The symbiosis between US tech and the EU’s digital economy has been instrumental in shaping the region’s landscape. This relationship, underscored by significant investments and long-term strategic partnerships, has helped to foster a robust digital services landscape, driving technology adoption and economic growth across the continent.
In particular, the dominance of US cloud services such as AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure today form the bedrock of Europe’s digital infrastructure. On the hardware side, Microsoft, Apple and Nvidia dominate. And when it comes to GenAI, the offerings from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google are the most commonly used tools.
Although this presence has seen some EU leaders call for more tech sovereignty, the reality is that recreating these fundamental digital building blocks from scratch isn’t feasible.
Instead, the European tech industry can focus on why this is a mutually beneficial relationship.
Here, it’s important to remember that this a two-way street. Europe might be able to compete when it comes to cloud infrastructure or AI, but it does have a number of distinct advantages, such as rich academic resources, and supportive government frameworks.
And, for many European startups, cracking the US market can be key to meeting growth targets. North America is the world’s largest software market, and ambitious European tech companies naturally want to go where their customers are.
In fact, according to research published by VC firm Index Ventures, almost two-thirds of Europe’s startups (64%) say they have expanded to the U.S. as early as the Seed or even the Pre-Seed Stage.
Here, success is defined by the startups with truly innovative products which address an unmet need in the marketplace. Deep Care, a German health tech start-up based in Ludwigsburg that specializes in AI-supported prevention in the workplace, is one of these companies, and is poised to scale across the US in 2026.
The Isa Resilience Coach, founded by the German tech startup, is a sensor-based assistance system that recognizes stress signals in everyday working life in order to take early countermeasures. The product helps to tackle burnout, improve work-life balance and reduce physical risks associated with office work, and is one that we should expect will get much more notice in the U.S. come 2026.
The compact device is able to analyze things like breathing rate, gaze behavior and micro-movements through a locally operated AI tool. In turn, the product offers immediate notifications that allow users to recognize when behaviors need to be addressed.
For example, Isa recognises how long users are concentrating on a task and helps them to find a healthy balance between focus and recovery – long enough to get into the flow, but not so long that productivity decreases. These insights are delivered with privacy as a paramount consideration. The product is fully compliant with data protection regulations, without a camera or cloud connection.
According to Dr. Milad Geravand, CEO & co-founder of Deep Care, “We spend eight hours a day sitting down, usually for our entire working lives. Many people already use wearables such as Whoop or Oura to optimise leisure habits such as sleep, training or recovery. However, our working habits in particular, even though they make up the majority of our everyday lives, usually go unnoticed. This is exactly where Isa comes in.”
Looking ahead, Deep Care has a clear roadmap for US expansion. The company has been accepted into the renowned German Accelerator Programme, has already founded its own US company, Deep Care Inc., and is holding initial talks with US partners from the corporate health and insurance sectors and potential lighthouse customers. Initial pilot projects are in preparation. The Isa Resilience Coach is scheduled to go on sale in early 2026.
The potential for Deep Care’s products to make an impact across the US is backed by industry recognition. Deep Care was named an Honoree in the Digital Health category in recognition of the ‘Isa Resilience Coach.’
The world-renowned CES Innovation Awards® program is an annual competition honoring outstanding design and engineering in consumer technology products. Owned and produced by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), the awards highlight the most transformative tech innovations, spanning 36 product categories, from education and enterprise to film, logistics and travel.
These winners of the annual awards also have a chance to display their innovation at the CES Innovation Awards Showcase, one of the most powerful tech events in the world, held annually every January.
“If we take our goal of achieving a real social impact seriously, we cannot rely solely on employers or health insurance companies,“ says Geravand. “Our vision is clear: every person who regularly works at a desk should have access to smart health support.“
Since its foundation in 2020, the company has been developing technologies that promote movement, ergonomics and mental health in everyday working life – scientifically sound, intuitive to use and fully compliant with data protection regulations. With the aim of putting artificial intelligence at the service of human health, Deep Care is one of the German pioneers in the field of digital health and makes prevention tangible where it has the greatest impact: in everyday life.
The CES award is not just recognition for Deep Care, but also a strategic milestone: it marks the start of the company’s positioning as a strong lifestyle health brand and its imminent market entry in the USA.