This week, the Tech.eu research team tracked more than 95 tech funding deals worth over €1.3 billion, and over 20 exits, M&A transactions, rumours, and related news stories across Europe.
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, and also comes in the form of a handy downloadable spreadsheet).
We've also announced a whole bunch of confirmed speakers for our upcoming Tech.eu Summit on 17 May in Brussels. Check out more info here and get your early-bird tickets now!
From the likes of European Commissioner Mariya Gabriel to world-record breaking pilot Zara Rutherford, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, (Transfer)Wise co-founder and CEO Kristo Käärmann, unicorn CEOs and builders from Bunq, Veriff, Scandit, GoStudent, Deliverect, Solarisbank, Sorare, Voi, and investors from Index Ventures, Molten, Lakestar, Speedinvest, Localglobe, Blossom Capital, eFounders and many more - we can't wait to meet them and you there in person!
Below, please find an overview of the biggest European tech news items for the past couple of days (subscribe to our free newsletter to get this round-up in your inbox every Monday morning).
What happened this week in European Tech?
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>> Notable and big funding rounds
Joining the slew of startups in the race towards a net-zero world, Dresden-based renewable energy platform Sunfire has raised €195 million.
Next-generation clearing and embedded banking platform in the UK, ClearBank has raised a £175 million equity investment. The round was led by funds advised by Apax Digital.
Betting big on the future of work, which is now global, London-based SaaS employment platform Omnipresent has raised $120 million. The Series B round was led by European growth investor Kinnevik, and global technology company Tencent.
Lisbon-based casual games platform Frvr has raised $76 million in a funding round led by Hiro Capital.
After being bootstrapped for 20 years, Parisian Lucca unlocks €65 million to script success beyond France.
UK-based women-led luxury fashion brand Me+Em has raised £55 million. The round was led by Highland Europe.
Bootstrapped since 2016, Berlin-based “People Enablement” platform Leapsome has raised $60 million in a Series A round as it sets out to dominate the American market.
Berlin-based natural food company KoRo has announced a €50 million funding round. The Series B round was led by venture capital firm HV Capital, alongside new investors, food tech specialist Five Seasons Ventures, and global investment platform, Partech.
Paris-based climate and energy data analytics company Kayrros has raised €40 million in funding.
London-based electric air taxi infrastructure and drone services provider Skyports has raised $23 million.
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>> Noteworthy acquisitions, mergers, IPOs and SPAC deals
Apple has acquired British fintech start-up Credit Kudos, which develops software that uses consumers’ banking data to make more informed credit checks on loan applications.
Snap announced it’s acquired neurotech startup NextMind, a Paris-based company known for creating a $400 pint-sized brain-computer interface (BCI).
Auto Trader has swooped for Autorama in a deal which could be worth up to £200 million.The London-listed group, the UK’s largest automotive marketplace, has agreed to acquire the share capital of Autorama (UK), one of the UK’s largest transactional marketplaces for leasing new vehicles.
London RegTech HooYu has been acquired in a £98 million all-cash deal. It will join Mitek, a global leader in digital identity verification and fraud prevention based in San Diego, California and listed on New York’s NASDAQ stock exchange.
Seeking to consolidate the fragmented home improvement market in the Benelux region, Solvari has acquired competitors Casius and Twizzi.
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>> Interesting moves from investors
Leuven-based early-stage and growth fund for deep tech innovation, Imec.xpand has closed the first round of its second fund at €150 million in committed capital. The amount raised exceeds the initial target by €30 million.
VC firm Sequoia has launched Arc, a program focused on growing seed-stage companies in the US and Europe.
Berlin-based embedded/capital has launched a €100 million fund aimed at supporting European fintech startups specifically working with embedded financial services as a core part of their business model.
London- headquartered venture capital and impact investor Future Planet Capital has wrapped up a €20 million fund to tackle key issues affecting the world’s oceans.
After having led Techstars London for the better part of 5 years, ubiquitous European startup scene mentor and angel investor Eamonn Carey is now taking on his newest challenge as general partner at Tallinn-headquartered Tera Ventures.
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>> In other (important) news
The European Union has opened a new chapter in antitrust enforcement for the digital economy, adopting a raft of new rules designed to clamp down on abuses by some of the world’s largest tech firms.
US President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen declared on Friday (25 March) the two sides had reached a political agreement on international data transfers, a move cautiously welcomed by industry and analysts.
The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has finally revealed its long-awaited decision on the future governance of open banking.
Finland's Oura has announced that it has sold one million Oura Ring fitness trackers.
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>> Recommended reads and listens
Founders have spoken - and these are their top-rated 20 European seed investors.
Sweden's Summa Equity is on a growth streak, raising a huge third fund, and rapidly adding to its portfolio. Founder Reynir Indahl argues that investing in purpose-led startups doesn't mean forsaking revenue.
Yuri Milner built a $3.9 billion fortune, thanks to early funding from Kremlin-connected sources. He says that’s all in the past.
In part two of our exclusive four-part public purpose technology series, University of Cambridge professor and researcher Dr. Johannes Lenhard discusses the role of government in PPT.
Inside Ukraine’s online defence: the battle against Moscow’s cyber attacks.
How to grow across borders while maintaining scalability – solving the European startup dilemma.
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