Hello!
Here's what happened today in European Tech.
Deals
- Amsterdam’s bunq has closed a record-breaking European fintech Series A round at €193 million. This now gives the neobank a valuation of €1.6 billion. Not too bad for a company that until this announcement had remained bootstrapped by its founder Ali Niknam for close to a decade.
- French startup Younited Credit has raised a $170 million funding round. Goldman Sachs is leading the round with existing investors Eurazeo, Bpifrance and AG2R La Mondiale also participating. The company offers several credit products to European consumers.
- Berlin-based photovoltaic systems provider Enpal has closed a €100 million funding round with the goal of becoming the energy supplier for the 21st century.
- Swiss Post, the former state-owned mail delivery firm which became a private limited company in 2013, diversifying into logistics, finance, transport and more while retaining its role as Switzerland’s national postal service, has acquired a majority stake in Swiss-Hungarian startup Tresorit, a European pioneer in end-to-end-encrypted cloud services.
- 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
- Washington told the EU not to tax its tech giants. So Brussels is making plans to tax everyone instead. The European Commission is eyeing a 0.3 percent tax on the goods and services sold online by companies operating in the EU with an annual turnover of €50 million or more, officials briefed on the plans told POLITICO.
- Stellantis, the automaker born out of a merger between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and French automaker Groupe PSA, will invest €30 billion in electric vehicles and new software over the next four years as part of a major push to transition away from internal combustion engines.
- Wise's record-breaking direct listing has come as a relief to other tech firms aiming to go public in the coming months, the bankers managing those deals and to post-Brexit London.
- Northzone backed Na-Kd, one of Sweden’s fastest growing online retailers, is "getting ready to raise funds on the stock market by convincing ethically-conscious investors that fast fashion can be sustainable”.
- Fintech companies based in London raised more funding from VC investors in the first six months of 2021 than in any other year, demonstrating the British capital's resilience as a hub for digital financial services post-Brexit.
- Investors find European unicorns reluctant to join the SPAC boom.
- Grocery delivery scale-up Getir hopes to double its workforce of 1,500 and operate in up to 15 cities by the end of 2021.
- Kat Borlongan has stepped down as director of the 'French Tech Mission'.
- US-based digital consumer goods company that acquires private label Amazon FBA businesses and direct-to-consumer e-commerce brands, Thrasio has announced the appointment of Amazon vet Georg Hesse as Vice-President UK, DE.
- Swedish video streaming tech firm Bambuser announced their participation in La Maison des Startups, an accelerator program created by LVMH.
- Sweden’s Voi is launching the world’s first large-scale pilot of computer vision on e-scooters in the UK city of Northampton. The AI technology can detect when an e-scooter leaves the road and rides on a pavement, as well as if the vehicle is parked correctly.
- The University of Cambridge has produced more graduate founders than any other UK university, new research reveals.
Today's Top Tweets
Diriger @LaFrenchTech pendant trois ans a été à la fois l’expérience la plus DINGUE et le plus grand honneur de ma vie. Du fond de mon coeur, merci https://t.co/FJQdXknWHV pic.twitter.com/DQYlM15bKj
— Kat Borlongan (@katborlongan) July 8, 2021
So this year alone I've covered Plum, Freetrade, MoneyLion, Brex, Trade Republic and now N26 all planning expansions into crypto trading or rewards. All 'non-crypto' fintechs up to this point.
How long till holdouts Monzo, Starling, etc. fall into line? https://t.co/kXlRT0OYco
— Ryan Weeks (@RyanJamesWeeks) July 7, 2021
It’s not an official Estonian celebration without a heist . As neighbours we were happy to help.
You’ve set the bar high for us. Keep on making history. @kaarmann @taavet pic.twitter.com/7htBe7zw5Z
— Markus Villig (@villigm) July 8, 2021
Brilliant report by @yoramdw & @dealroomco team on how tech entrepreneurship is becoming a viable engine of growth & jobs. FR, DE, Sweden, Netherlands & UK startups have raised more in the first half of 2021 than in any other full year period. Go Europe! https://t.co/39W8s4HFTd
— Gerard Grech (@gerardgrech) July 8, 2021
Amazon's new CEO, Andy Jassy, is about to inherit plenty of legal trouble — with a big chunk of it coming from Europe.
Mr. Jassy, if you're reading this, we've got you covered. Here are the most pressing threats to the larger business https://t.co/JQT3q3m3PI
— POLITICOEurope (@POLITICOEurope) July 8, 2021
#Podcast suggestion time: are you a European #founder looking to successfully scale in our continent? @tech_eu's @robinwauters interviews @HannoRenner, the CEO & Co-Founder of European HR-Tech unicorn @PersonioHR. Listen to the episode here: https://t.co/rV863wAn2m
— BRIDGE IN (@BridgeInPt) July 8, 2021
When I worked for https://t.co/oqQwQ4kpel, I saw domains everywhere and I used to criticise a lot. That's how @sensorpunk sees photography. The thing is that even if I don't see photos like he does, I can "see" them, I can feel something is wrong. #branding #photo #domains https://t.co/NtPJFZH338
— Natasa Lakovic Djukanovic (@natasad) July 8, 2021
Our IPO offer closes soon ⏰ We've partnered with @PrimaryBid to open access to early stage VC investing. It's an exciting moment - the market in London is growing faster than the next three European cities combined.
Join us ➡https://t.co/brqMUDhjXu
⭐️CAPITAL AT RISK⭐️
— Forward Partners (@ForwardPrt) July 8, 2021
U-turn alert: the government now plans to review Nexperia’s dirt cheap acquisition of Newport Wafer Fab pic.twitter.com/r26OMqj1WX
— Sam Shead is o.o.o (@Sam_L_Shead) July 8, 2021
Want to come work/live in France? See here https://t.co/gUPa7nXDRG
— Roxanne Varza (@roxannevarza) July 8, 2021
The journeys of successful start-ups always seems easy in hindsight. Below the look of my traveling mattress for my first start-up which we sold for €45mn. More pic.twitter.com/vjRxvghOz9
— Niklas Oestberg ♂️ ♀️ (@niklasoestberg) July 8, 2021
French competition authority timeline, according to @IsabelleDeSilva (1/2) ▶️Google/press publishers: Decision on respect of interim measures in coming days +on abuse of economic dependence by year end ▶️Apple/French adtech: Assessment of self-preferencing on privacy by year end
— Laura Kayali (@LauKaya) July 8, 2021
New from me: The UK's crackdown on Binance is boosting the cryptocurrency exchange's rivals.
Bitstamp and Kraken have both reported a doubling in UK users in recent weeks.
“It’s a flight to safety,” @julian_sawyer tells me.
More here: https://t.co/RUV3JaJkJC
— Ryan Browne (@Ryan_Browne_) July 8, 2021
More ambitious Baltic founders: announcing our investment in Spain-headquartered @promosappes together with angels incl. @waldec @slimas. Unparalleled AI-driven crowdsourced retail purchasing data for brands and retailers. #LTStartups #grocery #ai #data #BusinessIntelligence https://t.co/yOwWlRSt5w
— Change Ventures (@changeventures) July 8, 2021
Thrilled to share the @Lilium passenger experience with you “Our 7-Seater Lilium Jet is specifically designed to maximise passenger comfort. Passengers will experience low noise and low vibration in the cabin, creating a comfortable and pleasant experience whatever the journey pic.twitter.com/93ODyLVUl2
— Frank Thelen (@frank_thelen) July 8, 2021
Big news from Kantox today as we announce the expansion of our partnership with @SVB_financial into the US market!
Read more about the partnership here https://t.co/v1hxUZrvTC#fintech #partnership #Banking
— Kantox (@kantox) July 8, 2021
Tell us what you think about this daily roundup and how we can improve it!
And follow us on Twitter of course.
Would you like to write the first comment?
Login to post comments