Deals

• European tech funding saw over 50 deals totaling more than €878 million, alongside 10 exits and M&A transactions during the past week. • Notable investments include Spain's Ratio receiving €400,000 to launch a Claude connector for real estate, Tripjoin securing €300,000, and Feending closing a €200,000 round. • Other key activity involved Italy's Solomei AI receiving investment from Salesforce and Denmark's Bikekey securing funding from TÖNNJES.

• The summer transfer window for the Premier League, EFL, Scottish Premiership, and Women's Super League is currently active, tracking all confirmed player signings and departures for August 2026. • This window, which re-opened on 15 June, includes activity from major European leagues in Germany, France, Spain, and Italy. • These movements are critical for club squad building and strategic planning ahead of the new competitive season.

• Safe Superintelligence secured a reported $5 billion in Nvidia-backed financing, marking the largest funding round of the week for the foundational AI unicorn. • Commonwealth Fusion Systems followed with a $1 billion investment, while other notable deals included $200 million for AI simulation firm Simile and $190 million in Series F funding for cybersecurity provider ThreatLocker. • These massive investments highlight a continued surge of capital into high-stakes sectors like artificial intelligence, clean energy fusion, and global cybersecurity.

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• Prime Minister Mark Carney's government announced a second major deal on Wednesday to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe. • The agreement involves a German natural gas company and aims to diversify Canada's economic partnerships to reduce its heavy reliance on the United States. • This strategic shift serves as a response to tariffs imposed by Donald Trump and helps Europe decrease its dependence on Qatari supplies, which have become uncertain due to war.

• The Athletic's Transfer DealSheet provides updates on potential summer moves for high-profile players including Yan Diomande, Bradley Barcola, and Rodri. • The report highlights interest from major clubs such as Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Real Madrid. • In a separate update, goalkeeper Vicario is missing from his team's tour due to a minor injury, though previous tours saw injured players like Solanke and Maddison travel.

• Over €1 billion was invested across more than 50 tech funding deals in Europe last week, alongside 10+ exits and M&A transactions. • Notable funding rounds include Italy's Vinhood securing €3M in Series A, Sweden's Scape raising $3.2M to rethink email, and the UK's Ossprey obtaining $2.65M for cybersecurity. • Other key investments were made in Switzerland's ImmitraBio (€2.6M pre-seed), the UK's Ponda (£1.8M for regenerative textiles), and Spain's CoCircular (€1.9M for industrial expansion).

• South Korean stocks opened higher on Monday, July 27, driven by a positive shift in global market sentiment. • The rally follows a decision by the United States to pause military strikes on Iran over the weekend, significantly easing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. • This stability, combined with reports of mega chip deals, has bolstered investor confidence in the region's critical semiconductor sector.

• South Korea's tech giants Samsung and SK Group have signed AI-focused agreements with U.S. firms totaling $950 billion. • Key partnerships include a deal between SK Hynix and Nvidia valued at over $500 billion, and a separate agreement between Samsung and Broadcom worth up to $200 billion. • These massive investments signal a strategic push to dominate the global AI hardware and semiconductor supply chain.

• South Korea announced $950 billion in new AI initiatives involving Samsung Electronics, SK Group, and various U.S. tech firms. • A major $500 billion partnership between Nvidia and SK Group focuses on developing large-scale AI data centers and next-generation memory. • The deal includes a long-term agreement with SK Hynix to secure high-bandwidth memory essential for AI training, AI agents, and physical AI applications.

• South Korea announced $950 billion in new AI initiatives involving major domestic conglomerates Samsung Electronics and SK Group, alongside various U.S. tech firms. • The massive investment aims to address the critical global shortage of high-speed chips required to power and develop more advanced AI systems. • This collaboration highlights South Korea's strategic position as a primary hardware provider for the global AI race, leveraging its dominance in semiconductor manufacturing.

• Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have secured $950 billion in AI chip and infrastructure deals with industry giants Broadcom, Nvidia, and Microsoft. • The companies have converted standard memory contracts into strategic five-year long-term agreements to solidify their grip on Big Tech supply chains. • This massive investment has triggered a surge in retail investor activity, specifically within semiconductor stocks and leveraged ETFs like the Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X ETF.

• U.S. and South Korean companies have signed AI-related deals totaling $950 billion to strengthen technological cooperation. • The agreements were finalized during an AI summit hosted by President Lee, featuring top executives from major firms including Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. • This massive investment underscores the strategic partnership between the two nations to dominate the global artificial intelligence infrastructure and semiconductor markets.

• Samsung Electronics and SK Group are pursuing long-term AI chip and infrastructure deals valued at $950 billion. • The partnerships involve collaborations with major U.S. tech firms, including Nvidia, Broadcom, Microsoft, and Anthropic. • These deals aim to address a deepening global semiconductor shortage by leveraging Korea's leadership in HBM memory and foundry manufacturing.

• South Korea announced $950 billion in new AI initiatives involving Samsung Electronics, SK Group, and various U.S. tech firms on July 24. • The massive investment focuses on developing and securing faster chips to address the current global shortage of high-performance hardware. • These deals are critical as global AI leaders race to build and power more advanced systems to maintain a competitive edge in the industry.

• Samsung and SK Group have finalized agreements totaling $1.23 trillion during a high-level AI summit hosted in South Korea. • The event brought together approximately 150 key stakeholders, including global executives, investors, researchers, and start-up founders to discuss artificial intelligence. • These massive investments signal South Korea's strategic push to solidify its position as a global leader in AI infrastructure and semiconductor technology.

• South Korea has announced US$950 billion in new AI initiatives involving semiconductor giants Samsung Electronics and SK Group in partnership with U.S. tech firms. • The agreements aim to secure a stable supply of high-performance memory chips, which are currently in short supply globally. • These deals reflect a strategic push by U.S. AI leaders to form closer ties with South Korean chipmakers to power and develop more advanced AI systems.

• South Korea has announced $950 billion in new AI initiatives involving major domestic players Samsung Electronics and SK Group alongside various US tech firms. • As part of these efforts, Samsung Electronics entered into a $200 billion pact with Broadcom to strengthen the supply of critical chips. • The deals aim to address a global shortage of high-speed computing infrastructure required to develop and power more advanced AI systems.

• Merck is establishing voluntary licensing agreements to enable the wide-scale production of its experimental HIV prevention pill in lower-income countries. • The company is pursuing these partnerships while the drug is still undergoing two late-stage clinical trials to accelerate future availability. • This strategy aims to ensure that the medication can be manufactured and distributed rapidly once it receives regulatory approval.

• A total of $1.7 billion was raised across 12 FinTech funding rounds this week, maintaining relatively stable investment levels compared to the previous week's $1.95 billion. • The week's activity was dominated by Ant International, which secured a massive $1.2 billion Series A round. • While the number of deals decreased from 19 to 12, the presence of "colossal" funding rounds prevented a significant drop in total capital deployed.

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• Startup investors distributed significant capital across multiple sectors this week, including fintech, cybersecurity, biotech, and AI infrastructure. • The largest deal was a $1.7 billion funding round for Atoms, a physical AI startup founded by former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick. • Other notable investments were secured by Sila, a battery technology firm, and Meshy AI, a developer of 3D AI models.

• European banks reported stronger Q2 earnings driven by higher interest rates, increased loan growth, and M&A-related trading revenue. • Major financial institutions, including UniCredit and Santander, are scheduled to release their specific results on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, followed by BNP Paribas on Thursday. • The reporting period is particularly significant as UniCredit pursues a proposed acquisition of Germany’s Commerzbank, one of the region's largest banking deals in years.

• A federal appeals court ruled that the public interest in recordings of Joe Biden from 2016 and 2017 outweighs his privacy claims, denying his bid to block their release. • The recordings feature Biden discussing his political life and are being sought by the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing legal advocacy group. • The Heritage Foundation intends to use the audio to scrutinize a past criminal investigation that led to no charges and to evaluate Biden's health over the last decade.

• Startup funding remained exceptionally strong in Q2 2026, with a notable shift toward broader capital deployment across the AI and infrastructure stacks. • Investment activity concentrated on companies building foundational AI and defense technology, moving beyond the narrower focus seen in Q1. • These mega-rounds signal that targeted companies are likely preparing for aggressive scaling, including new product launches, market expansion, and increased hiring.

• Morgan Rogers is set to move from Aston Villa to Chelsea in a deal valued at £117 million. • The transfer is poised to become one of the most expensive player acquisitions in Premier League history. • This high-value move highlights Chelsea's aggressive spending strategy to strengthen their squad with top talent.

• More than 60 European tech funding deals totaling over €2.7 billion were tracked last week, alongside more than 10 exits and M&A transactions. • Notable investments include Denmark's Visibuilt raising €3.3M for fungi-based road construction and the UK's Juno Bio securing $3.8M for a women's health sequencing lab. • Other key deals featured Belgium's Sightera Biosciences closing a €3M pre-seed round for AI drug discovery and Spain's Sensesbit raising €1M for international expansion.

• More than 70 European tech funding deals were tracked last week, totaling over €2.8 billion in capital, alongside five exits and M&A transactions. • Notable investments include €19.2M for Belgium's e-peas, €18M for Germany's Stenon, €18M for the Netherlands' Protein Brewery, and $18M for Spain's Sherpa.ai. • The UK's AI robotics group Dogtooth also secured £14M, highlighting a strong regional focus on energy harvesting, AI development, and robotics.