Hello!
Here is what happened today in European tech:
Deals
- Israel-based web analytics platform SimilarWeb has secured $120 million in a funding round led by ION Crossover Partners and Viola Growth. The company’s technology gathers information from hundreds of sources and uses them in advanced machine learning algorithms to provide a complete picture of digital activity in real-time. Its tools are used by large leading brand name companies to analyze customer behavior and compare it to competitors, Calcalist reports.
- Malta-based Esports Entertainment Group has acquired Helix eSports and GGCircuit for $43 million. VentureBeat reports that the company “is amassing a number of properties related to esports, but it is doing so with a unique approach by combining games, tournaments, and gambling.”
- Israeli company TechSee has landed $30 million in funding for its AR assistance tech for customer service reps and technicians. Per Globes' report, the “company has also developed computer vision AI with technology that can provide visual guidance to users installing, operating, or troubleshooting networking devices, smart home products, home appliances, and more. TechSee's AI platform can automatically identify components, ports, cables, LED indicators, and more to detect issues and suggest resolutions for consumers, contact center agents, and field technicians.”
- Lithuanian unicorn company Vinted, creator of an online marketplace for second-hand fashion, has acquired United Wardrobe, the largest second-hand fashion platform in the Netherlands. With a combined member base of 34 million buyers and sellers across 11 countries in Europe, the two companies say they share a goal of encouraging responsible fashion and growing the circular economy. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
- Israeli startup Salto has emerged from stealth with a $27 million funding round. The company is developing an automation solution for enterprise app configuration: it extracts configuration elements of different business apps and “translates” them into its own declarative language called Not Another Configuration Language (NaCl). Using that language, Salto's customers can then edit and deploy new configurations into the production apps.
- Deci, a deep learning company in Tel Aviv, has raised a sizable seed round of $9.1 million, led by Israel-based firm Emerge and Square Peg. The company is building an AI-based platform that can automatically craft robust and efficient deep neural network solutions ready for production at scale.
- Private equity firm Grafton Capital has invested £7 million into Third Financial, a London-based investment platform and software provider, taking majority ownership of the startup. Founded back in 2008, Third Financial originally saw success with ‘Tercero’, its CRM and portfolio management system for wealth managers.
- We also tracked a large number of (other) European tech funding rounds and M&A transactions, all of which we are putting in a handy list for you on Friday afternoon in our weekly roundup newsletter (note: the full list is for paying customers only). Also check out our European tech news section for ongoing coverage.
Worth Knowing
- The European Commission’s Vice-President for Digital Affairs, Margrethe Vestager said that breaking the big tech would not be the “right thing to do.”
- “Europe is going after the internet’s business model. A new one is urgently needed,” argues Politico's chief technology correspondent Mark Scott.
- After a taxi service and a music streaming platform, Russian tech behemoth Yandex is about to launch a food delivery service in Israel.
- “Why Sweden is on the verge of another tech revolution” — The Telegraph's James Cook has talked to Niklas Zennström, Sweden's business minister, Truecaller's CEO and others to find out what's going on in the ecosystem.
- Swiss-headquartered investment bank UBS, the world’s largest wealth manager, is going to invest $200 million in fintech and other digital startups through a freshly announced UBS Next portfolio.
- It looks like Italy is the next country to take a tough stance against Huawei. Euractiv's sources are suggesting that the government has “prevented telecoms group Fastweb from signing a deal for Huawei to supply equipment for its 5G core network.”
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