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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 we use to software we run,” Daria Saharova, founding partner at World Fund, said at the Future of Green Computing event in Munich today.   At the event, World Fund joined Dealroom and Intel’s deeptech accelerator Ignite to unveil a…

Gone are the days when a bean bag and free kombucha made your office cool. Today’s top tech talent wants something far more valuable: their health. That’s the view of Lucien Engelen, a renowned healthcare innovation expert, who believes workplace wellbeing is about to spark a seismic shift. This transition will not only transform employment perks, but also create a new tech market. Engelen’s vision draws on deep experience. Across three decades in healthcare, his work has spanned acute care, ambulance services, and dispatch centres. As the founding director of the REshape Center of the Radboud University Medical Center, he spent…

The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Rosalind Franklin rover is back on course for a landmark trip to Mars, where it will probe the red planet for signs of extraterrestrial life.  ESA initially designed the Mars rover alongside Roscosmos, Russia’s space agency, as part of the ExoMars programme. The vehicle was set to launch in 2022, but when Russia invaded Ukraine, ESA severed ties with Moscow, putting the mission in jeopardy. Rosalind Franklin — named after the British chemist whose work was crucial to understanding the structure of DNA— was left without several key components, including a landing platform to safely…

German startup Isar Aerospace launched its Spectrum rocket from Andøya Spaceport in Norway today, marking the first-ever vertical orbital rocket launch in Western Europe. Spectrum blasted off at 12:30 PM CEST (11:30 BST) but lost control at about 25 seconds into the flight. A video from the launch shows the rocket wobble, pitch over, and then plummet back to the ground, where it collided with the ocean, causing a large explosion. The launchpad remains intact and no one was injured, Isar said. Drone and pad footage from Isar Aerospace’s Spectrum launch. You can see it avoided the pad when it…

Five high-flying scaleups from the Benelux region have made it into TECH5 — the “Champions League of Technology.” The classy quintet joins an exclusive group of Europe’s fastest-growing tech companies. Over the next two months, they will join six other regions — the Nordics, Southern Europe, France, the Baltic States, DACH, and the UK & Ireland — in a competition for the crown of hottest scaleup on the continent.  The contest will conclude on June 19-20, when the TECH5 champion will be announced on the main stage of TNW Conference. But first, the contenders have to win their regional title. The…

A coalition of European startups has urged swift action to slash burdensome EU regulations after a landmark declaration from the D9+ group of digitally advanced nations. The declaration stressed the need for “removing barriers” and “simplifying EU rules and procedures.” Ministers from all 13 countries in the D9+ — Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden — signed the statement. They emphasised the need for a “reviewed digital rulebook” that is “deregulated where possible” and “avoids unnecessary red tape.” A startup group has called for the ministers to back up their…

Tesla’s sales in Europe have plummeted by 42% this year, according to the latest figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. Tesla’s slip came despite total EV sales on the continent rising 28% over the same period. Analysts have linked the slump to Tesla’s aging model lineup and growing backlash against CEO Elon Musk’s increasingly polarising behaviour.   Whatever the reason, Andrew Fellows, an automotive and mobility expert at global tech consultancy Star, told TNW he thinks the recent sales slide has opened “a rare window of opportunity” for rival European carmakers to regain lost ground from Musk’s firm. Tesla’s Model…

In the summer of 2018, a devastating fire tore through Greece’s Attica region. In its aftermath, four scientists from the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London — including two Greeks — set out to answer a simple yet crucial question: why did some houses burn while others were left untouched? That question set off years of research into computer simulations for predicting wildfire risk and behaviour. In December 2023, the scientists founded Pinepeak to bring their idea out of the lab and into the market. Pinepeak’s wildfire prediction technology combines machine learning algorithms trained on satellite data with cutting-edge…

A new algorithm has improved the ability of quantum computers to model new materials and chemicals by a factor of 10. That’s according to its developer, UK startup Phasecraft.  The Bristol- and London-based company describes the breakthrough as the largest single leap in quantum simulations to date — moving us a step closer to real-world quantum applications. Quantum computers improve on classical simulations by accurately modelling complex quantum behaviours — like the ever-changing interactions between molecules or the evolution of materials over time — that are too difficult for classical computers to simulate efficiently. This could lead to technological leaps…

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has launched its first Bitcoin product in Europe, a move that industry experts say will help legitimise cryptocurrencies in mainstream finance.  “This is a landmark development for crypto, displaying confidence in Bitcoin for mainstream investments,” Meryem Habibi, chief revenue officer at London-based crypto payment gateway Bitpace, told TNW.  “Through this first in Europe, BlackRock is not only legitimising the asset class but also paving the way for increased institutional and retail participation,” she said. BlackRock’s product is called an “iShares Bitcoin ETP” (exchange-traded products). ETPs let investors buy and sell Bitcoin without directly owning the cryptocurrency.&#