European Technology Network raises $1.6 million

European Technology Network began with a simple proposition: Europe’s technology industry needed a media platform that could move at the same speed as the companies it covers.

Ten months after launching, the London-based startup has raised $1.6 million, attracted more than five million views across X and YouTube, and expanded from a twice-weekly livestream into a five-day-a-week programme. The funding, led by Powerhouse Capital with backing from Axel Springer, Caspar Lee and angel investors associated with OpenAI and DeepMind, will support a new studio near King’s Cross, a larger team and a newsletter.

But the bigger story is not the money or the extra broadcasts. ETN is betting that Europe does not simply need another technology publication; it needs a shared media stage for its technology ecosystem.

A media gap ETN wants to fill

Founders Luke Knight and Ronan Chambers believe European technology has grown faster than the media infrastructure covering it.

OnETN’s mission page, the company points to changes at established European technology publications while highlighting newer live, creator-led formats such as TBPN. Its answer is to put founders, investors and technology companies in front of an audience while the conversation is happening, rather than waiting for the traditional news cycle to catch up.

There are already signs that people want to participate. TechCrunch reports that ETN has generated more than five million views since launching last October and receives roughly 70 pitches a week from potential guests.

That demand helped push the founders towards a daily schedule. The show now runs from 12 pm to 3 pm UK time, five days a week, combining technology news, interviews and live discussion.

The show is becoming the network

The expanded format will include debates, roundtables and a Shark Tank-style pitching segment, while the new King's Cross studio and newsletter give ETN additional ways to build around the conversations happening on air.

The founders are not simply trying to create another technology interview programme. Their model is inspired by TBPN, the US live technology show hosted by John Coogan and Jordi Hays, but adapted for Europe.

During an appearance on TBPN, Chambers described ETN as a “wedge in the door” for building a broader technology network, with ambitions that could eventually extend into summits and other media businesses.

That makes the $1.6 million more significant than a simple expansion round. ETN is testing whether attention can become a wider media ecosystem.

Europe is the difficult part

Building that ecosystem will not be straightforward.

ETN is based in London, but the technology industry it wants to represent stretches across very different markets, including Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Lisbon and Barcelona. Each has its own founders, investors and communities, and there is no single European technology market that naturally connects them.

ETN has already travelled beyond London for technology events, including appearances in Athens and Paris, and wants to continue bringing people from across the continent into its programming.

That geographic ambition could ultimately be one of its biggest advantages. A platform that genuinely connects Europe’s technology communities would offer something different from a London-focused startup publication.

For now, however, that remains an ambition.

The real test starts with five days

The company has demonstrated that people will watch and that founders want to appear. The harder challenge is maintaining that interest five days a week.

Daily live programming requires a constant supply of strong stories and guests, while leaving little room for a slow news day. ETN will also need to maintain enough editorial independence to remain credible as more companies and investors compete for attention.

A platform that simply gives technology companies another place to promote themselves will struggle to become indispensable. One that can decide which conversations deserve attention, connect different parts of Europe’s technology ecosystem and build an audience that returns every day has a much more valuable proposition.

ETN has built the stage. The $1.6 million gives it the resources to make that stage bigger. Now it has to prove that Europe wants to gather around it.