Tom Nugent

Tom Nugent is Sifted’s managing editor. He covers university spinouts and robotics. Follow him on X and LinkedIn

DeepMind handpicked this startup for its robotics accelerator. Now it’s raised an $11.7m seed round
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Exclusive
June 24, 2026
DeepMind handpicked this startup for its robotics accelerator. Now it’s raised an $11.7m seed round
Acumino builds robot models for dexterous tasks in industrial automation and is looking to scale the number of deployments it has with customers
Tom Nugent
Andy Burnham was Manchester tech’s ‘hype man’. Will he be the same for Britain?
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Analysis
June 23, 2026
Andy Burnham was Manchester tech’s ‘hype man’. Will he be the same for Britain?
Over the past decade, Andy Burnham has overseen one of Europe’s fastest-growing tech hubs as mayor of Greater Manchester
Tom Nugent and Martin Coulter
CuspAI to hit $2.6bn valuation with backing from Jeff Bezos, reports say
News
June 17, 2026
CuspAI to hit $2.6bn valuation with backing from Jeff Bezos, reports say
The new round would more than quadruple the UK startup’s valuation from September last year
Tom Nugent
10 legaltechs to watch in Europe, according to VCs
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Investor survey
June 12, 2026
10 legaltechs to watch in Europe, according to VCs
The legaltech sector in Europe is capturing a lot of VC attention, driven by a cohort of companies using AI to disrupt one of our oldest professions
Tom Nugent
Google DeepMind chose these startups for its first robotics accelerator
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List
June 10, 2026
Google DeepMind chose these startups for its first robotics accelerator
The companies will get three months of mentorship and technical support building AI into their core products
Tom Nugent
Startup founders we’d send to win the World Cup
Analysis
June 10, 2026
Startup founders we’d send to win the World Cup
With some big calls and controversial omissions, we pulled together a fantasy football team for European tech
Éanna Kelly, Tom Nugent, Maya Dharampal-Hornby and Martin Coulter
UK AI Hardware Plan ‘significant step’ forward, but missing key energy question
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News
June 9, 2026
UK AI Hardware Plan ‘significant step’ forward, but missing key energy question
The AI Hardware Plan sets out how the government will back British companies developing chips and semiconductor technologies
Tom Nugent
All the decacorns in Europe: listed
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List
June 9, 2026
All the decacorns in Europe: listed
Europe’s cohort of $10bn+ startups is growing rapidly, with companies reaching the milestone quicker than ever before
Tom Nugent
The most active legaltech investors in Europe
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Most active investors
May 25, 2026
The most active legaltech investors in Europe
Investors including General Catalyst, Y Combinator, Benchmark and Balderton are piling into one of European tech’s buzziest sectors
Tom Nugent
Investors continue to pile into AI legaltech as Lexroom raises $50m Series B
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Exclusive
May 19, 2026
Investors continue to pile into AI legaltech as Lexroom raises $50m Series B
The startup has developed an AI platform it says is used by more than 8,000 law firms and corporate legal teams
Tom Nugent
The DeepMind mafia building startups in Europe
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Founder factories
May 18, 2026
The DeepMind mafia building startups in Europe
Google’s AI lab has had a big impact on the tech world, with countless staff branching out to launch their own ventures
Tom Nugent
Euan Blair’s Multiverse boosts valuation with $70m fundraise
News
May 15, 2026
Euan Blair’s Multiverse boosts valuation with $70m fundraise
The workforce training unicorn hasn’t raised capital since 2022
Tom Nugent
The hottest cities for robotics deals in Europe
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List
May 11, 2026
The hottest cities for robotics deals in Europe
Equity investment into European robotics startups more than doubled in 2025, reaching €1.45bn
Tom Nugent
Can’t code? This startup just raised $9m to make you a workflow automation genius
Exclusive
May 7, 2026
Can’t code? This startup just raised $9m to make you a workflow automation genius
A roster of high-profile angels including ElevenLabs CEO Mati Staniszewski and Supercell’s Ilkka Paananen were among the investors
Tom Nugent
11 future of compute startups to watch, according to VCs
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Investor survey
May 4, 2026
11 future of compute startups to watch, according to VCs
Sifted asked investors from AlbionVC, Oxford Science Enterprises, Imec.xpand and Seedcamp for their picks
Tom Nugent
Sereact taps Headline to lead $110m Series B, plots US expansion
News
April 27, 2026
Sereact taps Headline to lead $110m Series B, plots US expansion
The German robotics company is developing AI models to take on the industrial labour gap
Tom Nugent
The European robotics startups hiring the most right now
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List
April 21, 2026
The European robotics startups hiring the most right now
Equity investment into European robotics startups more than doubled in 2025, reaching €1.45bn
Tom Nugent
Self-driving scaleup Wayve raises fresh funds from AMD, Qualcomm and Arm
News
April 15, 2026
Self-driving scaleup Wayve raises fresh funds from AMD, Qualcomm and Arm
The fresh funding follows a huge $1.2bn round announced in February from the likes of Nvidia, SoftBank and Microsoft
Tom Nugent
19 AI agent startups to watch in 2026, according to VCs
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Investor survey
April 8, 2026
19 AI agent startups to watch in 2026, according to VCs
AI agent startups in Europe raised €6.2bn across 429 deals in 2025, according to Sifted data
Tom Nugent
UK pension providers back £200m fund aimed at supercharging homegrown startups
News
April 1, 2026
UK pension providers back £200m fund aimed at supercharging homegrown startups
Ministers cheer landmark deal to unlock capital for fast-growing companies
Tom Nugent
Investors hunt for ‘the next DeepMind’ in Oxford amid deeptech boom
Pro
Analysis
March 27, 2026
Investors hunt for ‘the next DeepMind’ in Oxford amid deeptech boom
A cohort of deeptech spinouts has investors hunting for deals in the historic UK city
Tom Nugent
AI notetaking startup Granola hits unicorn status with $125m Series C
News
March 25, 2026
AI notetaking startup Granola hits unicorn status with $125m Series C
The London-based company, which transcribes meeting notes for users, is valued at $1.5bn
Tom Nugent
Oxford spinout raises from Amadeus Capital and OSE to solve long-term memory problem in robotics
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Exclusive
March 24, 2026
Oxford spinout raises from Amadeus Capital and OSE to solve long-term memory problem in robotics
Stateful Robotics CEO Kirsty Lloyd-Jukes previously sold imitation learning startup Latent Logic to US autonomous vehicle giant Waymo
Tom Nugent
Did robotics spinout Rivr sell to Amazon too early?
Pro
Analysis
March 24, 2026
Did robotics spinout Rivr sell to Amazon too early?
The ETH Zurich spinout, which builds delivery robots, sold to the US delivery giant for an undisclosed sum last week
Tom Nugent

Tom Nugent

DeepMind handpicked this startup for its robotics accelerator. Now it’s raised an $11.7m seed round

Andy Burnham was Manchester tech’s ‘hype man’. Will he be the same for Britain?

CuspAI to hit $2.6bn valuation with backing from Jeff Bezos, reports say

10 legaltechs to watch in Europe, according to VCs

Google DeepMind chose these startups for its first robotics accelerator

Startup founders we’d send to win the World Cup

UK AI Hardware Plan ‘significant step’ forward, but missing key energy question

All the decacorns in Europe: listed

The most active legaltech investors in Europe

Investors continue to pile into AI legaltech as Lexroom raises $50m Series B

The DeepMind mafia building startups in Europe

Euan Blair’s Multiverse boosts valuation with $70m fundraise

The hottest cities for robotics deals in Europe

Can’t code? This startup just raised $9m to make you a workflow automation genius

11 future of compute startups to watch, according to VCs

Sereact taps Headline to lead $110m Series B, plots US expansion

The European robotics startups hiring the most right now

Self-driving scaleup Wayve raises fresh funds from AMD, Qualcomm and Arm

19 AI agent startups to watch in 2026, according to VCs

UK pension providers back £200m fund aimed at supercharging homegrown startups

Investors hunt for ‘the next DeepMind’ in Oxford amid deeptech boom

AI notetaking startup Granola hits unicorn status with $125m Series C

Oxford spinout raises from Amadeus Capital and OSE to solve long-term memory problem in robotics

Did robotics spinout Rivr sell to Amazon too early?