Analysis

June 7, 2019

These were the biggest European tech startup news stories this week

From the growing scooter backlash to mega fintech investments, it was another big week for European startup news. Here's the news you need to know.


Want to keep up to date about European startup news? Want to be in the know about controversies, deals, acquisitions, reports and other interesting tech tidbits from across the continent. Look no further!

Here is all the news about startups in Europe this week, brought to you by our pan-European team of Sifted journalists. If you want the news (and so much more) in your inbox three times a week, sign up to our newsletter here.

Feats of glory

?‍♂️ This Icelandic founder raised $2m, but unusually he did it before hiring a single person or even a prototype product. He just had an idea and a pitch deck.

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? Data from Tech Nation and Dealroom showed that UK tech startups have already broken past their half-year record for VC investment, reaching $4.8bn of funding in just five months.

? One of Richard Branson’s space companies, Virgin Orbit, said it was looking to bring satellite launches to the UK by 2020.

Controversial

? There are twelve scooter companies in Paris at the moment (yes, 12), but there may only be two soon as Paris said it was planning a clamp-down on scooter startups.

? Mark Tluszcz, a partner at VC investors Mangrove Capital Partners, slamed Silicon Valley heavyweights for stealing top European startup talent.

? The Estonian government said it now has an AI which will tell you when to see the doctor, when to exercise and even what job to do.

? China's Huawei signed a deal to develop 5G network in Russia.

⚖️ In a move that could severely hamper the burgeoning legal tech sector, the French government banned the publication of statistical information about judges’ decisions.

Fintech

? The owner of China’s largest social network, Tencent, is one of those pumping $35m into five-year-old UK fintech TrueLayer to expand into Europe.

? PayPal said that it had invested €10m into Swedish fintech Tink.

? Getsafe, the German insurance app which bills itself as a “mobile-first” insurance company, also scored a $17m Series A this week.

? Who are the fintechs reshaping business banking? Find out here.

? Dutch fintech Bunq launched a travel card to make foreign exchange fees disappear. Join the club, Bunq.

? World Remit, the nine-year-old UK fintech which helps migrants send money home, said it had raised $175m. It plans to launch a money transfer service for businesses which trade internationally.

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Big money news

?️ Depop, a social app targeting millennial and Gen Z shoppers, raised $62m in funding and says it has passed 13m users.

?️ Sweden’s Stillfront acquired Canada-based gave developer company Kixeye for $90m.

? Battery Ventures led a $35m series-C funding round for Matillion, a UK-headquartered developer of cloud-based data software.

? The Dutch government announced news it will invest €65m in its startup ecosystem. (Dutch)

? German publishing giant Axel Springer now owns over 25% shares in listed UK proptech Purplebricks after it stumpped up €49m to increase its stake.

?️Sweden’s Stillfront acquires Canada-based gamedev company KIXEYE for $90m.

? The wealthy Swedish Wallenberg family said it was investing another 660m SEK (€66m) into AI — this time for research into AI for societal good and ethical AI. (Swedish)

? Yield Lab, an agtech venture capital and accelerator firm, launched a new €21m investment fund to invest in European startups.

Little money news

? Barcelona-based lifelong learning startup Learnlife raised €3.1.

? German-founded meal-in-a-bottle startup YFood raised €4.2.

? Google has partnered with Startup Wise Guys to support the growing Baltic startup ecosystem.

? Online car rental platform EasyTerra acquired Carrentals.co.uk for an undisclosed sum.