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Today in European Tech: Blockchain nabs $300 million, EU launches 'Open Research Europe', Seedrs-Crowdcube merger blocked + more

Robin Wauters 24 March 2021
Today in European Tech: Blockchain nabs $300 million, EU launches 'Open Research Europe', Seedrs-Crowdcube merger blocked + more
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Hello!

Here's what happened today in European Tech.

Deals

- Blockchain.com, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency wallet providers, has raised $300 million in a mega fundraising round that values the company at $5.2 billion. The London-based start-up said its latest cash injection was led by DST Global partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners and VY Capital.

- Less than a year after its IPO on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, Israeli driver safety company SaverOne is considering a Nasdaq offering, or at least listing its shares on Wall Street.

- Berlin-based neobank Kontist raised a €25 million Series B funding round to bolster its tax services business, specifically with ‘real-time and AI-supported tax calculation for freelancers’.

- Berlin-based chauffeur service Blacklane has raised €22 million from existing investors, and plans to beef up its local and regional ride service as well as green travel.

- IKEA owner and operator Ingka Group has invested close to £12 million in location technology firm what3words via Ingka Investments.

- Amsterdam’s demand-response energy transition specialist Sympower has raised €5.2 million in a series B round. The funding comes from Kees Koolen, an early investor and former CEO and Chairman of Booking.com and early investor and international expansion advisor of Uber.

- 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 Reading/Knowing

- Facebook’s challenge to a German antitrust attack on its advertising model will head to the European Union’s top court after a national tribunal sought legal advice on EU data rules.

- Following an investigation in the UK, the CMA has provisionally found that the proposed merger between Crowdcube and Seedrs will reduce competition and innovation, effectively blocking it.

- The European Commission is on track with plans to present a digital tax by June despite recent progress at the level of the OECD, the Commission’s Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager has said.

- German authorities have developed technology allowing investors to buy and sell securities on the blockchain in return for central bank money, bridging a gap between two worlds that once seemed irreconcilable.

- Croatian ‘hypercar’ maker Rimac is opening an R&D office in the UK (Warwick Enterprise Park), planning to employ 30 people by the end of this year.

- The European Commission has launched Open Research Europe, a platform for scientific papers that is freely accessible to everyone.

- Inside the startup ecosystem of Albania: trends, main actors and next steps.

- In 2012 Bas Smeulders and two friends founded Sendcloud, an e-commerce shipping platform that helps online stores of various sizes grow by optimizing their shipping processes. Now, Sendcloud is one of the leading European B2B SaaS scale-ups in the Netherlands, with a team of over 270 employees and branches in both Germany and the Netherlands.

- Norway is the world’s most cashless country – but its central bank isn’t keen on bitcoin: ‘It doesn’t preserve stability’.

- Gary Dolman, a co-founder of Monzo, has joined a new start-up Tip Jar as an advisor to its board.

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Today in European Tech: Blockchain nabs $300 million, EU launches 'Open Research Europe', Seedrs-Crowdcube merger blocked + more
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