Sifted - AI agent ideas VCs want to see

Good morning there,

VCs have been champing at the bit to back AI agent startups this year. Less than two months into 2025 they’ve invested more than €600m into the sector, according to Sifted data. That’s more than a third of the €1.7bn raised across the whole of 2024.

Startups in the space are working on everything from agents to build web apps using natural language to those which can interact with customers on the phone. But, as Kai Nicol-Schwarz discovers today, there are still plenty of gaps in the market. VCs tell him these are the ideas they want to be pitched.

Elsewhere, Steph Bailey's been mingling with founders and VCs this week at TechFusion — a startup event in Vilnius. The top lines from that? More techies are returning home to build in the Lithuanian capital, and defence tech is on their agenda. Scroll on for her dispatch.

Also today:

• From EU Inc to MEGA: Meet the factions pushing Europe to go faster on tech
• ElevenLabs unveils new AI model it says outperforms rivals at Google and OpenAI
• Revolut pushed to sell shares at $60bn valuation, reports say

— Tom Nugent, newsletter editor

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💰Revolut is under pressure from investors to consider a share sale at a $60bn valuation, according to reports, a significant jump from its previous $45bn price tag.

📈 ElevenLabs has unveiled a new AI model it says outperforms rivals built by tech titans Google and OpenAI — as the startup works to cement its status as a top industry player following a $180m raise in January.

👀 AI agent ideas VCs want you to pitch them.

🧢 From EU Inc to MEGA (Make Europe Great Again), a growing number of tech elites are trying to influence tech policy in Europe. Check out our primer on the factions leading the charge.

🍄‍🟫 Can mycelium finally become a cheap vegan alternative? Investments in alternative protein startups were up 24% last year, and some mycelium startups have found new ways to make their products more competitive on price. Sifted’s Mimi Billing took a short 15-minute trip outside of Stockholm to meet one of them.

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With cost discipline top of mind, CFOs are rethinking their strategy — balancing rapid growth with profitability. But where should startups invest, and where should they cut back? Join this Sifted Talks to find out.

Dispatch from Vilnius

Vilnius — the self-titled ‘G spot of Europe’ — has been on a charm offensive for the last couple of years. It’s issued the most fintech licences in the EU, has earmarked €80m to bolster its already 70.5k strong ICT workforce and was voted the most business friendly city in CEE. 

It’s also building out Tech Zity, a €100m, 55k square metre campus that will house 13k tech workers and will be the fifth of its kind for startups in the area. Standing in the old Soviet-era sewing factory this week after moderating at TechFusion, a startup event in the Lithuanian capital, it’s hard to imagine this place will be the biggest startup campus in Europe by 2028.

A number of the founders who’ll eventually flock to Tech Zity will be returnees — techies who’ve built credentials abroad and are coming home to roost. Founders and investors this week have told me they’re attracted to the promise of a work life balance and better economy, even if Lithuania is still waiting for a big Skype-like exit.

“We see a lot of good opportunities today, many second-time founders coming back and building things,” says Andra Bagdonaite, a partner at Firstpick, a Vilnius-based VC fund which invests first cheques in startups from the Baltics. “The ecosystem is just really flourishing, so it’s a good time to be here.”

While most money went into fintech in 2024, Lithuania’s proximity to the war in Ukraine has meant founders are also turning towards defence tech. 

“The funding, everything, the environment changed dramatically last year,” says Ernestas Žvaigždinas, cofounder of Broswarm, a mine detection startup which raised almost $1m from Vilnius dual use VC ScaleWolf last year. “We are probably at the optimum time where we are able to develop this technology.” 

Yet investment volume is still a sore spot. Lithuanian startups raised just €128m last year, a 73% drop from the country’s breakout year of 2021. This is mainly due to a lack of late-stage investments. Its neighbour Estonia — home to Europe’s most unicorns per capita — also blew this out of the water, with more than twice that amount raised in H1 alone. 

“It’s not easy looking for investment,” says Vidmantas Šakalys, CEO of Vital3D, a Vilnius-based biotech aiming to 3D print human kidneys in the next two decades. “Deeptechs have to look for investors outside of Lithuania.” 

That hasn’t stopped founders launching successful companies though — and they’ve historically filled the funding gap by building efficiently and going it alone.

“A lot of big startups like NordVPN, Kilo Health, they had to bootstrap, not because they wanted to but because there was no capital in the market,” says Bagdonaite. “The landscape is changing a little bit because we are starting to see these young entrepreneurs who were born in independent Lithuania, Gen Zs, they really have a different mindset and are so brave and so hungry.”  

What do you think, readers? Is the Vilnius tech ecosystem a startup factory to watch? What stories from the Baltics should we be telling? Which sectors are you most excited by? Let me know.

— Steph Bailey, head of content

Madrid-based MytripleA, a fintech platform offering alternative financing solutions, raised €30m in funding from BBVA Spark.

Zurich, Switzerland-based Unique, which is integrating AI-driven solutions into existing financial services workflows, raised $30m in Series A funding. CommerzVentures and DN Capital led the round and were joined by investors including VI Partners and Pictet Group.

Copenhagen-based ZeroNorth, which developed tech to track maritime vessels and reduce emissions from the shipping industry, raised $20m in debt from CIBC Innovation Banking.

London-based Ignota Labs, an AI-driven drug turnaround company specialising in rescuing promising but failing drugs, raised $6.9m in seed funding. Montage Ventures and AIX Ventures led the round and were joined by investors including Modi Ventures, Blue Wire Capital and Gaingels.

Munich, Germany-based Hema.to, a digital medtech company focused on enhancing AI-powered blood cancer diagnostics, raised €3.6m in funding. Lumo Labs led the round and was joined by investors including Bayern Kapital, Elaia Partners, Heal Capital and HTGF.

Munich, Germany-based Bliro, an AI-powered conversation intelligence platform, raised €2.8m in funding. LEA Partners led the round and was joined by investors including 468 Capital and Rockstart.

Ghent, Belgium-based Jurimesh, which automates legal due diligence, raised €1.6m in pre-seed funding. Syndicate One led the round.

Amsterdam-based EvidenceHunt, an AI-powered medical research platform, raised €1.2m in funding. Keen Venture Partners, Dff.ventures and Slimmer AI led the round and were joined by investors including Jeroen Tas, Dinko Valerio and James Shannon.

Milan, Italy-based Mopso, a regtech specialising in anti-money laundering and financial crime prevention, raised €1m in seed funding from investors including Apside (the joint investment venture between Intesa Sanpaolo and Zest), Fin+Tech and Centro Istruttorie.

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