These were the 10 biggest European tech stories this week

Happy Friday! This week, tech.eu tracked 16 technology M&A transactions and 52 funding deals (totalling €273 million) in Europe, Turkey and Israel.

Like every week, we listed every single one of them in our free weekly newsletter, along with interesting news regarding fledgling European startups, tech investors old and new, a number of good reads published elsewhere, government and policy news, as well as an overview of interesting lists, facts and figures from a wide variety of sources.

You can subscribe to our newsletter below to receive all this information in your inbox every Friday afternoon for free, but here’s an overview of the 10 biggest European tech news items for this week:

**1)** Big exit in European tech: antivirus software company AVG Technologies was acquired by rival Avast Software for $1.3 billion.

**2)** The Privacy Shield agreement between the US and Europe that will regulate data transfer between both regions has been signed off by member states of the EU, and could come into effect very soon.

**3)** UK-based security startup Darktrace and Germany's Brillen.de raised the two largest rounds of funding of the week in Europe, of $65 million and $49 million, respectively.

**4)** Swedish payments company iZettle announced revenue growth of 81% last year, but its operating loss widened because of heavy spending to attract customers.

**5)** Also on the payments front, Stripe launched its 'Connect' product in the UK, Ireland and Nordic countries to help startups receive payments from any country where Stripe is live.

**6)** Reactions to Brexit continue, as technology giants like Facebook say that their opinion should be taken into consideration in Brexit talks. Will Emerald City the new startup hub in Europe?

**7)** One of the bigger worries of UK-based technology companies has to do with access to talent, and London tech heavyweights call for European talent to remain in the capital following Brexit vote.

**8)** French automotive giant PSA Groupe is to launch a €100 million venture capital initiative.

**9)** Remember the EU's cookie law? Tech industry gangs up on European Commission, calls for cookie law to be scrapped.

**10**) The EU proposed this week stricter rules on Bitcoin and prepaid cards in terrorism fight. Ars Technica is worried that this could undermine fundamental rights.

**Bonus link(s)**: A German political party explained why it drove a van around London encouraging startups to move to Berlin.