European tech funding tops €878M as iwoca secures £250M facility

European tech funding reached more than €878 million across 50-plus deals this week, according to Tech.eu, with UK SME lender iwoca accounting for the largest disclosed financing through a £250 million debt facility. The week also brought more than 10 exits, M&A transactions, rumours and related European tech news items, underscoring a market where capital is still moving, even as Tech.eu’s H1 2026 coverage frames the period as one of more capital and fewer deals.

The headline financing was debt, rather than equity. iwoca, which lends to small and medium-sized businesses, secured a £250 million facility, according to UKTN. The terms, providers and pricing of the facility were not included in the roundup, and no valuation was disclosed. For a lender, a debt line is operating fuel: it increases capacity to originate loans, rather than necessarily resetting the company’s equity price.

Dwelly followed with a $170 million Series B, according to FinSMEs. The roundup did not disclose the valuation, investor list or revenue metrics behind the round. Italy’s Drivalia also secured €48 million in financing from the European Investment Bank to support electric mobility in Italy and Finland, according to EU-Startups.

What happened in European tech funding this week?

Tech.eu’s tally points to a busy but selective European market: more than 50 disclosed funding deals crossed its tracker, while the largest individual items were concentrated in lending capacity, scale-up equity and institutional financing. The mix matters because it shows capital flowing into different parts of the stack, from SME credit to property technology and electric mobility.

Investor activity was also prominent. Highland Europe closed a €1.1 billion sixth fund to back European technology scaleups, according to Tech.eu. A separate £1 billion UK Scale-up Fund was reported by BusinessCloud as targeting science and technology businesses. Nuggit also announced a £5 million Creator Support Fund for UK YouTubers seeking to turn channels into scalable businesses, according to Tech.eu.

Which M&A deals stood out?

Legora acquired legal AI startup Wexler, marking its fifth acquisition of 2026, according to Tech.eu. The deal terms were not disclosed. The pace of buying is notable in legal AI, where vendors are racing to add product capabilities, customer relationships and specialist teams while law firms test how much AI tooling they can put into daily workflows.

Other reported transactions included Clean Cells acquiring Anaquant to expand biopharma quality control with mass spectrometry expertise, according to Tech.eu. InfoJobs strengthened its recruitment services through the acquisition of Viterbit, according to EU Startups News. Cover Genius is acquiring Berlin-based insurtech company Friendsurance, according to Deutsche Startups.

What did Tech.eu say about H1 2026?

Tech.eu also released its H1 2026 report on European tech, describing the first half with the shorthand “more capital, fewer deals.” The roundup says the report includes data and views from investors, startups and ecosystem leaders on the past six months and the rest of the year, but it does not provide the report’s full figures in the weekly summary.

Other policy and sector items rounded out the week. The UK government launched an AI Taskforce chaired by Lord Vallance, according to Tech.eu. The European Union also launched a tender process to build the first AI gigafactories in Europe, according to Maddyness.

At the earlier end of the market, the roundup highlighted Perceptual Robotics securing more than £4 million for AI-powered wind inspections, Beelzebub raising €3 million for enterprise cyber defence with AI, 5U AI landing a $3.2 million pre-seed round for an AI freight workforce platform, Sigvi raising €1.2 million for automated car rental operations and Kinematic Trees raising £585,000 for nature-inspired robotics software.

This story draws on original reporting from Tech.eu.