from the cosmic “dark ages.” That’s the time before the first stars lit up, when the universe was mainly a swirling mass...
Despite recent claims that European startups aren’t working hard enough, new research shows the continent’s founders are putting in serious shifts to turn their ideas into successful businesses. A survey of 128 founders by early-stage VC firm Antler found that three-quarters of them work more than 60 hours weekly, with 19% exceeding 80 hours. German founders emerged as Europe’s hardest workers,...
Consumer tech devices, including smartwatches, have deplorably short lives. Most are tossed aside when the screen cracks, the battery dies, or the software falls behind — adding to the world’s whopping great pile of e-waste. Scottish startup Una aims to upend this take-make-waste cycle. The company’s sports smartwatch is built to be repaired. Users can easily swap, replace, and upgrade ...
Five fast-growing Nordic scaleups have reached the finals of TECH5 — the “Champions League of Technology.” They join a standout quintet from Benelux, unveiled last week, in the race to be crowned Europe’s hottest scaleup. The Nordics — comprising Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden — boast just 27 million people but punch well above their weight in innovation. The region has Europe’s...
Future lunar bases could run on solar panels forged from molten moon dust, turning the Moon’s surface into an energy source, thanks to a new research breakthrough. Scientists at the University of Potsdam have engineered so-called “moonglass” solar cells made by melting artificial moon dust or “regolith” and then combining it with a layer of perovskite crystal to create a working solar panel. ...
Europe’s tech industry is bracing for impact after the Trump administration announced sweeping tariffs yesterday. The US slapped a 20% tariff on imports from the EU — twice the rate for the UK. Switzerland fared even worse, receiving a hefty 32% levy. Several European tech firms, investors, and analysts told TNW that the measures could disrupt supply chains, force pricing adjustments, and stem...
“Hello, I will be your driver for today,” says Bartek Szurgot, a software engineer at German startup Vay and my chauffeur for this ride. He disengages the handbrake, gently presses the accelerator and the new Kia Niro EV I’m sitting in slowly pulls out of the parking lot. As we approach the first intersection, Bartek indicates, turns the steering wheel, makes his observations, and drives out...
Google DeepMind’s reported clampdown on sharing research will stifle AI innovation, warns the CEO of Iris.ai, one of Europe’s leading startups in the space. The UK-based lab has tightened its rules on releasing AI studies, the Financial Times reported this week. Citing seven current and former DeepMind scientists, the newspaper said the company has introduced stricter vetting and additional...
Every entrepreneur has to overcome obstacles, but few have faced the challenges of Oleksandr Kosovan. As the founder and CEO of Ukrainian scaleup MacPaw, Kosovan runs his business in a country under invasion. The company has even been hit by missile barrages. As relentless Russian bombing and shelling pummel Ukraine, his team presses on with their work. In October, they released a new version of...
One of Europe’s leading climate tech VC firms has called for a “fundamental redesign” of traditional computing methods amid surging energy consumption from AI applications. The Berlin-based World Fund warns that simply transitioning data centres to renewable power will not be enough to fully decarbonise AI compute. “We need to rethink the way we go about computing, from the materials and chips...