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Today in European Tech: Wise IPO gets closer, Prosus buys GoodHabitz in €212 million deal, US warns EU over 'Big Tech' policies, and more

Robin Wauters 15 June 2021
Today in European Tech: Wise IPO gets closer, Prosus buys GoodHabitz in €212 million deal, US warns EU over 'Big Tech' policies, and more
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Hello!

Here's what happened today in European Tech.

Deals

- Prosus — the international assets holding arm of South African multinational Naspers, has announced today that it has acquired a majority stake in GoodHabitz – a provider of online training for businesses. The deal was completed for approx €212 million.

- Oslo’s SNÖ Ventures has launched its second fund, targeting $100 million to invest in early-stage Nordic companies. The first closing of the SNÖ Fund II has already been held, with LPs including Peter Thiel, Karl Christian Agerup (co-founder of Northzone), Eilert Hanoa (CEO of Kahoot!) and others.

- UK-based alternative lender ThinCats has secured a £160 million strategic investment from Wafra Capital Partners (WCP).

- Israel-founded, Palo Alto-based professional website builder for digital agencies and SaaS companies, Duda, has raised $50 million in a Series D round led by Claridge IL and existing investors Susquehanna Growth Equity and Vintage Investment Partners.

- Irish e-commerce ordering, shipping, and delivery process optimiser Scurri has raised €9 million in a funding round led by Gresham House Ventures.

- 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

- The US has warned the EU against pursuing “protectionist” technology policies that exclusively target American companies, ahead of Joe Biden’s first presidential visit to Brussels.

- Big Tech is likely to face more privacy enforcements — and more fines — in the European Union, thanks to a major ruling by the union's highest court in a case involving Facebook.

- The fintech giant Wise hopes to press the button within days on a long-awaited public flotation that will cement its status as one of Britain’s most valuable startups of the last decade.

- Over in the UK, the CMA has launched a market study into Apple’s and Google’s mobile ecosystems over concerns they have market power which is harming users and other businesses.

- Klarna's comparison shopping service went live in 21 markets across Europe, offering partner retailers an attractive offer, an increased customer reach, all with ready-to-purchase intent.

- British inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee is selling the original code for the World Wide Web as a non-fungible token (NFT) with a starting bid of $1,000. Digitally-signed source code documents written by the computer scientist three decades ago will go under the hammer next week.

- The growing threat of European tech regulation on US innovation.

- MEPs have called for beefed-up EU security against cyber threats in a resolution on the bloc’s Cyber Security Strategy, known as EUCSS, for the digital decade.

- The Bank of England (BoE) governor Andrew Bailey went to great lengths on Tuesday afternoon to stress that digital currencies will not get a regulatory "free pass" in the future, despite their potential for innovation.

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Today in European Tech: Wise IPO gets closer, Prosus buys GoodHabitz in €212 million deal, US warns EU over 'Big Tech' policies, and more
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