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Hi Sifted Reader,

The mood music around European tech investment might have changed recently, but investors are still looking to back the continent's early-stage rising stars. Find out who they are as we rank the most active seed and Series A fintech investors in Europe right now. Plus...

• The top 150 women CPOs in Europe
• Entrepreneur First raises a $158m Series C
• Europe's first creator-founded, creator-backed VC

— Sophie, editorial assistant & Tom, digital editor

Anushree Sharma, CPO of Nuw

1/ Stripe founders back Entrepreneur First in latest $158m round of funding. Entrepreneur First is kind of like Love Island, but for founders. EF  brings together founders looking to start something new with potential cofounders. And today it's announced a $158m Series C, attracting a star-studded list of backers including the founders of Wise, Monzo and Stripe.

2/ 150+ women CPOs across Europe: The complete list. Product roles are in high demand, but only 7.5% of European tech firms have a woman CPO, according to one survey. We scoured the Internet and tapped into our sources to compile a list of the top 150 women CPOs across Europe.

3/ Meet Europe’s most active early-stage fintech investors right now. In the last few months, VCs have begun investing more cautiously amid market uncertainty. But at seed and Series A, investors are still keen to put money into the startups that they see as the next generation of stars on the continent.

4/ Europe gets its first creator-founded, creator-backed VC. More founders are tapping creators and celebrities as early investors, and beyond the cheque they offer access to vast networks and expertise. And now, Europe has its first creator-founded, creator-backed VC: Creator Ventures. It's raised $20m to invest globally alongside creators like rappers and footballers. 

From cash flow management to AI defence, our latest report showcases the top 100 soon-to-be unicorns changing the game across 16 sectors. How many do you know?

Download today.

👵 Elderly care startup Birdie raises $30m. The London-based platform has raised a Series B round led by VC Sofina. The platform helps elderly care agencies plan visits, monitor patients and store key information. The company currently works with 700 care providers, and is looking to expand into France, Germany and the Nordics. 

❌ Debt collection fintech Ophelos raises £5m seed round. The UK-based startup's seed round was led by Albion VC with participation from Form Ventures and Vast Ventures. Its web-based platform points people towards plans for paying off the debt they owe to the various companies that choose Ophelos as a debt collector. 

💵 Prague-based fintech 4Trans raises €3m seed round. Another seed round raise, this time by Czech startup 4Trans, which speeds up the invoicing process for hauliers. Atmos, Tera Ventures and Lighthouse Ventures were all involved in the round; the company also raised €15m in debt from Advance Global Capital.  

💡 Stoïk wins Andreessen Horowitz’s backing in €11m Series A. The US investment giant led the latest round for the Paris-based cybersecurity insurtech firm alongside existing investors Alven and Anthemis. The startup will use the cash to double its headcount and expand across Europe, and aims to scale from 200 to 1,000 brokers on its platform by the end of the year.

👩‍💻 Screenloop raises $7m to stop companies making bad hires. The London-based recruitment platform's seed round was led by Stride VC. The startup offers candidate sourcing, interview analysis and reference automation, and by using data and feedback it hopes to help startups hire the right staff as they scale.

💶 Taavet Hinrikus and Ian Hogarth launch VC fund. Wise’s Taavet Hinrikus joins Songkick’s Ian Hogarth in getting into the VC game, after raising a €250m fund named Plural. It will invest in early-stage startups and was founded on the idea that operators make good investors — and Europe needs more of these.

Is crypto a force for good?

From DeFi currencies to ESG investment goals, join us on July 6 as we explore the rise of crypto in social investing — and find out who is set to be influenced by the wave of digital assets. Hear from the experts.

⚙️ Our Future Proof newsletter offers the best of our corporate innovation coverage across Europe. But in an economic downturn it can be hard to justify "risky" experiments and pitching a startup-corporate partnership isn't always easy. So we've rounded up the best of our recent coverage below to make things easier:

💸 Could venture clienting be the cheaper innovation option you need?

👍 How to get people to say yes to innovation

🔥 How startups and corporates can nail product innovation

🔢 Here’s why web data could be the key to startup data collection. (In partnership with Bright Data).

Sophie Zhang

Editorial Assistant

Get in touch with them at sophiezhang@sifted.eu

Tom Nugent

Digital Editor 

Get in touch with him at tomnugent@sifted.eu
Or tweeting at @TJNugent92

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