Newsletter EU Funding 2026-04-14

Funding & Investments

• Eka Ventures closed a £80M Fund II, becoming the UK's largest early-stage impact VC — targeting up to 30 startups in healthcare, climate, and inclusive access to core services.

• Europe's venture market reset in Q1 2026 with €20.2B in total funding despite declining deal count, as mega-rounds and AI capture an outsized share of capital.

• Last week in European tech: over 40 funding deals worth more than €720M tracked, plus exits and M&A activity across the continent.

• 14 billion-dollar startups were minted in Europe in the last year — the highest count in four years, spanning AI, defence, and fintech.

Startup Hubs & Accelerators

• New AI femtech competition in Portugal targeting endometriosis, fertility, and gynaecological cancers, aiming to unlock AI-driven insights from clinical and imaging data.

• Frontiers Health 2026 (October 20-21) has opened speaker applications — the premier European health innovation event focusing on digital therapies, AI, and investments.

Partnerships & Collaborations

• Accenture and Google Cloud unveiled a Brussels centre combining air-gapped cloud infrastructure and training to support Europe's most sensitive workloads — including healthcare data processing under GDPR/EHDS requirements.

Regulatory & EHDS

• CorTec becomes the first German BCI company to receive FDA Breakthrough Device designation for its brain-computer interface that uses direct cortical electrical stimulation for stroke recovery.

• Health systems should prepare now for increasing AI enforcement — analysis shows new enforcements could focus on governance, documentation and oversight, directly relevant to EU AI Act compliance planning.

Events & Conferences

• DMEA Berlin (April 21-23, 2026) — Europe's leading digital health event with 900+ exhibitors, 20,500+ visitors, and 470 speakers. Ticket shop is open now. Keynote by Federal Minister of Health Nina Warken.