Events, investors, free zones, councils, and trade agencies: in this listicle, we start mapping the initiatives and stakeholders building the bridges between Central and Eastern European communities.
Lithuanian deep-tech startup Litilit has secured an €8M loan from ILTE to advance R&D and make its femtosecond laser technology more scalable for industrial applications.
Romania, Poland, and Czechia now have quantum computers running or incoming. As Q2B, the industry's benchmark quantum event, heads to the Nordics for the first time, CEE has more to bring to the table than the global conversation gives it credit for.
Sheryl Sandberg is backing Bulgarian entrepreneur Vince Gaydarzhiev’s second venture, Self Inspection, as the AI startup looks to expand its vehicle inspection platform into Europe.
Of the four drivers of AI capability that are coming, Europe can realistically play a role in agentic orchestration. Everything else depends on closing the adoption gap fast enough to matter.
The Recursive’s weekly roundup aims to cover key tech developments across Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the growing impact of CEE-born founders on the global stage. Take a look at the latest news in funding, startup milestones, and emerging trends tied to the region’s innovation potential.
EU banks are embedding AI into core operations, but overlapping rules like DORA and the AI Act leave regulators with a headache: supervising it all consistently. Can Europe align its oversight before cracks show?
Founders spend weeks perfecting their pitch deck, yet often only minutes researching the people reading it. That imbalance can cost more than a weak presentation.
Long known as a physical bridge between continents, Türkiye is expanding beyond simple transit routes. Fueled by homegrown unicorns and targeted investments, the nation is shifting focus from passing along physical goods to anchoring Eurasia's tech network.
New York Times bestselling author Nir Eyal explores how beliefs shape founders’ relationship with luck, failure, and persistence, and why Silicon Valley may see failure differently.
The Gulf adopts technology quickly, but the decision follows the relationship rather than the pitch. Romanian founder Antonia Dumitriu shares her journey of entering the GCC, adapting the product to local privacy norms, and learning why the meetings had to happen in person.
The EU's grace period for DORA compliance is officially over. As regulators launch automated cross-checks, nearly half of all financial entities face massive penalties, and even tech giants like AWS aren't safe. Are your operations ready for active enforcement?
Who's leading, who's catching up, and what can we learn from this year's European Innovation Scoreboard? Here's a quick look at the trends shaping innovation across Europe and the region.
The Recursive’s weekly roundup aims to cover key tech developments across Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the growing impact of CEE-born founders on the global stage. Take a look at the latest news in funding, startup milestones, and emerging trends tied to the region’s innovation potential.
Insurance maybe isn’t sexy, but it’s a billion-dollar business. We sat down with Dusan Komar, the CEO of the first CEE insurance unicorn Ominimo, to exclusively discuss their exponential growth, market entry and expansion in Europe.
The Balkans’ next growth story may come from its long-standing strengths in industrials, infrastructure, energy and manufacturing could prove more durable (and globally relevant) than the trends currently commanding the most attention.
Employee ownership can already work with today's legal tools, says startup lawyer Stefan Surina. The real challenge is convincing founders and employees that equity is worth it.
Healthcare is emerging as one of Europe's most strategic industries. Elizabeth Jennings shares why trust, long-term investment, and Central and Eastern Europe's scientific strengths could redefine the region's role in the global biotech landscape.
Three guests, three very different jobs, one thing in common: they're all in their twenties and already taking on a level of responsibility that usually comes later in a career.
In this episode of The Recursive Roundtable, we talk with Viktoriya Markileva (Head of Space Services at EnduroSat), Georgi Nichev (Marketing Specialist at Helios Marine, Co-Founder of Scylla), and Maria Nikolova (Strategic Partnerships Development Manager at BESCO) about what it's actually like to be trusted with real responsibility this early — what makes someone trust you with it, how they handle it, and whether a career needs to follow a clear path at all.
In this episode, we explore:
🟣 How Gen Zs think about failure, 🟣 what hustle culture looks like from the inside, 🟣 what progress actually means to them, 🟣 and whether they'd be willing to wait years for the next step in their career.
💡 This conversation is essential for entrepreneurs looking to hire young talent, and for any Gen Z professionals wondering if they are ready to take the leap into a leadership role.
In this episode of The Recursive Podcast, we sit down with Rakuten Viber CEO Ofir Eyal to discuss how the company is evolving beyond messaging through its partnership with OpenAI, the rise of AI-powered communication, and the long-term vision behind building a "super app."
The conversation explores how the company approaches privacy and responsible AI adoption, and why Europe has yet to embrace the super app model seen across Asia.
Ofir also reflects on his own journey from product manager to CEO, the leadership lessons he learned while navigating one of Viber's most challenging periods after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.
In this episode:
☑️ Why Viber partnered with OpenAI ☑️ The future of AI inside messaging apps ☑️ Can Europe build a successful super app? ☑️ Privacy, security, and responsible AI adoption ☑️ How Viber makes money beyond messaging ☑️ Leadership lessons from scaling a global platform ☑️ Rebuilding after losing 40% of the business overnight
🎙️ Subscribe to The Recursive Podcast for conversations with the founders, investors, and technology leaders shaping the future of innovation across Central and Eastern Europe and beyond.
AI can generate logos, colors, taglines, and entire visual identities in seconds. But can it build a brand people actually remember?
In this episode of The Recursive Roundtable, we explore one of the biggest questions facing founders, marketers, and designers today: what does branding look like in the age of AI?
Joining us are three branding experts with decades of experience building companies across technology, consumer products, and global markets:
The episode is hosted by Etien Yovchev, Co-founder and CGO, The Recursive.
☑️ Why the strongest brands shape identity, not just recognition ☑️ How design, typography, and marketing create emotional connection ☑️ Why AI-generated brands often struggle to build authenticity ☑️ What happens to local brands in a world shaped by global AI models ☑️ How founders can preserve cultural identity while building for global markets ☑️ Whether AI can truly understand local language, heritage, and aesthetics ☑️ What remains of a brand when customers discover products through AI assistants
Whether you're building a startup, launching a product, working in marketing, or simply curious about how AI is changing creative work, this conversation offers practical insights into what still requires human judgment, and why great brands are built through relationships, not prompts.
