Weekly TOP Startup / VC news of July 17, 2025

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European tech shows robust capital flow in July 2025. Insurtech unicorn Wefox secured €151M, undergoing strategic restructuring toward profitability and expanding its market footprint. XR pixel-streaming innovator Hololight raised €10M, targeting global distribution. EV charging platform Cariqa attracted €4M for European expansion, boosting climate tech. This period underscores Europe's dynamic innovation across AI, healthtech, and digital transformation. M&A activity remains brisk. Investors continue backing strategic growth and market leaders. Resilience marks the continent's tech ecosystem. Funding fuels core sectors.

Proptech innovator Huspy secured $59M Series B funding, led by Balderton Capital. This capital fuels global expansion. Huspy plans new markets in Europe and Saudi Arabia. It empowers real estate agents and mortgage brokers with advanced technology. The platform streamlines home buying, facilitating over $7B in transactions annually. Huspy is a top UAE mortgage provider. Its growth includes new AI tools. The company seeks talent. Goal: revolutionize global real estate.

Moonvalley, an AI research company, recently secured $84 million in new funding. This capital fuels development of its licensed generative AI video models. Their flagship platform, Marey, offers professional filmmakers ethical, production-grade tools. Total funding now reaches $154 million. The investment underscores a growing industry demand for AI that respects intellectual property. This move positions Moonvalley as a leader in responsible AI within the entertainment sector.

MOTOR Ai, a Berlin-based innovator, just secured $20 million in seed funding. This capital fuels their deployment of neuroscience-driven Level 4 autonomous vehicles. Their core technology offers unparalleled transparency and certifiability. It moves beyond traditional black-box AI models. Vehicles will deploy on German public roads this year, initially with safety drivers, phasing out by 2026. This approach prioritizes explainable decision-making, crucial for regulatory compliance and public confidence in autonomous driving systems. MOTOR Ai aims to scale its unique, certified solution across European markets, building a new standard for safe, trustworthy autonomy. They prioritize verifiable intelligence over opaque brute-force methods.

Ukrainian VC firm Flyer One Ventures launched its €50M Fund V. It targets early-stage tech startups across Ukraine and CEE. Backed by IFC and EBRD, this marks a significant milestone. It is the first Ukrainian VC to secure dual support from these international financial institutions. The fund fuels innovation, fosters digital entrepreneurship, and helps retain talent in the region. It signals strong global confidence in CEE tech, despite challenging market conditions. Flyer One Ventures' proven track record includes over 90 investments and two successful exits. This new fund drives global expansion for regional startups. It bolsters economic resilience and attracts further private capital into a dynamic tech ecosystem.

Comphya, a trailblazing Swiss MedTech firm, closed its CHF 7.5 million Series A funding. This capital propels CaverSTIM, their groundbreaking implantable neuromodulator. CaverSTIM restores erectile function, targeting men post-prostatectomy or unresponsive to oral medications. Early clinical trials in Australia show strong safety and efficacy. Patients maintained function without additional therapies. These positive results underpin an expanded Australian study and a new U.S. pilot study at Johns Hopkins. FDA approval already secures the U.S. pathway. A pivotal U.S. clinical trial is set for 2026. This funding revolutionizes ED treatment, offering a viable alternative to painful, outdated options. The company fills a critical unmet need in men's health. New CEO Pim van Wesel leads strategic growth. A Series B round will fund the pivotal U.S. trial. Comphya's innovation offers significant hope.

Spacelift, a leader in modern infrastructure orchestration, closed a $51 million Series C funding round. Five Elms Capital led the investment. Endeavor Catalyst and Inovo VC also participated. This capital injection propels Spacelift's mission. It will accelerate product innovation. It will expand enterprise adoption. Spacelift empowers organizations. It simplifies complex multi-cloud and hybrid environments. It provides AI-powered automation. The platform ensures robust governance and compliance. It integrates seamlessly with critical infrastructure-as-code tools. These include Terraform and OpenTofu. Spacelift is a key contributor to the OpenTofu project. This open-source initiative offers a viable alternative to commercial IaC solutions. The funding reinforces Spacelift's position. It is at the forefront of the evolving DevOps landscape. It drives unprecedented developer velocity. It redefines infrastructure management at scale. This strategic investment underscores market demand. Enterprises seek intelligent, intuitive automation. Spacelift delivers control and rapid scalability. Its platform serves diverse sectors. Finance, healthcare, software, and government industries use it. Spacelift's growth reflects its impact. It streamlines operations for global enterprises. The company's vision centers on an "operating system for infrastructure." This system bridges human intent with automated outcomes. It enables secure, cost-effective, and resilient IT. Spacelift’s platform empowers self-service. It includes guardrails. It applies policy everywhere. It keeps everything visible. It maintains version control. This ensures reliability for large teams. It reduces friction. It enhances governance. The investment fuels this ambitious roadmap. It strengthens Spacelift's market leadership.

Space manufacturing firm Varda Space Industries secured $187 million in new funding. This Series C round boosts total capital to $329 million. This investment accelerates its unique mission: producing pharmaceuticals in orbit. Microgravity enables new drug formulations. Varda has successfully made drugs in space. More missions are planned. The company pioneers an orbital economy. It is expanding labs and flight operations. This pivotal funding propels the next era of drug development. It signals a new frontier in pharmaceutical innovation.

Dubai's Xpanceo secured $250M in Series A funding, now valued at $1.35B. The startup, founded by Russian and Ukrainian innovators, will develop advanced smart contact lenses. These lenses aim for augmented reality, night vision, zoom, and real-time health monitoring. Prototypes exist; clinical trials target late 2026. This funding highlights the Middle East's robust tech investment climate, pushing the frontier of wearable technology. Miniaturization challenges remain.

INSHUR, a premier provider of on-demand mobility insurance, secured $35 million from Trinity Capital. This pivotal funding propels the company's aggressive U.S. expansion, critical AI research for underwriting, and development of autonomous vehicle solutions. INSHUR's innovative embedded insurance model supports drivers and platforms globally, evidenced by over 1 million policies sold in the UK. The investment solidifies its market leadership, accelerating technological innovation and reinforcing its strategic growth trajectory in the rapidly evolving mobility sector.

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