These were the 10 biggest European tech stories this week

Happy Friday!

This week, our research team tracked more than 60 tech funding deals worth more than €1.2 billion, as well as 16 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) The European Union has passed a new controversial copyright proposal experts say will ruin the open internet and imperil free speech. In a vote of 348 to 274, the EU Parliament voted to approve a new Copyright Directive with its most-criticised components intact.

2) Israeli lidar startup Innoviz Technologies has raised $132 million in series C financing led by China Merchants Capital, with participation from Shenzhen Capital Group, New Alliance Capital, Harel Insurance Investments and Financial Services, and Phoenix Insurance Company. It’s keeping the round open, and expects a second closing in the coming months.

3) McDonald’s has reached an agreement to acquire Dynamic Yield, a startup based in Tel Aviv that provides retailers with algorithmically driven "decision logic" technology. Dynamic Yield reportedly had been recently valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars; people familiar with the details of the McDonald’s offer put it at over $300 million.

4) Naspers plans to carve out its Internet businesses, including a $133-billion stake in China’s Tencent. Naspers chose Euronext Amsterdam to list a business that includes its 31% holding in Tencent, as well as investments in Russian internet platform Mail.Ru, German food delivery business Delivery Hero and Indian e-commerce startup Swiggy.

5) Toronto-based investment company OMERS Ventures, the venture arm of the pension fund OMERS, has launched in Europe with a dedicated €300 million fund to invest in startups across the continent. The firm’s new London office will be led by Harry Briggs, a British entrepreneur-turned-investor who used to work at Balderton Capital and BGF Ventures.

6) EU nations will be required to share data on 5G cybersecurity risks and produce measures to tackle them by the end of the year, the European Commission said on Tuesday, shunning US calls to ban China’s Huawei across the bloc.

7) Automated manufacturing platform and former 3D printing marketplace 3D Hubs has announced the successful closing of $18 million in funding. A Series C investment, the round was led by Dutch growth capital investment firm Endeit Capital.

8) Spotify has agreed to buy Parcast, a podcast studio that focuses on stories about true crimes, cults and unsolved mysteries. That makes it the third podcast startup acquisition for Spotify this year.

9) The UK government-led watchdog set up to vet Huawei products has given a damning report on the cyber security risks posed by the Chinese company’s involvement in the British telecommunications industry.

10) In the run-up to the European Parliamentary elections in May, Facebook has amended the way ads with political content work on its platform.

Podcast:

tech.eu Podcast #111: What the hell is a cloud kitchen; Google’s new fine; Copyright Directive; interview with Martin Villig of Bolt (ex-Taxify), and much more

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#TechChill Interview Special: Pekka Viilto, Rundit; Kristel Kruustük, Testlio; Tiit Paananen, Veriff

Bonus link: Forget Brexit and trade wars, Europe’s start-ups are thriving (FT)