These were the 10 biggest European tech stories this week

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 over 50 tech funding deals worth more than €500 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 (subscribe to our free newsletter to get this roundup in your inbox every Monday morning):

1) Less than a year after securing $130 million, Finnish food delivery startup Wolt has raised a new €100 million round of funding from prior backers ICONIQ Capital, Highland Europe, 83North and EQT Ventures. The only new investor added to the roster is Goldman Sachs’ Growth Equity unit.

2) Insurtech company Bought By Many, a London-based pet insurance provider, has raised £78.4 million in growth equity funding. The investment was led by FTV Capital, with participation from existing investors CommerzVentures, Munich Re Ventures, and Octopus Ventures.

3) Redstone Digital, a Berlin-based venture capital firm, is raising a 200 million-euro fund, led by SBI Holdings, for a fund that will invest into startups focusing on the so-called fourth industrial revolution. The Future Industry Ventures Fund will invest as much as 10 million euros per company in later growth phases

4) Anyfin, a Stockholm-based digital lender that allows consumers to refinance their loans, has raised a $30 million Series B led by EQT Ventures, with support from previous investors such as Accel, Northzone and Global Founders Capital. Currently operating in Sweden and Finland, the fintech startup will use the funding to expand into new European markets.

5) Berlin-based digital staffing company Zenjob has raised $30 million to expand throughout Germany. The Series C round was led by Forestay Capital and joined by Redalpine, Acton Capital, Axa Venture Partners and Atlantic Labs.

6) Per a message from Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, the company is calling it quits on the Telegram Open Network (TON) and the linked Gram tokens following a lengthy battle with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. After announcing the TON network and Gram token back in 2017, Telegram is now officially terminating its involvement with the project, Durov said.

7) Microsoft intends to create its first datacenter region in Italy under a $1.5 billion investment plan as the company expands its cloud computing services to more locations across the world.

8) Featurespace, a Cambridge-based developer of analytics software to help enterprise combat fraud, has raised £30 million in a funding round led by Merian Chrysalis Investment Company, with support from existing investors.

9) France will tax big digital businesses this year whether there is progress or not towards an international deal on a levy, its finance minister said on Thursday (13 May), adding such a tax had never been more legitimate or more necessary.

10) VanMoof, a Dutch startup enabling electric bikes with technology, has raised a €12.5 million funding round from Balderton Capital and assembly partner SINBON Electronics. The investment will help the company expand as demand for its bikes is on the uptick.

Podcast:

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Bonus link: How Google and Apple outflanked governments in the race to build coronavirus apps (Politico)