Hello Sifted reader,

One of Europe's most active seed VCs, Speedinvest, is announcing a fresh funding pot of €500m — €300m of which will go into its fourth fund looking to back up to 100 early-stage startups.

And speaking of funds, there's an unconventional one entering the scene: Collective Equity lets founders and shareholders pool their shares with other founders, so it's not just those in the team who benefit if the company exits. Sharing is caring, after all.

Finally, it's your last chance to share what you think is in store for European tech in 2023 — are we doomed for a dreary downturn, or is there light at the end of the tunnel? Let us know.

Also from the Sifted newsroom:

🩺 A diagnostic scan a day keeps the doctor away. Nobody enjoys the needles and tubes involved in the diagnosis of a lot of conditions — which is why some startups are building tech that can identify issues without any invasive procedures.

Spotify-founder Daniel Ek is one of those big dreamers. He's developing an airport scanner-esque device that, apparently, will be able to diagnose medical issues from high blood pressure to eczema with a simple scan.

Could this be the future of medical diagnosis — or will the hype die out?

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🤿 Should founders pool their equity with outsiders? It's pretty out there, but Collective Equity has created a fund that lets startup founders and shareholders pool up to 10% of their shares with other founders. When the company goes public or is acquired, everyone in the pool gets a payout — not just the team that's directly involved. Is it crazy, or just crazy enough to work?

🥳 How GitLab celebrated its Nasdaq listing. When your team is based all around the world, how do you make sure everyone feels included in the big moments? CEO of GitLab, Sid Sijbrandij, shares how the company pulled off an inclusive livestream celebration on the company's Nasdaq listing day — becoming the first company ever to do so.

🤑 How do startup valuations work? The worth of a company lies at the heart of startup life — but how investors calculate that figure is a bit of a mystery to many. Here's what they look for, the parts of a business that factor most prominently in the decision and which startups currently boast the highest valuations in Europe.

📩 Speedinvest celebrates a fresh €500m. The VC will split the new cash between a €300m fourth fund focused on pre-seed and seed stage startups, and a €200m wallet for existing portfolio companies. Eleanor Warnock caught up with CEO Oliver Holle to chat about the state of European tech, LP risk aversion and how a new internal M&A team hope to help founders during difficult times.

🧬 Basecamp Research raises $20m Series A. The London-based startup wants to map the millions of naturally occurring proteins around the world with yet-to-be-discovered potential. It uses AI to identify proteins for companies looking for more efficient materials — and then when it does a deal with a company it gives some of the profit back to the country where the protein was discovered.

🏝 Baltic Sandbox Ventures targets €13m deeptech fund. The Lithuania-based VC is the first in the Baltics to focus solely on early-stage deeptech and life science solutions, and has reached a first close of €9m. It plans to back up to 60 pre-seed and seed-stage teams across the region, offering funding in an area that often struggles to drum up enough support.

🌱 Everything founders need to know about seed funding. So you started out with a great idea for a startup, began building and convinced investors to part with their cash at the pre-seed stage. Now your attention turns towards your seed round. But how do you prepare for a successful round, and what will make investors part with their hard-earned cash?

🧩 How to find product-market fit. Product-market fit is crucial to the viability of your startup — but securing proof that the world does actually need your product isn't always straightforward. Senior product and operations people at successful startups and VCs share their tips and tricks on finding PMF.

✂️ Where your stock options go if you're laid off. Stock options are a common perk offered to startup employees — but what happens to them if you lose your job? Here's what you could be facing — and what to do if you're classed as a "bad leaver".