This Week in European Tech: Flink nabs $750 million, Mimecast bought for $5.8 billion, Monzo and SellerX close $500 million funding rounds, and more

Happy Friday!

This week, the Tech.eu research team tracked more than 125 tech funding deals worth over €3.5 billion, and over 35 exits, M&A transactions, and rumours across Europe, including Russia and Turkey.

As always, we are putting all of them together for you in a handy list sent in our round-up newsletter (note: the full list is for paying customers only).

We are currently looking for two full-time business journalists to help us cover the European startup and venture capital ecosystems the way they deserve to. This is your chance to join our editorial team!

When you're done applying for the job, here's an overview of the biggest European tech news items for the past week (subscribe to our free newsletter to get this round-up in your inbox every Monday morning).

This week:

1) German online grocer Flink has raised $750 million in a Series B funding round, now giving the company a pre-money valuation of $2.1 billion. All of this within seven months of operation. Flink is a player in the get-it-to-my-door-faster-than-I-can-blink game, with grocery delivery times in 10 minutes or less. Since the beginning of this year, the company has raised … wait for it … $1.1 billion.

2) Mimecast is to be acquired by private equity firm Permira in a deal that values the UK-founded email-security software company at about $5.8 billion.

3) UK digital challenger bank Monzo is raising more than $500 million at a $4.5 billion valuation - three times the £1.1 billion price tag it attracted in its last discounted capital-raise earlier this year.

4) The European Commission announced draft rules on Thursday to give many workers such as couriers for online platform companies including Uber and Deliveroo employee benefits, a move which labour unions say is overdue but some companies argue will lead to job losses. The proposal, a global first that needs to be thrashed out with EU countries and lawmakers before it can become law, marks the latest attempt by the European Union to regulate tech companies and ensure a level playing field between online and traditional firms.

5) Berlin-based SellerX has raised $500 million in new debt and equity financing to buy up e-commerce brands and expand its stable of businesses selling goods on Amazon.com. Founded in 2020, SellerX is among a number of firms racing to acquire online retailers and create new consumer conglomerates. The company’s latest funding was led by Sofina, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, and Victory Park Capital, valuing SellerX before the new investment at more than $1 billion, according to a statement.

6) Amsterdam-listed Odyssey has agreed to buy BenevolentAI in a deal valuing the British-based medtech firm at up to €1.5 billion after the transaction, the biggest acquisition by a European SPAC to date.

7) European fintech scale-up Mambu, which has built a set of APIs to power lending, deposit, and other banking products, has raised €235 million, a Series E that values the company at €4.9 billion.

8) Copenhagen-born, London-based Pleo, which provides SMBs with company expense management tools, namely via company cards, has picked up $200 million in a new funding round. The new capital will be used to further the company’s expansion efforts, with M&A activities planned, aiming to establish a presence in over a dozen countries in the coming year beginning with Finland, the Netherlands, France, and Portugal.

9) Italy's competition authority announced Thursday it was slapping a €1.13 billion fine on Amazon for abusing its dominant position in the market and harming competitors in the e-commerce logistics service.

10) Berlin-based phone-as-a-service provider everphone has raised $200 million in a new funding round. The startup offers corporate clients a one-stop solution for the procurement, management, and integration of smartphones and tablets issued to employees.

Honourable mentions:

• FNZ, a UK fintech scale-up that offers digital wealth management tools, is working with Lazard to raise *$1 billion* in new funding.
• Just a few weeks after announcing stock and crypto trading, French fintech startup Lydia announced that it has raised a $100 million Series C round. With this funding round, the startup has reached a unicorn valuation, which means that it is currently valued at more than $1 billion.
• Adobe is buying UK-based social media marketing startup ContentCal in a deal that aims to give users, particularly small businesses, new services for posting content across a variety of channels. The all-cash transaction reportedly values ContentCal at more than $100 million.
• CPP Investments will invest an initial $300 million into UK-based, Al Gore-backed green energy tech startup Octopus Energy Group.
• Byju’s, the world’s most valuable edtech company, has acquired Linz, Austria-headquartered GeoGebra. The Austrian company offers a dynamic, interactive and collaborative mathematics learning tool. According to the sources, the value of the transaction is about $100 million.
• UK-based all-things-auto platform carwow has secured $55 million in new funds to further scale its ‘Sell Your Car’ product. The company reports that the majority of the capital will be used to further develop the technology powering the offer, ramp up international expansion plans, and acquire more users. To date, carwow, across all its offerings, has raised just over $150 million.
• Pinterest has closed a deal to acquire the Belarussian video creation and editing app Vochi.
• London-listed Ideagen has raised £103.5 million via a share placing to accelerate product investment and scale global operations through further acquisitions.The Nottingham-headquartered RegTech has made 25 acquisitions to date, leading to 12 consecutive years of revenue and profit growth.
• Centred around its card-as-a-service offer, Enfuce has raised €45 million in a Series C funding round. The Helsinki-based firm intends to use the new capital to continue international expansion efforts as well as further the development of the card issuing and processing platform.
• Synthesia, a British deeptech company leveraging AI to generate videos of avatars, announced that it raised $50 million in a series B round, bringing its total raised to $66.5 million. Kleiner Perkins led the round with participation from GV, FirstMark Capital, LDV Capital, Seedcamp, MCC Ventures, and individual investors.
• Keeping both private and public source code protected, Paris-based GitGuardian has closed a $44 million Series B round and intends to use the new funding to build upon its secret detection experience and venture into new areas that address a wide variety of software vulnerabilities.

Latest podcast(s):

🎧 Understanding Europe's Digital Health landscape — featuring Ranjan Singh, HealthHero

🎧 Inside the Eastern European startup ecosystem — featuring Ihar Mahaniok, Geek Ventures

Bonus links:

• Essential reading at the end of every year: the 'State of European Tech' report from Atomico and friends is out. For a summary of the key findings, head on over to CNBC.
• Another list always worth checking: Forbes' Midas List for Europe (their take on the top VC investors in Europe, Israel and the Middle East this year).
• And another list worth checking: POLITICO 28 - Class of 2022, the publication's annual ranking of the most influential people in Europe.
• Also worth a look: Balderton's first self-published report card on its ESG efforts as a major investor in Europe.
• European citizens will be able to use their mobile phones without excessive extra costs when traveling abroad in the EU, negotiators agreed Thursday morning.
• Why Amsterdam is not the blockchain hub it should be.
• A day in the life of Doctolib, one of Europe’s most exciting health tech companies.
• E-Scooters Are Everywhere in Europe. So Are Grisly Accidents.