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A small town in Finland is about to ditch fossil fuels in its heating network thanks to a sand-filled energy storage tank the size of a house. Finnish startup Polar Night Energy recently turned on the so-called sand battery in the municipality of Pornainen, an hour north of Helsinki. The machine, which uses dirt to store excess renewable energy as heat, will warm the homes and businesses in the...
Tinny music plays in a dimly lit basement as we watch a teenager pull football shirts off a nearby clothing rack and hold them up to the camera. He describes each item monotonously — the team, season, colour, and condition — before sticking on a numbered label and transferring them to another rack. Each item gets less than a minute in the limelight. Bid rates and prices are listed at the bottom...
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said it is time to “push past” concerns that AI poses a threat to human jobs — contradicting the concerns of some of tech’s biggest players. Speaking at London Tech Week today, Starmer called for industry to embed AI throughout the UK economy, from healthcare to education. By taking on administrative tasks, Starmer argues that artificial intelligence tools...
British fintech Wise said this week it would shift its primary listing from London to New York, joining a growing list of firms snubbing the London Stock Exchange. UK chip designer Arm opted for a New York IPO in 2023, while food delivery giant Just Eat Takeaway quit the LSE for Amsterdam in November. Sweden’s Klarna has confirmed plans to go public in New York, following in the footsteps of...
Two satellite heavyweights are about to form a European rival to Starlink. But they’ll face an uphill battle to compete with Elon Musk’s firm. Luxembourg-based SES’ proposed $3.1bn takeover of Intelsat is set to get the green light from EU officials, Reuters reports. A final verdict is expected by June 10. SES first announced plans to acquire Luxembourgish-American rival Intelsat in April 2024...
Spanish startup Voltrac has emerged from stealth with an autonomous tractor that lives a double life. In peacetime, the 3.5-tonne electric vehicle zips around farms, hauling heavy goods and using cameras to gather data on crop health. But when enlisted, the tractor is equally capable of navigating enemy assaults to deliver critical supplies to frontline soldiers. “In Ukraine, for instance, many...
While Mark Zuckerberg was hyping Meta’s latest Ray-Ban smartglasses and Apple was promoting its Vision Pro mixed reality headset in 2023, Finnish startup IXI was quietly crafting high-tech specs for more practical purposes. Founded in 2021, the company emerged from stealth in April with $36mn in funding to commercialise what it claims are the world’s first autofocus glasses. The prescription...
This piece is part of our “Ask the Expert,” series where experts share their insights into some of the most pressing questions facing our tech ecosystem. Sign-up for your spot on Santa Meyer-Nandi’s Ask the Expert session about “How to burn bright, not out” at TNW2025 on June 20 at 15:30. In our work — whether shaping sustainable management frameworks, advising climate innovation funds, or...
Klarna’s CEO has warned that software engineers risk being left behind in the AI era — unless they’re also business-savvy. Speaking at SXSW London, Sebastian Siemiatkowski said the talent “who have really accelerated their careers at Klarna” are “business people who have learned to code.” The reason? “They can take their business understanding and turn it into deterministic or probabilistic...
European tech leaders are pushing back against high-profile VCs urging founders to work seven days a week — slamming the grindset mentality as everything from “toxic” to “childish.” “Calling on founders to work insane hours nonstop is just bad advice,” Suranga Chandratillake, general partner at Balderton Capital and former CEO of video search engine Blinkx, told TNW. “Even sprinters don’t sprint...