Good afternoon Europe!
Now that summer is over and people have returned to their (home) offices in droves, we figured we might try out a new format to continue keeping you abreast of everything that is going on in European tech.
We already have newsletters and weekly roundups and podcasts for that, but from now on we're also going to publish a nice little daily overview of all the funding and M&A deals, and other interesting stories we picked up on during the day.
Free of charge, of course, because we're nice like that.
Daily Deals
- Tabbed Out: The $850 million merger between 'web discovery platforms' Outbrain and Taboola, which would have been one of the largest ever merger deals in Israel's technology industry, has broken down after the companies failed to agree on revised deal terms.
Meanwhile it's suddenly IPO galore:
- UK-IPO-GO: Both British fintech startup and ‘bitcoin bank' Mode and equally UK-based (and David Beckham-backed) esports scale-up Guild have announced their intention to float on the London Stock Exchange.
- Jump up: Meanwhile, Israeli automatic software updating firm JFrog has set the terms for its Wall Street IPO. In a revised prospectus, the company reveals that the offering will reflect a valuation of between $3 billion and $3.3 billion with shares priced in the $33-37 range.
- Sleep soundly: Nyxoah, a Belgian health tech company developing "innovative solutions and services to treat sleep disordered breathing conditions", today announced the terms of its Euronext IPO as it plans to raise up to €79 million.
- Crypto Crew: London-HQed cryptocurrency company Luno, backed by the likes of Balderton and Naspers, has been acquired by one of its earliest investors: New York-based DCG.
- A major win for a micro-mobility player: former Tesla President and Lyft COO Jon McNeill has joined TIER as 'Chief Strategy Advisor’; he will act as a sounding board to senior management to support strategic decisions.
- In other 'people news': Qumulo, the UK-based file data platform provider that helps organisations easily store and manage their file data at scale, announced that marketing veteran and former Tableau CMO Elissa Fink has been named to its board of directors.
- Not Zero: Europe is emerging as a powerhouse of eco-friendly startups with the amount of money going into so-called 'net zero' tech companies (those who add no incremental greenhouse gases to the atmosphere) more than doubling in a year. Net zero companies in Europe raised £2.1 billion from VC funds last year, a 129% increase on the previous year, according to a new report from Tech Nation.
- Setback in Sweden: The financial and other problems for Stockholm-based challenger bank Lendify are reportedly piling up (article in svenska). The same goes for Monedo over in Germany, by the way.
- Doubling down on diversity: Non-profit org Diversity VC launched a new diversity ‘standard’ for VC firms. The hope is that it will encourage VCs to up their game when it comes to sourcing and investing in diverse founders and employing diverse talent.
- VR trumps meds? Oncomfort, a Belgian startup that has come up with an innovative way to relieve patients’ pain and anxiety without medication – today announced the completion of a €10 million Series A funding round co-led by Debiopharm and Crédit Mutuel Innovation.
- Gobble up! Mail.ru Group and Sberbank are increasing their stake in food delivery service Local Kitchen through their joint venture O2O. After the acquisition of a 30% share in May for nearly $3.9 million, O2O is to own 84.7% of the company after deal completion scheduled for Q4 2020.
- Crowdcurve: UK-based Crowdcube has sent an email to its members who had previously invested in Curve to ask if they would partake in a second campaign for the British fintech company, fuelling rumours about an upcoming £100 million Series C round announcement.
- MOAR FUNDING: Mynt €2.9 million (Sweden), Seniovo €2.5 million (Germany), Swyg $1.2 million (Dublin), AegiQ £1.4 million (UK) Hedera-22 €1 million (Belgium), SmartHelio (Switzerland), Trint (UK) in a NYT-led round, etc.
- MOAR M&A: Astute, a US-based customer engagement platform has acquired Prague-born social media marketing company Socialbakers. Also, big French IT consultancy company Devoteam has acquired European Google Cloud partner Fourcast.
Worth Knowing
- A fair share? Amazon’s UK services arm paid just £14.5 million in UK corporate taxes in 2019 despite generating revenues of nearly £3 billion in the country, according to the company’s latest accounts.
- Have your say over in the UK: The UK government has published a national data strategy today, setting out a plan to promote the use and prioritise the reuse of data as a lever for economic growth and digital innovation. It has also opened up a 12-week public consultation on the policy plan.
- Regulaaators: A broad spectrum of stakeholders have spoken out on EU plans to regulate the online ecosystem as part of its forthcoming Digital Services Act package, with fierce jockeying over the extent to which the EU will introduce new rules for the digital economy.
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