Hello Sifted reader,

The latest episode of the Sifted Podcast's just dropped — tune in as Amy and Eleanor dive into the latest news from European tech.

From the Sifted newsroom:

The UK's plans for crypto

📸 The snapshot:

The UK government has laid out a broad new regulatory regime for cryptocurrencies that aims to bring them under similar rules to traditional financial assets like equities and bonds.

The proposals will go through consultation until the end of April, at which point the government will review industry responses and work towards introducing legislation for regulators.

🖼 The bigger picture:

Crypto had a diabolical 2022 — it lost just over $2tn in value from its November 2021 peak and was marred by several bankruptcies, most notably the FTX fraud case.

Despite that, the UK government wants to position itself as a “global hub” for crypto. Its proposed measures include:

Regulating the issuance of stablecoins;
Rules around marketing crypto assets;
Ensuring crypto lenders make plans to safeguard customer funds in the case of insolvency.

⏩ What’s next?

Nick Taylor, a policy director at crypto exchange Luno, says that “comprehensive regulation will drive up standards, protect consumers and give businesses the certainty needed to invest, innovate and create jobs in the UK”.

But Harry Eddis, partner at global law firm Linklaters, points out this won’t be easy on startups’ pockets. “More regulation will mean more compliance costs,” he tells Sifted.

Lots of companies might not get that far, however. Given that the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) revealed this week that 85% of crypto firms have failed to meet its anti-money laundering requirements, a broad new set of additional rules could mean loads more opportunities for failure.

— Amy O'Brien

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💰 Series B+

Risilience, a climate analytics firm, has announced a $26m Series B led by Quantum Innovation Fund.
Jeff, a platform offering support and advice for entrepreneurs, has raised a €90m Series C. Investors included Delivery Hero backed DX Ventures, Clean Ventures and Stelac.

💰 Series A

Coverflex, a flexible employee compensation startup, has raised a €15m round led by SCOR Ventures.
Spacetech The Exploration Company has raised €40m to propel it towards building Europe's first reusable rocket. The round was led by EQT Ventures and Red River West, with Promus Ventures, Cherry Ventures, Vsquared and Omnes Capital also chipping in.
Recycleye, which uses AI-powered waste-picking robots to sort materials, has picked up an additional $17m in funding.
Glasgow-based cancer detection startup Dxcover raised £7.5m plus a £2.2m grant from the EIC.

💰 Pre-seed + seed

Superlayer, a no-code platform that help teams streamline processes, raised a $1.3m seed round led by Triple Point Ventures and Concept Ventures, with participation from Notion Capital, Accel, Exor Seeds and angels.
Re:course AI, which is developing an AI-powered healthcare training simulator, drummed up $4.3m from investors including Northern Gritstone.

⚡️ Who’s got the power at Getir? Despite being one of Europe’s top-valued startups, little's known about who makes the decisions at the speedy grocery company. Here are 20 of the startup’s top dogs.

🔥 January's hottest seed rounds. From detecting cancer in minutes to a TV competition offering a trip to space, here are some of the month's most interesting raises.

🇩🇪 Germany’s new climate/deeptech fund. The DeepTech & Climate Fonds (DTCF) has €1bn at its disposal, raised from the federal government’s Future Fund and the European Recovery Programme. It will be investing in growth-stage scaleups.

🩺 Spotify founder launches new healthtech. Three months after Sifted revealed the secretive start of the company, Daniel Ek has officially announced his latest venture, full-body scanning service Neko Health.

🤝 January was a record month for European startup M&A. The European tech ecosystem has been holding its breath for a surge of acquisitions. And now the data seems to back that up — but which three countries broke their own M&A records?

😬 "As a Tech Nation visa holder, I'm concerned for the UK industry." After the organisation announced its upcoming closure, one recipient of its services fears it's a bad sign for the future of the country's tech scene.

🇺🇸 Climeworks eyes up US expansion. The world's best-funded carbon removal startup is hoping to nab some of the country's $369bn climate bill.

🤑 Silicon Roundabout cofounder launches deeptech fund as solo GP. London-based Silicon Roundabout Ventures hasn't shared how much it's raised after a first close for its pre-seed and seed fund, but says it's targeting £10m.

💰 Series A funding 101. After a successful seed raise, startups soon set their sights on Series A: here's what you need to know before you hit the fundraising road.

📈 Nine charts showing the state of European tech. European tech is going through a slow patch — funding is harder to come by, and startups have laid off thousands of employees.

Investors and founders are hoping it doesn’t continue this way for long — and they’re looking for promising signs in the data.

So, what does it tell us?

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