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Over the weekend, startup conference Slush has landed in hot water for a decision to award a €1m pitch competition prize to a UK-based startup with Russian founders. We spoke to the winner, Slush and some of those criticising the move. 

In other news, Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of bogus blood testing startup Theranos, was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison on Friday for defrauding investors. The diagnostics sector suffered from a bad rep for a while after her company's collapse — but has the stigma stuck around?

From the Sifted newsroom:

• What we can learn from bootstrappers
• The fastest growing deeptech startups
• Can salary transparency fix the gender pay gap?

Slush controversy. On Friday afternoon Immigram, a company which helps tech talent, including Russians, relocate to the UK, won startup conference Slush's pitching competition and a €1m cheque from five big name VCs.

The move has since been heavily criticised by some members of the Polish and Ukrainian startup community, in particular. 

We spoke to Immigram's CEO Anastasia Mirolyubova, who holds a Russian passport but has lived in the UK for seven years, and several of those calling for the decision to be reversed, to get both sides of the story. 

Runway and burn rate are top of the agenda in startup boardrooms right now. Explore these important metrics in Ledgy's new deep dive.

🩸 The aftermath of Theranos. Founder Elizabeth Holmes, who defrauded investors out of more than $600m for blood testing tech that didn't do what it said on the tin, has been sentenced to more than 11 years in jail. Investors were understandably a bit queasy about the sector following the scandal — but has Silicon Valley's "Trial of the Century" killed the diagnostics industry, or is there still hope? 

📈 The fastest-growing deeptech startups. Despite the downturn and layoffs in other sectors, deeptech in Europe is booming, with investment on the up. From AI-led medical assistants to a company developing hypersonic rocket aeroplanes powered by hydrogen, here are the industry's startups growing at the speediest pace. 

📊 Can salary transparency close the gender pay gap? Compensation benchmark platform Figures surveyed almost 500 startups, and found that the more transparent a company is about its salary, the smaller the gender pay gap among its team.

🥾 What we can learn from bootstrappers. While venture capital is the glam way in, some founders prefer to say no to investor money in favour of financing their business through its operations. But does that change the game when it comes to exiting? Founder coach Julius Bachmann shares his advice on how bootstrapped founders should approach cashing in. 

🇪🇸 Fancy working in Spain? It's about to get easier. Those with an affinity for the digital nomad life will know that Spain is notoriously a hassle for non-EU residents to settle in for work — but its new visa could change that for the better. 

Radical transparency: the open door approach. The radical transparency movement is taking off — but are the startups claiming to be transparent doing it for the right reasons? Or is it just a one-off PR play? On November 23, we’ll discuss whether radical transparency is more than just a marketing tactic.

Trying to navigate the cost of living crisis? Fintechs can help. In tough times, how can startups and consumers focus on future-proofing their finances? Hear from the experts on December 7.

Sifted Sessions \ Stockholm. Sifted Sessions is coming to Stockholm on March 8 2023! Swedish startups don’t think small, so join this event to connect with founders, operators and investors who are changing the game and driving the next wave of disruption. Pre-register now.

🤝 Don't raise debt, says Insight Partners. Deven Parekh, MD at the US VC firm, dishes out some valuable advice to founders facing tough times, from the sectors likely to feel the pinch to how companies can manage the cost of living crisis.

🧑‍💼 How to effectively use an executive assistant. There may be no shortage of tech startups trying to automate the responsibilities of an executive assistant (EA), but some companies reckon it's still a valuable role to keep human. Riya Grover, founder and CEO of London-based fintech Sequence, shares why her EA is so vital — and how she gets the most out of the hire. 

🤔 What does Ready Player Me's CEO think about the Meta layoffs? That's just one of the questions covered in the latest episode of Startup Europe — The Sifted Podcast, where Timmu Tõke discusses all things metaverse. From the obstacles facing the virtual world to what layoffs in big tech mean for earlier-stage founders, here are some of the highlights from the conversation. 

Anyone interested in getting into climate tech has a fight on their hands knowing where to start: How do you learn about the next big trend VCs have their eye on? Where can you find a market map of Europe's carbon capture startups? And what on earth is climate fintech? 

To answer that and more, every Thursday morning Sifted's climate tech newsletter brings you the stats and stories investors and startup folk need to get clued up on all things sustainability. 

Sign up to:

• Hear from the experts, including where climate scientists would invest $100m and how to make an impact before profit. 

• Get a weekly news hit showing you who raised big and where VCs are putting their cash.
• Wise up on the data from across Europe's climate tech scene.

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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