Today in European Tech: SoftBank invests in Norway's AutoStore at $7.7 billion valuation, AXA VP's new growth fund, and more

Today in European Tech: SoftBank invests in Norway's AutoStore at $7.7 billion valuation, AXA VP's new growth fund, and more

Hello!

Here's what happened today in European Tech.

Deals

- Japan’s SoftBank has acquired a 40% minority stake in Norwegian robotics and software firm AutoStore for $2.8 billion. With the purchase, AutoStore now has a $7.7 billion market value.

- Paris-based AXA Venture Partners (AVP) has completed a €250 million first closing of its new AVP Growth Fund II. By year’s end, the final closing is expected to bring in €500 million.

- European private equity fund EMK Capital has acquired Israeli motorcycle Bluetooth communications headset developer Cardo Systems for a reported $150 million.

- Based out of Brighton, MPB is an online reseller platform for used photography and videography equipment. The UK company has raised £49.8 million in funding in a Series D round, led by Vitruvian Partners with participation from current investor Acton Capital.

- Creades has invested about €36 million in Swedish price comparison service Pricerunner for a 12% stake.

- Israeli startup Empathy has raised $13 million in a seed round to launch its app for minimizing burdens after losing a loved one.

- 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 Reading/Knowing

- We dove into our database to capture all the funding deals — as well as IPOs and M&A — that minted new European unicorns in the first three months of 2021. To make things easier, we counted all startups whose valuation surpassed one billion US dollars, euros, or pounds — and found 27 of them!

- Turns out a range of EU institutions including the European Commission were hit by a significant cyber-attack last week.

- Facebook’s acquisition of customer service startup Kustomer may be subjected to European Union antitrust scrutiny after Austria asked EU enforcers to take over the task, the European Commission said today.

- How foreign investors are tapping in to Germany's late-stage VC boom.

- Deliveroo's IPO - Building a European Food Delivery Giant (Part I)

- Israeli fintech company eToro announced the appointment of Dr. Hedva Ber as Deputy CEO and Global Chief Operating Officer.

- The UK government, under pressure from science advocates, has promised an extra €250 million to help pay for the country’s association with Horizon Europe, the EU’s seven-year funding programme for research and innovation.

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