These were the 10 biggest European tech stories this week

Happy Sunday!

This week, our research team tracked over 50 tech funding deals worth more than €500 million, as well as several M&A transactions across Europe, including Russia, Israel, and Turkey.

We listed every single deal in our weekly newsletter. Here’s an extra overview of the 10 biggest European tech news items for this week:

1) In its first major move since going public in September, London-based fashion e-commerce platform company Farfetch announced Wednesday that it is acquiring sneaker and streetwear marketplace Stadium Goods in a deal that values the business at $250 million.

2) Switzerland-based Nexthink, which builds digital employee experience management-software for enterprises, has secured $85 million in a new funding round led by Index Ventures.

3) UK-based challenger bank Revolut has become an actual bank by securing a European licence, which it applied for through the Bank of Lithuania. The company plans to start offering protected current accounts, overdrafts, and loans in early 2019. Thanks to the EU’s “bank passport” system, the licence received in Lithuania allows Revolut to offer its services throughout the EU/EEA.

4) UK-based Travelport is being taken private in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $4.4 billion that follows a process that began at the start of the year by New York activist investor Elliott Management.

5) French VC firm Hardware Club just announced the final closing of its first fund. The firm will invest $50 million in total in hardware startups (as the name suggests).

6) Dutch ethical smartphone manufacturer Fairphone has raised a total of €20 million in funding and debt over the past few months. Last August, the company closed a €2.5 million equity crowdfunding campaign, followed by a €4.5 million funding round from social impact investors DOEN Participaties, PYMWYMIC, PDENH, and Quadia. In addition to that, Fairphone attracted €13 million in debt financing from creditors including the consortium of ABN AMRO and the Dutch Good Growth Fund.

7) Daimler will buy battery cells worth more than 20 billion euros ($23 billion) by 2030 as it readies mass production of hybrid and electric vehicles, the maker of Mercedes-Benz cars said on Tuesday.

8) German indoor spatial intelligence startup NavVis has raised $35.5 million in a Series C funding round led by Digital+ Partners, with additional participation from new investor Kozo Keikaku Engineering and existing investors MIG, Target Partners, and BayBG.

9) The UK-founded startup WaveOptics, which designs and manufactures diffractive waveguides for AR wearables, has raised £20 million in a funding round led by Octopus Ventures, with participation from IP Group, Robert Bosch Venture Capital, Gobi Partners, Goertek, and Optimas Capital Partners.

10) Stillfront Group, a Swedish independent games publisher, has announced that it is acquiring 100% of the shares of Hamburg, Germany-based Playa Games, for a total price tag of up to €45 million.

Podcast: tech.eu Podcast #99: Slush recap; e-scooters cause trouble in Madrid; AI “made in Europe”; interview with Petcube’s Yaroslav Azhnyuk; and much more

Bonus link: Q&A with Diversity VC’s Check Warner on newly launched Diversity & Inclusion guide for tech companies