Happy Friday!
We sincerely hope you and yours are keeping healthy and safe. Please take care of yourself and others.
This week, our research team tracked more than 60 tech funding deals worth just over €400 million, as well as over 10 M&A transactions, rumours, and related news stories across Europe, including Russia, Israel, and Turkey.
Meanwhile, here's an overview of the 10 biggest European tech news items for this week:
1) France’s competition watchdog on Monday fined Apple €1.1 billion, saying it was guilty of anti-competitive behavior towards its distribution and retail network.
2) YouTube and Netflix will sacrifice streaming quality in the EU to help avert internet gridlock as tens of millions of Europeans, confined by the coronavirus outbreak, switch to working from home.
3) OneWeb, the London-based satellite operator backed by SoftBank, is mulling a possible bankruptcy filing to address a cash crunch as it grapples with high costs and stiff competition, according to a report from Bloomberg.
4) Tel Aviv, Israel-based Checkmarx is being purchased by PE firm Hellman & Friedman at a $1.15 billion valuation in the largest acquisition of an application security company ever.
5) Finnish health tech startup Oura, well known for its wellness-tracking ring and app, has secured $28 million in Series B funding from Forerunner Ventures, Jack Dorsey’s Square and Gradient Ventures. Interestingly, American neuroscientist Matthew Walker, the best-selling author of ‘Why We Sleep’, will be joining the company as Chief Science Advisor.
6) German business banking startup Penta has raised €18.5 million in the first closing of a fresh funding round backed by new and existing investors, about half a year after securing €8 million. The fintech company has added RTP Global, which has just closed a new $650 million fund, as well as two bank-backed investment firms – ABN AMRO Ventures and VR-Ventures – to its investor roster.
7) Quantum Machines, the Israeli creator of hardware and software that control quantum computers, has raised $17.5 million in funding, led by Harel Insurance Investments and tech entrepreneur Avigdor Willenz.
8) Refurbed, an Austrian marketplace for refurbished electronics, has raised a $17 million Series A led by Finnish Evli Growth Partners. Almaz Capital, Bonsai Partners, All Iron Ventures and FJ Labs joined as new investors.
9) London-based startup Quit Genius has raised €10.1 million in a Series A round, led by Octopus Ventures with participation from Y Combinator, Startup Health and Triple Point Ventures.
10) James and James, a UK-based e-commerce fulfilment platform and service, has raised £11 million from LDC, part of Lloyds Banking Group.
Podcast: tech.eu Podcast #160: Mental health in tech (Stewart Rogers and Dmitri Sarle); marketing for early-stage deep-tech startups (Pauliina Martikainen)
Bonus link: Support measures for European startups affected by coronavirus: the ultimate resource (Sifted)
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