Happy Friday!
This week, our research team tracked more than 40 tech funding deals worth almost €1 billion, as well as some 10 M&A transactions and related news stories across Europe, including Russia, Israel, and Turkey. Meanwhile, here's an overview of the 10 biggest European tech news items for this week:
1) Just Eat is merging with its Dutch rival Takeaway.com in a £9 billion deal that will create one of the world’s biggest online food delivery companies.
2) Babylon Health, the UK-based startup that has developed a number of AI-based health services, including a chatbot used by the UK’s NHS to help diagnose ailments, has closed a $550 million round of funding, valuing the company at over $2 billion.
3) Lightricks, based in Tel Aviv and known for its face editing app Facetune, has secured $135 million in Series C funding at a post-money valuation of $1 billion.
4) Amazon is reportedly acquiring Israeli storage technology startup E8 Storage. Sources from local publication Globes estimate that the deal amounts to $50-60 million.
5) British tech unicorn Deliveroo has acquired Scottish software design and development firm Cultivate, giving it a tech hub in Edinburgh – its first UK office outside of its London home base – as it continues to grow at a healthy pace.
6) Bitwala, a Berlin-based provider of crypto banking services, has raised €13 million in Series A funding from a group of international investors in a round led by Sony Financial Ventures/Global Brain and NKB Group. Half the round comes from prior backers Earlybird and coparion.
7) Spotify closed its second calendar quarter this year with 108 million paying subscribers and 232 million total monthly active users. Spotify’s total revenue in Q2 2019 stood at €1.67 billion, up 31% year-over-year.
8) The Swedish tech startup behind the Minut smart home alarm has raised $8 million in Series A funding, bringing its total amount raised so far to over $10 million. The investment round was led by KPN Ventures and sees Centrica as a new investor, alongside previous backers Karma Ventures, SOSV, and Nordic Makers.
9) Amsterdam-born recruitment and HR platform Harver has raised $15 million in Series B financing led by Insight Partners. The recent investment, which brings the startup’s total funding to $35 million, will be used on digital automation of the volume candidate selection process for enterprise organisations.
10) Google will charge search providers to be the Android default in Europe.
Podcast: tech.eu Podcast #128: Just Eat and Takeaway.com merge, Bulgaria has been hacked, interview with FiBAN’s Reetta Ilo, and more
Bonus link: Leuven, the university town where students + beer = startups (Sifted)
Would you like to write the first comment?
Login to post comments