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OCTOBER 24, 2022

Hello Sifted reader,

Trendy London coworking company Second Home has a new majority shareholder — a Silicon Valley billionaire. And by taking a controlling stake, a host of the company's all-star cast of angel investors have seen their shares wiped out.

Elsewhere, we're looking at the gender pay gap at startups in Europe — and the situation is pretty shocking. In the UK, it's as bad as the national average in 1992, and things don't get much rosier in France and Germany either. 

And another week means another episode of Startup Europe — The Sifted Podcast. Tune in as EQT Growth partner Carolina Brochado joins Eleanor to discuss the advice she's giving portfolio companies and the craziest thing she's done to get a deal.

Also from the Sifted newsroom:

• Europe's deeptech soonicorns
• A lack of lab space is stalling UK biotech
  
• Is European VC in trouble?

🏡 Second Home's new majority shareholder. By handing over a controlling stake to LA-based investor Riaz Valani the coworking company's founder Rohan Silva might have secured its future. But the deal means a highly watered down valuation and the likes of early backers like Cazoo’s Alex Chesterman and Wonga’s Errol Damelin seeing their stakes wiped out. 

🤖 Europe’s deeptech "soonicorns". The sector's on track to grow beyond the levels seen during the heady days of 2021, and it's welcomed four new unicorns to the stable so far this year. But which ones could be next? Using data from Dealroom and VCs in the know, Sifted found out.

💩 UK startups' gender pay gap double national average. Using data from salary benchmarking platform Figures, Sifted found that women at startups were paid 70p for every £1 men earn in the UK. And in France and Germany the situation isn't much better. So why is the startup gender pay gap so bad across Europe?

🔬 Lack of lab space is stalling UK biotech. Data from Bidwells, an estate agent specialised in labs, shows that demand is far outstripping space available — and founders say the UK risks seeing its biotechs head abroad unless the situation improves.

A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR TEACHERS' VENTURE GROWTH

Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG) brings over 30 years of expertise and a long-term commitment to help founders scale their businesses into global leaders.

Discover TVG.

💸 Pre-seed funding 101. Looking for pre-seed funding to get your startup off the ground? Sifted turned to founders and VCs who've been there and done it to find out everything you need to know. From getting the timing right to scouting out the right investors, here are their tips.

💰 How much equity should you expect from a startup? Joining an early-stage startup can be risky business — it could go bust in a year or two and often there's no clear path to profitability. That's where equity comes in to incentivise workers. But how much should you expect and what are the pitfalls you need to watch out for?

🤔 How much should startups pay their first 10 employees? It's super important to make the right hires in the early days of a startup, and a key part of attracting the best candidates is offering a competitive salary and compensation package. Here's what that looks like.

Looking for more tips, tricks and useful insights on the ins and outs of running a startup? Subscribe to Sifted's Startup Life newsletter to get all that delivered straight to your inbox every Wednesday morning.

SIFTED TALKS

A collaborative payments ecosystem can be a force for economic stability — but some markets are difficult to reach. Join us on November 9 as we explore how to break regulatory barriers and harvest the benefits of a truly inclusive payments network.

See you there.

📉 Is European VC in trouble? While startup valuations have taken a hit amid the economic downturn, VCs, so far, have seemed to be doing alright. LPs are still writing big cheques and 47 new funds were raised between July and September. But the picture doesn’t look so pretty for publicly-listed VCs — so what can they tell us about the market as a whole?

🧢 How to structure your cap table. In the early days of a startup — where the founders are the only owners — this is a pretty simple task. But it can get increasingly complex when you start raising cash from a bunch of different sources. We spoke to 10×10 Capital, a firm for Black founders, to get their advice.

🌍 How to expand into new markets during a slowdown. It can be a daunting task investing in new projects during hard times, but that can also be the best time to line up a new opportunity in your crosshairs. From considering the size of the prize to making the first move, here's what you need to know. (Sponsored by Sendinblue).

Kai Nicol-Schwarz

Reporter

Get in touch with him at

kai@sifted.eu

She tweets from 

@NicolSchwarzK

Tom Nugent

Digital Editor

Get in touch with him at

tom@sifted.eu

He tweets from

@TJNugent92

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