Happy Thursday! (we take leave tomorrow)
This week, the Tech.eu research team followed more than 80 technology financings worth more than 690 million euros, and more than 15 exits, mergers and acquisitions, and rumors, and related reporting from across Europe, including Russia and Turkey.
As always, we put them all together for you in a handy list sent in our summary newsletter (note: the full list is for paying customers only).
As a bonus, we’ve also listed the 20 best funding deals for European tech companies in 2021, gathered the most important news from last year and reviewed last year in terms of IPOs, PSPC. and European technological direct. Advertisement.
We are currently looking for two full-time business journalists to help us cover the European startup and venture capital ecosystems as they deserve. This is your chance to join our editorial team!
When you’re done applying for the job, here’s a look at some of the biggest European tech news from the past two days (sign up for our free newsletter to get this summary delivered to your inbox every Monday morning).
This week:
1) Stockholm-based micromobility operator Voi announced a $ 115 million raise as part of an oversubscribed Series D funding round. With this increase, Voi now finds himself in the unicorn club. The company intends to use the new capital to continue to expand into new markets over the coming year, further deploy its e-bike offering and introduce the new model Voiager 5.
2) UK software company Sage Group said on Monday it would buy the remaining 83% of cloud software provider Brightpearl it does not already own for around $ 299 million.
3) Last week, retail giant Lenta announced a deal to acquire online retailer Utkonos from Severgroup for $ 270 million. The parties plan to complete the transaction in February 2022. A large Russian retail group listed in Moscow and London, Lenta aims to “create a leading online grocery platform covering all purchasing missions and key market segments “.
4) German food delivery group Delivery Hero said on Wednesday it would scale back its Foodpanda operations in Germany and sell the subsidiary’s Japanese unit, citing increased competition and labor shortages.
5) London-based investment firm Permira has announced the closing of its second Growth Opportunities fund at $ 4 billion. The late-stage investment fund is more than double the size of its predecessor and more than meets its original target of $ 2.5 billion.
6) Elliott Management is expected to walk away with a gain of around 400 million euros on a one-year investment in Rocket Internet SE after successfully securing a higher price from founders who want to privatize the German startup incubator.
seven) Seaya Ventures, a European and Latin American venture capital firm based in Spain, closed its third fund, Seaya III, at 165 million euros, reaching its hard cap and exceeding its initial target size of 125 million euros .
8) London-based multinational insurance company Aviva has announced its pledge to invest £ 50million in venture capital funds focused specifically on sustainability.
9) The European Commission on Tuesday granted Microsoft unconditional antitrust approval for its $ 16 billion bid for artificial intelligence and voice technology company Nuance.
ten) The Berlin-based company Formel Skin has raised 30 million euros in a new funding round. The company offers remote access to a dermatologist and an accompanying personalized skin treatment regimen. The new funding is expected to help the company move forward into new markets, continue to add new and varied skin treatment approaches and strengthen the number of teams.
Honorable mentions:
- British flying taxi startup Autonomous Flight is seeking to raise $ 100 million in an upcoming Series C funding round.
- Bol.com, the largest online store in the Netherlands and Belgium, will acquire the Dutch bicycle courier company Cycloon. With the takeover, the online store wants to deliver more sustainably. In addition, Bol.com will deliver its own packages for the first time.
- Digital investor communications platform Proxymity has raised £ 23million in its second round of investment. Co-founders Dean Little and Jonathan Smalley formulated the idea for Proxymity while working in Citi’s Stock and Securities Custody (ESS) group. The platform was launched for the first time. in the UK in 2018, and the company was split by Citi in April 2020.
- The Berlin-based folding startup raised 18 million euros in a funding round. FinTech offers a business credit card solution, with an emphasis on seamless integrations with existing business processes, especially in the areas of accounting, travel expenses and invoice management. The funding is expected to further fuel the growth of pliant, which now aims to expand into new European markets.
- Europe’s largest commercial radio operator, Global, has acquired podcast hosting, analytics and monetization platform Captivate for an undisclosed amount.
- Just six months after its creation, Paris-based Numeral has raised 13 million euros. The company provides a payment transaction automation service specifically for technology companies operating in various industries. The funding will be used to increase the size of the team from 10 to 40 over the next few months, continue product development and increase their bank coverage.
- London-based Lapse has secured $ 11 million in funding as part of a funding round. Reminiscent of the era of disposable cameras, Lapse allows a group of close friends to capture and share photos with a retro caveat; a 24 hour delay; reproducing the time when a photo lab was involved in the process. The platform seeks a more authentic social experience, avoiding the “like†button, and thus removing societal pressures and user anxieties.
Latest podcast (s):
Evolving the Ukrainian tech ecosystem – with Pavlo Kartashov, Ukrainian Startup Fund
🎧 The night before the financing – Holiday special
Bonus links:
- The highest European court has said Washington is playing fast and freely with European data. Facebook disagrees.
- Founded six years ago in Turkey, Getir aims to deliver essentials from its grocery stores to people’s front doors in less than 10 minutes. This year it has spread to all of Europe. Next year it will be much more focused on the United States, where it will face a whole new level of competition. Getir’s CEO plans to take the company public in New York, which could happen as early as next year or 2023.
- Investment firm Lakestar – with a little help from its McKinsey friends – has released a new report highlighting what it sees as the ‘lack of EU funding’. Lakestar, which has made early investment bets on Airbnb, Spotify, Facebook, Revolut and Glovo, intends to use the first edition of its funding gap report to highlight the challenges Europe faces when it is about properly financing growth companies.
- We spoke with Riverlane, a company that builds an operating system for quantum computers, about how to build a business in a nascent ecosystem.
- Europe will soon be producing a strategically vital component in the modern global economy as US semiconductor giant Intel chooses the site for a new state-of-the-art chip factory. Chief Executive Officer Pat Gelsinger said Intel plans to set up two production units each employing 1,500 workers and costing 10 billion euros.
- By announcing the deal for the first time in July 2021, Visa completed the acquisition of Currencycloud – a global platform for banks and fintechs to provide currency solutions for cross-border payments. The acquisition builds on an existing strategic partnership between the two companies that was concluded in 2019, and values ​​Currencycloud at £ 700million.
- In 2021, Greek startups raised more than half a billion euros, with around 80% of that capital going to 10 companies. This amount is more than triple compared to the investments disclosed last year.
- Faced with low wages and poor working conditions, delivery drivers in Italy are starting their own businesses in a retaliation against algorithm-based delivery platforms.
- The European Processor Initiative (EPI) claims to have successfully completed its first three-year phase, delivering cutting-edge technologies for European sovereignty “on time and on a tight budget”.