The Recursive’s weekly roundup aims to cover key tech developments across Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the growing impact of CEE-born founders on the global stage. Take a look at the latest news in funding, startup milestones, and emerging trends tied to the region’s innovation potential.
CEE deals
Tallin-based PowerUP Energy Technologies has closed a €10 million Series A funding round to accelerate the manufacturing and commercialization of its hydrogen-powered electric generators.
The investment, co-led by dual-use venture firms Mercaton and ScaleWolf and joined by Estonia’s SmartCap Green Fund (funded by the European Union’s NextGenerationEU), with strong participation from existing investors, will scale the technology which is distinguished by its proven reliability in extreme operational environments.
Warsaw-based e-commerce startup Juo has raised €4 million in seed funding. The round was backed by Market One Capital (lead), Peak (lead), SMOK Ventures, BADideas, FJ Labs, Lakestar. The new funds will be spent on expanding platform capabilities for developers, operations teams, and AI agents; supporting modern front-end technologies; and developing Model Context Protocol (MCP) integrations for AI-native commerce.
Polish Global Work AI has secured a €2.07 million follow-on investment, underscoring continued investor confidence in its AI-native job-search platform built exclusively for job seekers.
The round was backed by existing investors, including Pre-Seed to Succeed, Yellow Rocks, Smart Partnership Capital, AltaIR Capital, and TMT Investments.
M&As
HackSoft, a Sofia-based software development company, has officially become part of Waracle, an UK digital product consultancy headquartered in Scotland. The move aims to strengthen their presence across the European tech landscape.
TestDevLab, a Latvian software quality engineering company, announced it is joining Xoriant, a ChrysCapital-owned global engineering and technology services company. The partnership combines TestDevLab’s 14 years of testing expertise with Xoriant’s broader engineering capabilities and international presence across 28 offices in the USA, Europe, and Asia.
Czech-founded Oddin.gg, a provider of esports betting infrastructure, announced the acquisition of Denmark-based GameScorekeeper, a specialist esports data company offering structured game, team, and player information at scale.
New Funds launch
Hungarian Day One Capital has launched a new early-stage investment fund focused on backing Pre-Seed and Seed-stage founders across Central and Eastern Europe. With €45 million already secured at second close and a final close expected in early 2026.
