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Today in European Tech: Permira buys 10.2% of Adevinta for €1.9 billion, YuLife and Railsbank raise $70 million, and more

Robin Wauters 14 July 2021
Today in European Tech: Permira buys 10.2% of Adevinta for €1.9 billion, YuLife and Railsbank raise $70 million, and more
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Hello!

Here's what happened today in European Tech.

Deals

- Private equity powerhouse Permira has announced a strategic investment in Norway-listed online classifieds juggernaut Adevinta, buying approximately 125 million shares in the company from eBay – equal to a 10.2% stake – for a total price of €1.9 billion.

- Israeli cybersecurity company Cybereason has raised $275 million in a financing round led by Steve Mnuchin's new fund Liberty Strategic Capital.

- Shares of UK-based non-bank mortgage lender LendInvest rose as much as 10% in early trading on Wednesday as the company started trading on the London Stock Exchanges Junior AIM, implying a market capitalisation of £281.7 million.

- The business of life insurance isn’t exactly the most pleasant. It’s an industry based on providing a financial payout to loved ones upon your death. But what if instead of focusing on the end of days, a life insurance provider looked at, and encouraged, living better? That’s exactly what London’s YuLife is doing, and has raised $70 million, with the ambition of developing new products, expanding its UK presence, and making inroads into new global markets.

- London fintech scale-up Railsbank has raised $70 million in a recent funding round as it further expands services across the European, Asia Pacific, and North American markets.

- London-based VC firm Untitled Ventures has raised €100 million for its second fund, which will focus on deep tech startups that are founded in eastern Europe and have the desire to relocate or have already established an HQ in western Europe or the US.

- Vienna/Munich-based workplace collaboration tool platform Meister (a.k.a. MeisterLabs) has raised $52 million in a growth financing round.

- Stockholm-based VR games studio Resolution Games has raised $25 million in a Series C funding round. The influx of capital is slated to accelerate growth and scale ahead of projected market growth. Resolution Games has raised a total of $38.5 million to date.

- Russian insurtech startup BestDoctor has closed a $26 million Series B round from Winter Capital Partners, alongside Swedish investor VNV Global and UNIQA Ventures, the corporate VC backed by UNIQA Insurance group.

- French startup Wecasa, which has been building a marketplace for home care and wellness, has raised a $17.7 million funding round. Blisce is leading the funding round with existing investors Serena, ISAI and Frédéric Mazzella also participating.

- 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 head of the German competition watchdog has criticised EU draft tech regulations, saying they are too “narrow” and risk failing to catch future anti-competitive behaviours from companies such as Google and Facebook.

- Israeli tech is showing no signs of slowing down, displaying a sharp upsurge in capital raising in the second quarter of 2021, according to data published by the IVC Research Center and the law firm Meitar.

- A profile of Spotify's chief legal officer Horacio Gutierrez, who leads its campaign against Apple in the US and EU, painting Apple as an abusive monopolist.

- Insurtech in Europe - H1 2021 in review: €1.7 billion was invested across 52 deals, more than 2019 and 2020 combined.

- The European Central Bank announced that it’s starting work toward creating a digital euro currency as more consumers ditch cash.

- Tech.eu Podcast: Programming tools for teenage girls — with Dora Palfi, imagiLabs.

- Opinion: As part of the ongoing development of EU research and innovation policy, it is now time to start the debate and support concrete actions to protect academic freedom in Europe.

- Project A Ventures, the early-stage VC firm headquartered in Berlin that has backed the likes of WorldRemit, Sennder, KRY and Voi, says it has brought its “Operational VC” model to the UK by opening its first international office in London.

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Today in European Tech: Permira buys 10.2% of Adevinta for €1.9 billion, YuLife and Railsbank raise $70 million, and more
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