Pathfounders

CircuitHub aims to accelerate electronics manufacturing to software speed

Electronics manufacturing has failed to keep up with the speed of hardware design. Now, CircuitHub allows engineers to upload circuit board designs, get an instant quote and have finished printed circuit boards delivered in days. It means a huge acceleration for EVs, drones, or even defence systems. CEO and founder Andrew Seddon spoke to Pathfounders’ Mike Butcher about their recent $28 million VC funding round.

As Mistral acquires Emmi, Europe’s AI race moves into physics and industry

Mistral’s acquisition of Austrian startup Emmi AI marks a shift in Europe’s AI story, away from chatbots and into the industrial systems that underpin advanced manufacturing. Emmi builds AI models that can make engineering simulations run in seconds rather than days. Guillaume Decugis, General Partner of Serena Data Ventures, an early investor, told Pathfounders the deal was driven by commercial traction and strategic fit. For Mistral, best known as Europe’s leading LLM company, Emmi adds a vertical AI asset in the “language of physics,” hinting at where the next battleground in AI may lie.Mistral’s acquisition of Austrian startup Emmi AI marks a shift in Europe’s AI story, away from chatbots and into the industrial systems that underpin advanced manufacturing. Emmi builds AI models that can make engineering simulations run in seconds rather than days. Guillaume Decugis, General Partner of Serena Data Ventures, an early investor, told Pathfounders the deal was driven by commercial traction and strategic fit. For Mistral, best known as Europe’s leading LLM company, Emmi adds a vertical AI asset in the “language of physics,” hinting at where the next battleground in AI may lie.

Mouro Capital says fintech is about to change

Mouro Capital has hit a $400 million first close for its third fund, backed by Banco Santander, taking total commitments to more than $1 billion. In this episode, Manuel Silva Martínez, General Partner at Mouro Capital, joins Pathfounders to unpack why the firm is moving beyond the old “fintech” label and investing at the broader intersection of financial services, AI, regulation and infrastructure.Mouro Capital has hit a $400 million first close for its third fund, backed by Banco Santander, taking total commitments to more than $1 billion. In this episode, Manuel Silva Martínez, General Partner at Mouro Capital, joins Pathfounders to unpack why the firm is moving beyond the old “fintech” label and investing at the broader intersection of financial services, AI, regulation and infrastructure.

Pathfounders Live: With Richa Kaul, Founder & CEO of Complyance

Pathfounders Live: With Richa Kaul [https://www.linkedin.com/in/richa-kaul/], Founder & CEO of Complyance, in conversation with Pathfounders [https://pathfounders.com/] Editor Mike Butcher [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikebutcher/], followed by a live audience Q&A.  Subjects covered during the interview and Q&A: * Why compliance is suddenly becoming a boardroom issue * How AI is changing governance, risk and compliance * The hidden danger of employees using “Shadow AI” via their personal accounts * Why third-party vendors are now one of the biggest enterprise risks * How AI agents can monitor company risk in real time * What the Equifax breach taught Richa Kaul about consumer data * Why protecting consumers means protecting the companies that hold their data * How Complyance raised a $20M Series A led by GV * Richa’s unusual fundraising strategy, informed by a Silicon Valley playbook * Why founders may be oversharing with VCs too early * Whether SaaS is dead, or simply being rebuilt around AI agents * The shift from software as a “system of record” to a “system of action” * Why AI-native startups operate differently from traditional SaaS * How AI is reshaping sales, engineering and implementation teams * The future of junior jobs in an AI-powered workforce * Why compliance teams may actually become more strategic, not less relevant * How the EU AI Act could reshape enterprise compliance * Why legal and compliance teams interpret regulation differently * Why fully agentic systems still need guardrails and human judgment * Who audits the AI — and why AI governance standards matter * Why the future of software may be about selling outcomes, not tools * What still does not scale in an AI-native company * Which AI tool Richa Kaul uses personally Thanks to our partners for supporting this event:  Halkin Offices [https://www.halkin.com/]: For a prime address, exceptional workplace design, and award-winning customer service - all under one roof. Just contact Oliver Kingshott on oliver@halkin.com Nebius: Nebius is building the ultimate cloud for AI, with a single platform that spans the entire AI journey — from data and model training and tuning to production runtime and deployment. To find out more please contact their team [https://nebius.com/about#ai-contact-form].

Rezonant and the new AI software bottleneck

AI coding agents are making software faster to build, but it’s creating a headache for product managers, who are now the bottleneck. In this episode, Pathfounders’ Mike Butcher speaks to Emma Burrows, former Stripe UK CTO and founder of Rezonant, about why the next crisis in AI-driven software development may be the messy handoff between product managers, engineers and, now, Agentic engineers. Rezonant is now launching from stealth with a workspace designed to turn product intent into Agent-ready specs.