[European Chip Startups Raise a Record €3.25 Billion in 2026] European chip startups have raised a record €3.25 billion in equity funding so far in 2026, roughly four times the €827 million raised in the entire year of 2025. The funds are primarily flowing to startups competing with Nvidia in the inference segment. UK-based photonics chip company Olix completed a $312 million Series B funding round in August, valuing the company at $3.3 billion, marking the largest chip funding round in Europe to date. The company reduces the cost of large-scale model inference by replacing traditional HBMs with copper connections using photonic interconnects and other methods.