This Week in European Tech: Uber loses UK court case, Cazoo plans SPAC IPO, €200 million new Digital East Fund, and more

This Week in European Tech: Uber loses UK court case, Cazoo plans SPAC IPO,  €200 million new Digital East Fund, and more

Happy Friday!

This week, our research team tracked over 60 tech funding deals worth more than €950 million, and about 30 M&A transactions, rumours, and related news stories across Europe, including Russia, Israel, and Turkey.

As always, we are putting all of them together for you in a handy list sent in our roundup newsletter (note: the full list is for paying customers only).

Recently, we also started publishing 'Today in European Tech', a daily roundup of deals and news stories that caught our attention. Keeping you updated on all things EU tech is our priority!

Today, instead of a daily roundup we give you an overview of the 10 biggest European tech news items for the past week (subscribe to our free newsletter to get this roundup in your inbox every Monday morning).

1) Uber's UK drivers are workers after all

Uber lost a crucial legal fight in the UK, as the country’s Supreme Court upheld a ruling that its drivers should be classified as workers rather than independent contractors.

2) Sinch's largest acquisition so far

SoftBank-backed Swedish cloud communications company Sinch, has agreed to acquire Inteliquent, a large voice communications provider in the United States, for a total cash consideration of $1.14 billion.

3) Cazoo eyes £5 billion public listing via SPAC

UK-based online retailer Cazoo has been reported to be looking for a SPAC that'd take it public in the US, at an alleged valuation of “well over £5 billion.” It's working with Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, and Numis to accelerate the process.

4) Crowdstrike pays $400 million for Humio

Danish-British log management software company Humio has been acquired by cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike for a total of around $400 million.

5) Low-code startup OutSystems lands $150 million

Portugal-born OutSystems, a low-code app development service provider, has closed $150 million in new capital at a $9.5 billion valuation in a round led by Abdiel Capital and Tiger Global.

6) Here comes the SPAC

The SPAC craze has officially arrived in Europe. European tech investor Klaus Hommels on Wednesday launched a blank-check firm aimed at snapping up a late-stage tech company in the region. Hommels, the founder of venture capital firm Lakestar, is looking to fetch up to €275 million for his SPAC.

7) Deliveroo goes public in 3… 2… 1…

UK food delivery scale-up Deliveroo is poised to fire a formal starting gun on a blockbuster stock market flotation before 8 March, making it the first in a string of British tech "unicorns" to go public in 2021.

8) €200 million in venture capital for “emerging Europe”

Earlybird Digital East Fund — a fund associated with Germany’s Earlybird VC, but operating separately — has launched a €200 million successor fund.

9) Credit facility for Germany's GetYourGuide

GetYourGuide, the Berlin startup that curates, organises and lets travellers and others book tours and other experiences, has secured a revolving credit facility of €80 million, led by UniCredit.

10) Epic looks for EU antitrust support in its fight against Apple

Fortnite creator Epic Games has taken its fight against Apple to European Union antitrust regulators, escalating its dispute with the iPhone maker over its App Store payment system and control over app downloads.

Podcast:

tech.eu Podcast #207: Opera’s fintech push unpacked, Deliveroo loses in Dutch court, Sinch’s biggest acquisition, Lakestar SPAC, and more

Bonus link:

Always be learning: The key take-aways from our event on the State of European Fintech

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