12 early-stage tech businesses from Romania and South-East Europe can win up to €30,000 by participating in Startup Reaktor, a program dedicated to early-stage and tech startups from the region that want to launch in new markets. Startup Reaktor is the Romanian representative of the EIT Digital Venture Incubation Program developed by EIT Digital, part of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). This is the third registration round of the spring edition of the Startup Reaktor 2024 program. It is dedicated to early-stage and very early-stage tech startups from Southeast Europe, with a focus on validation and launch in new markets. Founder teams from Romania and Southeast Europe can apply on the F6S platform until 28 April. https://business-review.eu/business/three-times-higher-investments-that-romanian-and-regional-startups-can-access-through-startup-reaktor-258787

Specialising in digital temperature control systems, watttron has raised €12 million in Series B funding. The round was led by the Circular Innovation Fund (CIF), a global venture capital fund focused on circular innovation alongside Europe’s Demeter, North America’s Cycle Capital, and the European Circular Bioeconomy Fund (ECBF). In addition, watttron’s long-term partners – TGFS Technologiegründerfonds Sachsen, Constancia New Business (CNB), SKion GmbH, the BA Mr. Rico Kleinhempel, and new investors contributed to this round. The latest funding will allow watttron to develop its technological capabilities of sustainable packaging solutions and expand into the American and Asian markets. https://techfundingnews.com/germany-based-sustainable-tech-startup-watttron-wraps-e12m-to-evolutionize-eco-friendly-packaging/

Czech fintech startup Flowpay has raised €2.1 million in a seed round backed by Techstars – the world’s most active pre-seed investor. Czech VCs like Soulmates Ventures and DEPO Ventures, and key angel investors such as Mark Ransford, Martin Herrmann, Kartik Varma, Allard Luchsinger, also supported the company. The newly acquired investment will allow Flowpay to scale beyond the Czech Republic, enhance its technological capabilities, and offer its services to a wider range of SMEs. https://www.trendingtopics.eu/czech-flowpay-raises-e2-1m-to-expand-its-ai-based-financial-technology/

Brno-based Purple Ventures has launched its second fund, total amounting of €40 million. It will focus on startups from the CEE region with teams in the EU. The ticket size will be from €250,000 to 750,000, The Recursive reports. Purple Ventures’ Fund I was launched in 2018 by Jan Staněk. Currently, its total funding amount is €15 million. Purple Ventures is focused on backing startups in the pre-seed and seed stage. The fund has supported over twenty companies in six years. A few of them are CEE startups such as Hedepy, Tatum, Choice, and Kardi AI. The second fund will be open to external investors. It will focus on startups from the CEE region with teams in the EU. The ticket size will be from €250,000 to 750,000. The fund plans to invest in various emerging segments such as: Digital Health; SaaS; EnergyTech; Creator Economy; Security; EdTech; E-commerce; Deep Tech; IoT. https://ain.capital/2024/03/27/purple-ventures-launches-40m-fund-ii/

Polish rail transport optimisation company SP Tech Solutions has secured nearly €3 million new funding round from the Vinci HiTech fund. Founded by Michal Pawlowski and Piotr Sikorski in 2019, the company started with a tool for optimising the transportation of traction crews and, over the years, has expanded its operations to create a comprehensive system for optimising the work of railway companies. SP Tech Solutions has raised almost €19 million from investors to date. Its clients include PKP Cargo, Lotos Kolej, Olavion, and Laude Smart Intermodal. The company has also implemented its first projects in German companies. This funding round aims to intensify operations in the Polish market and further expand towards Western Europe. The plans involve developing AI-enabled technology and growing the team by 50 per cent, focusing on sales, marketing, and, most importantly, development. https://tech.eu/2024/03/26/sp-tech-solutions-secures-eur3m-funding-for-rail-transport-optimisation/

Umeå-based game studio Crypto Rogue Games has successfully concluded a $1.5 million seed funding round, attracting prominent investors such as Merit Circle and Avalanche. Other participants in the funding round include SNZ, Coinfund, Lyrik Ventures, Devmons, and Bryan Pellegrino, CEO, and co-founder of Layer Zero. Specializing in the creation of web3 gaming experiences, the studio is currently focused on developing Crystals of Naramunz, an action-packed hack ‘n’ slash RPG set in a post-apocalyptic steampunk universe. This infusion of capital is earmarked to expedite the game’s development and establish the studio as a leader in blockchain technology within the gaming industry. https://arcticstartup.com/crypto-rogue-games-raises-1-5m-seed/

Berlin-based Daato, a pioneer in ESG management, announces that it has secured over €5 million in a seed funding round. This investment will enable the startup to advance its mission to make ESG management efficient for all companies. The financing round was led by kopa ventures in partnership with neosfer and IBB Ventures. kopa ventures is an early-stage impact investor focusing on European climate technology startups, neosfer is the early-stage investment unit and innovation division of Commerzbank Group and IBB Ventures provides venture capital for innovative Berlin-based companies. https://www.startbase.com/news/daato-sichert-sich-5-millionen-euro-in-seed-finanzierungsrunde/