Happy Friday!
Our research team tracked 73 tech funding deals worth more than €540 million, as well as 13 M&A transactions and 1 IPO across Europe, including Russia, 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 last week:
1) Facebook’s lead regulator in the European Union, the Irish Data Protection Commissioner (DPC), on Wednesday commenced an investigation into a massive cyberattack on the social networking site that the company disclosed last week.
2) One of the world’s largest tech conferences, Web Summit, announced that it will stay in Lisbon at least 10 more years, thanks to a new deal signed with Portugal’s government. Lisbon beat out as many as 20 contenders, in part by agreeing to pay Web Summit $12.7 million annually. In addition, the government agreed to double the size of the Altice Arena and Feira Internacional de Lisboa to allow the conference to expand. In return, Web Summit officials signed a $3.5 billion buyout clause.
3) As of 29 September, the EU-wide legislation on the electronic identification (eIDAS Regulation) entered into force - enabling cross-border recognition of the electronic ID and allowing citizens and business to share their identity data when necessary. People will be able to use their electronic ID (eID) such as ID cards, driver licenses, bank cards and fill tax returns online, access medical records and online public services across the EU.
4) Balderton Capital has raised a new $145 million fund dedicated to buying equity stakes from early shareholders in European-founded, high growth, scale-up technology companies. Called Balderton Liquidity I, this fund will typically invest in European founded growth stage companies where early shareholders wish to obtain pre-exit liquidity. Balderton will take minority stakes, between regular fund-raising rounds, making it possible for early shareholders – including angels, seed funds, current and former founders and employees – to realise early returns, reinvest capital in the ecosystem, or reward founders and early employees.
5) The European Parliament has approved new regulations for online streaming services, imposing a quota for home-grown productions on Netflix and co. The guidelines will require that at least 30 percent of content carried on streaming services operating in the European Union originates from the region. On-demand platforms are also being asked to contribute to the development of European films and TV series, either by directly investing in content or by contributing to national subsidies.
6) Huel, a London-based startup that produces and sells powder meals for busy people, has landed a £20 million funding round from Highland Capital. This is the company’s first round of funding since its inception in 2015.
7) Cambridge-based scale-up Owlstone Medical has raised $35 million as part of a larger $50 million funding round, the first $15 million of which was closed in March this year. The current funding deal was led by Horizons Ventures, joined by a group of strategic investors including Ventura Capital and Foxconn Technologies Group.
8) Brandwatch — the UK-HQ’d social intelligence company which raised $65 million from European VCs Nauta Capital, Highland Europe and Partech — is to merge with another leading player in the space, Crimson Hexagon. The merger, expected to close in Q4 2018, will (say the companies) create a business with around $100 million in recurring annual revenues.
9) Amazon said on Tuesday it is raising its minimum wage in Britain to 10.50 pounds ($13.59) an hour for all employees in the London area and 9.50 pounds an hour for staff in all other parts of the country, effective from Nov. 1.
10) German app-only bank N26 launched in the UK on Thursday. The startup, which is backed by Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures, already operates in 17 countries across Europe and has 1.5 million customers.
Bonus link: tech.eu has released its latest report, on the automotive tech industry and the broader mobility startup ecosystem in Europe and Israel at the Mondial.Tech conference in Paris.
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