This week, our research team tracked more than 65 tech funding deals worth over €984 million, and over 15 exits, M&A transactions, rumours, and related news stories across Europe.
As always, we are putting all weekly deals together for you in a 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).
Did you know?
We recently published the agenda and speaker line-up for our next Tech.eu Summit, which will take place on Wednesday 24 May at Brussels Expo.
Now is the time to secure your tickets if you haven't already!
With that said, let's get down to business with 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).
What happened this week in European Tech?
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>> Notable and big funding rounds
Wefox, the German insurtech scale-up, has closed a new $110 million funding round from existing investors, split between equity and a revolving credit facility. Wefox managed to maintain the same valuation of $4.5 billion as its previous financing round.
London-based fintech focused on the retirement savings market, Smart, aka SmartPension, has secured $95 million in a Series E funding round.
Swedish online grocery, and of course delivery service, Mathem, has raised approximately €88 million.
French SaaS scale-up Pigment has reportedly raised $70 million in new funding.
Switzerland-based robotics company ANYbotics has raised $50 million in a Series B funding round led by Walden Catalyst and NGP Capital.
Barcelona-based climate tech company Mitiga Solutions has raised a €13.25 million Series A round for its solution which predicts and prevents natural hazards from becoming disasters using high-performance computing, AI, and science.
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>> Noteworthy acquisitions, mergers, IPOs and SPAC deals
Global employee engagement company, Reward Gateway has been acquired by French-based employee fintech firm, Edenred for £1.15 billion from funds managed by Abry Partners and Castik Capital.
US-based crypto company Ripple has acquired Swiss crypto custody firm Metaco in a $250 million deal.
Mediobanca has acquired London-based financial advisory Arma Partners as the Italian bank pushes deeper into the UK and attempts to win more tech clients across Europe and the US.
According to media reports, German startup TIER Mobility is in advanced acquisition talks with European rival Bolt.
Italy-based 'open finance' company Fabrick has announced the acquisition of Judopay, a UK-based mobile payments company.
Dutch corporate up-skilling provider Lepaya has acquired Swiss leadership training provider Krauthammer.
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>> Interesting moves from investors
London-based VC firm Seedcamp has announced the close of its sixth fund at $180 million.
Helsinki-headquartered venture capital firm Lifeline Ventures has recently closed a substantial early-stage fund of €150 million.
Dublin-based Elkstone has announced that the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) has committed to anchoring the final close of its €100 million early-stage Irish Venture Fund.
Romanian Recovery Equity Fund will invest €80 million in four local investment funds — Innova/7, Booster Capital, GapMinder II, and Morphosis Capital I, in the frames of the EU Recovery and Resilience Program.
Finland’s application to NATO’s Innovation Fund has been approved, and Tesi will make a €35 million investment in the fund.
BASF 's business incubator Chemovator has opened its door to startups outside of the company.
Svetozar Georgiev, Telerik co-founder, business angel, and active mentor and advisor of the growth of the Bulgarian startup ecosystem has joined Eleven Ventures, the CEE-focused VC fund, as a partner.
MIG Capital, one of Germany’s leading venture capital firms, has strengthened its investment team with the addition of four new members.
DSW Ventures has closed a £2 million regional fund to invest in early-stage startups based outside of the ‘golden triangle’ of London, Cambridge and Oxford.
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>> In other (important) news
Microsoft won EU antitrust approval for its $69 billion acquisition of Activision on Monday, in a significant boost that could prompt Chinese and South Korean regulators to follow suit despite a British veto of the deal.
The Bank of England is reportedly planning to reject fintech firm Revolut’s application for a banking licence.
European Union states gave the final nod to the world’s first comprehensive set of rules to regulate crypto assets on Tuesday, piling pressure on countries such as Britain and the United States to play catch up.
The UK government has unveiled its long-awaited semiconductor strategy, which will provide funding of up to £1 billion over the next 10 years in a bid to boost the country’s microchip sector.
Telecoms giant BT is to shed up to 55,000 jobs by the end of the decade, mostly in the UK, as it cuts costs.
The European Union’s Commissioner for Research and Innovation Mariya Gabriel has resigned from her EU post as she takes on the challenge of forming a new Bulgarian coalition government.
Meta is expected to face a record privacy fine when Ireland’s data protection watchdog confirms the social media platform mishandled people’s data when shipping it to the United States.
European regulators are set to decide in the coming months whether video platform TikTok mishandled children's data, violating the European Union's landmark privacy rules.
UK authorities should regulate cryptocurrency trading as a form of gambling rather than a financial service, parliament’s Treasury committee has said after a fresh inquiry into the industry.
Fintech group Zepz, which owns money transfer brands WorldRemit and Sendwave, is laying off 420 employees.
Embattled electric vehicle company Arrival has ended the first quarter with $130 million cash following cost-cutting measures as it pushes ahead with a second SPAC merger.
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>> Recommended reads and listens
‘The concept of the metaverse has been abused horribly over the last few years’ - Herman Narula will be putting the record straight at the Tech.eu Summit
Automation is creeping into European Union institutions — and translators are among its first victims.
Europe’s electrofuel companies prepare for life on the road
Why developers are flocking to Web3
How hardware startups are pawsitively disrupting pet care
10 European quantum computing startups approaching superposition
Why university spinouts are a battleground in the UK government’s ‘science and tech superpower’ plans
Europe could be on the cusp of a golden era in robotics
Last mile delivery – Spotlighting 7 European start-ups who are lowering, dropping or delivering goods to your doorstep
Retail investors in the UK ploughed £2.5 billion into startup companies through the Enterprise Investment Schemes.
Cracking the code: extracting maximum value from tech conferences
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>> European tech startups to watch
The 20 startups pitching at the 2023 edition of the Tech.eu Summit
Dublin-based hosptech startup Nory has raised €7 million in a seed funding round. The company uses a healthy dose of AI-powered optimisation wizardry to help restaurants manage their workflow.
Music NFT platform anotherblock welcomes Stride, and second Swedish House Mafia member Axwell to cap table in €4 million seed round.
French pharmacies have been digitising their comms with suppliers thanks to Faks’ platform.
UK-based Oneday, an edtech for entrepreneurship, has launched its new accredited MBA after securing a £5 million investment from Ananda Impact Ventures.
Vilnius-based regtech firm Amlyze provides an anti-financial crime solution for fintechs, neo-banks and crypto businesses.
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