This week in European Tech: 3 new unicorns (in Sweden, Great Britain and Germany); Robinhood buys Ziglu, and Europe’s naivety when it comes to technical sovereignty
This week, the Tech.eu research team tracked down close to 75 financing deals totaling approximately EUR 1.4 billion as well as 10 acquisitions and / or mergers in Europe.
As always, we compile them all for you in a list that will be sent in our summary newsletter next Monday (note: the entire list is only for paying customers and also comes in the form of a practical downloadable spreadsheet).
We have also recently announced a whole bunch of confirmed speakers for our upcoming Tech.eu summit on 17 May in Brussels. Check out more info here and get your tickets now!
From such as EU Commissioner Mariya Gabriel to world record pilot Zara Rutherford, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, (Transfer) Wise co-founder and CEO Kristo Käärmann, unicorn CEOs and builders from Bunq, Veriff, Scandit, GoStudent, Deliverect, Solarisbank, Sorare , Voi and investors from Index Ventures, Molten, Lakestar, Speedinvest, Localglobe, Target Global, eFounders and many more – we can not wait to meet them and you there in person!
Below you will find an overview of the biggest European technical news in recent days (subscribe to our free newsletter to have this summary in your inbox every Monday morning).
—–
>> Remarkable and large funding rounds
Swedish Instabox has raised $ 190 million in a growth share round. The automatic parcel cabinet service will use the new capital to further invest in sustainable solutions, refine its technology stack and move forward with European expansion plans.
After raising EUR 165 million to offer long-term alternative financing options in March, Stockholm-based ArK Kapital has raised a EUR 150 million senior secured loan facility from Pollen Street Capital.
OneFootball, a German-based football media company, has collected 150 million euros at a unicorn valuation.
London-based Pollen, which bills itself as a travel and entertainment technology company, has raised $ 150 million in a Series C funding round. The round was led by existing investor Kindred Capital, with Lansdowne Partners, Northzone, Sienna Capital, Backed and Molton Ventures all following suit.
Distributed HR platform with London roots, Oyster has raised $ 150 million in a Series C funding round.
The Italian investment company Investindustrial has pumped EUR 120 million into the manufacturer of electric hypercars and vehicle components Rimac. Now joining Porsche, Hyundai and Kia at the top table, Investindustrial’s share is intended to fuel Rimac’s transfer.
By democratizing access to anti-fraud technology and making the Internet a safer place for businesses, London-based Anglo-Hungarian startup SEON has raised $ 94 million in funding.
Vienna-based LimeWire, which announced its resurgence as a marketplace for digital collectibles in March, has raised $ 10.4 million in a private sale of its LMWR token led by Kraken Ventures, Arrington Capital and GSR.
—–
>> Remarkable acquisitions, mergers, IPOs and SPAC deals
Nearly two years after abandoning its plans to launch in the UK, Robinhood has announced it has agreed to buy Ziglua London-based fintech app that lets users trade 11 different cryptocurrencies and make international payments.
Visma acquired Declarandobroadens its offering in accounting and tax programs for freelancers in Spain.
Britannia Financial Group, an international financial group headquartered in London, has acquired Alphaplatea proprietary technology company specializing in cryptocurrency trading.
The London-based analysis and e-commerce company Ascential has acquired Berlin-based Sellics, a provider of media services for challenging brands traded on Amazon, for an undisclosed sum.
Finnish digital healthcare company offering solutions for virtual care and online consultations VideoVisit has been acquired by the Dutch software investor Main Capital Partners.
—–
>> Interesting features from investors
K Fund, known as Leadwind, has announced the first closure of its first growth-focused fund of EUR 140 million. To stick to its roots, the vehicle will be focused on supporting startups in southern Europe and LATAM.
Mundi Ventures is opening a fund of EUR 250 million with an initial EUR 120 million close to insurance companies.
With a strong belief that the next generation of major European technology companies will be built on the university campus, an early-stage VC fund that invests in deeptech coming from universities, the Creator Fund has completed a $ 20 million fund.
London’s Atomico aims to be the preferred employer for the industry’s best investors, and in so much this week announced the internal promotion of three members to the partner level.
—–
>> In other (important) news
The EU is ready to unveil a law on Friday that will force Big Tech to police their platforms more aggressively over illegal content.
Google Introduces New Options To reject tracking cookies in Europe after its existing dialogs were found to be in breach of EU data law.
UK-based cryptocurrency startup Blockchain.com interviews banks for an IPO which can happen already this year.
A review by the FCA has found that British challenger banks need to improve how they assess the risk of financial crime, where some fail to satisfactorily control their clients’ income and profession.
France-based The Sandbox, a platform that allows users to trade and monetize virtual assets in the Ethereum blockchain, is considering raising new funds for a valuation of more than $ 4 billion.
Criminal Court in Paris issued a fine of 375,000 euros against Deliveroo for having abused the status of their employees as self-employed.
—–
>> Recommended reading and listening
Scaleway’s CEO Yann Lechelle says Europe must stop being naive when it comes to technical sovereignty.
Sale in technology shares spreads to private startups.
TCV partner in London John Doran shares his thoughts on how the company has been so successful, where they are headed next and the health of the European technological ecosystem.
Finnish start-ups had a good year in 2021 and raised a total of EUR 1.2 billion in investments, most of which came from foreign venture capital companies.
Germany’s industrial heavyweights are merge to retrain workers in areas such as software and logistics to fill a growing skills gap and avoid redundancies among workers of all ages when the economy shifts to clean energy and online shopping.
In a special guest post, Kevin Chen, co-founder and CEO of Hyasynth Bio, a startup for precision fermentation that produces sustainable cannabinoids, and Benjamin Joffe, partner at SOSV argue for European CBD bio-production.
Paris-based BeReal recently emerged as the latest in a series of social photo apps explode in popularity across campuses and among Gen Z.