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OCTOBER 14, 2022

Hello Sifted reader,

In funding news today, children's neobank GoHenry cashed in with a $55m Series B raise — it's a welcome injection for the company, which saw losses shoot up by almost 2000% last year. Elsewhere, Czech-founded Tatum, which helps companies build their own apps on the blockchain, raised $41.5m in a round led by US VC Evolution Equity Partners. 

And over in France, the family office of entrepreneur Pierre-Édouard Stérin has backed Resonance, a new €150m evergreen early-stage VC fund that'll be led by Maxime Le Dantec, previously a principal at Balderton, and Alban Oudin, a principal at VC firm XAnge. 

Also from the Sifted newsroom:

• 11 Danish startups to watch, according to VCs
• How much should you pay your first employees?
• What could investors lose if Getir acquires Gorillas? 

🛵 Who wins, who loses if Getir buys Gorillas? Speedy grocery unicorn Gorillas could be acquired by its Turkish competitor Getir — but not at last year’s $2.1bn valuation. Sifted dives into which investors own the most and what a potential deal would mean for them.

🇩🇰 Danish startups to watch. Denmark remains a thriving space for innovation — even if investment into the country has dipped since last year. From femtechs tackling infertility to medtechs clearing cancer cells, here are 11 startups that investors have got their eye on.

🚗 The man who took on Uber. Yaseen Aslam was one of the first to sign up when the app reached London. After struggling with low pay, little protection and racist abuse, he pressed the brakes on driving and started a union instead. Over brunch, he told Tim how he's determined to make Uber U-turn on workers rights. 

💵 How much should startups pay their first employees? As a founder the first 10 people you bring into your business are key — but getting talent through the door can be tricky when you can't pay the sky-high salaries of larger corporates. So what should you pay your early builders, especially if money is tight? 

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1️⃣ Herman Narula hits out at Zuck's "disastrous" metaverse strategy. In his chat with Sifted's Tim Smith at last week's Sifted Summit, CEO and cofounder of metaverse games company Improbable Herman Narula didn't hold back on his criticism of the Meta boss. So if Zuckerberg hasn't got the metaverse right, how should it be done? Narula reckons he's got the answers.

2️⃣ Inside startup C-suite salaries. Ever wondered how much a CEO earns in comparison to the rest of their C-Suite, or if senior salaries vary much from country to country? What about the state of the gender pay gap across startup Europe? Sifted digs into the salary data from across the continent.

3️⃣ Improbable raises big $. Herman Narula again, this time with a new $100m investment round and a $3bn+ valuation. Though it was a rocky 2021 — with losses totting up to more than £150m — it seems to think it can hit profitability this year.

4️⃣ In our Benjamin Button era. While these startups might not be able to offer immortality (yet...), they're making big waves when it comes to slowing down the effects of ageing. From extending fertility windows to battling greys without the need for hair dye, here are 12 companies leaping ahead in the longevity long game.

5️⃣ Seed funding bounces back. After a two-month dip in European seed investments, funding somewhat recovered in September, with 333 rounds and a collective €510m raised. British fintech Sequence bagged the biggest round — but it wasn't the only one celebrating fresh cash.

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🎤 David Cruz e Silva, founder and co-host of The European VC, calls out the lack of transparency when VCs announce they've raised new funds — and invokes Eminem's classic Lose Yourself to make his point. 

🌲 Christian Kroll, CEO and founder of Ecosia, gives his advice on how to quit the VC rat race and be more Patagonia. 

🦄 Cyrine Ben-Hafaïedh, associate professor at IÉSEG School of Management in Paris, makes the case for why politicians and policymakers shouldn't obsess over becoming "unicorn nations".

💳 Contactless cards have become a staple of modern life for many, but what’s next in payments tech? (Sponsored by Viva Wallet.)

Newsletters → Get even more from Sifted with our range of specialist newsletters. Sign up below for bonus news, wisdom and gossip you won’t find anywhere else — not even on the Sifted site:

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Pro → Our top level of membership lets you dive deep into the latest trends from startup Europe with our must-have research and community, including our new in-depth report on the state of European agritech, exclusively for Pro members. 

Sadia Nowshin

Editorial Assistant

Get in touch with her at

sadia@sifted.eu 

She tweets from

@sadianowshin_

Tom Nugent

Digital Editor

Get in touch with him at

tom@sifted.eu

He tweets from

@TJNugent92

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