These were the 10 biggest European tech stories this week

Happy Friday!

This week, we tracked 60 tech funding deals worth more than €362 million, as well as 11 M&A transactions and 1 IPO across Europe, Israel, and Turkey.

We listed every single deal in our weekly newsletter (note: the full newsletter is now available to paying subscribers only). Here’s an extra overview of the 10 biggest European tech news items for this week:

1) Telegram is holding a secretive second pre-ICO sale, thus raising even more cash for its controversial blockchain-powered network. Telegram estimates it would bring the total raised to over $1.6 billion before the ICO even opens up to the general public.

2) Facebook has inked a music licensing deal with Europe's ICE, covering 160 territories, 290,000 rights-holders on FB, Instagram, Oculus and Messenger.

3) German IoT startup Relayr has raised $30 million in a funding led by Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners with participation from B37, Purple Arch, Kleiner Perkins, and Munich Re.

4) Israel’s OrCam, which has developed a visual aid for the blind, has completed a funding round that values the company at $1 billion, putting it on track for a planned IPO.

5) Moovit — the Israeli urban transit service startup whose iOS, Android and Web apps are now used by 120 million people globally across 2,000 cities in 80 countries — has raised another $50 million in funding. The Series D was led by Intel Capital, and it is a strategic investment.

6) Prophesee, the Paris-based machine vision startup formerly known as Chronocam, has raised $19 million in initial funding for its Series B round led by an unnamed investor from the electronics industry with participation from 360 Capital Partners, Supernova Invest, iBionext, Intel Capital, Renault Group, and Robert Bosch Venture Capital.

7) London-based transit app Citymapper has launched Smart Ride, a hybrid bus and taxi service that will take riders around a fixed network in the capital. The company is operating the service under a private hire licence from Transport for London, following a pair of in the capital.

8) Publicly-listed Belgian IT company Realdolmen has been acquired by French software firm Gfi Informatique for €196 million. The deal is in cash for all outstanding shares at €37 per share.

9) Helsinki-based gaming company Small Giant Games has raised $41 million led by EQT Ventures with participation from Creandum, Spintop Ventures, and PROfounders.

10) Bulgarian food delivery startup BGmenu has been acquired by Dutch company Takeaway.com for €10.5 million in cash. BGmenu operates is food delivery service in Bulgaria and Romania, where it runs the Oliviera brand. The acquisition will help Takeaway.com to bolster its business in the region; it already operates in Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, and Austria.

Bonus link: It’s time for Europe to deliver on an ambitious industrial strategy (Euractiv)