# Startup life

Discover what it's like to build a startup in Europe, with the latest trends covering diversity and inclusion, the future of work, hiring and funding.

‘Companies will have to go the extra mile’: How Europe is future-proofing its hiring strategy
Sifted Talks
June 17, 2026
‘Companies will have to go the extra mile’: How Europe is future-proofing its hiring strategy
As AI continues to reshape hiring and local talent pools dry up, European startups must embrace global hiring to survive the growing tech talent crunch
Sponsored by: WorkMotion
Is this Europe’s most audacious founder?
Pro
Brunch with Sifted
June 17, 2026
Is this Europe’s most audacious founder?
Bertrand Duplat is building tiny robots for the brain, an idea that sounds not only difficult but crazy. Over a long Paris lunch, he talks comic books, punk music and falling in love
Éanna Kelly
Four mistakes not to make as a first-time founder
Opinion
June 17, 2026
Four mistakes not to make as a first-time founder
Don’t be dazzled by job applicants with Google, Meta or McKinsey in their CVs is one tip
Shah Ramezani
Grind culture is a failure of management — but we still turn away 9-5 candidates
Opinion
June 16, 2026
Grind culture is a failure of management — but we still turn away 9-5 candidates
Industrial AI startup Gigaton raised its Series A round, led by Plural, last month
Bob Gregory and Josh Vernon
The 20 fastest-growing Dutch and Belgian startups, based on revenue data
Pro
Leaderboard
June 11, 2026
The 20 fastest-growing Dutch and Belgian startups, based on revenue data
The Netherlands and Belgium account for 20 companies on the Sifted 100: France & Benelux Leaderboard, including the overall winner
Jonathan Sinclair
London's AI talent war heats up as Cursor, Legora and Lovable expand
Pro
Analysis
June 10, 2026
London's AI talent war heats up as Cursor, Legora and Lovable expand
Influx of foreign AI companies poses risks to homegrown startups’ recruitment efforts
Martin Coulter
Startup founders we’d send to win the World Cup
Analysis
June 10, 2026
Startup founders we’d send to win the World Cup
With some big calls and controversial omissions, we pulled together a fantasy football team for European tech
Éanna Kelly, Tom Nugent, Maya Dharampal-Hornby and Martin Coulter
I was fired by a big European tech company. Here’s my advice if it happens to you
Interview
June 10, 2026
I was fired by a big European tech company. Here’s my advice if it happens to you
Rizwan Mahmood used ChatGPT to help build a case after Bolt dismissed him. He was awarded €14,500 by Estonia’s Labour Dispute Committee
Éanna Kelly
Want to announce your funding round? Avoid Tuesdays at all cost
Pro
Sifted data
June 8, 2026
Want to announce your funding round? Avoid Tuesdays at all cost
Analysis of 14k+ European funding announcements shows startups crowd into the middle of the week — making Tuesday the hardest day to stand out
Federico Scolari
The European investors set to win big from Anthropic’s $1tn+ IPO
Pro
Analysis
June 5, 2026
The European investors set to win big from Anthropic’s $1tn+ IPO
Some European investors managed to squeeze into the US AI model maker’s cap table
Anne Sraders
A ‘996’ week would be a quiet one for this spacetech founder
Pro
Interview
June 5, 2026
A ‘996’ week would be a quiet one for this spacetech founder
Julie Böhning has raised the largest seed round of any European spacetech: here’s how she sees the future of space unfolding
Éanna Kelly
Europe is at risk of sleepwalking into AI armageddon
Opinion
June 3, 2026
Europe is at risk of sleepwalking into AI armageddon
The “nice-to-have" startups could get wiped out by rising AI costs
Pär-Jörgen Pärson
How we built our robot dog startup: ‘We took all our VC meetings at Ikea’
Pro
Interview
June 3, 2026
How we built our robot dog startup: ‘We took all our VC meetings at Ikea’
Surwera’s founders on how they got into the startup ecosystem to build its mouthy robot dog.
Mimi Billing
Meet Jonny Clifford: ex-teacher, Entrepreneurs First partner and Matt's 'more fun' brother
Pro
Profile
June 2, 2026
Meet Jonny Clifford: ex-teacher, Entrepreneurs First partner and Matt's 'more fun' brother
Former colleagues and portfolio founders dig into Jonny’s teacherly approach to venture, his unprecedented personality test and a very viral dance video
Maya Dharampal-Hornby
Revolut, Mistral and Wayve back Balderton push to champion European tech
News
June 1, 2026
Revolut, Mistral and Wayve back Balderton push to champion European tech
Built in Europe campaign aims to turn success stories into startup recruitment drive
Martin Coulter
Rewriting the M&A playbook: Inside Visma’s acquisition strategy
Sponsored by
May 29, 2026
Rewriting the M&A playbook: Inside Visma’s acquisition strategy
Rather than absorbing its targets, Visma is acquiring Europe’s early-stage tech startups and giving them the operational freedom to scale independently
Sponsored by: Visma
Stop telling European founders to move to the US
Opinion
May 29, 2026
Stop telling European founders to move to the US
Europe's operating environment has not substantially worsened in the past year, but the narrative has, write Aura Salla and Pauliina Martikainen-Rahnu.
Aura Salla and Pauliina Martikainen-Rahnu
My startup sent me to a deserted island with no running water
Opinion
May 28, 2026
My startup sent me to a deserted island with no running water
How I survived Swedish AI company Sana’s strange ritual for new joiners
Elina Mäkelä
Can AI make us better parents?
Analysis
May 27, 2026
Can AI make us better parents?
The tech is helping me look more on-the-ball at home — but can we trust it?
Éanna Kelly
The hidden cost of unstructured data — and how to fix it
Sponsored by
May 27, 2026
The hidden cost of unstructured data — and how to fix it
Why fixing fragmented data is the crucial first step for SMBs wanting to build a secure and reliable foundation for AI
Sponsored by: Box
Why women in tech need a spotlight more than ever
Opinion
May 27, 2026
Why women in tech need a spotlight more than ever
In an era where DEI has fallen from grace, the 100 Women in Tech list matters
Mimi Billing
10 Oxford spinouts ready to raise Series A
Pro
Spinouts fundraising
May 27, 2026
10 Oxford spinouts ready to raise Series A
Spanning drug discovery, robotics, quantum tech and more — these are the buzziest startups spinning out of Europe's most prolific life sciences university
Oshin Narang
The AI market feels incredibly acquisitive. Should that change how I pick a company?
Opinion
May 26, 2026
The AI market feels incredibly acquisitive. Should that change how I pick a company?
How do you decide which AI startup to join when companies seem to be getting bought every few months by big labs or tech giants?
Zoe Hewitt
European tech's most radical idea? Taking Sunday off
Opinion
May 20, 2026
European tech's most radical idea? Taking Sunday off
A founder's horror at a shuttered coworking space in Spain sparked a rare reflection on grind culture madness
Éanna Kelly

# Startup life

‘Companies will have to go the extra mile’: How Europe is future-proofing its hiring strategy

Is this Europe’s most audacious founder?

Four mistakes not to make as a first-time founder

Grind culture is a failure of management — but we still turn away 9-5 candidates

The 20 fastest-growing Dutch and Belgian startups, based on revenue data

London's AI talent war heats up as Cursor, Legora and Lovable expand

Startup founders we’d send to win the World Cup

I was fired by a big European tech company. Here’s my advice if it happens to you

Want to announce your funding round? Avoid Tuesdays at all cost

The European investors set to win big from Anthropic’s $1tn+ IPO

A ‘996’ week would be a quiet one for this spacetech founder

Europe is at risk of sleepwalking into AI armageddon

How we built our robot dog startup: ‘We took all our VC meetings at Ikea’

Meet Jonny Clifford: ex-teacher, Entrepreneurs First partner and Matt's 'more fun' brother

Revolut, Mistral and Wayve back Balderton push to champion European tech

Rewriting the M&A playbook: Inside Visma’s acquisition strategy

Stop telling European founders to move to the US

My startup sent me to a deserted island with no running water

Can AI make us better parents?

The hidden cost of unstructured data — and how to fix it

Why women in tech need a spotlight more than ever

10 Oxford spinouts ready to raise Series A

The AI market feels incredibly acquisitive. Should that change how I pick a company?

European tech's most radical idea? Taking Sunday off