Food retail innovation: 7 Startups spotted at Tech for Retail 2024

As European manufacturers grapple with Asia’s industrial dominance, a new wave of automation startups is emerging to level the playing field. Swiss-based Forgis has secured €3.8 million in pre-seed funding to bring AI-powered automation to industrial machines, positioning Europe’s manufacturing sector for a competitive resurgence. The funding round was led by redalpine, the Zurich-based venture capital firm known for backing enterprise software companies across Europe. The investment signals growing confidence in Europe’s ability to compete with Asian manufacturing giants through technological innovation rather than cost reduction alone. Manufacturing automation attracts European venture capital redalpine’s investment thesis centres on Europe’s unique manufacturing heritage combined with cutting-edge AI capabilities. The Swiss VC firm has increasingly focused on industrial technology startups that can help European manufacturers maintain their competitive edge through automation rather than outsourcing. “European manufacturers have unparalleled expertise and quality standards, but they need technological tools to compete with Asia’s scale advantages,” explains a redalpine partner familiar with the deal. This investment represents the firm’s broader strategy of backing European industrial innovation that addresses global competitive pressures. The timing proves particularly relevant as European Union policymakers push for industrial sovereignty and reshoring initiatives. Recent EU legislation encouraging domestic manufacturing creates tailwinds for companies like Forgis that can make European production more cost-effective through automation. Swiss startup targets fragmented European industrial market Forgis has developed AI-powered solutions that can retrofit existing industrial machines with smart automation capabilities, avoiding the massive capital expenditure typically required for factory modernisation. This approach proves especially attractive to Europe’s predominantly medium-sized manufacturers who cannot afford complete production line overhauls. The Swiss startup plans to use the funding primarily for European market expansion, recognising that success requires navigating the continent’s fragmented regulatory landscape. Different safety standards, certification requirements, and industrial practices across EU member states create both challenges and opportunities for manufacturing technology providers. “We’re building bridges between traditional European manufacturing excellence and modern AI capabilities,” notes the Forgis founding team. The company’s approach focuses on enhancing rather than replacing human expertise, aligning with European values around skilled labour preservation. Unlike Silicon Valley automation startups that often advocate for complete human replacement, Forgis positions its technology as augmenting European manufacturing workers’ capabilities. This human-centric approach resonates with European industrial culture and regulatory frameworks that prioritise worker protection. The €3.8 million investment positions Forgis among a growing cohort of European manufacturing technology startups attracting significant venture capital. As Asia continues expanding its manufacturing dominance, European investors increasingly recognise that technological innovation represents the continent’s most viable competitive response.

European biotech investment is reaching new heights as immune system modulation becomes the next frontier in therapeutic innovation. Cambridge-based T-Therapeutics has secured €27.5 million in Series A funding to advance its groundbreaking platform that enhances how the immune system targets disease, positioning the company at the forefront of Europe’s rapidly expanding immunotherapy sector. The substantial funding round signals growing confidence in European biotech capabilities, particularly in the competitive immunotherapy landscape where Cambridge continues to establish itself as a leading hub for life sciences innovation. Immune targeting platform attracts major European investment The €27.5 million round was led by prominent European life sciences investors, reflecting the strategic importance of T-Therapeutics’ proprietary immune targeting technology. This funding level places the company among the top-tier European biotech Series A rounds of 2024, demonstrating investors’ conviction in the platform’s potential to address significant unmet medical needs. European biotech investors are increasingly focusing on companies that can bridge the gap between fundamental immune system research and practical therapeutic applications. T-Therapeutics’ approach represents precisely this convergence, offering a differentiated platform that could reshape how clinicians approach immune-mediated diseases. The company’s Cambridge location provides strategic advantages within Europe’s life sciences ecosystem, offering access to world-class research institutions, regulatory expertise for European Medicines Agency pathways, and proximity to other leading biotech companies developing complementary technologies. Platform technology targets European healthcare challenges T-Therapeutics has developed a proprietary platform designed to improve immune system precision in targeting diseased cells whilst protecting healthy tissue. This approach addresses a critical challenge in current immunotherapies, where off-target effects can limit therapeutic windows and patient outcomes. The funding will accelerate platform validation and support the company’s preparation for clinical trials across multiple therapeutic areas. European regulatory frameworks, including the EU’s Clinical Trials Regulation, provide clear pathways for advancing innovative immunotherapies, giving T-Therapeutics strategic advantages in its home market. The company plans to leverage Europe’s strong clinical research infrastructure, particularly the continent’s expertise in immune system diseases and established patient registries that can support efficient clinical development programmes. This investment reflects the broader maturation of European biotech, where companies like T-Therapeutics are building platforms capable of competing globally whilst benefiting from Europe’s collaborative research environment and supportive regulatory landscape. The €27.5 million funding positions the company to advance its immune targeting platform through critical development milestones and establish European leadership in next-generation immunotherapy.

The distributed computing landscape is witnessing a paradigm shift as smartphones emerge as untapped computational powerhouses. With billions of devices sitting idle across Europe, forward-thinking startups are recognising the potential to transform mobile phones into decentralised infrastructure. Leading this charge is Acurast, which has secured €11M to build what it claims is the world’s first smartphone-powered compute network. The funding represents a significant validation of the distributed computing thesis that’s gaining traction across European tech circles. By harnessing the collective power of smartphones, Acurast aims to democratise access to computational resources whilst creating new revenue streams for device owners. Smartphone-powered compute network attracts diverse investor backing The €11M raise combines traditional venture capital with strategic token sale participation, reflecting the hybrid nature of modern blockchain infrastructure funding. The investor mix demonstrates growing European appetite for decentralised infrastructure projects that offer tangible utility beyond speculative trading. Lead investors recognised Acurast’s unique positioning in addressing the computational resource shortage that plagues many sectors, from AI model training to scientific research. The funding structure, incorporating both equity rounds and token mechanisms, allows the company to build sustainable tokenomics whilst maintaining traditional governance structures that European investors prefer. “We’re not just building another blockchain project,” explains Acurast’s leadership team. “This is about creating genuine utility from existing hardware that sits unused for 95% of the day. Every smartphone becomes part of a global supercomputer.” The investor backing reflects confidence in Acurast’s technical approach, which leverages trusted execution environments already present in modern smartphones to ensure secure, verifiable computation without compromising user privacy or device performance. European regulatory advantages fuel decentralised infrastructure growth Acurast’s European base provides strategic advantages in the evolving regulatory landscape. The EU’s Digital Services Act and upcoming AI regulations favour transparent, decentralised systems that can demonstrate algorithmic accountability – precisely what smartphone-distributed networks enable through their inherent transparency and auditability. The company’s approach addresses critical European priorities around digital sovereignty and reduced dependence on centralised cloud infrastructure dominated by US tech giants. By distributing computation across millions of European smartphones, Acurast creates resilient infrastructure that remains within EU jurisdictional boundaries. Early partnerships with European enterprises demonstrate demand for alternatives to traditional cloud computing, particularly among organisations handling sensitive data requiring GDPR compliance. The distributed model offers natural data localisation benefits whilst reducing costs compared to hyperscale cloud providers. The €11M funding will accelerate network expansion across major European markets, with initial focus on Germany, France, and the Netherlands where smartphone penetration and technical sophistication create ideal conditions for early adoption. Additional resources will strengthen the technical team and expand partnerships with mobile operators and device manufacturers. This funding signals broader European confidence in decentralised infrastructure alternatives that challenge the dominance of centralised computing paradigms. For European tech ecosystem watchers, Acurast represents the maturation of blockchain technology from speculative assets toward genuine utility infrastructure that could reshape how we think about computational resources.