Hello!
Here is what happened today in European tech:
Deals
- SoftBank will become a significant shareholder in Sinch, as it takes over a 10th of the Swedish cloud-based platform provider behind an almost 300% stock-price surge this year. Sinch’s co-founders have agreed to sell SoftBank 5.2 million shares.
- Voi, the Stockholm-headquartered micro mobility company known for its e-scooter rentals, has raised $160 million in new funding. The round, about two thirds equity and one third debt, is led by The Raine Group.
- French startup Ankorstore, a curated marketplace connecting up-and-coming brands with neighbourhood retailers, has raised €25 million in Series A funding led by Index Ventures.
- Dutch cybersecurity scale-up EclecticIQ has raised €20 million in Series C financing, led by Ace Management. Capricorn Digital Growth Fund and Quest for Growth joined the round, as did Invest-NL Capital, Arches Capital and existing investors INKEF Capital, KEEN Venture Partners and KPN ventures.
- MEL Science, a London-based science education platform, has secured $14 million in Series B funding to continue expanding its subscription-based learning programme. International investors include Mubadala Investment Company, Channel 4 Ventures and other entities from Europe and China.
- Vivenu, a ticketing platform that offers an API for venues and promoters to customize to their needs, has closed a €12.6 million Series A funding round led by Balderton Capital. Previous investor Redalpine also participated.
- SuperNormal, a ‘remote-first’ startup building an AI platform for business video recordings, has secured $2 million in seed funding in a round led by EQT Ventures.
- 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 Knowing
- Facebook will begin paying UK news publishers for some articles with the launch of Facebook News in January.
- The EU hopes Biden’s incoming administration will clarify the US position on digital taxation within two months of taking office, a French Finance Ministry source has said.
- Facebook has paid a 4 million ruble ($53,000) fine, which was levied in February, for violating Russia’s personal data storage law. Proceedings against the company have been dropped.
- PitchBook released its Q3 2020 European VC Valuations Report.
- Latvian fintech startup Nordigen is switching to a freemium model thanks to a free open banking API.
- The Scottish Government has announced an over £20 million funding package to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) adopt digital technology in order to improve productivity, increase resilience, and create new market opportunities.
- Israeli tech companies, which raised a record $8.3 billion in 2019, have already raised over $9.7 billion in the first 11 months of 2020, despite the Covid-19 crisis - according to IVC-ZAG.
- European Central Bank (ECB) executive Fabio Panetta laid out the continent’s plans for a digital euro, and Big Techs are well and truly fenced out of the picture.
- Amsterdam-based fintech scale-up Dusk Network has become the newest shareholder of NPEX, the Dutch stock exchange for small- and medium enterprises.
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