Hello!
Here's what happened today in European Tech.
Deals
- Hedosophia European Growth, a blank-check company launched by UK fund manager Hedosophia, has raised €400 million in its Amsterdam listing. The Financial Times reported earlier that the SPAC plans to target European tech companies worth up to €5 billion.
- SoftBank, the technology dealmaker founded by billionaire Masayoshi Son, is considering listing a $300 million SPAC in Europe.
- Switzerland's Chronext is preparing an IPO that could value the online marketplace for new and pre-owned luxury watches at up to €1 billion euros.
- A London company has launched a quantum cybersecurity platform and plans to create 2,000 hi-tech jobs. Arqit, established in 2017, has exited stealth mode and is to list in New York via a merger with a SPAC which values it at £1 billion.
- Ankorstore, an online wholesale marketplace from France, has raised €82.4 million in a Series B funding round.
- StepStone, the Germany-based online job marketplace, has acquired San Francisco-based conversational AI technology startup Mya.
- Munich’s smart home climate startup Tado has raised €38 million from Hamburg-based proptech firm noventic and undisclosed existing investors.
- UK-based banking-as-a-Service fintech startup Omnio has raised €30 million in pre-IPO convertible bonds in a round led by GrayBella Capital.
- Stockholm-based live video shopping platform Bambuser has acquired cross-town influencer marketing agency Relatable for approximately $24 million.
- 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
- ‘Better done than perfect’: Berlin-based micro-mobility scale-up TIER opens up about its expansion journey.
- Europe has been slow to catch on to the boom in SPACs, but signs of oversaturation in the US suggest the continent's turn is coming.
- Axel Springer and Facebook have agreed on a joint global cooperation aimed mainly at distribution. Content produced by Axel Springer is to be increasingly distributed in various Facebook offerings, including “Facebook News”.
- Some of France's most sensitive state and corporate data can be safely stored using the cloud computing technology developed by Google and Microsoft, if it is licensed to French companies, the government said.
- Transport for London and London Councils have announced Dott, Lime and Tier Mobility as the winners of its prized e-scooter pilot.
- "One Year at Hopin, the Fastest Growing Startup in Europe"
- Volocopter, the German urban air mobility startup, has unveiled its newest aircraft, VoloConnect. This electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL) is "designed to connect suburbs to cities and complements the company’s existing family of aircraft for the intra-city mission".
- Dutch automaker Stellantis will announce a 'strategic partnership' with iPhone assembler Foxconn tomorrow.
- Interest from US VCs in European tech companies has accelerated over the past two years, reaching an all time high last month.
Today's Top Tweets
Ian Osborne spent his career working behind the scenes for powerful people. Now the mysterious Brit is front and center thanks to SPAC mania. My latest profile on Osborne's curious ascent from teenage theatre producer to lord of high finance and tech:https://t.co/58DB8ltglC
— Becky Peterson (@beckpeterson) May 16, 2021
After spending two wonderful years at Silver Lake, I'm happy to share that I'm joining @Sequoia as a Partner. I’m incredibly excited to work with the team to support exceptional founders across Europe, in their journey to building legendary companies from the ground up.
— Anas Biad (@biad_anas) May 17, 2021
‘Better done than perfect’: Micro-mobility scale-up TIER (@tierscooters) opens up about its bumpy expansion ride so far.
TIER VP of Expansion Philipp Haas shares insights and tips for our new #CrossingBorders series (work in progress):
>> https://t.co/jwqO5QKRyx by @JillPetz pic.twitter.com/Y5hXypC0WL— Tech.eu (@tech_eu) May 17, 2021
How did @Adyen take on the US market?
@Janatindex interviewed Pieter, CEO and co-founder of @Adyen for our #DestinationUSA podcast.
Listen here: https://t.co/HAkGcn5aKP
Thread pic.twitter.com/r5ZY47wfvW— Index Ventures (@IndexVentures) May 17, 2021
After 3 years of chasing, I profiled Improbable CEO Herman Narula for the Sunday Telegraph. We talked through his vision for video games, defence contracting and Improbable's relations with game developers https://t.co/BM2HA7umrJ
— James Cook (@JamesLiamCook) May 16, 2021
MUST READ :) We got a chance to catch-up with @BenchmarkCap's @peterfenton on investing in French startups (portfolio includes @zenlyapp @sorarehq) https://t.co/nPVJU1x3J7
— Roxanne Varza (@roxannevarza) May 17, 2021
Great piece. “too greedy” universities are “trying to skim as much as they can out of the system”- and that's probably why of Europe's 116 VC-backed unicorns, only 4 are university spin-outs... https://t.co/gxeH2XlkFX
— Harry Briggs (@H4ryB) May 17, 2021
Congratulations to the team at @Ankorstore on their $100m Series B fundraise.
This raise allows them to continue on their mission of reinventing independent retail across Europe.
And they're hiring..! https://t.co/5jcyGIi83T— Index Ventures (@IndexVentures) May 17, 2021
We've gathered some of Europe's most interesting founders to talk challenges of scaling a business in hard times.
Don't miss @delingpole @saarsten, Paula Quazi @smolrevolution & @jpwiseuk at #Scaleupweek tomorrow at 11.30 AM UK
Register https://t.co/Bv1pLWSmpC pic.twitter.com/Ycf73GuvRN— Balderton Capital (@balderton) May 17, 2021
Join @cee and I tomorrow to discuss Europe's golden era for tech, talent and VC!
Tuesday May 18th 1pm GMT
Moderated by @GregWilliams718 https://t.co/sl36y4c3Ra
With @itsjamescramer @taralouisereddy @iamsancar @AkashBajwa96 @EuropeanTechClub— Mattias Ljungman (@Ljungman) May 17, 2021
"...the Huma platform combines a proprietary predictive algorithm, biomarkers, and real-world data to effectively double clinical capacity, and reduce hospital readmission rates by one-third."@StanfordHAI @AI_TechNews @Deep__AI #AI #MachineLearninghttps://t.co/bHf6TFy3Oa
— Julian Winn (@Winn_on_Health) May 14, 2021
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