David Mendlewicz

#Lithuanian Contrarian Ventures has invested in #Belgian AI-powered software for power grids Beebop.ai. Contrarian Ventures and #London-based Angular Ventures led a $5,5М seed round. Founded in #Belgium in 2023 by Jan-Willem Rombouts, Sandra Trittin, and Bert Claessens, Beebop develops AI-powered software for power grids, to deliver energy savings to consumers. Power Grid Orchestration software turns consumer devices into tradable assets allowing households to benefit from price fluctuations in the electricity market. Beebop uses the flexibility of home electrification solutions such as home storage, heat pumps, solar panels, and EV chargers to help balance the grid and reduce electricity bills by up to 50%. For instance, an electric car can be charged overnight. If the technology predicts it will be cheaper to charge it within half an hour, the system waits. The same process works with home batteries or heat pumps. Beebop's orchestration software allows utilities, grid operators, manufacturers, and virtual power plant (VPP) technology leaders to manage fleets of residential assets while improving the efficiency of solar panels, energy storage, EV chargers, and heat pumps for both partners and end users. The startup expects to manage over 100K residential assets by 2025. Beebop operates in Europe, the UK, and the Middle East. Beebop will use the investment to continue the development work and expand its sales team. Founded in Vilnius in 2017, Contrarian Ventures is a seed-stage venture company that invests in climate startups from Europe and Israel. The fund usually invests between €1,5M to €4M. It currently has offices in Berlin and London. The founder and managing partner is Rokas Peciulaitis. All about Baltic startups and VC https://balticvc.com/ #Lithuania #tech #technology #technologies #TechnologyNews #VC #VCs #deal #deals #startup #startups #TechNews #cleantech

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𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐩’𝐬 𝐑&𝐃 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐁𝐒𝐎 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞! If you’re a startup working on innovative projects, the 𝐖𝐁𝐒𝐎 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞 offers extra funding by allowing higher tax deductions on R&D costs. This can be a game-changer, especially if your costs are significant. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐈𝐭 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤? Under the regular WBSO scheme, companies can deduct 32% of R&D costs 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 €𝟑𝟓𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎, and startups can take this even further! With the 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞, you can 𝐝𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝟒𝟎% of your R&D expenses—an 8% higher rate. For example, with €350,000 in R&D costs, a regular company would deduct €112,000, but as a startup, you can deduct €140,000. That’s an additional €28,000 in savings! 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐟: • Your business is in its first three years • You’ve claimed WBSO for no more than two calendar years 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐞𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐌𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐆𝐞𝐭? Try our WBSO Calculator to instantly estimate how much extra funding you can unlock for your R&D projects! https://lnkd.in/g-w6BVjt

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Highly recommended to attend: Unlock the Potential of Carbon Removal with Tracer’s Innovative Blockchain-based Ecosystem. Join Gert-Jan Lasterie and Philippe Tarbouriech tomorrow, July 10, for a webinar where they will explore the global standard for carbon removal credit trading and the key factors driving a successful Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) economy. Launching in 2024, Tracer offers an exciting opportunity to join the rapidly expanding carbon dioxide removal industry, projected to grow into a $1.2 trillion market by 2050. Why watch: ✔️ Learn how Tracer aims to become the global standard for carbon removal credit trading. ✔️ Explore 5 key factors driving a successful CDR economy. ✔️ Learn how Tracer solves the liquidity-traceability paradox. ✔️ Uncover the power of decentralized governance in climate action. ✔️ Special token purchase opportunity: Secure your initial purchase in Tracer at an early bird price. Don’t miss this exclusive opportunity to understand Tracer’s innovative approach to tackling climate change. Register now and be part of the future of carbon removal! https://lnkd.in/eUnKFuqM

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Win a Zidane signed jersey & premium football tickets with your colleagues! The Euro is coming, time for your company to shine 🔥 24h left to register ⏳ 📌 THE COMPETITION: As part of the upcoming Euro 24 and our fantasy football game mode Rivals Leagues, Sorare is launching a special event for companies to take part called the "SORARE EURO CUP". This competition will reward companies that know the most about football. ❓HOW TO PLAY: Create your company's Rivals League and invite your colleagues to join. For each match day, your best score will be recorded from all matches. Accumulate points until the end of the competition to win one of the prizes. Sorare will send a daily newsletter with the ranking of the companies. 🎁 REWARDS: The winning company will receive a jersey signed by Zinedine Zidane + 10 tickets to a match of the company's choice (Premier League, LaLiga EA, Ligue 1, Serie A, and Bundesliga, subject to availability). 🚨 DEADLINE: You have until Friday, June 14, noon to register. ✏️ REGISTRATION: Interested? It's simple, register your company by completing the following form in the comments 👇

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🇧🇪🤖 Brussels-based startup AxonJay.ai, which builds proprietary #deeptech AI assistants, has secured €1.5 million in seed funding. This follows a successful pitch at London’s Largest Demo Day hosted by Rare Founders. 📈 With the new funding, AxonJay plans to expand its AI Sales assistant and AI Private Fund assistant based on its pioneering Self-Machine-Learning Platform commercially, which are at the service of business people to augment their intelligence transparently and sustainably. The first step is to take its AI Sales assistant to the US and its AI Private Fund assistant to the Asian market where it will open offices in Q4 2024. 🤖 Read more here: https://shorturl.at/iU1pS Vasily Alekseenko Jean-Philippe M.L. Schepens #tech #funding #news #AI #EUtech #EUstartup #startup #VC #investment #innovation #technology

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Don't miss Stefan Leijnen and a stellar lineup of speakers at Rewire LIVE on May 16th! This is your opportunity to gain crucial insights into the future of AI. Register your interest and learn more here: https://lnkd.in/eghwBHpj #FutureOfAI #DataAnalytics #DataIntegration #ArtificialIntelligence #AIEvent #AI

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𝗜'𝗺 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝘄𝗲𝗯𝟯 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁-𝗠𝗩𝗣, 𝗽𝗿𝗲-𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲, 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗼’𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱. 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆, 𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗲-𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 £𝟱 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 If only ChatGPT could show me startups raising funds that matched this exact search. Luckily, Chainvest can. For investors: Imagine describing your ideal startupand having a variety appear. Chainvest’s AI-driven platform makes that a reality. Finding the right startup shouldn’t feel like finding a needle in a haystack. For founders: Forget endless cold emails and repetitive pitches. With Chainvest, the right investors will find you. Real connections, no guesswork. We’re launching soon. Investors and founders—join our waitlist at www.chainvest.io Tag a founder who needs a better way to connect with investors. Sam Simpson Ekaterina Manoilenko, MBA Jan McGinley Cait Pilkington Ricardo Pascual Duc Zambrini Vasily Alekseenko Kristina Pereckaite David Levine Samuel Izzard Ed Prior

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🌟 Weekly Funding & Trends Update! 🌟 🔹 PHINXT Robotics in London raised €2.3M led by Sure Valley Ventures and participation by Ada Ventures, HEARTFELT_ and Atlas Ventures, in an oversubscribed round! 🔹 Led by Bert Baeck, Timeseer.AI, a Belgian platform that offers a data reliability & observability platform secured an undisclosed investment from OTB Ventures. 🔹 Swiss startup DemoSquare, which enables public-procedures teams to browse, monitor, analyse, and predict legislation, to help anticipate risks and identify opportunities, gathered €1.28M in pre-seed funding, led by QBIT Capital and participation by early stage investor, HTGF | High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF). 🔹 Vilniaus universitetas / Vilnius University startup, Biomatter raised €6.5M from Inventure and UVC Partners for their biotech platform that uses AI to create new enzymes. 🔹 London-based Kennet Partners launched a €266M fund for #B2B SaaS startups. Despite a challenging market environment, early-stage funding remains robust, with #AI and #healthcare sectors consistently attracting substantial investments. European startups are strategically positioning themselves with new funds in technology-driven sectors, preparing for a potential rebound in late-stage investments. #venturefinance #startups #investment #AI #healthcare #B2B #fundingnews

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Tech.eu reports that Timefold, the Belgian AI software startup, has raised €6M in funding led by Lakestar, with Smartfin rejoining as a returning seed investor. The company's 'PlanningAI' platform addresses complex planning problems by providing enterprise-ready models, removing the need for costly consultants and long development cycles. Geoffrey De Smet, Timefold's CTO and co-founder, highlighted the platform's ability to improve productivity and reduce carbon emissions. Notable clients such as Palantir Technologies, NEC Corporation, and Deutsche Bahn are already seeing positive results. Learn more from author Cate Lawrence on the ambitious future of AI-driven optimisation. https://lnkd.in/eMHYzmb8 #AI #ArtificalIntelligence

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We just updated our eBook for building the ideal team culture in startups and scale-ups. Download for free (30-min read) https://lnkd.in/eEbUfXaq. #startupculture #startups #teamculture

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🚀 Speaker Announcement 🚀 We’re excited to announce that Zackary Jackson will be speaking at React Brussels 2024! 🎉 As the creator of module federation, Zackary has played a pivotal role in shaping modern web development. His groundbreaking work on module bundling has transformed how we build and scale applications, making him one of the most influential figures in the JavaScript ecosystem. 🌐💻 📢 Talk Title: "Distributed Apps, Module Federation, and Rewriting Webpack in Rust" As frontend applications grow larger and more complex, scaling becomes a major challenge. At ByteDance, with over 10,000 frontends, the need for robust infrastructure tools is critical. In this talk, Zackary will cover: 🔧 Why Webpack was rewritten in Rust to supercharge performance. 🔧 The business impacts of adopting Module Federation to scale frontends. 🔧 What’s new in Module Federation 2 and how it addresses emerging challenges. 🔧 Strategies for orchestrating and managing distributed frontends at scale. 🔧 ByteDance's open-source roadmap for frontend infrastructure. Whether you're looking for cutting-edge solutions to scale your frontend applications or are simply interested in the future of frontend tooling, this talk will provide deep insights into ByteDance’s innovative approach. 📅 Event Date: 18th October 2024 📍 Location: Brussels & Online Don’t miss the chance to learn from a true pioneer in the web development space! Secure your tickets today! 🎟️ https://lnkd.in/dzbT9GY #ReactBrussels #WebDevelopment #Webpack #ModuleFederation #Rust #JavaScript #FrontendDevelopment #ScalingFrontends #ByteDance #OpenSource

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🔄 Time to Turn the Tables: Meet the Investors Pitching at Ghent Slush'D! 🔄 It’s time for the Reversed Pitching! 💼✨ These impressive investors are ready to take the stage and show startups why they are the perfect partners for success. 🚀 From renowned VCs to leading angel investors, these experts are here to convince promising startups that they have the network, expertise, and resources to fuel their growth. This is their chance to shine and make a lasting impression! 🌟 Entourage | TCD Capital (ex TheClubDeal) | Pitchdrive | Early-stage VC 🚀 | Seeder Fund | Smartfin | Volta Ventures | Noshaq | Fortino Capital  Curious to hear them pitching? Get your ticket now through the link in the comments!  #GhentSlushD #ReversedPitching #Investors #StartupFunding #Entrepreneurship #Innovation

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The best European event this year was definitely the event “The Future of Fundraising” in Google for Startups organised by Emerging Founders few weeks ago. Do you know why? Because, among other great insights, the startup founders were directly witnessing Reverse Pitching by incredible VCs. And it was amazing to hear each of the VC’s feedback during the networking part, which in a few sentences can be summed up as: - “I was uncomfortable. Usually I am the one who only listen, ask and assess founders pitch.”; - It didn’t go the way I want during the pitching. I was expecting more…” - “It was a little bit weird, because usually I pitch in front of the LCs only!” Dear VCs, I am glad that you reminded yourself about our founders’ life and its challenges. 😉 Aleksandra Haber Dominika M. Stryjewska, PhD Jacek Ratajczak Ievgeniia Zdanevych you did amazing impact! I can’t wait for your next event! 🚀 WIDNET SOLUTIONS Sp. z.o.o. Poland. Kiril Panov Oliver Tasevski #startup #team #fundraising #venturecapital #pitch

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🎶 Another one bites the dust… But not really, he is more into succeeding and inspiring people. Stefan Smulders 🦸‍♂️, from Expandi.io will be at #B2BRocks! As a founder with a keen focus on sales enablement, Stefan has revolutionized LinkedIn automation, creating a tool that parallels what lemlist achieved for emails. Under his leadership, Expandi.io has grown to a team of around 50, achieving an impressive $8M+ in ARR primarily through community and inbound efforts — and that's without paid marketing! 😳 His strategy of influence marketing has propelled the company, with 70% of its revenue in dollars and 50% coming from the US, despite having no team based there. 🇺🇸 For founders and business enthusiasts, Stefan's story is not just about achieving remarkable growth; it’s about the hard lessons learned and the innovative strategies that can be applied to your own ventures. Stefan, as we eagerly await your session, is there any little story you'd like to share about you? #B2BRocks #SaaS #Growth Colin Lalouette, PhD

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Not every headline is a win 📰 What happens when the spotlight shines too bright on startups? 🤔 Juicero, Flutterwave, and NALA show us the highs and lows of media attention in the tech world. This week, we explore how founders can use publicity the right way without losing focus. Curious? You should be. Read the full story here! https://lnkd.in/dd4n3nhp

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#VC #Funding: 🚀Belgian investor Pitchdrive | Early-stage VC 🚀 has just closed its third fund, raising €40M to fuel the growth of early-stage startups across #Europe! 🌟 The fund saw overwhelming interest from LPs, the fund exceeded its initial target by over 30%! 📈 This demonstrates strong confidence in Pitchdrive's vision and track record. 💰 Originally set at €30 million, Pitchdrive's fund quickly gained momentum, closing its first round at €34 million. Despite the significant increase in commitments, the fund will be capped at €40 million. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gnnU47EY #news #technews #innovation #technology #vcfunding #venturecapital #fundingnews #investment #vcnews #belgium #eutech #preseedfunding Jonas Dhaenens Boris Bogaert Wim Derkinderen Koen Christiaens Lorenz Bogaert Toon Coppens Luc Verelst Bo V.

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Working on the 4th generation of company representations on Starwatcher.io. Tinkering with prompts for small datasets or specific cases (e.g., cold emails or blog posts) is one thing. We're analyzing tens of thousands of companies, aiming for consistency across the board. Key lessons learned: 1️⃣ Explore your topic with the AI model you'll use in your prompts. Understanding how the model conceptualizes your subject is crucial. 2️⃣ Let the model generate prompts for you. Avoid interrupting its token flow with your preconceptions. In other words, your thinking and writing is not the same as it is for the model. When it comes up with a prompt for you, it has condensed it's world view about the topic and will yield better results. 3️⃣ Treat prompts as software: test, debug, maintain evaluation sets, and use version control. 4️⃣ Edge cases are abundant. Overly strict prompts fail on many cases that don't "fit the bill," while overly broad prompts yield generic results. Test, test, test. Balancing specificity and flexibility is an ongoing challenge, but it's key to generating consistent, high-quality representations at scale. #AI #DataAnalysis #Starwatcher #PromptEngineering

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On stage right now at Ghent Slush'D, Perlego’s CEO dives into startup growth 🚀. With over $90M raised, 1M+ titles, and new AI tools, it's kind of a success story, right? Today, our portfolio company Perlego, often called the "Spotify for Textbooks," is making waves at one of Belgium’s largest founder and investor gatherings. Belgian CEO Gauthier Van Malderen is on the main stage, sharing “Scaling Secrets” and offering invaluable insights on what it takes to build a global company—a story that’s sure to inspire many Belgian founders. Perlego’s journey is impressive: 👉 Recently, they raised another $20M, bringing total funding to $90M, with support from industry giants. 👉 Their reach is global, partnering with over 250 institutions and publishing partners 👉 With this momentum, Perlego launched a cutting-edge AI-powered Research Assistant, making academic searches faster and smarter within a library of over 1 million titles. As Ghent Slush'D connects Belgium’s brightest #startups with the world, Perlego stands out as a prime example of how Belgian talent, strategic funding, and international partnerships can drive change in the EdTech landscape. Thanks to our Partner Olivier Tabery for the photo and for representing us at this outstanding event! Slush #entrepreneurship #venturecapital #investing #edtech

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🎯 𝗔𝘅𝗲𝗹𝗿𝗮'𝘀 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 Since 2019, Axelra has accelerated over 45 ventures, co-created 20 startups, and developed 8 portfolio companies. In 2024, we were recognized by the 🏆 Financial Times as one of Europe’s Leading Startup Hubs. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰, 𝗔𝘅𝗲𝗹𝗿𝗮 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀. This shift reflects our commitment to agility amidst the challenging Swiss funding landscape for early-stage tech. 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀: 🔑 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀: We focus on the strategic development of our co-created portfolio ventures. 💼 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀-𝗼𝗻 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲: Our seasoned venture builders provide in-depth expertise in management, growth, and product, ensuring startups achieve accelerated success. 👉 Check out our new website: www.axelra.com #SwissStartups #Innovation #Tech #Startups #Axelra #MicroTechVC

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