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Quantum Systems' €1B Round, Together AI's $800M & Europe's Defense Surge
Audio is available on Spreaker — see link below.
Europe's defense and deep-tech funding reached historic scale this week, led by Quantum Systems' €1B Series D and three major fund closes totalling over €1.5B. Plus: Ashton Kutcher exits Sound Ventures, Together AI raises $800M, and a Danish biotech emerges with a $2.2B licensing deal.
Audio is available on Spreaker — see link below.
Three separate European defense and deep-tech funds closed this week, pulling in over one and a half billion euros between them. That's the single clearest signal of where institutional capital is moving right now, and it's not toward the next AI chatbot.
Then there's Kembara, a Barcelona-based fund that announced a seven hundred and fifty million euro first close toward a one billion euro target. Their scope is broader, covering AI, robotics, clean energy, space tech, and defense at the Series B and C stage.
The other story with real strategic weight today is Ashton Kutcher exiting Sound Ventures to launch a new early-stage fund with Morgan Beller, formerly of NFX and Andreessen Horowitz. The fund's name hasn't been disclosed yet, and the initial thesis is thin on specifics, covering early-stage AI infrastructure, energy, and deep tech.
On the infrastructure theme, Together AI raised eight hundred million dollars at an eight point three billion dollar valuation. Aramco Ventures, Vista, General Catalyst, and NVIDIA backed the round.
In biotech, Danish company QuantumCell emerged from stealth to announce a two point two billion dollar licensing deal with AlzeCure, handing over global rights to a platform called NeuroRestore, including a lead Alzheimer's candidate called ACD856. That candidate has cleared Phase one b safety trials only.
Two final data points. Seedcamp closed two hundred and seventy-nine million euros across a dual-fund structure, combining a first-check seed fund with a follow-on select vehicle.
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