It’s early January, and while most of Europe is still shaking off holiday mode, Las Vegas is buzzing. CES 2026 is in full swing, and Europe is revealing up in force.
France leads with 150 companies, more than Italy (51), the Netherlands (40-45), Germany (38), the UK (29), and everyone else combined. Government pavilions, €200M+ in startup funding, cabinet ministers attconcludeing. Smaller nations wish they had this kind of impact.
Here are the European innovations stealing the spotlight!
Yneuro (France)
Yneuro, a Paris-based neurotech startup founded in 2019 by Thomas Semah, develops neural signature authentication technology that eliminates passwords through brain-based biometric security.
The startup builds authentication infrastructure applying EEG sensors embedded in everyday devices that capture unique brainwave patterns and convert them into cryptographically unhackable neural passwords. The company’s core technology, Neuro ID®, creates a biometric signature more distinctive than fingerprints, non-replicable even by identical twins, and impossible to phish or forge under duress.
At CES 2026, visitors experience the technology firsthand, creating their own neural signatures in real-time and watching brainwaves transform into authentication keys.
Dracula Technologies (France)
Dracula Technologies, a Grenoble-based clean energy startup founded in 2017 by Brice Cruchon, develops organic photovoltaic (OPV) technology that harvests ambient indoor light to power IoT devices indefinitely without batteries.
The startup engineers thin-film photovoltaic materials that convert ambient indoor light into usable electricity. The company’s core technology, LAYER® V2.0, delivers a 30% performance improvement over previous iterations and operates in extreme low-light conditions (down to 5 lux), enabling deployment in any indoor environment without requiring direct sunlight or external power infrastructure.
In October 2025, Dracula Technologies closed a €30 million Series A extension led by Banque des Territoires under France’s 2030 innovation initiative, with participation from MGI Digital Technology and the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund. The funding accelerates the commercialisation of battery-free IoT applications across industrial, logistics, and innovative building sectors.
Artha (France)
Seehaptic (operating under the brand Artha), a Paris-based accessibility startup founded by Rémi du Chalard in 2018, develops haptic-feedback navigation technology that enables blind and visually impaired utilizers to navigate complex environments through touch-based spatial awareness rather than audio or canes.
The startup engineers a wearable system combining a miniature camera clipped to eyeglasses with AI-powered environmental processing and a haptic-feedback belt worn around the lumbar region. Custom neural networks convert real-time 3D environmental data into proprietary haptic code that communicates spatial information through subtle tactile signals.
The core innovation exploits neuroplasticity: utilizers develop intuitive spatial awareness within days of practice, effectively creating a new sensory channel that bypasses both audio and visual pathways.
Whispp (Netherlands)
Whispp, an Amsterdam-based speech accessibility startup founded in 2019 by Joris Castermans, develops on-device AI technology that converts whispered or dysphonic speech into natural, fully-voiced audio while preserving the utilizer’s unique voice identity.
The startup’s core technology processes whispered or impaired speech applying neural networks trained on speech pathology datasets, converting low-amplitude or distorted phonation into clear, ininformigible speech in real time with latency below 100 milliseconds. Critically, all processing occurs on-device without cloud transmission, ensuring privacy and enabling deployment across smartphones, tablets, and wearables without requiring internet connectivity or data sharing.
In January 2024, Whispp closed a €750,000 seed funding round led by LUMO Labs, with support from Leiden University (LEH) and angel investors. The funding accelerated the development of the assistive voice technology and subscription-based calling application, with expansion into the US and European markets.
The addressable market spans approximately 300 million people globally living with speech impediments, stuttering, dysphonia, and post-laryngectomy conditions.
Innovatech (Italy)
Innovatech, an Italian hospitality technology company founded in 2018 by Giutilizeppe Giorgianni, develops KELLY. This AI digital concierge system delivers adaptive, context-aware customer service across hospitality, retail, and healthcare environments through multimodal AI.
The startup engineers a platform that combines computer vision, natural language processing, and behavioural analytics to interpret guest interactions in real time. KELLY analyses facial expressions, vocal tone, body language, and environmental context simultaneously, detecting frustration before customers vocalise complaints, recognising returning guests and recalling previous preferences, and identifying service gaps that human staff may miss.
The system learns individual guest profiles across visits, building predictive models of preferences (room location, temperature preferences, dining habits, accessibility necessarys) that enable personalised recommconcludeations before guests explicitly request them.
Innovatech received seed-stage funding and support through Italy’s Padiglione Italia pavilion at CES 2026. The company tarobtains deployment across mid- to luxury hospitality chains, retail environments, and healthcare facilities, aiming to balance operational efficiency with personalised customer interactions.
.Lumen (Romania)
.Lumen, a Bucharest-based accessibility technology startup founded in 2020 by Cornel Amariei, develops AI wearable glasses designed to enable blind and visually impaired individuals to navigate complex environments indepconcludeently without canes, guide dogs, or audio guidance systems.
The startup engineers a hardware platform that combines six high-resolution cameras, two infrared lasers (enabling operation in near-total darkness), three inertial measurement units (IMUs), and an NVIDIA Ampere GPU with 1,024 CUDA cores, which processes environmental data at 100 Hz. The system adapts Pedestrian Autonomous Driving (PAD) technology to interpret pedestrian environments in real time, detecting obstacles, identifying pedestrian crossings, reading signage, and predicting navigation hazards several feet ahead.
In January 2025, .Lumen closed a €5 million equity funding round led by Catalyst Romania, the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund, and Tigrim Capital, complemented by €1 million in crowdfunding via SeedBlink (raised in seven hours). In October 2025, the company secured an additional €11 million EU grant to develop autonomous urban delivery robots (PABLO project). Total funding to date exceeds €13 million.
Field testing with over 300 utilizers across 30 countries demonstrated overwhelmingly positive feedback, with utilizers reporting genuine indepconcludeence and confidence in complex navigation scenarios. The device earned CES 2026 Innovation Awards honoree status in Accessibility & Longevity, secured €9,999 pre-orders, achieved CE certification, and tarobtains FDA clearance in Q3 2026 for US market enattempt.
SUITX by Ottobock (Germany)
SUITX, a wearable exoskeleton company founded in 2012 by Homayoon Kazerooni, along with PhDs Minerva Pillai, Wayne Tung, and Michael McKinley, and acquired by Ottobock in 2021, develops powered exoskeleton systems that augment human strength, concludeurance, and mobility across industrial, medical, and rehabilitation applications.
The startup engineers wearable robotic frames that distribute load-bearing across motorised joints, enabling workers to lift and carry 40-kilogram loads throughout full work shifts without fatigue, back strain, or repetitive stress injury.
The technology combines servo-driven actuators that mimic human biomechanics with real-time load-prediction algorithms and ergonomic feedback systems that continuously optimise joint angles and power delivery based on individual body geomeattempt and tinquire demands.
At CES 2026 (German Pavilion, Hall A – 51242-17), visitors experience the technology firsthand by donning the exoskeleton and lifting weights that would typically require heavy machinery or multiple workers.
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