Happy Friday!
This week, our research team tracked over 60 tech funding deals worth more than €950 million, and about 30 M&A transactions, rumours, and related news stories across Europe, including Russia, Israel, and Turkey.
As always, we are putting all of them together for you in a handy list sent in our roundup newsletter (note: the full list is for paying customers only).
Recently, we also started publishing 'Today in European Tech', a daily roundup of deals and news stories that caught our attention. Keeping you updated on all things EU tech is our priority!
Today, instead of a daily roundup we give you an overview of the 10 biggest European tech news items for the past week (subscribe to our free newsletter to get this roundup in your inbox every Monday morning).
1) Uber's UK drivers are workers after all
Uber lost a crucial legal fight in the UK, as the country’s Supreme Court upheld a ruling that its drivers should be classified as workers rather than independent contractors.
Supreme Court: makes landmark ruling threatening Uber's business model in the UK, its most important European market.
Uber investors: pic.twitter.com/dsRAICxk5N
— Ryan Browne (@Ryan_Browne_) February 19, 2021
2) Sinch's largest acquisition so far
SoftBank-backed Swedish cloud communications company Sinch, has agreed to acquire Inteliquent, a large voice communications provider in the United States, for a total cash consideration of $1.14 billion.
Happy and proud to welcome the Inteliquent team to the @wearesinch family in our biggest acquisition to date. This acquisition establishes Sinch as a leader not only in messaging but now also in voice in America. #wearesinchhttps://t.co/e0idP84rx1
— Robert Gerstmann (@robertgerstmann) February 17, 2021
3) Cazoo eyes £5 billion public listing via SPAC
UK-based online retailer Cazoo has been reported to be looking for a SPAC that'd take it public in the US, at an alleged valuation of “well over £5 billion.” It's working with Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, and Numis to accelerate the process.
EXCLUSIVE: Cazoo, the online car marketplace founded by Zoopla founder Alex Chesterman, has hired banks to explore going public through a merger with a Special Purpose Acquisition Company; it is targeting a valuation of around £6bn. Full story on @skynews shortly.
— Mark Kleinman (@MarkKleinmanSky) February 19, 2021
4) Crowdstrike pays $400 million for Humio
Danish-British log management software company Humio has been acquired by cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike for a total of around $400 million.
Must be something in this log management market...Crowdstrike acquires log management software firm Humio for $400 million - https://t.co/zln5BKYccu https://t.co/cbrbgDSmZ4 @ia_snare
— Brad Thomas OAM (@BradJThomas) February 18, 2021
5) Low-code startup OutSystems lands $150 million
Portugal-born OutSystems, a low-code app development service provider, has closed $150 million in new capital at a $9.5 billion valuation in a round led by Abdiel Capital and Tiger Global.
📰 Today, we are thrilled that we have secured a $150M capital raise, co-led by Abdiel Capital and Tiger Global at a $9.5B valuation. This helps accelerate our mission to give every organization the power to innovate through software! Learn more➡️ https://t.co/lspon4SYLI pic.twitter.com/Y0aGsvXoK9
— OutSystems (@OutSystems) February 17, 2021
6) Here comes the SPAC
The SPAC craze has officially arrived in Europe. European tech investor Klaus Hommels on Wednesday launched a blank-check firm aimed at snapping up a late-stage tech company in the region. Hommels, the founder of venture capital firm Lakestar, is looking to fetch up to €275 million for his SPAC.
NEW: Klaus Hommels, the founder of European VC firm Lakestar, has launched a SPAC.
Hommels' blank-check firm will list in Frankfurt next week and is looking to buy a late-stage tech company in Europe.
SPACs have officially arrived in Europe... https://t.co/0V8fd6q7Ja
— Ryan Browne (@Ryan_Browne_) February 17, 2021
7) Deliveroo goes public in 3… 2… 1…
UK food delivery scale-up Deliveroo is poised to fire a formal starting gun on a blockbuster stock market flotation before 8 March, making it the first in a string of British tech "unicorns" to go public in 2021.
Exclusive: Deliveroo, the restaurant and grocery delivery app, has pencilled in March 8 to unveil its expected intention to float, paving the way for the stock market debut of one of Britain's most prominent technology unicorns within weeks. https://t.co/uxrMj2svOk
— Mark Kleinman (@MarkKleinmanSky) February 15, 2021
8) €200 million in venture capital for “emerging Europe”
Earlybird Digital East Fund — a fund associated with Germany’s Earlybird VC, but operating separately — has launched a €200 million successor fund.
"This might be the biggest European VC fund performance in history, and it’s not coming from Berlin, it’s not coming from London, but it’s coming from Eastern Europe." Congrats @csertoglu @EarlybirdVC https://t.co/qLZIPC5pC1 via @techcrunch
— Philipp vd Knesebeck (@philippvdk) February 18, 2021
9) Credit facility for Germany's GetYourGuide
GetYourGuide, the Berlin startup that curates, organises and lets travellers and others book tours and other experiences, has secured a revolving credit facility of €80 million, led by UniCredit.
The tourism industry in particular was hit hard by #Corona. But Berlin-based #Startup @GetYourGuide has secured a revolving credit facility of €80m ($97m at current rates). KfW is among the financiers. https://t.co/CQlO1jqpIF
— KfW (@KfW_int) February 16, 2021
10) Epic looks for EU antitrust support in its fight against Apple
Fortnite creator Epic Games has taken its fight against Apple to European Union antitrust regulators, escalating its dispute with the iPhone maker over its App Store payment system and control over app downloads.
Epic Games has taken its fight against Apple to EU antitrust regulators. The two companies have been locked in a legal dispute since last August, when the Fortnite creator tried to avoid Apple’s 30% fee on some in-app purchases on the App Store https://t.co/9dU4NI2HD8 pic.twitter.com/f2mg4dg8uy
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 18, 2021
Podcast:
tech.eu Podcast #207: Opera’s fintech push unpacked, Deliveroo loses in Dutch court, Sinch’s biggest acquisition, Lakestar SPAC, and more
Today's podcast is out!
In the fresh episode:
🛍 Opera's fintech push unpacked, with @k_kolondra and @robinwauters,
⚖️ @Deliveroo loses in 🇳🇱 court,
📞 @wearesinch's biggest acquisition so far, @Lakestar SPAC,
and much more! https://t.co/SBHfqBmUrB
— tech.eu (@tech_eu) February 19, 2021
Bonus link:
Always be learning: The key take-aways from our event on the State of European Fintech
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