europe

Infineon opened its €5 billion Smart Power Fab in Dresden on July 2, three months early, doubling its Dresden capacity and adding 1,000 jobs at what it calls the world's largest power-chip factory.

Munich autonomous drone maker Quantum Systems raised a $1.2 billion Series D at about an $8 billion valuation, more than doubling its worth since November as defense-tech funding surges.

THEKER raised $85M (€73M) led by CRV with Samsung and LVMH backing, for AI-native factory robots that reconfigure for different tasks.

Lufthansa will exercise its option in June to buy an additional 49% of ITA Airways from the Italian state for 325 million euros, lifting its stake to 90% and triggering full integration of the Italian flag carrier.

Quantum software startup Algorithmiq raised 18 million euros co-led by CDP Venture Capital and United Ventures, relocated its global headquarters to Milan, and pushed total funding to 36 million euros in what investors call Italy's largest quantum VC round.

Volkswagen launched its ID. Polo entry-level EV on April 29 with pre-orders for the 155 kW Life trim starting at 33,795 euros, while a 25,000 euro base version is set to follow later this year.

RAVEN, a shoebox-sized CubeSat receiver, rode SpaceX's CAS500-2 rideshare to orbit on May 3 as the first dedicated satellite of the Max Planck-led ICARUS 2.0 wildlife-tracking constellation — three years after Germany ended ISS cooperation with Russia.

Croatia becomes Europe's first country with a paid commercial robotaxi service, as Verne, Pony.ai, and Uber open Gen-7 autonomous rides to the public in Zagreb.

A coalition of nine European companies forked OnlyOffice into Euro-Office, prompting an AGPL v3 licensing dispute and the suspension of an eight-year Nextcloud partnership.

Hackers accessed names, addresses, bank details, and dates of birth of roughly one million Basic-Fit members before monitoring systems cut off the intrusion.

A RUSI Journal paper argues that restoring peatlands, wetlands, and forests along Eastern European frontiers could impede mechanized forces while delivering climate and biodiversity benefits at a fraction of the cost of traditional anti-tank defenses.

Brent crude has surged more than 50 percent since the Strait of Hormuz closure, and European consumers are responding by dramatically accelerating purchases of solar panels, heat pumps, and electric vehicles.