Hello Sifted reader,

If you're in the unenviable position of needing to fundraise next year... we've got just the article for you: a roundup of the best fundraising advice shared with Sifted in 2021.

We've also got a fresh interview with tech leader and legend Meri Williams. The former CTO of digital bank Monzo and drug discovery startup Healx has now taken up the same post at Danish fintech Pleo — and, on day 18 of her tenure, we caught up to find out what's on her to-do list, how she thinks big tech layoffs will impact startup teams and what she makes of Mr Musk. Listen to the full chat on our podcast.

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🐦 "As if we South Africans haven’t had enough bad press already." Meri Williams is, it's clear, not a huge fan of her compatriot Elon Musk — and, in particular, how he's treated Twitter's tech team. Her approach to leadership is somewhat more... compassionate, as we discuss in the latest episode of the Sifted Podcast. Listen to the full interview with this titan of Europe's tech scene here — or read the highlights.

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🤑 The best fundraising advice from 2022. Some startups are likely to avoid fundraising altogether for the foreseeable future to try and ride out the downturn — but if you have to raise capital in 2023, this roundup of the best fundraising advice offered in our Startup Life newsletter this year isn't a bad place to start.

🇪🇸 How Spain's startups have fared this year. Though the country hasn't escaped the effects of the 2022 downturn, things could definitely be worse for Spain's startup scene. From emerging soonicorns to progress outside of the main hubs of Barcelona and Madrid, there's been much to celebrate.

🤔 What's next for the Nordic tech scene? The Nordics have had a rollercoaster of a year: funding dipped, but seven companies still crossed the coveted unicorn threshold. So, what might 2023 hold for the region's startup scene?

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January 18, 2023 — How to protect your business from fraud. Fraudsters are smart and they’re getting more efficient. With the number of fraud victims steadily increasing, how can startups protect themselves? Join us on to get into the minds of online criminals and prepare for what they might be up to next.

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🇩🇪 ... in Germany. Despite a dip in funding compared to the year before, German startups still raised around $11.5bn in 2022. From simplifying supply chains and reducing food waste to training robots to do the boring bits of jobs, here some friendly VCs share 13 German startups to watch.

👾 ... in the metaverse. Love it or loathe it, investors are increasingly drawn to the allure of the virtual world, with around $673m pumped into European metaverse startups in 2022. Investors in the space flagged some metaverse-focused startups to keep an eye on, whether you want to run a virtual live event or kit your avatar out in designer clothes.

🏙 ... in smart cities. Responsible for 75% of emissions, cities need to clean up their act — and quickly. But how can we change the way that cities work for the better, before it's too late to make an impact? Here are the startups that investors think are doing it right.

⚽️ The CEO of Sorare on NFTs and staying normal. Over steamed veggies in the NFT fantasy football game company's Paris HQ back in March, Nicolas Julia talked to Sifted about the early days of Sorare, expanding to America and how not to fuck up your personal life.

😇 Sophia Bendz on building brands and becoming an angel investor. As one of the earliest employees at Spotify, Bendz was once responsible for guarding the reputation of what would later become one of the internet's major music streaming platforms — but since then, she's made news of her own as a prolific angel investor and one of Europe's most notable female VCs. She revealed all over French toast in Stockholm.

🍓 Babylon's founder on his biggest mistake: taking the company public. From arriving to the UK as an asylum seeker to dealing with a $300m hole in his healthtech company's finances after an ill-timed public listing, Ali Parsa has quite the story to tell — and he does so over a goji berry brunch bowl.

🔐 The cofounders of Ramp on surviving the crypto crash and FTX drama. Despite the steady decline that much of the crypto scene has been subject to of late, Ramp has continued to grow. With a $70m Series B announced days before the very public FTX scandal, the cofounders of the crypto payments facilitator share why they're not worried about the future of their tumultuous industry.

✈️ The founder of Omio on bouncing back and the future of travel. When lockdowns slammed borders shut, German travel booking unicorn Omio knew there'd be tough times ahead. Naren Shaam chatted about how he stayed resilient despite the pressure.