Balderton vs Highland Europe

Duvo raises $32M Series A to expand enterprise AI

Duvo, an enterprise AI platform founded by Rohlik's Tomáš Čupr, announced a $32 million Series A funding round led by Balderton Capital, with participation from Index Ventures, Northzone, and Credo Ventures. The round brings Duvo's total funding to $48 million. The company plans to use the funds to expand its sales and marketing efforts, initially targeting retailers and CPG companies. Duvo's platform, Duvo Clarity, uses AI to document and automate business processes, reducing manual work and improving efficiency. The company counts Morrisons, Holland & Barrett, Boden, Notino, and Allegro among its clients and claims to have generated over $100 million in value for customers. Duvo is also expanding into the US market and exploring opportunities in Asia.

• Duvo raised a $32 million Series A led by Balderton Capital.
• Total funding now stands at $48 million.
• Duvo works with companies including Morrisons, Holland & Barrett, Boden, Notino, and Allegro.

Spott Raises $21M Series A for AI Recruitment Platform

Spott, an AI-native applicant tracking system (ATS) and CRM platform for recruitment agencies, has raised €18.3 million ($21 million) in Series A funding. The round was led by Balderton Capital with participation from Base10 Partners, Y Combinator, and Fortino. Founded in Leuven in 2024, Spott consolidates candidate management, search, conversations, and automation into a single unified AI workspace, turning emails, CVs, and pipeline data into actionable intelligence. The company reports revenue growth of more than tenfold since the start of 2026 and serves hundreds of agencies, including H.W. Anderson and CGP Group. The funds will support international expansion, enterprise features, and agentic AI development, with plans to open offices in Sydney and New York and grow headcount from 44 to around 60 by year-end.

• Spott raised €18.3 million ($21 million) in Series A funding led by Balderton Capital, with participation from Base10 Partners, Y Combinator, and Fortino.
• Founded in Leuven in 2024 by Lander Degreve, Manu Vanderveeren, and Samuel Smeys.
• Spott's platform integrates candidate management, search, conversations, and automation for recruitment agencies, turning emails, CVs, and pipeline data into actionable intelligence.

Unit1 Studio Raises £20M for Avatar Concerts

UK-based Unit1 Studio, a producer of mixed-reality avatar concerts, has secured £20 million (€23.3 million) in new funding combining equity and production financing. The round was led by Balderton Capital, with participation from existing backers Mercuri, Gilston Music, and artist manager Paul McGuinness. The company aims to expand beyond the single-venue model of ABBA Voyage by making avatar concerts more economical and replicable across multiple venues simultaneously, citing high production and relocation costs as barriers. Unit1's technology enables swift venue transfers, demonstrated by moving its KT Tunstall demo-concert to a new permanent studio at Tileyard London in just four days. Led by CEO Barney Wragg, the company combines visual effects, CGI, and live performance to produce immersive shows for artists who may no longer tour, with development costs recouped within twelve months. Upcoming artist projects remain undisclosed.

• Unit1 Studio raised £20 million (€23.3 million) in a financing round combining equity and production financing.
• The equity round was led by Balderton Capital, with participation from existing backers Mercuri, Gilston Music, and Paul McGuinness.
• Unit1 aims to replicate avatar concerts across multiple venues simultaneously, moving beyond the ABBA Voyage single-venue model.

Unframe positions itself as Applied AI Lab

Unframe, an AI company, announced the launch of its 'Applied AI Lab', a partner designed to help enterprises operationalize frontier AI models into production systems. The company positions itself as a bridge between frontier labs and business needs, addressing challenges like messy data, inconsistent results, and rapid technological change. Unframe reports significant growth: a $50 million Series B led by Highland Europe in 2026, total funding of $100 million, and over $100 million in total contract value within 12 months. Customers include Cushman & Wakefield, RSM, NZZ, Nutrisens, and Avison Young. The Applied AI Lab aims to provide enterprises with a neutral partner specializing in AI implementation and strategy.

• Unframe launched the Applied AI Lab to help enterprises operationalize frontier AI.
• The company raised a $50 million Series B led by Highland Europe in 2026, bringing total funding to $100 million.
• Unframe crossed $100 million in total contract value within 12 months.

Highland Europe closes €1.1B Fund VI for European scaleups

Highland Europe, a growth-stage venture capital firm based in London and Geneva, has closed its sixth fund at €1.1 billion to continue investing in European technology scaleups. Since its founding in 2012, the firm has raised €3.75 billion across six funds, backed more than 80 companies, and completed 30 exits. The new fund follows a year of strong liquidity generation, including the $3 billion sale of Nexthink, the agreed acquisition of Huel by Danone, the $7.5 billion merger of EGYM and Playlist, and Bending Spoons' Nasdaq listing. Highland Europe recently led a $70 million Series B for legal AI platform Wordsmith, a $50 million Series B for Unframe, and a $105 million Series D for Ecorobotix. The firm also promoted Helena Richardson and Jacob Bernstein to Partner, and will use Fund VI to support more growth-stage companies across the continent.

• Highland Europe closed Fund VI at €1.1 billion for European technology scaleups.
• The firm has raised €3.75 billion across six funds since 2012, backing over 80 companies and completing 30 exits.
• Highland Europe generated more than €1 billion in liquidity over the past year.

Adaptyv raises a $40m Series A led by Highland Europe

Adaptyv announces a $40 million Series A funding round led by Highland Europe, as shared on LinkedIn.