Tech.eu

We caught up with Mathias Wikström, CEO of Sweden's Doconomy, to learn more about its platform to measure climate and social impact in the financial services industry.The Stockholm-based scale-up, which recently acquired fellow Swedish financial wellbeing fintech Dreams Technology for an undisclosed sum, last raised funding back in September 2021.We asked Wikström what's been up with the business since, if fresh financing will (need) to be raised, and learned more about how the company helps banks, brands, and consumers better understand and reduce their environmental impact.You can watch the video on YouTube here.

On this Drive at Five editione speziale the omnipresent community builder/angel investor/and now Solo GP, Sarah Drinkwater sits in to discuss her newly announced fund, Common Magic.Tune in, turn it up, and start taking notes, because this week we're talking:- What is a Solo GP fund?- Angel speed, less structure, more access.- Nightclub term sheets.- Traditions to keep, traditions to change.- Sarah has raised one-third of a targeted £10 million.- Investing in 30 to 35 startups in Europe and the US at the pre-seed and seed stage.- "Hey kid, here's a hundred bucks, don't spend it all in one place."- "Products with community at their core." What does that mean?- Sarah's first job? You do not want to miss the answer.- Flexing the Google- 2014 - 2018 London. Good times.- SuperVenture: 40 people at a meeting, 38 in ironed white or blue shirts.- Temperature check: what is the funding landscape like at the minute?- What are LPs looking for right now?- Who do you see as people, "who are underestimated and underrepresented in their field"?- Grit!- An eye infection, pitching for 50 hours a week, and nobody says yes.- Pitfalls founders should be aware of when setting out on community building.- Nick breathes community. But only if they smell good.- A thesis, an ah-ha moment, and a "but isn't this obvious?"- Great club nights.- "I'm always nervous about trends because trends imply impermanence."- Building community is hard. Community builders are busy.

With the team finally recovered from anything and everything that was the Tech.eu Summit, we're back guns a-blazin'.This week we're talkin':- Sex tech - it's not what people think it is.- Quinky is a company that's developing an app providing sex education through gamification for Gen-Z’s- "We are after all the IP branch of the oldest industry in the world – Sex’ and ‘Social permission and the confidence to ask for what they want in the bedroom because that transcends to the boardroom" - Dominique Karetsos, CEO of the Healthy Pleasure Group.- Elaine Burke in the Business Post Connected goes into detail about different areas of sex tech.- British digital bank Monzo has hit profitability for the first time.- Klarna, the Swedish buy now, pay later company, also recently unveiled that it has halved its net loss in the first quarter.- Revolut is definitely not profitable yet, but it has announced reaching over 30 million retail customers making 400 million transactions a month.- Taxfix has laid off 20% of its staff — 120 employees — as part of wider restructuring of the business aimed at cutting costs.- Vitamin has folded.- John Reynolds knows fintech.- Creative equity is the new investment.- Today global travel experiences platform and marketplace GetYourGuide, announced the closing of $194 million in equity and credit financing.- NVIDIA was and then they weren't, but either way, the keynote was hot shiz.- AI made the cover of TIME Magazine.- More letters about AI. Probably lost in the post.- OpenAI is handing out cold hard cash.- Italy bans, unbans, and now establishes a state-backed fund to support AI startups.- Japan says copyright, schmopyright when it comes to training AI.- Your honour, ChatGPT has no further questions.- Spanish startup Jeff never closed a €90 million round, hasn’t paid employees for nine months, and is now filing for bankruptcy. All this and a whole lot more in this week's Drive at Five! If you've enjoyed this show, be sure to like, subscribe, tell your friends, tell your enemies, hell, tell your dog too.

Niknam set up bunq in 2012, inspired to reinvent banking in the wake of the financial crisis. Today, bunq is one of the most well-known challenger banks across Europe, with millions of users across the Netherlands, Germany, France, and other European contrives.Next up, it is launching in the US market, a tough nut to crack where other European fintechs have struggled.In this podcast, Niknam, a serial entrepreneur who set up his first company when he was just 16, offers his insight into some of the latest fintech news stories.This includes revealing his dealings with fintech regulators in light of strained relations between rival neobank Revolut and UK regulators.“Maybe Revolut’s relationship with the regulators is good and this is just a way for Nik [Storonsky] to get free publicity,” Niknam says.He also offers a damning view of the current commercial potential of crypto and blockchain applications.Talking about bunq, Niknam reveals the challenger bank is on course to make a full-year profit for the first time, as challenger banks across Europe face increased pressure to swing into the black.He also shines a light on bunq’s plans to launch in the US, and how it might be bolstered by a new funding round.On the European challenger bank market, he tells us why he thinks bunq’s subscription model will win out against free-of-charge rivals.“Any business that wants to survive needs to be profitable,” he says, in a dig at rivals who have amassed millions of customers but remain unprofitable.Finally, Niknam addresses criticism about his management style, saying those employees who criticise him didn’t meet the grade.On disgruntled ex-bunq employees “venting” online, he says, “We always find it a bit sad that people don’t discuss it internally” but “it’s a free country”.

Alright meow, listen up, because we've got a whole lotta content to recap and a whole lotta people to thank. If you missed us in Brussels earlier this week, you missed a day full of networking, great talks, and a party that saw music selections by our very own resident DJ, Mr. Robin Wauters. Meow, to those of you who've already asked - we haven't set the date for next year, but if I know my bosses, they'll be kicking off some superwickedcrazy early bird ticket sales sometime soon. Stay tuned.Up this week:- Cate goes nuclear. With Heike Freund, Chief Operating Officer, Marvel Fusion and Mathieu de Lophem Partner, Nuketech.- Manna Drones' Bobby Healy reveals the company's most delivered item, and we ponder how another type of product delivery might work.- Meatable has developed the ability to create high-quality cultivated meat in only eight days.- Google co-founder Sergey Brin orders up a $330,000 burger.- Wall-e isn't what you think it is. Or is it?- Spacetech and sustainability DO go together. Quite well in fact.- Quantum computing: The magic number is 300.- Flink has reportedly raised at least €150 million as takeover talks with Getir remain fruitless.- Fake news about the Pentagon.- NVIDIA is set to join the trillion-dollar club.- Microsoft marches on with AI offerings. Are we looking at Clippy 6.0?- OpenAI and governance. 'Nuff said.- Adobe introduces generative AI in photoshop, Dan puts it to the test.- Fiona sat down with Caroline Farberger, Nora Beavy, and Merike Gehrts at our Summit to discuss diversity.- and Robin's anxious to watch videos!All this, and a whole lot more on this week's Drive at Five!

It's all happening man! The Tech.eu Summit is coming up next week, and on a personal note, I can't wait to see and meet and have a beer with each and every one of you. No seriously, buy me a drink, I'll show you.It's been a crazy week and the editorial team is in fine spirits, give a listen to this one folks!Up this week:- Cate throws us a bone and fills us in on what's waggin' in the world of pet tech- BASF business incubator Chemovator has opened its door to startups outside of the company- We stand in solidarity with CNET journalists- The Titanic: Full-sized scans reveal the wreck as never seen before- Regulators say no no no to Revolut's bid for a full on banking license- Seedcamp hauls home $180 million- Fake Tan meets Fake Article. Irish Times got played and Fiona fell for it too- Evie Ring by Movano announced its launch date for September - Elkstone has closed its €100 million early-stage venture fund- The EU Artificial Intelligence Act- Sam Altman at Congress- Zoom + Anthropic- Buzzfeed- The Creator- The Death of a TranslatorAll this and waaaaaay more on this week's Drive at Five.

Should anyone tell you that preparing for an event is a piece of cake, run. Run far and fast. In case you don't know what I'm alluding to, it's crunch time here at Tech.eu as we gear up for our annual Summit in just 12 days' time. We've got an incredible roster of speakers lined up, and I personally can't wait to geek out on the quantum computers and space tech panels I'll be hosting.But the news cycle is a never-ending beast and it's been a busy week. Let's get you up to speed:01:49 - Paris-based EV charging infrastructure builder Driveco has raised €250 million in a new funding round.02:10 - Jolt Energy announced a €150 million investment from InfraRed Capital Partners to bring its ultra-fast charging stations to urban areas across Europe and the US.02:24 - A few weeks ago, Helsinki-based electric vehicle charging platform Virta also raised €85 million in a new funding round.02:41 - Shell struck a deal to acquire the evpass EV charging network in Switzerland.02:55 - Tesla drops prices in Spain as it goes head-to-head with Wallbox.03:23 - The E-20 highway.04:32 - What is the ultimate charging tune?05:00 - "In Norway, the Electric Vehicle Future Has Already Arrived"06:07 - Where was the first electric vehicle made? Dan thought it was Dr. Porsche in Vienna, but Nick knows the real deal.07:11 - Fiona weighs in on the Baltics and promotes Robin's appearance on The Pursuit of Scrappiness podcast.08:12 - The Scaling of Ecosystems panel with ARC CEO Stuart Grant, Maria 01 CEO Ville Simola, and BeCentral Co-founder and MD Laurent Hublet.10:30 - In contrast to Robin admitting that he doesn't make predictions on Episode 8 of Selected - The Sesamers podcast, Cate is going out on a limb and predicting ...11:03 - Green software to be the next big thing.11:25 - The ICT sector is responsible for up to 3.9% of global emissions — almost as much as the airline and shipping industries.12:20 - Cate spoke with Dr. Huamin Chen, a Senior Principal Software Engineer and Sustainability Technical team lead at the Red Hat about project Kepler.15:31 - Doing more with less.16:44 - Aiiii Carumba!17:32 - IBM goes BIG on AI.18:02 - Hugging Face, the darling of open-sourcing everything AI launches transformers agent.19:39 - Google I/O. Ohhhhhh.22:08 - Humane is starting to creep out into the world.22:59 - Everseen is using AI to help companies keep tabs on inventory. And announced a €65 million raise this week.24:22 - 23-year-old Snapchat influencer Caryn Marjorie used OpenAI’s technology to create an A.I. version of herself that will be your girlfriend for $1 per minute. Caryn. CAAAAARRRRRYYYN!25:41 - RewindAI turns the tables on investors and comes out winning big.26:44 - The EU's new rules and regs on AI - we're going deep next week. Promise.27:30 - Wingcopter announced the raise of €40 million this week alongside a pilot project that will see the drone maker flying high above German skies and delivering groceries to remote locales. Now, if Getir gets Flink and essentially creates a monopoly in the groceries-to-your-door space, do they have aspirations much bigger than just snacks? I can think of a certain book distributor that certainly went down that path.31:25 - All good things must come to an end, and so it is with Pirate Summit.All this and a whole lot more on this week's Drive at Five!

Aaaaaand we're back! Due in part to the Tech.eu editorial staff being here there and everywhere last week, the Drive at Five took a breather, but to make up for the absence Nick Stevens sits in to provide a comprehensive rundown of what went down in the world of AI this week and what the implications are.But that's not all:02:21 - Sky News reports that European e-scooter giant Tier Mobility is working with bankers at Qatalyst Partners to explore their options for a potential merger with or an outright sale of the company to one of its rivals.05:25 - The Tech.eu Summit is happening on the 24th of May in Brussels. The agenda and full speaker lineup are now live!06:17 - Ahead of the Summit, Fiona interviewed Caroline Farberger where she revealed, "I genuinely thought that the playing field was even when I lived as a man, but I only had to live as a woman for a few months to realise how wrong I had been, how little I understood."07:39 - Fiona also spoke to Tech.eu Summit edtech panelists Svenia Busson, co-founder of the European Edtech Alliance, and Manna drone delivery CEO Bobby Healy about bridging the divide between the education system and real-world employment.11:28 - AI. What a week. Nick breaks down how the employment of AI is affecting the employment of humans, most notably at Chegg, Shopify, and IBM.14:37 - The Guardian reported that a UK competition watchdog launches review of AI market.14:45 - The White House announced new actions to promote responsible AI innovation that protects Americans’ rights and safety.15:07 - The godfather of AI, Dr. Geoffrey Hinton left Google to speak out about the dangers of AI. 16:03 - A leaked document indicates that open source AI will outcompete both Google and OpenAI.19:11 - Istanbul-based Getir, who most recently raised approximately $500 million, is in talks to acquire German competitor Flink. 22:12 - At risk of a Nasdaq delisting, Lilium says it needs to raise $250 million, Tencent puts up $100 million at first close and offers more, but with a caveat.All this and more on this week's Drive at Five!

Hey, you did it! You made it through another week, but did you catch all the European tech news that's fit to print? If the answer is no, well you've come to the right spot. Now kick off those shoes, grab an icy (or steaming) beverage of your choice, and let us get you up to speed on everything that went down.Note: Please take care when removing said shoes, as it's generally frowned upon at the pub, in the tube, and can be a safety hazard whilst driving.Up this week:01:08 - 4/20, a day that will live in infamy, the day the blue tick died.02:26 - Robin discusses haircuts, specifically valuation haircuts.02:41 - Getir's raised a bunch of cash again, but has seen its valuation nearly halved to $6.5 billion.04:07 - Things aren't looking so good for Berlin-based fintech N26 and its valuation has been decreased to around $3 billion, down from a high of $9 billion.04:57 - CulturePulse raised "just shy of $1 million" in a seed funding round and is possibly de-spamming the spam?07:49 - RebelTech raised €1.5 million to help clean up the tech refurbishing process. And they're using frickin' laser beams!09:29 - Rovio. Angry Birds no more after a €706 million acquisition by Sega?12:42 - French EV maker Kate wants to get a brand new ride in your hands at a starting cost of €15,000.16:22 - John Reynolds is back with a comprehensive look at the European BNPL industry, highlighting the players worth knowing, their positioning, the rise of B2B BNPL, regulation, and much more.16:59 - Lawmakers in the European Parliament this week approved a package of rules aimed at regulating the cryptocurrency industry, aka MiCA.All this, and a whole lot more on this week's edition of the Drive at Five.

It’s not every day that we hear of a new automotive startup. Automotive accessories, parts, innovations, sure, but a full-blown tyres-to-top, bumper-to-bumper creation? Not so much.But in less than three months since announcing the acquisition of another French EV specialist, one that’s built upon the legacy of the Mini Moke, a lesser-known cousin to the iconic British Motor Corporation builds, the Mini, Kei-car inspired auto builder Kate announces today that it’s secured €7 million in a seed funding round.In an interview with Kate CEO and co-founder Matthias Goldenberg, he revealed that the €7 million will be used to accelerate R&D activities around the company’s upcoming K1 vehicle, as well as begging the development of the assembly line process.With every automaker under the sun making their own play in the hybrid and/or all-electric four-wheeled mode of transportation sector, does the world really need another player? According to Goldenberg, most certainly yes.“We have a lot of electric cars on the roads already, but the new thing is to reduce the size of the car. When you see the figures of usage of cars, you see that 98% of journeys are under 80 kilometres. And this generates 11% of CO2 emissions,” explained Goldenberg. “Right now, the car is becoming less efficient, more expensive, larger, heavier. That’s crazy.”And while in 2021, SUV sales accounted for 48% of the passenger car market in China, Goldenberg is betting the future of Kate on the shift from a bigger is better mentality will occur through necessity.“This shift will occur because of the price of the car. Today, if we would like an electric car, it’s €40,000 or €50,000. It’s very expensive and it's just impossible for all people to buy this.”Kate’s coup de grâce lies in the fact that its four-person, four-wheeled, 450kg people mover will debut at a price of just €15,000. To put that into perspective, adjusted for inflation, one of the most iconic people carriers of all time, the VW Beetle would cost in today’s EUR, €14,664, weigh 200kg more than Kate’s K1 and be powered by dead dinosaurs that have to be extracted from the ground and produce CO2 emissions whilst in use.The company is now taking orders for its Original model, a completely revamped version of the NoSmoke, a model which while offering owners the same ear-to-ear smile the vehicle has been capable of since 1959, Goldenberg admits that the vehicle is functioning as a testbed, or MVP, for the under-development flagship model the K1. Alongside real-world R&D testing and research within the Original, sales of the company’s first offer are also being used to partially fund the continued development of the K1.All in all, Goldenberg and Co. remain incredibly optimistic about what they’re working on, “With its modern design and exceptional performance, the K1 is destined to become one of the most iconic cars of our time.” And if the Beetle drew the map, the K1 appears to already be plotting its course.During our podcast/audio interview, I received a personal invitation to travel to Paris for the unveiling (and potentially a head-to-head race with the co-founders) and will report back in the coming month as to whether Kate’s K1 really is made of The Right Stuff.

Live and direct from the Tech.eu newsroom, it's been a short week, but topics abound.This week we're talkin':00:57 - Spotted Zebra raised a seed round of $1.8 million for its workforce platform. Fiona sees this as great news for the skills gap sector, as the 'zebras are 'powering the shift to skill-based organisations’.01:24 - Lithuania’s SME Finance added another €100 million to its pot thanks to London-based Fasanara Capital.01:45 - Czech Republic has a new investment fund for AI start-ups. (AISI) AI Start-up Incubator is aiming to raise €20 million to support early-stage AI-driven companies.02:03 - CampX by Volvo Group announced that they will also be adding a focus on fintech innovations going forward to ‘better support their customers with productivity and sustainable solutions’. 03:10 - OpenAI’s ChatGPT is entering a world of regulatory pain in Europe.03:20 - Would you like to see the video version of these podcasts? Hit us up on the Tweeters and let us know.06:16 - Who's enforcing this? Is this like a Sicilian task force?08:00 - The horse has already bolted.08:24 - Remember EyeEm? Well, it looks like they're now ByeEm. Here's the story. 😞08:45 - Robin sold a photo. 10:39 - Lifetime earnings: $4.28.15:45 - Cate brings us death tech. Again. I'm starting to sense an obsession. 20:27 - Do they have to be dead?20:44 - I want to be smoked after I'm dead.22:37 - Robin's one more thing: Raspberry Pi has received fresh investment from Sony’s semiconductor unit.24:24 - Could it get me a beer?All this and a whole lot more on this week's Drive at Five!

Up this week:01:10 - Tech startup tackles Ireland's housing crisis by connecting buyers with vacant properties.08:27 - Quantexa raises a $129 million round at a $1.8 billion valuation.09:37 - Acorns has acquired GoHenry.11:49 - Parisians have voted to ban rental electric scooters in their city.12:32 - Fitfck, the dating app for ‘fit as’ singles, launches with an OnlyFans connection.15:53 - Hyperjob raises €435k to bring marketing tactics to the recruitment process.17:14 - Electric boat maker X Shore sees bow lift after €26.6 million raise.18:08 - Electric motorcycle producer STILRIDE pulls back the curtain on final design, reveals price.All this and a whole lot more!

As to be expected, lots of wheeling and dealing this week with a news cycle that was ringing off the hook. To put it mildly, if we discussed everything that happened this week, this show would run well into the wee hours of the morning.Up this week:01:10 - No Label Ventures - the new VC Firm for immigrant founders02:55 - Ireland has a new sustainability accelerator programme and everyone's invited06:25 - Norway’s 1X raised $23.5 million in OpenAi-led round, and is working its robots into the security sector. What could possibly go wrong?10:11 - Tech Nation is in talks with Founders Forum Group. Yay!12:35 - Isar Aerospace closed a €155 million round, while Virgin Orbit called it a day and is shuttering its doors effective immediately.15:00 - The European Champions Alliance is helping scaleups maintain and foster innovation in Europe. Suhweeet!18:38 - There's another event that's also helping scaleups maintain and foster innovation in Europe. Hint: May 24, Brussels.19:36 - Fiona's one more thing. That she forgot. No Lable Ventures helps folks with visas.20:28 - Robin's one more thing. By Dan. Sweden's Zound Industries turned the partnership up to 11 and acquired Marshall.All this and a whole lot more on this week's episode of the Drive at Five.

Well alright, alright, alright. Spring has sprung and what would a week without a little controversy be? This week we're looking at Hedonova and Carbonomy, or not, the JET and some not-so-nice labour actions, ridiculous funding round names, SerenityNow, DeepDrive's neck breaker of a new EV drivetrain, and Ferrari getting h4x0r3d, again. And one more thing: a Neobanks Report to end all neobanks reports.Keen listeners will recognise that we've taken a staple of the show and moved it from the very end to the very beginning. Because lulz.Up this week:00:50 - Shady actors called Carbonomy and a questionable-at-best hedge fund named Hedonova.06:16 - Tech.eu has invited Hedonova to join us for a rebuttal in a video interview format.08:11 - Just Eat Takeway, the sage continues as it said on Tuesday it will reorganise in Britain, ending an employment model called Scoober by which it employs its own couriers. 08:43 - SCOOBER!12:39 - HeavyFinance raised €3 million in a seed round aimed at fuelling expansion efforts.12:48 - Social fitness app GoJoe bags a sports star and £1.2 million in its Seed round.13:26 - emma raised $6 million in Seed funding to hire engineers for no-code platform.13:45 - Finland’s MVision AI raised €5.4 million for an AI-powered Cancer treatment planning platform.14:07 - Fiona gets creative with funding round nomenclature.15:32 - After seven years bootstrapped, IntegrityNext takes on €100 million via EQT Growth. 15:49 - Serenity NOW!17:47 - Lieferkettensorgfalts­pflichtengesetz.18:55 - i Ventures. iPod? iPad? iPhone? i Series cars ... lightbulb moment.19:16 - BMW i Ventures shifts €15 million DeepDrive’s way.20:10 - Italia’s pride tarnished as the Prancing Horse of Ferrari falls prey to ransomware.22:05 - Winningest. It is a word.22:46 - One more thing: A Neobanks Report. Go read it. Lots of numbers. And a pretty table.All this and a whole lot more on this week's episode of the Drive at Five!

Digital currencies. Love 'em, hate 'em, or ambivalent about 'em, the financial instruments are here to stay. But for all the volatility that we've seen in the markets, where exactly does Europe stake its claim in the ecosystem? And what's the deal with MiCA?I sat down with Membrane Finance co-founder and CEO Juha Viitala, and Maki.vc Partner Paavo Räisänen to find out.In this episode:02:19 - Intros and who and what Membrane Finance is, and why it matters.03:25 - What's the big deal with crypto and what's the Golden Promise?04:33 - Where it all started and where we're going.07:40 - Why is crypto plagued with horror stories?08:50 - What's the deal with the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation?09:20 - What's a stablecoin?10:27 - Who's backing the majority of stablecoins and why isn't it Europe?13:00 - A safe haven. In a good way.14:25 - Well-timed regulation.15:45 - The EUROe, a stablecoin that's tied to the Euro.17:38 - The digitally native Euro.19:32 - Where can I get my EUROe?20:42 - Better regulation in the EU market.21:43 - A "safe gateway".23:00 - The European standard.23:56 - Maki.vc's take on Membrane Finance and European crypto.

Providing one of the biggest language learning platforms on the planet, Berlin-based veteran tech scale-up Babbel has only raised a little over $30 million to date. An IPO attempt in 2021 failed to materialise, but that doesn't leave the company desperate for funding - at all. We saw down for a good (remote) chat with CEO Arne Schepker to learn more about its current status, and future plans.Babbel, the edtech company behind the eponymous popular subscription-based online language learning service, is not exactly a spring chicken anymore. Born back in 2007, the scale-up has - weirdly - picked up no more than $30 million in funding to date, despite running one of the biggest subscription-based language learning businesses on the planet.Or maybe it's not despite but thanks to that status, as the company - now with more than 1,000 employees - is generating enough cash not to think about external funding all that much. It also doesn't need to think about pursuing an IPO any time soon, which in this market is hard enough as it is.Babbel famously launched an IPO on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in 2021, but those plans were cancelled rather quickly.But meanwhile, the company kept on growing, got really big in the US, and continues to hire at a fast pace.More than enough reasons to sit down for a chat with Babbel CEO Arne Schepker, who joined the company back in 2015 and seems to have enjoyed the rollercoaster years that followed.You can watch the interview above or directly on YouTube.Also read:By helping displaced Ukrainians learn a new language, Berlin's Babbel tries to make a difference

Post-SVB drama, this week might just go down as the week that the world woke up to AI, as GPT-4 dropped, Microsoft and Google unleashed the beast, and people both cheered and feared.Up this week:01:38 - GPT-4, Microsoft, and Google, oh my!.02:55 - Climate Policy Radar and GPT-4.04:16 - Tech.eu's collective thoughts on AI.06:47 - is SXSW best in show and best in entertainment, media, and content winner PentoPix killing creativity? Cate finds out. And explains Cocaine Bear.11:47 - Dan visits a lot of sketchy places on the interwebz; Cate helps us all stay private in our travels via Gener8.16:08 - Robin's still burning dead dinosaurs with his kid transportation device, and it looks like the UK's EV developer Arrival isn't arriving any time soon.19:12 - Speaking of delistings - Just Eat Takeaway.com and Rocket Internet.20:50 - Happy St. Patrick's Day, what's what with Manna Drone Delivery, and Fiona dives deep with Starship Technologies.25:56 - Robin's One More Thing - International law firm Orrick has analysed 500+ transactions it closed for European clients last year, with an aggregate value of more than $12 billion, and released a very comprehensive report based on all that useful data.All this and a whole lot more on this week's episode of the Drive at Five!

International law firm Orrick has analysed 500+ transactions it closed for European clients last year, with an aggregate value of more than $12 billion, and released a very comprehensive report based on all that useful data.We caught up with the firm's partner Jamie Moore, and Raph Crouan, who is Orrick's Managing Director for 'Tech Clients' in Europe, to learn more.You can and should check out the report proper, but both gentlemen did a great job summarising the main findings of the research, which includes things like term sheet terms have become 'more investor-friendly' (so, less founder-friendly) in recent times, the average deal size in Europe declining, the rise of debt funding in these parts, and more.You can also watch the interview directly on YouTube.

We caught up with Pedro Barros, Partner and Head of Fundraising & Investor Relations at Target Global, the pan-European technology investment firm with more than €3 billion in assets under management.Last Friday was an interesting day to talk to Pedro Barros, a Partner at multi-billion euros VC firm Target Global who's in charge of fundraising and investor relations at the investment company, as the SVB saga started unfolding.So of course the first questions were about Silicon Valley Bank, but it quickly turned to how the past 3.5 years after Pedro joined Target Global have been for the man, given that there wasn't a dull moment in European tech and VC in recent history.Target Global is focused on Europe and Israel, and has made investments in the likes of Delivery Hero, Grover, WeFox, Revolut, Cazoo, Auto1, Omio, and plenty more.Pedro discussed the current trends in the European tech innovation and investment space, given the downturn and market volatility that's defined it in the past 15 months or so, and what the sentiment is like in LP and fund manager circles these days.We also talked about interesting sectors and geographies that are on Target's, well, target list, and how long it will be before things get back to 'normal' (whatever that means).You can also watch the interview directly on YouTube.

The overarching, and still developing story of what's going on at Silicon Valley Bank has overshadowed pretty much every piece of news that came out this week. And perhaps many more stories to come. But as we watch events unfold ...Up this week:00:25 - Moody's downgrades Silicon Valley Bank, stock price falls 60%, and all hell breaks loose.05:03 - International Women's Day: European tech startups – a long way off gender pay equality, UK Women tech founders are taking a bigger share – 24 percent capital increase in 2022 compared to 2021, and Geraldine MacCarthy, Chief Revenue Officer at Personio offers her advice on how we bring more females into the tech sector.07:38 - Meet the rising female founders building the Metaverse.10:58 - Once looking at a unicorn valuation, UK fintech Railsr has been sold to a consortium of investors.12:52 - Is this the same Nigerian prince?13:23 - Italian unicorn Scalapay pays out as it acquires Cabel IP.15:11 - UK Government unveils £360 million plan to ‘cement the UK’s place as a science and technology superpower by 2030’17:00 - Would you keep your money in SVB?All this and a whole lot more on this week's episode of the Drive at Five!

And that's a wrap on February this week folks! While it might be cold and grey out of doors, as expected, it's hunting season and the M&A activities have been off the charts, this week in particular.Up this week:01:38 - German semiconductor manufacturer Infineon is to buy GaN Systems of Canada for $830 million in cash.02:12 - Helsinki's cash flow management SaaS Nomentia was acquired by Inflexion for a rumoured €300 million.02:20 - Milan’s Nexi to purchase 80 percent of Sabadell's PayComent for €280 million.02:32 - Britishvolt finds a new owner in the Australian firm Recharge Industries. 03:45 - Summa Equity has acquired a majority stake in cybersecurity firm Logpoint.03:53 - Shell struck a deal to acquire the evpass EV charging network in Switzerland.04:49 - QDNL Participations announced the launch of a €15 million early-stage Dutch quantum fund. (With commentary from Managing Director Ton van 't Noordende).06:40 - High-Tech Gründerfonds closed a new fund at €493.8 million.08:21 - Payfit to part ways with 200 people, or 20% of its workforce. Or is it more like 290 people?09:36 - Swedish payments group Klarna aims to return to profit by the summer after posting record losses.10:05 - Revolut has posted its first annual profit of £26.3 million in 2021. And is there something fishy going on over at The Columbus Building?10:47 - Bunq released numbers and claims to now be the first EU-based neobank to report a quarterly profit. 11:04 - Starling Bank achieved its first full year of profitability, just five years after launching in app stores, and Monzo clocked up a loss of £119 million.11:36 - Wise announced that it has “reached 16 million customers served worldwide”, and revealed plans for further global expansion.12:58 - Robin's one more thing: London and Berlin account for more than 51 percent of European VC job listings14:25 - Robin checks his agenda, rustles some papers, and yes, the Tech.eu Summit IS happening on the 24th of May in Brussels! If you act now (operators are standing by) you can save €150 on our early bird tickets.16:02 - Dan runs out of breath.All this and a whole lot more on this week's episode of the Drive at Five!

On the one-year anniversary of the Russo-Ukrainian war Tech.eu has dedicated our coverage to the Ukrainian ecosystem. In addition to this week's news recap, we heard from Reface co-founder and CEO Dima Shvets about how the company has survived and is growing.Up this week:00:31 - Interview with Dima Shvets of Reface14:40 - Lay-offs at Zalando and Ericsson16:43 - Quantum Motion computes new UK record with £42 million raise19:02 - Robin's 'quick' rundown of a whole lotta other news20:55 - Europe's AI industry's set to confound market expectations, generating 25% CAGR through to 2026Slava Ukraini.

Spearheaded by Index Ventures and supported by more than 700 CEOs, the Not Optional campaign is spurring policymakers across Europe to reform outdated rules and regulations that limit employee ownership.We recently reported on new analysis by Not Optional which found that over the past six years, the 2017 average of 12 percent of European employee ownership has climbed to 16 percent.Not quite the 20 percent still enjoyed across the pond, but a 4 percent increase is better than a no percent increase, and figures continue to go up.Looking at 2021 and 2022 numbers, years that saw the crowning of 124 new venture-backed unicorns, the increase in percentage equates to some €5+ billion more that’s been put into the hands of European startup employees.We had a catch-up with Dominic Jacquesson, VP of Insight and Talent at Index Ventures, to learn more about the campaign and the report that was released last week, and what will need to happen to maintain the momentum.Also, a good reminder to check out the handy resources Index makes available to all, including the OptionPlan app that helps founders get employee ownership right from the get-go.

GetYourGuide, the Berlin scale-up that enables people to book excursions and tour guides worldwide through an online marketplace, has a few difficult years behind it, in large part because of the global coronavirus pandemic and its extreme effects on global travel.But, co-founder and CEO Johannes Reck tells me in a recent video interview, there's a profound belief within the company that the best years for the travel tech unicorn are still to come.With close to $900 million in financing received to date, GetYourGuide has seen more than 80 millions tours booked through its platform since its inception, and its focus is now on helping people personalise their travel experiences while helping tour operators, guides, and others on the supply side run their businesses online more efficiently.Reck talked about how the company weathered the Covid-19 storms, how big its TAM is (and can become in the future), what happened to its 'Originals' product, how GetYourGuide deploys AI and machine learning to innovate, and the strategic partnerships it's currently building to expand its reach.He also discussed future plans for funding or a potential IPO or acquisition for GetYourGuide, and shared his insider take on the evolution of the Berlin tech ecosystem.

Tech Nation will reach the end of its journey on 31 March, and after that it will be up to Barclays Eagle Lab to provide similar, perhaps complementary services to the UK tech community's startups and scale-ups.We had an interesting chat with Tech Nation's CEO, Gerard Grech, on the impending closure, how it came to pass, and what happens next with regards to the non-profit's activities, its team, and, of course, himself personally.Grech explained why Tech Nation was unable to continue operating without the UK government's core funding, and called into question Barclays' ability to serve the UK tech ecosystem's needs at the same level as Tech Nation has in the past nine odd years as a private, commercial organisation rather than a non-profit, a sentiment echoed loudly by others as well.Grech also pointed out that Tech Nation will be continuing its work bringing global tech talent to the UK through the 'Global Talent' visa scheme in the immediate term, despite the impending cease of operations and the fact that Barclays will not be taking this over. The organisation has helped bring more than 6,000 tech workers to the UK with the visa endorsement process to date, and will continue to do so until further notice.Grech also commented on a potential future for Tech Nation's assets and body of work, this week's launch by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of an all-new Department for Science, Innovation and Technology in the UK, and whether or not he will ever bank with Barclays. :)

Up this week:03:00: Scaling startups showcase cutting-edge Industrial tech at the Sixth Sense Summit09:10: The end of an era as Tech Nation to cease operations as of March 31st17:33: Robots aren't representing us in court but here are 7 legal tech startups transforming the legal system21:56: In no way boring, spacetech startup The Exploration Company lands €40.5 millionAnd this doesn't even dive into our conversation about dongles, being left-handed, the Mac Mini M2 vs. the Mac Studio M1, Italy, and a whole lot more on this week's Drive at Five!

Tech.eu caught up with sustainability advisor Kristine Nagle and Elodie Broad, the recently appointed Head of Impact and ESG at Balderton Capital, to have a chat about what 'sustainability in VC' actually means, whether 'greenwashing' is a thing in that industry as well, and how investment firms can (should?) approach the implementation of ESG strategies internally and with their portfolio companies.If your prefer, you can also watch the double interview straight on YouTube.And in case you missed it, there is a new European VC collective called ImpactVC and comprising 120 venture firms, including Northzone and Balderton, that will attempt to disseminate industry knowledge on leveraging ROI and ESG value from impact-led investments.

After an extended holiday break, the Drive at Five is back! Helping to celebrate its return, Dan and Robin are joined by Cate and Callum this week where we call tech support, discover who the founder of the Bauhaus school was, talk about death (or however you want to call it after your heart stops beating), Walt Disney, qubits, and how supply chain problems can tarnish a brand and lead to (potentially) a closing up of shop. Robin covers:Layoffs sadly.Callum digs into:Tech.eu's tracking of smart building tech and some interesting funding rounds in the space.Cate featured:Berlin's Tomorrow Biostasis, a startup that's working on cryopreservation and how death might not be the final chapter for us humans.Dan lays down:Quantum computing player Pasqal announced a raise of €100 million in a Series B round this week, and how they're planting a flag for Paris in the home-of-quantum ground.And Cate and Dan pedal:Things aren't looking so great for Amsterdam-based developer and designer of urban e-bikes VanMoof.This and a whole lot more on this week's episode of the Drive at Five!

Tech.eu had a chance to sit down with Daniel Glazer, managing partner of the London office of American tech law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, as he was passing through Brussels.Glazer has been in the tech game for a while, knows a thing or two about what a crisis looks like, and shared his views on how he thinks the general market downturn and economic crisis will affect the European tech ecosystem in the short and long run.We discussed the current (worrying) state of the ecosystem, of course, using the Atomico report on the 'State of European Tech' as reference.We also talked about what the future might bring for both founders and investors, and why a tech-specific law firm like Wilson Sonsini doesn't need to necessarily worry about wanting for work even during a downturn.

As the phrase goes, the best-laid plans of mice and men, just minutes after Robin and I finished recording this week's edition of the Drive at Five, Getir's acquisition of Gorillas broke. Needless to say, this would have been a topic we would have addressed, but in lieu of audio, you can find our coverage of the story here.Up this week:🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Atomico, Atcomio, and Atomico. As the London-based VC firm released its mammoth State of European Tech 2022 report, Tech.eu broke down selected portions:Robin's view on the (worrying) State of European Tech in 2022 and 15 additional takeawaysDan's look at VC activityTamara's country-by-country analysisand Callum's look at thematic trends🇸🇪 Einride posted a big number in funding this week, $500 million, but after a closer look, while it's nothing to sneeze it, the number is comprised of a variety of inputs.🇪🇺 Following up on the VC dry powder section mentioned in the Atomico report, Robin highlights big raises by VC firms including IRIS, One Peak, Cavalry, Partech, and World Fund🇩🇪 Speaking of World Fund, along with Porsche, Abacon Capital, and Vsquared Ventures, Germany's battery cell developer and producer Customcells saw a fresh injection of €60 million in a funding round aimed specifically at moving the needle in the e-aviation sector. And there's one more thing - according to the Atomico report, diversity figures in Europe aren't good. At all.All this and more on this week's episode of the Drive at Five.

🎄🎄 We're heading down the final stretch - there are only 23 days left until Christmas! 🎄🎄Up this week:🇸🇪 From the brains behind Motherbrain, Ark Kapital releases AI-driven forecasting platform AIM to founders everywhere. You can hear more from Henrik Landgren himself at the Tech.eu Summit, this coming May in Brussels. Tickets are now on sale!🇺🇸 US-based acquisition specialist Carlyle Group has raised $3.12 billion as it targets European B2B technology businesses.🇧🇪 Crypto market maker Keyrock raises $72 million as it plans to further develop its offer and seek regulatory licences across Europe, the US, and Singapore.🇳🇱 Dutch e-commerce brand buyer Dwarfs has secured €30 million in a Series B funding round, one that was initially anticipated to be much, much larger. €120 million larger in fact.🇪🇺 Infarm, Zilch, MessageBird, Lyst, and a whole lotta others announced layoffs this week.🇮🇪 Facebook parent company Meta has been fined €265 million by the Irish Data Protection Commission.Fintech acquisitions abound: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Equals Group to acquire fintech startup Roqqett for up to £2.25 million🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Business banking platform Tide acquires Funding Options🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Toucan has been acquired by PayaCharity🇱🇺 Mangopay acquires fraud detection and prevention company Nethone🇫🇮 Breathing new life into spent Tesla EV batteries, Cactos raises €2.5 million to meet growing customer demand.And there's one more thing:🇧🇪 Antler has released its 2022 Benelux Unicorn Founder Roadmap: How to build unicorns in Benelux report🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Atomico is releasing its State of European Tech report next week🇺🇸 Accel's "Europe and Israel’s Startup Founder Factories" reveals that of the 344 VC-backed unicorns since 2008, nearly two-thirds (203) have led to at least one startup being founded by former employees, with 1,018 tech startups emerging in total.All this, and a whole lot more in Episode 17 of Tech.eu's Drive at Five!

🎄🎄 Yes, that's right boys and girls of all ages, there are only 30 days left until Christmas! 🎄🎄 Up this week:🇩🇪 After listing on Nasdaq in September of 2021 via a SPAC, Munich-based makers of eVTOL aircraft, Lilium, has now raised $119 million in a concurrent private placement and registered direct offering.🇫🇮 Finland's Wolt launches new hiring drive in Israel, Sweden. Tech hubs in Tel-Aviv and Stockholm mean new hires and future-proofing for the Helsinki-based delivery platform.🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 US e-commerce enablement player AppHub has paid $72 million to snap up the founders' stake in REVIEWS.io, a UK-based customer feedback portal that allows product vendors to source user reviews that can be deployed on e-commerce services and community media outlets.🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Anne Hathaway backs female-led Pact as it launches £30 million seed fund aimed at inclusion, well-being, and climate.🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Fresh from launching its first electric scooter, Zapp is going public in a SPAC merger deal.🇦🇹 Amid crypto winter, Austrian unicorn Bitpanda secures Germany’s most comprehensive crypto licence.And, as always, there's one more thing ...The EU chip industry. Enjoy.All this and a whole lot more on this week's episode of the Tech.eu Drive at Five!

While Dan was OOO for a few days this week, Robin was MC'ing The Big Score and collecting tonnes of knowledge. Up this week:🇧🇪 Belgian co-living startup Cohabs has bagged a massive €110 million round and set its sights on achieving 5,000 bedrooms for co-living rental and real-estate in the next four years.🇮🇹 Faded from former glory company Evernote is joining the Bending Spoons family.🇹🇷 As the once white-hot home delivery of just about everything you could imagine continues to cool, Just Eat Takeaway.com and Getir announce a partnership just one day after Gopuff and Uber Eats announce a similar partnership in the UK.😢 Layoffs, layoffs, layoffs (Typeform, UiPath 6%, Sendcloud 10%, Pipedrive 15%, Dance 16%, Jimdo 16%, Hopin 17%, Juni more than 30%, Wayflyer 40% etc.) and Deliveroo exiting the Australia market.🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 London-based Index Ventures is reaffirming its commitment to helping founders get their ideas off the ground and prepare for the road ahead with the launch of its second dedicated seed fund, Origin II at $300 million.And there's one more thing ...🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Balderton Capital's first Executive in Residence, Dave Kellogg, has authored an invaluable resource in the Founder's Guide to B2B Sales. Don't skip this one!All this and a whole lot more on this week's episode of the Tech.eu Drive at Five!

Index Ventures Partner Hannah Seal joins the show today to provide deeper insight into the whats and the whys behind the firms' recently launched $300 million Origin II seed-stage focused fund.

TRIGGER WARNING: There's quite a bit of bad and/or sad news in this episode. We've done our best to remember the words of Robert Hunter, "...nothin' left to do but smile, smile, smile." Up this week:🇧🇸 The Binance/FTX fiasco and what it means to crypto.🇺🇸 Zuck slashes 13% of the Meta workforce🇵🇱 Ramp ramps up with one of the largest funding rounds on record for a Polish company.🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Meta presses forward with its metaverse aspirations and acquires Cambridge-based sound recognition developer Audio Analytic.🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Made.com, once valued at close to £800 million is acquired by Next for £3.4 million.🇳🇴 OSLO-based Enode brings home $15 million in a Series A round led by Creandum and saw the participation of Chris Sacca's Lowercarbon Capital.🇫🇷 Sarbacane, a company Robin's never heard of, raised $110 million, acquires Marketing 1BY1, and rebrands to Positive Group. Keep your eyes on this firm, as we foresee more acquisitions in the future.🇸🇪 EQT Ventures just keeps on rollin', this time with its third fund at €1.1 billion. Since launching in 2016, the venture capital arm has accrued €2.3 billion. Not. Too. Shabby.Dry Power? Fire Powder?🇫🇷 PhotoRoom. It's fast, it's good, and it's the final nail in the coffin for working photographers. And they raised $19 million in a Balderton-led Series A funding round.Government news:🇪🇺 Microsoft faces a new antitrust complaint over its cloud computing practices as trade group CISPE, whose members include Amazon, took its grievance to EU antitrust regulators on Wednesday.🇪🇺 The European Commission published a new regulation to streamline rental platforms’ operations and data-sharing practices across the EU’s single market, targeting the likes of Booking.com, Airbnb, and Expedia.🇪🇺 EU antitrust regulators are drawing up charges against Facebook parent Meta over its use of customer data and the tying of its classified advertisements service to its social network.🇪🇺 The European Commission is to conduct an “in-depth investigation” into Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of gaming company Activision Blizzard.🇩🇪 Germany has blocked another Chinese acquisition of a domestic semiconductor company, in a further sign of the government’s tougher approach to protecting its high-tech sector.🇪🇸 And in good news .... The Spanish Parliament has given the green light to a new startups law that will bring tax benefits and other perks to entrepreneurs, remote workers, and digital nomads who want to live and work in Spain. 🇳🇱 And the Dutch American Friendship Treaty, aka DAFT.All this and a whole lot more on this week's episode of the Tech.eu Drive at Five!

This past May London-based payments infrastructure provider Paddle secured $200 million in a Series D funding round led by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., perhaps better known as KKR.No less than 15 days later, the company announced the purchase of US-based subscription metrics and retention automation startup Profitwell in a deal reportedly worth north of $200 million.With today’s funding environment for startups getting tougher and tougher, we’ve seen a noted uptick in the number of mergers and acquisitions taking place in Europe. And we expect to see more.Joining me today to discuss some key items to keep in mind when considering and negotiating an acquisition deal, I’m joined today by a man who’s seen both sides of the table when it comes to an acquisition, closing the Profitwell deal, but also as a Senior Director at Siebel Systems, a popular CRM that was acquired by Oracle back in 2005, Paddle President and COO Jimmy Fitzgerald.

Well alright, alright, alright. Robin's back in the studio this week, and after nine years, he actually has a semi-professional setup. This week:🇩🇪 The first German developer of quantum computers, eleQtron has raised over €50 million in new funds, including venture capital from Earlybird and Siegerlandfonds. 🇸🇪 Polestar obtained $1.6 billion in financing support from its two major shareholders🇩🇪 Volkswagen sells its electric car-sharing service, WeShare to Miles Mobility. Here's why.🇵🇹 Web Summit? That's 71,000 people too many.🇸🇪 Sweden’s STILRIDE is anything but still, rides ahead with €3.7 million🇩🇪 Billed as the first European ClimateTech Entrepreneur in Residence programme, Atlantic Labs and FoodLabs launch Founders for Climate initiative🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 / 🇩🇪 Not quite dead yet, but Made.com has indicated that they're headed towards administration, and German nappy service provider Windeln.de has filed an application for insolvency proceedings🇩🇪 Now closing in on close to $1 billion raised, Volocopter lands another $182 million in second signing of Series E round🇪🇺 According to the Tech.eu database, European tech companies raised €5.7 billion in total in October, recording a €1 billion decline compared to the total amount raised in September (€6.7 billion).All this and a whole lot more on this week's episode of the Tech.eu Drive at Five!

As part of Tech.eu's Big Deal feature, this week, we're putting “data orchestration and workflow software for life sciences” Seqera Labs under the microscope and aim to dissect just where the company came from, what part it played in the fight against Covid-19, and what an Addition led €22 million investment round means for the company.Moreover, instead of just the written word, we managed to sit down with Seqera Labs' CEO and co-founder Evan Flowden and hit the record button.Read the article in-depth over at Tech.eu.

Well alright, alright, alright. Today is Robin's birthday and he's headed back to Brussels after co-hosting a start-studded event here in London. In the meantime "temporary" Tech.eu writer Fiona Alston sits in and shares her thoughts and opinions on the news items that caught her attention this week.🇪🇺 First up, Bill Gates throws his support behind new European cleantech scale-up coalition🇫🇷 Launch of a bioengineered houseplant called Neo P1 purifies your home🇵🇹 No sheet: eToro acquires portfolio management provider Bullsheet🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Pixera is on a mission to make professional e-learning a more entertaining experience 🇪🇸 Former Tiger Global partner Lee Fixel’s Addition lead Seqera Labs’ €22 million investment round🇮🇪 Johnson Hana raises €10.5 million to up-end the legal market🇫🇷 One more thing: insuretech Neat🖋️ One more one more thing: Dan was interviewed by Black Unicorn PRAll this and a whole lot more on this week's episode of the Tech.eu Drive at Five!

Well alright, alright, alright. This week Robin's quite literally underwater, taking a well-deserved few days off and, in his own words, "sipping cocktails poolside", so we've managed to rope in Molten Ventures' Marketing Director James Clark to get a VC fund marketers opinion on four stories that caught our eye this week.🐄 First up, Hoxton Farms raised $22 million in its efforts to pack in the fat and up the taste of meat alternatives. Dan concludes that ultimately everything tastes like chicken, and James adds that it now also tastes like pork belly too.✈️ While Quantum Systems raised $17.5 million, in part via Peter Thiel directly himself, J&D dissect not only what the company does, but where the heck the name came from and if a massive pivot and Schrödinger weren't involved.🚀 As it turns out, James is a massive space nerd, and Dan can recall the nominal average value of standard gravity at Earth's surface (9.8 m/s2). The duo somehow manage to weave this into a discussion about Orbex's landing £40.4 million in a Series C funding round as it gears up for the first vertical launch from Scottish soil.🏖️ And one more thing - after being hard hit by the pandemic, travel tech funding seems to be on the mend as Munich's Holidu housed north of €100 million in a Series E round led by 83North.All this and a whole lot more on this week's episode of the Tech.eu Drive at Five!

Security and privacy frameworks are not your everyday topic of conversation, but the minute either of these fails, it's the talk of the office. On the back of a just-days-ago-announced $40 million Series B extension to an already impressive $110 million round, we sit down with Vanta Chief Revenue Officer Stevie Case to discuss just what advantages the company offers organisations, and what this rock solid compliance certification can mean when it comes to speed of execution, growth, and ultimately the bottom line.Stevie also highlights, in 90 words or less the top three most requested compliance certifications, SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and how Vanta works closely with auditors to ensure that every client that walks through their doors leaves fully compliant.The company has recently opened offices in Dublin and Sydney, with Stevie confirming that the company is currently scouting locations to open operations in South America. When asked about any future M&A activities, Ms. Case remains ... politely silent. All this and more with Vanta Chief Revenue Officer Stevie Case.

In this 🇹🇷 Türkiye 🇹🇷 special edition both Dan and Robin are dusting off their boots from a trip out to Istanbul and the Webrazzi Summit, but never the less ....We discuss the rumoured Getir/Gorillas merger.Which of course evokes memories of one of the biggest shopping expeditions of all time: Ford vs. Ferrari.Robin weighs in on the fast-delivery space and who's next on the M&A consolidation action.Philly!We discuss CNBC's Ryan Browne reporting on N26's, "net revenue increased 67% in 2021 to 120.3 million euros as the bank benefited from growth in subscriptions, stronger customer engagement and higher interest rates. However, the company continued to lose money that year, with its net loss climbing 14% to 172.4 million euros."BaFin and Wirecard, with a tangent to kebab and The Gamestop Saga.ABC = Always Be Cobbling.Bonus: be the first to tweet us first with the addendum to the ABC's and you'll win a free t-shirt from Tech.eu.And last by not least, Dan recaps the Big Deal this week and the rationale behind Grover's numbers. While he wanted something dark and dirty to be going on, in fact, the $2.1 billion in debt funding does, in fact, check out.Teşekkürler!

Woof, what a week it was. Pony up to your favourite beverage of choice, and let's recap what caught our eyes here at Tech.eu❗ Tech.eu is expanding! We're looking for some new crackerjack news tellers to join our editorial team. If you've got the chops, or know someone that does, hit us up at [email protected].🎮 London-based Improbable did NOT, in fact, close a $100 million round this week, as confirmed by Tech.eu, but rather, they're in the process of closing the round. Robin reports on how very strange this news is.❗ The Tech.eu Summit is 24 May 2023. In Brussels.🛒 Spotify snaps up Kinzen / Reddit acqui-hired (Robin hates that term with a passion) Sweden's Oterlu.🤖 Dublin-based Tines extended its Series B round by $55 million, and we find out just how Lee Fixel quit Tiger Global. Hint: Reuters.🪑 An Austrian pr0n company proposes to buy Home24 for $250 million. In Robin's words, "F*ck you Home24". (XXXLutz is actually a furniture retailer that was founded in 1945).🦷 Maki.vc sunk €5.3 million into Düsseldorf-based at-home orthodontics device maker K Line. Of interest as the IoT investment space has cooled dramatically.📉 Tech.eu Insider members have exclusive access to our quarterly report where we outline the shape of the European landscape.🥄 Dan recaps the Big Deal article that went out earlier this week, diving a bit deeper into Bending Spoons' recent $340 million funding round. We got revenue numbers direct from the horses mouth, uncovered that H14 is the family office of the Berlusconi family (Bunga bunga!), and how and why the company's name is tied to The Matrix.📱 One more thing: The European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of enforcing USB-C as a common charging port across a wide range of consumer electronic devices. Hallelujah. F*ck you dongles.🍻 That's it, now get out there and have a fantastic weekend.❓ Leave it, I don't care.

Having recently closed an €11.6 million Series A funding round, Jobbatical founder Karoli Hindriks joins the show today to discuss the hows and whys of pivoting the platform from a recruitment service to a talent relocation one; and how she hasn't looked back since."As a startup, you want to be a painkiller, not a vitamin." - Karoli Hindriks.We also discuss the ins and outs of digital nomadic life, why and how governments need to recognise that worker patterns and expectations have changed dramatically in the past 50 years, and what country is the toughest to deal with in terms of relocations. Hint, it's the United States of America.In the signature Tech.eu Lightning Round, we get to know Karoli as a person and find out that she is (for the purposes of this podcast) related to one of the greatest guitar legends of all time.Closing out the show, Dan digs into Karoli's CV (yes, she once worked for Fox, but at the same time, also held a position as a cabaret dancer), and she leaves the youths with some sage advice.All this and more on Episode 303 of the Tech.eu podcast!

In what turned out to be the Week d'Italia Robin jetted off to TechChill Milano and brought home a head cold, so good friend of the show Nick Stevens stepped in on a wing and a prayer.🇮🇹 (2:25) This week we cover Ryan Reynolds' involvement in a $340 million investment in Bending Spoons, their video editing tool Splice, photo editor Remini, how and why mobile tech has plateaued, why everyone shouldn't be a creative genius, DALL E2, and why Brad Pitt's Bullet Train is the greatest worst greatest film of all time.🇩🇪 (7:27) We glossed over Grover (to an extent) as Dan's planning on taking a deeper look at the tech rental platform in the Big Deal segment next week, but spoiler alert, of the $2.3 billion that the Berlin-based company has raised, $2.1 billion of it is in debt funding.🇮🇹 (10:40) Slimming the show down ever more, we blazed through Satispay, their €320 million Series D round, and after Scalapay (I'm detecting a theme here 🤔) the startup takes the second ever unicorn title home for Italy.🇩🇪 (11:00) Nick chimes in with a subject near and dear to his heart and how Berlin's one • fıve is out to save the world. To spice things up, we do it in pub quiz trivial style with me not having the article open and seeing just how much of my own reporting I can remember.🇬🇧/🇺🇸 (13:55) And last, but certainly not least, Nick and I cover why mayonnaise is the ultimate condiment, what I've got my eye on for the after work beverage of choice (hint: Guinness), and why Nick is taking drugs (hint: the clue is in the intro).All this and more on Episode 8 of Tech.eu's Drive at Five!

Despite skipping the legendary opening party at OMCLUB as part of DMEXCO in Cologne, and smelling quite lovely, I might add, Robin's back in the studio to discuss what went down across the European technosphere this week.🇵🇹 Robin weighs in on Dan's "tech-light, but a good read" piece highlighting the shaky legal system in Portugal and what it means to the investment and startup scenes.🎙️ > 🎤 After a blip in the audio recording, we're pleased to announce that we're going through Robin's audio setup with a fine-toothed comb, and let's see if we can get him sounding just as good as Dan. Or at the very least, remove all the technical barriers.⚛️ Dan finally received the opportunity to pen a headline he's been waiting his entire life for it involves "pet food and supplements" and a quantum leap in innovation.👑 Robin recaps the funding numbers of the week, noting that of the top 10 investments none of them were from the UK. A rarity indeed. What's going on? Hint: Salve Regina.📱 Berlin/San Francisco-based telecom-as-a-service platform Gigs raised $20 million from a number of notable investors including Gradient, Google’s early-stage fund, YC Continuity, etc., but neither Robin nor Dan can figure out just who their customers are and/or what industries/segments they're targeting. Stay tuned...🐝 Robin waxes poetic about the buzz surrounding the Instabox and Budbee merger.💸 And there's one more thing - Robin takes note that investors tend to like the $300 million number. This week Swisscom Ventures, DTCP, and Extantia all clocked in at 300 million.😂 Last but certainly not least, after 5 episodes hosted together, Robin finally loses it and we almost have to stop the show due to uncontrollable laughter.All this and more on Episode 7 of Tech.eu's Drive at Five.

After having extended its Series C round to $160 million this past June and set a record as the fastest fintech company in Europe to reach unicorn status, Zilch is now taking the show on the road and angling to conquer the U.S. Market.I sat down with the company's CEO and co-founder Philip Belamant to discuss how he might possibly be the most successful failed games developer and how this venture eventually led to the creation of Zilch, including his decision to disagree with the board of a listed, multi-national payments provider and strike out on his own.With the industry currently experiencing some significant down-rounds, Philip takes me through a lesson in economics, and how Zilch's unique model isn't necessarily bulletproof, but how the company has been able to forge ahead while others are regrouping.We also get into the nitty gritty on expanding to the U.S. market, including Zilch's decision to set up its HQ in Miami, and whether or not a crypto play is in the company's future. 🤔And last, but certainly not least, Philip sits in on the trademark lightning round where we get to know him as a person and not as the head of a business. Hint: Bobotie, you should try it too!All this and more with Zilch's CEO and co-founder Philip Belamant.

Over the past decade, Amsterdam-HQ'd accelerator Rockstart has backed upwards of 280 startups, seen nine exits, and €150 million raised by portfolio companies culminating in an alumni value of approximately $1 billion.Traditionally focusing on Energy and AgriFood startups, in April of this year the firm opened the application process for its newest fund, Emerging Tech.We sat down with Rockstart's man at the helm for this fund, Michael Bjørnlund to define what exactly Rockstart views as emerging tech, what unique selling points Rockstart offers above and beyond other accelerators on the market today, and how and why he'll be swimming to Rockstart's inaugural event, Forward 2022 in September.All this and more with Rockstart's Managing Partner Emerging Tech Fund Europe - Michael Bjørnlund!

In a special post-TechBBQ episode, Dan sits down with Neil S W Murray, founder of The Nordic Web, founding partner at The Nordic Web Ventures, and co-founder and CEO at Playmaker.Up first, Neil and Dan weigh in on the rise of the east and how the CEE region, east to west, north to south is finally experiencing what Western Europe saw in the VC scene some 15 years ago, particularly in regard to what 500 Emerging Europe, LauncHub Ventures, VentureFriends, and Vitosha Venture Partners are up to.Zooming out, we discuss U.S. investors' increased interest in the European startup scene, particularly this week's announcement of New York City-based Energy Impact Partners' €390 million commitment to EU-based startups, all with a healthy round of keyword bingo.And last, but certainly not least, Neil doesn't shy away from talking about the failure of his startup, Playmaker, and provides both insight and three key takeaways that any starry-eyed founder should take note of before setting pen to paper.All this and more on episode 6 of Tech.eu's Drive at Five.

Well alright, alright, alright, everyone's back from holidays, and it's time to get down to business.First this week we look at Northzone's appointment of World Economic Forum sustainability expert and programme creator, Anna Skarborg as Head of Sustainability and the growing trend of ESG officers in-house at VC firms.Former Revolut execs Alan Chang and Charles Orr have assembled a mighty impressive list of investors for their startup Tesseract which aims to disrupt the energy market. What and how they plan on doing this is still a bit ambiguous, as is where the $78 million came from. We discuss.UK-based OneWeb took a $229 million writedown due to Russia taking 36 of the company's satellites hostage indefinitely. Deliveroo's got more legal troubles when it comes to the treatment of its labour force, Instagram f*cked up in terms of data protection rights when it comes to minors, and last but certainly not least, Cazoo has called it a day across continental Europe, resulting in 750 jobs out the window.All this and more on episode 5 of Tech.eu's Drive at Five.