This week in the world of startups, we've seen a mix of innovative breakthroughs, notable funding rounds, and a dash of controversy. From fusion power to AI advancements, and from quantum computing to e-commerce, there's been no shortage of exciting developments.

On the positive side, German startup Proxima Fusion has made headlines with its plans for a working fusion power plant that can operate reliably and continuously. The concept and design were highlighted in a peer-reviewed journal, lending credibility to the startup's ambitious project.

In another breakthrough, Palo Alto-based startup Inception has developed a diffusion-based large language model (DLM), which it hopes to use to compete with large language models (LLMs). This innovation has the potential to revolutionize the field of AI and natural language processing.

However, not all startups have had a smooth week. Y Combinator deleted its posts about the demo from YC W25 company Optifye.ai after it went viral, but not in a good way. The startup claims to be building "AI performance monitoring for factory workers," but others have criticized it as "sweatshops-as-a-service."

In terms of funding, several startups have secured notable rounds this week. Israeli startup Quantum Machines raised a massive $170 million Series C led by PSG Equity, making it one of the largest funding rounds for a quantum computing company to date.

Other notable funding rounds include Shop Circle's $60 million Series B, which also financed the acquisition of Aiden, an AI-powered "guided-selling" software maker. Polish startup Nomagic raised $44 million in a Series B led by the VC arm of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which it plans to use to expand into North America.

Taktile, a New York-based startup that helps fintechs build automated decision-making workflows, closed a $54 million Series B led by Balderton Capital. Relay, a startup bringing the "asset-free" last-mile parcel delivery model from Asia to Europe, raised $35 million in a Series A round led by London-based VC Plural.

In addition, Lovable, a fast-growing app-building AI platform from Sweden, secured $15 million in a pre-Series A round led by Creandum. The company has reached $17 million in annual recurring revenue after scaling to 30,000 paying customers with only $2 million spent.

On the venture capital side, private equity firm Thoma Bravo closed an inaugural $1.9 billion European fund to deepen its presence in the region and take fresh equity stakes in midsized software companies across the continent. Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC), a British fund that invests exclusively in the ecosystem around the University of Cambridge, launched a $126 million opportunity fund.

Finally, this week marked the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has spurred a wave of Ukrainian dual-use and defense tech startups innovating on and off the battlefield. TechCrunch has rounded up several of these startups, highlighting their important work.

In a correction, last week's newsletter included an error; Augury first achieved unicorn status in 2021.