Hello Sifted reader,

The UK is set replace existing startup and innovator visa routes for overseas entrepreneurs hoping to move to the country to start a business.

The changes will come in from April 13, and the requirement for founders to have £50k in their pocket ready to invest in their startup will also be scrapped.

So far, so good.

But it's unclear if policymakers will ditch the most controversial part of the existing schemes — the endorsement system, which is a "ripoff" according to one lawyer, and has led to some founders paying huge fees or giving away equity to get backing for their visa application.

Also from the Sifted newsroom today:

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— the valuation that Europe's most valuable private startup, fintech giant Revolut, was assigned in a mammoth $800m round in July 2021 led by SoftBank and Tiger.

But times have changed. Last year Europe's buy now, pay later star Klarna saw its valuation slashed by 85%, and only last week US payments giant Stripe saw its valuation nearly halved, from $95bn to $50bn.

One of the world’s leading secondary brokers, Setter Capital, has Revolut holdings listed at a discount of more than 50%, according to documents seen by Sifted.

So it's worth asking: does the $33bn price tag still stack up?

🥙 "I don't want to become a fucking commodity" — Kima Ventures is the most active VC in France and its head, Jean de La Rochebrochard, isn't usually one for a leisurely lunch — but for Sifted, he made an exception. Here's what he had to say about working at the top of the French tech ecosystem, feeling disillusioned at The Family and fearing being forgotten.

🗑 Which European tech companies are now worth less than all the money they've raised? 2021 was a great year for IPO enthusiasts — but the majority of the companies that went public during tech's heyday have fallen victim to a global equity rout. Here are the companies now worth less than the money VC investors ploughed into them before they listed.

🛡 Klaus Hommels, founder and chair of Lakestar, has been picked to head up the board of directors of NATO Innovation Fund — the security alliance’s €1bn venture arm for investing in early-stage European defence tech.

🗺 Startups to watch in southeast Europe, according to VCs.

🛒 The state of B2B marketplaces in Europe. (Sponsored by Mangopay)

✈️ How is fintech changing business travel? (Sponsored by Airwallex)

💰 Series A+

Norwegian B2B buy now, pay later startup Two has raised an €18m Series A round from investors including Sequoia and LocalGlobe.
Commercial vertical take-off and landing drone producer Wingtra has raised a $22m Series B.
XXII, a French AI-powered video analysis platform, has announced a €22m Series A.
Ireland's HT Materials Science, which is developing an additive that reduces energy consumption in commercial cooling and heating systems, has raised a $15m Series A from investors including Barclays and Aramco Ventures — the corporate venture arm of Saudi energy company Aramco.
Dutch startup Vitestro, which is developing autonomous blood drawing technology, has raised €12m in Series A funding.
Sifflet, a French startup helping teams monitor and manage data, has raised a €12m Series A round led by EQT Ventures.
IPRally Technologies, an AI-powered Finnish company that helps IP and R&D teams find and classify patent information, has raised a €10m Series A.

💰Pre-seed & seed

Paris-based Roundtable, a platform for angel investors to form community chats and invest as special purpose vehicles, has raised a €3m seed round from 100 angels who use its service.
Metatime, a Turkey-based crypto exchange platform, has bagged $11m in seed funding.
Germany's Monite, which helps B2B software companies manage finances, invoices and expenses on one platform, has raised $5m in an additional seed funding.
Turkish mobile game developer Passion Punch has raised $4m in seed funding.
Mainteny, a Berlin-based platform that helps maintenance businesses digitise, has raised €2.7m in seed funding.
MYSTiC GAMES, a blockchain gaming development studio, has raised a $1.3m seed round.
Carbonable, a Paris-based startup that helps companies invest in carbon capture on the blockchain, has secured $1.2m in seed funding led by Ethereal Ventures.

💰Undisclosed

Barcelona-based Qida, which offers personalised at-home support for seniors, has raised €18m — the sector's largest ever round in Spain.
Amsterdam-based Coolset, a platform for businesses to monitor carbon impact, has raised €1.5m.

Want to work for a startup? One of these roles could be for you

Beamery, a talent lifecycle management platform, is looking for a data engineering manager in London.
TravelPerk, the travel management unicorn, wants a senior devops engineer in Edinburgh.
Sorare, a blockchain-based fantasy sports game, is after a senior software engineer in Paris.