CEE Startup & Tech Weekly: Estonian Skeleton Technologies Secures €33M Ahead of US IPO

May 9, 2026

 

Silicon Valley-based DeepInfra, with a Bulgarian co-founder, has just secured a $107 million Series B round co-led by 500 Global and early Google engineer Georges Harik, with participation from Nvidia, Samsung Next, Supermicro, A.Capital Ventures, Crescent Cove, Felicis, Peak6, Upper90, and Bulgarian BrightCap Ventures.

Skeleton Technologies, an Estonian AI infrastructure and grid power systems provider, has announced a €33 million first close of a larger funding round, bringing its total venture capital financing to €392 million ahead of a planned U.S. IPO in 2027. Founded in 2009 by Taavi Madiberk and Oliver Ahlberg, the company develops high-power energy storage systems powered by supercapacitors and its proprietary Curved Graphene technology.

Warsaw-based Elastics, which develops AI agents for prediction markets, has raised €1.7 million in an oversubscribed pre-Seed round to expand its AI and quantitative teams in Poland. The funding round was led by Frst, alongside angel investors. Founded in April 2025 by Szymon Pawica (CEO) and Mateusz Brodowicz (CTO), Elastics is an AI-native operating system for prediction markets

Greek VC Loggerhead Ventures has backed UK-based Perceptual Robotics in a new funding round, alongside follow-on investment from One Planet Capital, as wind turbine maintenance becomes increasingly critical to the cost and reliability of renewable energy infrastructure. The company uses autonomous drones and artificial intelligence to automate wind turbine inspections, replacing a time-consuming and high-risk process with faster, data-driven maintenance decisions.

Plug and Play has made its first direct investments in six Albanian startups, marking a milestone for the country’s emerging tech ecosystem and signaling growing international investor confidence in the region. The selected startups — Synaps, Insect Intel, Bliss, Infinitcode.ai, NEKOD, and kidsday — were part of the first batch of Plug and Play Albania and also completed a six-week GOAL programme in Silicon Valley, where founders gained exposure to global investors, mentors, and the wider innovation ecosystem. This marks the first-ever Silicon Valley investments into Albanian startups.

“Our first investments in Albania mark the beginning of a long-term commitment to the region,” said Seena Amidi, Managing Partner for EMEA at Plug and Play.