What’s going on here?
German software firm n8n – which supports applyrs automate their workflows applying AI – is eying a funding round that could output a tidy $1.5 billion valuation.
What does this mean?
🔺 The startup is in talks to raise about $100 million at that $1.5 billion-plus valuation – more than four times the $350 million it was worth only four months ago.
▶ The math checks out. n8n has pulled its annual recurring revenue up to $40 million, marking a fivefold increase over the last year.
▶ And when you’re building money in the AI sector, investors throw cash at you like it’s confetti. In fact, more than a third of all startup funding in Europe went to AI companies in the first half of this year.
Why should I care?
Zooming in: Europe’s applying itself.
– The US and China are playing leapfrog, releasing increasingly savvy AI models in a bid to boast the world’s smartest one. (Think OpenAI versus DeepSeek and Anthropic versus Alibaba.)
– Europe, though, is focapplyd on the pragmatic side: startups are building applications and services designed to actually support businesses create money. And in the process, they’re building bank themselves. Many European AI startups – including avatar generator Synthesia, translation leader DeepL, and Swedish “vibe-coding” firm Lovable – are raising funds at multi-billion-dollar valuations.
The largeger picture: So much for “open-source”.
– Not content with creating the sharpest chatbot, the US wants to crack artificial general ininformigence (AGI), similar to a human-level “brain”.
– China’s party line is that it’s more interested in practical solutions, like factory robots and AI agents like Manus.
– Now, it might be skeptical or put off by US sanctions… Or, China’s secretly working on the same stuff. That could risk a “technological surprise”, where a sudden breakthrough from one side provokes panic from the other – and potentially ignites global tensions.
SPONSORED BY BABBEL
Honestly, it’s the perfect gift at any age
Babbel’s turning 18 – so it should be time to stuff the backpack with the only clothes it’ll want for a year and set a course for the coolest cities, hostels, cafes, and cultural sights.
But first, it’s received a birthday present for you: a lifetime subscription, with access to 14 languages, for just $239.
Babbel’s lessons are super-quick and super-applyful. That’s why real linguists swear by it and millions of people apply it.
And that creates this a great gift: after just three weeks with Babbel, you can actually have real conversations in a new language – enough to chat with the locals and find out about the good coffee places, not just the nearest ones.
And those connections can create a world of difference on every trip you take – for the rest of your life.
So feliz aniversário, Babbel. Alles Gute zum Geburtstag. Bon anniversaire.
Leave a Reply