Hello!
Here is what happened today in European tech:
Deals
- Estonian ride-hailing firm and Uber rival Bolt has raised €150 million euros in a funding round led by D1 Capital Partners. The company declined to disclose its valuation but said it was up from the €1.7 billion it was worth in May (and it could be even double that).
- Croatian-British AI-powered computer vision software company Microblink has closed a $60 million minority investment led by Silversmith Capital Partners, a Boston-based growth equity firm.
- Israeli data protection company BigID announced the completion of a $70 million series D financing round, at a valuation to over $1 billion, led by Salesforce Ventures and Tiger Global and joined by Glynn Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Scale Venture Partners, and Boldstart Ventures.
- Dutch cloud communications company MessageBird has acquired Pusher in a deal worth $35 million. Pusher enables developers to integrate real-time functionalities into their software, including push notifications and in-app messaging.
- Israeli venture capital investor Qumra Capital today announced the final closing of Qumra Capital III at $260 million for investment in Israeli growth-stage tech companies.
- London-based Zilch, a buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) startup that doesn’t require integration on the merchant side, has landed $30 million in a Series B funding round from a range of VCs including Gauss Ventures and the co-founder of Money Supermarket Simon Nixon (Seek Ventures).
- Zoomin Software, an Israeli-born startup that helps companies organise and optimise their product support content, has raised $21 million to support new business growth, which is on pace to quadruple this year. The round, which was led by investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Salesforce Ventures and Viola Growth, will allow Zoomin to scale operations throughout the US and EMEA.
- ZeroAvia, a UK company working to decarbonise commercial flights, has announced a double helping of funding to fuel its pursuits of zero-emission aircrafts. The UK’s government has granted £12.3 million, and the sustainable aviation startup has also closed £16 million in Series A funding from Amazon Climate Pledge Fund, Breakthrough Energy Ventures and others.
- The Global Savings Group, a European platform for rewards, cashback, savings opportunities, and shopping content, has secured €12 million euros in a recent financing round.
- Flashpoint Venture Capital, an international technology investment firm with roots in Budapest that specifically backs companies founded by management teams in Central and Eastern Europe, Israel, the Baltics, Finland and the CIS, has announced the first close of its third VC fund targeting $100 million.
- Swedish cybersecurity company Outpost24 has raised €19 million from Swedbank Robur and Alcur Fonder to continue expanding worldwide.
- Payments technology provider Form3 has signed a partnership with, and secured investment from, payments giant Mastercard.
- 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
- Today saw the presentation of a new EU Cybersecurity Strategy, which is meant to "bolster Europe's collective resilience against cyber threats and help to ensure that all citizens and businesses can fully benefit from trustworthy and reliable services and digital tools".
- Some of Europe’s tech companies are preparing to speed up listing plans early next year to grab some of the billions of dollars of investor cash that has already fuelled a record-breaking run of tech IPOs in the United States this year. (Reuters)
- Pia d’Iribarne, formerly of Accel and Stride, is heading up a new European early stage venture capital firm co-founded with French entrepreneur and investor Xavier Niel, TechCrunch has learned. Dubbed New Wave, its debut fund of $56 million was raised in just 3 months and has already begun making investments.
- YouTube has bowed to pressure from Turkey’s president Erdogan to set up an office in the country after the government threatened the video-streaming service with a de facto ban.
- A consortium led by Dogpatch Labs has been confirmed as the winner of a €17 million five-year contract to manage startup accelerator programmes at Ireland's NDRC (National Digital Research Centre).
- Bank challenger Revolut has launched a new paid-for “Plus” account, priced at £2.99-a-month, as fintech firms seek new ways to make money during the pandemic.
- Mobility insurance specialist Zego has secured a European broking licence, enabling it push ahead with international expansion post-Brexit.
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