What do hazardous inspections, fighting and cooking crêpes have in common? All three are tasks that robots are now capable (ish) of performing.

In 2025, equity investment into European robotics startups more than doubled, reaching €1.45bn — and in the first quarter of this year, European robotics startups raised €522m.

But what’s triggered this uptick?

On this week’s episode of the Sifted podcast, host Amy Lewin is joined by editors Éanna Kelly and Tom Nugent to discuss the booming sector. The trio dig into whether Europe’s robot makers are moving fast enough, and whether everyday consumers will have robots unloading their dishwashers anytime soon.

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Last year, Kitty Mayo was catapulted into the public eye when she took the helm of Project Europe. The accelerator, launched to much fanfare by Harry Stebbings and about 200 entrepreneurs, has a bold mission: to support and invest in founders under the age of 25 to build Europe’s next €100bn companies.

But, one year on, what’s it achieved? What’s been the most unexpected challenge? What will Kitty do differently with the second fund? And who’s really in charge?

On this episode of the Sifted Podcast, Kitty sits down with host Amy Lewin to discuss all the above, plus:

• The most telling questions on Project Europe’s application form
• Who makes the best mentors to founders
• Why 996 is “outdated”
• Why she’s stopped trying to be likeable
• Why more women shouldn't wait to play before a "perfect system" comes along

This podcast was brought to you by HSBC Innovation Banking.

European seed rounds are ballooning. Last month Yann LeCun’s AMI Labs picked up $1bn at a $3bn valuation while David Silver’s Ineffable Intelligence was reported to be raising $1bn at a $4bn valuation.

“Thankfully, the billion dollar seed round is not the standard across Europe — yet,” Philipp Moehring tells host Amy Lewin on this episode of the Sifted podcast. “That would be concerning.”

Philipp started microfund Tiny VC with Andy Chung almost a decade ago to invest in the hottest companies in Europe before anyone else. Its portfolio of 450+ startups includes self-driving car company Wayve, AI-powered video creator Synthesia, legal tech Lawhive and workflow automation platform N8n.

But unlike many VCs, Tiny doesn’t join boards, or lead rounds and doesn’t really ‘do’ media. It last raised a third £53m fund in 2023, and was crowned 20VC’s ‘top European microfund’ earlier this year.

This week on the podcast, Philipp and Amy discuss:

• How VC will change over the next 10 years
• When Tiny takes money off the table
• Why young people make awesome founders
• Anxiety-inducing LinkedIn posts
• And, for better or worse, the return of the tech bro