Good morning Charlie,

US legaltech giant Harvey, one of Silicon Valley’s fastest-growing startups, is doubling down on the region with plans to double its European headcount, open new offices and keep an eye out for acquisitions.

In an interview with Sifted, Harvey’s EMEA boss Jorge Bestard says the $11bn company expects Europe to drive up to 35% of its global growth, as law firms — and increasingly other professional services firms — race to adopt AI.

But the company isn’t satisfied with organic expansion alone. Bestard says Harvey is actively looking for acquisitions to plug product gaps or bring in specialist talent, even if there are no European deals ready to announce just yet.

His comments come as competition for AI talent reaches fever pitch. OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft and Cursor have all been expanding their European presence in recent months, while Sweden’s Legora — Harvey’s biggest European rival — has been pursuing its own aggressive hiring and M&A strategy.

Harvey’s ambitions also stretch beyond the legal sector, according to Bestard. Having built its business on helping lawyers analyse complex documents, the company is now targeting private equity, insurance and other knowledge-intensive industries.

The question is whether Europe’s AI startups can hold their ground as well-funded US rivals ramp up their expansion — or more founders will decide joining them is the better option.

Elsewhere today:

• Helsing raises $1.8bn backed by Goldman and Lightspeed
• Anthropic recruits Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield for AI compute team
• Moneybox crowned Europe’s newest unicorn ahead of LSE Pisces test

The startups growing very, very fast

Some of France and Benelux’s fastest-growing startups are not chasing the obvious hype cycle. This year’s Sifted 100 digs into the companies turning niche, practical and often overlooked problems into serious revenue growth, from AI infrastructure and robotics to tourist tax automation, water tech and B2B software. Download the full report, sponsored by Nebius, to see the 100 startups setting the pace across the region.

🪖 Defence tech startup Helsing raised a $1.8bn funding round backed by Goldman and Lightspeed.

💵 Exclusive: Defence tech startup Project Q raised a €15m Series A backed by Expeditions Fund.

🛑 Nscale’s plan to build a £2bn data centre in the UK faces delays due to energy constraints.

🦄 Fintech startup Moneybox was crowned Europe’s newest unicorn ahead of a planned secondaries sale on the LSE’s Pisces platform.

🤝 Anthropic recruited Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield for its AI compute team.

💸 Exclusive: Peec AI rival Promptwatch raised a €6m seed round.

🪹 Peter Sarlin’s NestAI wants to help Europe reduce reliance on foreign models for defence.

👏 Harvey’s EMEA chief on M&A, hiring and pushing beyond law: “When we see an opportunity, we’ll go for it.”

💰 This founder sold his startup to Klarna for €110m. Now he’s raised €12m to build again.

Gain an unfair advantage across European tech

Discover emerging startups, track investor activity and follow funding momentum before the rest of the market catches up. Subscribe to Sifted Pro now to unlock context, expert analysis and verified data on the companies, investors and sectors driving Europe forward – so you can get early signals to see where the market is moving and build conviction faster. 

If you’d like to submit a deal, get in touch. 

London-based ClearScore, which provides credit scores, reports and financial product recommendations, raised £50m in debt funding, led by HSBC Innovation Banking.

Lorüns, Austria-based Sodex Innovations, which develops automated surveying technology for construction sites, raised €4m in funding. Capmont Technology led the round and was joined by investors including Bloomhaus, Look AI Ventures and Superangels.

Søborg, Denmark-based Visibuilt, which develops mycelium-based paving materials, raised €3.34m in seed funding. EIFO and Unconventional Ventures led the round and was joined by Proptechfonden and EMDFonden.

Rome, Italy-based Doctorsa, a telemedicine platform for travellers to access healthcare services globally, raised €1m in funding. PranaVentures led the round and was joined by Vento and 40Jemz Ventures.

Neuchâtel, Switzerland-based CCRAFT, a marketplace for sustainable materials, raised $7.8m in funding. Investors including QBIT Capital, Spacewalk VC and Blue Wonder Ventures.