How Seedcamp’s networked approach to Europe helped it secure new $180M fund
TechCrunch » Europe
by Mike Butcher
11M ago
European early-stage investor Seedcamp has announced the $180M close of its “Fund VI”. It’s a long way from a London university lecture hall 15 years ago in September, when Founding Partner and co-CEO Reshma Sohoni stood up and introduced the first Seedcamp cohort (Incidentally, this was the same day TechCrunch launched in Europe, and my first day as a full-time TC journalist). Seedcamp’s Fund VI is almost double the size of Seedcamp Fund V, raised some 2.5 years ago ($95 million, raised in 2020), and thus the largest fund to date. The new fund will back about 100 companies. Although ..read more
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France’s privacy watchdog eyes protection against data-scraping in AI action plan
TechCrunch » Europe
by Natasha Lomas
11M ago
France’s privacy watchdog, the CNIL, has published an action plan for artificial intelligence which gives a snapshot of where it will be focusing its attention, including on generative AI technologies like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, in the coming months and beyond. A dedicated Artificial Intelligence Service has been set up within the CNIL to work on scoping the tech and producing recommendations for “privacy-friendly AI systems”. A key stated goal for the regulator is to steer the development of AI “that respects personal data”, such as by developing the means to audit and control AI systems to “prote ..read more
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This UK startup plans to radically shake-up the antiquated world of COPD measurement
TechCrunch » Europe
by Mike Butcher
11M ago
In 1846, London surgeon John Hutchinson invented the spirometer — a thing a doctor normally asks Asthma sufferers to you blow hard into — to measure the volume of air inspired and expired by the lungs. It’s a pretty basic idea. Incredibly, since then, the technology has barely evolved. Today, the modern spirometer doesn’t even measure the amount of CO2 gas expelled by the lungs, a crucial data point for assessing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Now a Cambridge, UK startup has come up with a radical new technology device that, it claims, is affordable, portable, requires minimal t ..read more
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UK’s Space Forge debuts new reentry tech for in-space manufacturing satellites
TechCrunch » Europe
by Aria Alamalhodaei
11M ago
Welsh in-space manufacturing startup Space Forge has developed a satellite reentry system to enable rapid recovery and reuse of its in-space manufacturing spacecraft. The new system, which includes a heat shield and a water vehicle designed to soften the spacecraft’s landing, will be incorporated into the company’s in-space manufacturing satellite platform called ForgeStar. As opposed to ablative heat shields, like those used on SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, which require replacement after each mission, Space Forge says it built its “Pridwen” heat shield to be large enough to radiate away the heat ..read more
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Major decision on the legality of Facebook’s EU-US data transfers is due to be adopted today
TechCrunch » Europe
by Natasha Lomas
11M ago
Reminder: Today is the deadline for the Meta’s lead privacy regulator in Europe to adopt a final decision on a nearly decade-long complaint against Facebook’s transfers of personal data from the EU to the U.S. that could see the company ordered to stop the flow of data. The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) confirmed to TechCrunch it will adopt its final decision today. However we understand there will be further delay (of just over a week) before the decision is made public. The date we’ve been told the order will officially be published is May 22 — assuming details do not leak out befor ..read more
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MediShout wants to bring Amazon-like efficiency to hospital operations
TechCrunch » Europe
by Paul Sawers
11M ago
The U.K.’s floundering National Health Service (NHS) is not in the best of shapes by just about any estimation, the victim of chronic underfunding and understaffing that has led to excruciatingly long waiting times and health care professionals striking en masse. But in the midst of chaos, opportunity often lingers. A growing number of startups are capitalizing on the U.K.’s struggling health care system, raising money for platforms that provide access to private medical imaging services, or go some way toward solving staffing shortages. And then there’s MediShout, a London-based company that ..read more
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EU lawmakers back transparency and safety rules for generative AI
TechCrunch » Europe
by Natasha Lomas
11M ago
In a series of votes in the European Parliament this morning MEPs have backed a raft of amendments to the bloc’s draft AI legislation — including agreeing a set of requirements for so called foundational models which underpin generative AI technologies like OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The text of the amendment agreed by MEPs in two committees put obligations on providers of foundational models to apply safety checks, data governance measures and risk mitigations prior to putting their models on the market — including obligating them to consider “foreseeable risks to health, safety, fundamental rights, t ..read more
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Fairphone gets its audio groove on with repairable over-ear BT headphones
TechCrunch » Europe
by Natasha Lomas
11M ago
Dutch social enterprise Fairphone is best known for its mission to build ethical smartphones via a brand that promises fairer wages for supply chain workers and design choices that encourage consumers to cherish and repair the hardware rather than toss last year’s model thanks to modularity and a web shop selling replacement (and upgradeable) spare parts. Today it’s taking the leap into a new device category — applying the same principled approach to shipping the most sustainable and fair consumer electronics it can, within limits imposed by wider industry practices which set the availability ..read more
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Microsoft makes strategic investment into Builder.ai, integrates its services into Teams
TechCrunch » Europe
by Mike Butcher
11M ago
Builder.ai tapped into a new wave of businesses wanting their own native apps with a turnkey approach, accelerated by the rapid digitization of life during the pandemic. That led to led to a $100 million Series C funding round last year led by Insight Partners, taking the company’s total funding to $195 million. It’s now landed a strategic collaboration with Microsoft, which includes an undisclosed equity investment in the startup. TechCrunch’s source’s indicate the investment was “significant”, though we couldn’t get anything more than that. The collaboration will mean the two companies colla ..read more
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Europe’s CSAM scanning plan looks unlawful, per leaked legal advice
TechCrunch » Europe
by Natasha Lomas
11M ago
A legal opinion on a controversial European Union legislative plan set out last May, when the Commission proposed countering child sexual abuse online by applying obligations on platforms to scan for abuse and grooming, suggests the planned approach is incompatible with existing EU laws that prohibit general and indiscriminate monitoring of people’s communications. The advice by the Council’s legal service on the proposed Child Sexual Abuse Regulation (also sometimes referred to as “Chat control”), which leaked online this week — and was covered by The Guardian yesterday — finds the regulation ..read more
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