Features/Profiles

This Week in European Tech: Babylon's $4.2 billion SPAC listing, Etsy buys Depop for $1.62 billion, Celonis raises $1 billion, and more

Robin Wauters 04 June 2021
This Week in European Tech: Babylon's $4.2 billion SPAC listing, Etsy buys Depop for $1.62 billion, Celonis raises $1 billion, and more
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Happy Friday!

This week, our research team tracked more than 90 tech funding deals worth more than €4 billion, and about 15 exits, M&A transactions, and 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 round-up newsletter (note: the full list is for paying customers only).

Recently, we also started publishing 'Today in European Tech', a daily round-up 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 round-up 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 round-up in your inbox every Monday morning).

1) Babylon goes SPAC-a-boom

Just when you thought the SPAC had been played out, London-based healthtech company Babylon confirms the rumours and announces its plan to go public via a $4.2 billion merger with Alkuri Global Acquisition Corp.

2) Etsy treats itself to Gen Z fashion marketplace Depop

Seeking to reach a younger audience, e-commerce platform Etsy is planning on acquiring London-based Gen Z fashion marketplace Depop for a cool $1.62 billion. Depop will retain its existing offices and no staffing changes are planned.

3) Celonis bags megaround at decacorn valuation

Munich-based ‘execution management’ software maker Celonis has announced a monster $1 billion Series D round, giving it a post-money valuation north of $11 billion. The round, which was led by new backers Durable Capital Partners and T. Rowe Price Associates, follows a $290 million Series C round announced in November 2019.

4) Naspers spin-off Prosus picks up Stack Overflow

Prosus, one of Europe's most valuable tech companies, has struck a $1.8 billion deal to acquire Stack Overflow, an online community for software developers, in a bet on growing demand for online tech learning.

5) Antitrust investigations for Facebook on the EU level, and in the UK

The EU and the UK opened formal antitrust investigations into Facebook classified-ads service Marketplace, ramping up regulatory scrutiny for the company in Europe. Both the European Commission — the EU’s top antitrust enforcer — and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority said Friday they are investigating whether Facebook repurposes data it gathers from advertisers who buy ads in order to give illegal advantages to its own services.

6) FlixFunding over in Munich

Munich-based mobility scale-up FlixMobility, the group behind FlixBus and FlixTrain, has raised over $650 million in a mix of equity and debt financing, giving the company a valuation of $3 billion.

7) A rare fintech unicorn sighting in Ireland

Planet, a Galway-based fintech company, has secured investment from Advent International, a private equity firm. Existing shareholder Eurazeo has sold a portion of its stake to Advent. The deal, according to Eurazeo, values the Irish payments company at €1.8 billion.

8) Insurtech scale-up Wefox raises $650 million at $3 billion valuation

Berlin-based digital insurance company Wefox has raised $650 million in a Series C round led by Target Global. The record-setting round also saw participation from new investors FinTLV, EDBI, LGT via Lightrock, Partners Group, Jupiter, Decisive Wealth, and Ace & Co.

9) Getir gets busy, scores $550 million in fresh round

Turkish grocery delivery startup Getir has raised $550 million in a new investment round, valuing the company at a whopping $7.5 billion. The Istanbul-based firm raised the fresh cash from the likes of Silver Lake, Mubadala, Sequoia and Tiger Global.

10) Pet insurance company Bought By Many raises many dollars

London-based pet insurance provider Bought By Many has raised $350 million in a Series D round led by EQT Growth. The round also saw the participation of Octopus Ventures and Munich Re Ventures.

Podcast(s):

Telemedicine is here to stay — with Johannes Schildt, CEO of Kry

The world of invisible insurance with Meeri Rebane, INZMO

Bonus link(s):

- The European Commission has announced a partnership with Bill Gates’ sustainable energy funding vehicle with the goal of unlocking new investments for clean tech and sustainable energy projects totalling up to $1 billion over five years (2022-2026).

- Many cryptocurrency firms are not meeting Britain's anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing rules, the country's financial watchdog said today, showing how some parts of the emerging sector are struggling to meet required standards.

- The European Commission announced plans for a digital identity wallet to allow Europeans to access public and private services via their mobile phone as the COVID-19 pandemic underscored the need for user-friendly online services.

- Sometimes, expanding to the US is the smart thing to do: Kaia Health’s transatlantic tale.

- A group of online privacy activists is taking action against hundreds of websites over their use of pop-up banners asking users to consent to “cookies”, the files that track users’ activity.

- Germany announced it will invest €350 million in cybersecurity research in the next five years to boost the country’s digital security and technology sovereignty in the field.

This Week in European Tech: Babylon's $4.2 billion SPAC listing, Etsy buys Depop for $1.62 billion, Celonis raises $1 billion, and more
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