This Week in European Tech: Meta buys Luxexcel, Aerones nabs $38.9 million, Infineon ready to spend billions of euros on take-overs, and more

This week, right before the start of the new calendar year, our research team tracked more 20 tech funding deals worth over €141+ million, and more than 10 exits, M&A transactions, rumours, and related news stories across Europe

We also looked at what the data tells us for December 2022. and published our ‘year in review’ complete with insightful charts.

As always, we are putting all deals together for you in a list sent in our round-up newsletter (note: the full list is for paying customers only, and also comes in the form of a handy downloadable spreadsheet).

And don’t forget: we’re busy prepping for the next Tech.eu Summit, it’s gonna be epic!

Tickets are on sale.

Still on the fence? Check out our first 25 confirmed speakers!

If you haven’t seen them yet, we’ve made all the videos from the Tech.eu Summit last May available as a playlist on our YouTube channel – enjoy!

With that said, let’s get down to business with the biggest European tech news items for the past couple of days (subscribe to our free newsletter to get this round-up in your inbox).

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>> Notable and big funding rounds

Aerones, a Latvian robotics startup that scrubs and inspects wind turbines so humans don’t have to, has secured $38.9 million in fresh funding.

Exeger, a Swedish company that offers a customisable solar cell that converts all forms of light into electrical energy, has raised around €36 million.

Moira Capital Partners has acquired 30% of energy efficiency tech firm IEQSY, which specialises in the design and manufacturing of systems to optimise and improve electricity consumption in industry. The fund will inject €10 million into the company.

Hopp, the Icelandic e-scooter rental company, has secured funding from an asset management company called Glymur and Nefco, a Nordic finance institution that finances sustainable projects globally. The total investment is roughly $4.7 million.

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>> Noteworthy acquisitions, mergers, IPOs and SPAC deals

Meta has acquired the Belgian-Dutch company Luxexcel, a 3D printing firm creating complex glass lenses for use in AR optics.

Amsterdam-headquartered digital asset management software firm Bynder has been acquired by Boston-based private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners (THL).

Vectron Systems acquired 100% of acardo and acardo activation. For the business year 2023, the management of the couponing specialist acardo expects sales of around €12.5 million and an operating result of around €2.8 million.

Assa Abloy, a Stockholm-based provider of access solutions, has acquired Janam Technologies, a New York-based provider of handheld mobile computers and readers.

Wargaming which was a publisher for the Kyiv game studio Frag Lab and one of its stakeholders, exited the project. Frag Lab doesn’t disclose the name of the new co-owner that participated in the deal.

FSN Capital, a Nordic private equity investment company, has acquired a majority stake in Dutch IT services provider ilionx.

Utrecht-based AxyWare, a systems provider to Dutch pension funds, administrators and life insurers, has been acquired by Stockholm’s insurtech company Lumera.

US software company Banyan has acquired Swiss provider of on-premises Selenium Grid infrastructure, Element34.

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>> Interesting moves from investors

In 2022, Euronext says it welcomed 83 new equity listings – half of which were carried out by tech companies – representing an aggregated market capitalisation at listing of €23 billion, and raising €3.8 billion.

AXIS, the venture capital subsidiary of the ICO Group, has resolved the 15th call of Fond-ICO Global with the selection of 7 funds in which it will invest €410 million.

Spain’s Inveready has launched a new fund (target: €50 million) to invest in biotech innovators.

Following a decision by the board of the Chalmers Foundation, its VC arm Chalmers Ventures will be investing around €6 million in 2023.

In spite of the war, the EBRD resumed this year its Climate Innovation Vouchers program in Ukraine. As much as €500,000 of new grants will soon be awarded to 13 innovative Ukraine-based companies.

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>> In other (important) news

German chip maker Infineon is ready to spend several billion euros on the right takeover target as it searches for acquisitions to boost growth, CEO Jochen Hanebeck said in an interview.

The founder of Mastodon has said he has rejected approaches from more than five US-based investors, as the Twitter rival grows in popularity after Elon Musk’s chaotic debut as a social media owner.

German aerospace company Wingcopter is on to some really interesting things, but it’s not without hefty challenges.

With an energy crisis hitting Europe, governments are exploring ways to recycle electricity used in social-media scrolling, conference calls and video streaming to help heat homes and offices.

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>> Recommended reads and listens

This Year in European Tech: 2022 in review (and in charts)

Europe’s tech ecosystem nursed a hangover in 2022 as the post-pandemic party ended and VCs returned to fundamentals

UK tech in 2022: The highs, lows, and what’s next

12% of Ukrainian startups stopped operations since the war started — research

Why is a Swedish billionaire buying up California’s video gaming empire?

In countries like Estonia, AI is now essential national infrastructure

Unlocking the potential of the European agtech market

Rachel Delacour, CEO of Sweep, discusses her predictions for climate technology in 2023

UK crypto industry predictions for 2023

These Are the Central and Eastern European Soonicorns of 2023

How Barcelona’s Piccolo Studio is crafting After Us