Hello Sifted reader,

Where can you find a German competitor to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, a self-taught coder trying to warn us all against an AI apocalypse and one of Europe’s first female solo GPs? They're all in the latest episode of the Sifted podcast, which has just dropped.

Also from the Sifted newsroom:

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— the size of Annelie Ajami’s new fund, Anamcara. It'll invest $200k in 25-30 pre-seed and seed stage startups across Europe.

It’s the second female-led solo GP fund to announce a close this week, after Berlin-based Gloria Bäuerlein’s Beyond Capital announced a €21.5m fund — and is part of a growing trend for VCs to go it alone.

Meet the rest of Europe's growing crowd of solo GPs here.

🇫🇷 Elaia closes €200m fourth fund. The Paris-based VC will invest €1m-15m in 25-30 pre-seed to Series B B2B startups.

🇸🇪 Techstars makes a U-turn. After suddenly ending its Stockholm programme early last week, the accelerator has pivoted on its decision and is letting the current cohort finish the course before shutting down in Sweden.

🍟 A chip off the new block. UK-based startup Karakuri, which has built a robotics-based catering system that automates food production for fast food restaurants, has trialled its automated fry line for the first time in a London branch of Nando’s, with the aim of delivering the perfect chip. If you've been in Park Royal recently, maybe take a closer look at those fries.

🇺🇸 Meet the man connecting the EU to Silicon Valley. Gerard de Graaf, the EU’s tech envoy to San Francisco, shares how he hopes to bring some US-level VC cash back to Brussels.

🕵️‍♀️ How does VC due diligence work? When scoping out a deal, investors are supposed to investigate whether the facts and figures that a startup boasts about match up to the reality. Here's what the process involves — and what can stop a deal in its tracks.

🛡 This German soldier built a battlefield robot company — while on the army’s payroll. Marc Wietfeld has designed robotic vehicles that deceive enemy soldiers by doing things like imitating gun fire or distracting them with lasers.

🤑 Just secured Series A funding? Here's how to spend it.

🥾 The biggest bootstrap blunders. Not taking outside funding gives founders a lot of independence — but there are plenty of ways for it to go wrong. Joaquin Cuenca Abela, CEO and founder of Freepik, shares the lessons he learnt during nearly two decades as a bootstrapped founder.

🛍 Could your impulse buys soon come in planet-friendly packaging? Startups are working on ways to reduce the CO2 impact of the plastics that products are wrapped in — here are 8 teams that VCs reckon will deliver the goods.

Want to read more on the future of packaging? Download our latest free report, Packaging Unwrapped, which delves into the sector.

👩‍💻 How to choose a tech stack for hybrid teams. In the latest issue of Sifted's Startup Life newsletter, the former director of engineering at Wise shares his top tips.

🐶 8 top pet techs to watch, according to investors. (Sponsored by Purina Accelerator Lab)

💊 How AI startups are fully automating drug discovery. (In partnership with Debiopharm)

Global mobility is admin-heavy — this tech can help under-pressure HR teams

Global mobility has become important leverage for winning the war for talent. But for HR, a global office means a minefield of tax and immigration laws and liabilities. Our latest report profiles the startups helping companies of all sizes to manage the process.

Download our report

💰 Series A+

Danish startup Agreena, which encourages farmers to take up regenerative farming practices by incentivising them with carbon credits, has raised €46m in Series B funding. It's been backed by the likes of evergreen impact fund AENU and the UK's Anthemis.
Hygraph, a Berlin-based content management platform, has raised a $30m Series B.
Sirius Medical, which develops products to help surgeons accurately locate cancer tumours, has announced a Series B round of €12m.
Paris-based Inato, a platform improving global access to clinical trials, has raised $20m in Series A funding.
Glopal, a tool to help ecommerce merchants expand internationally, has raised €20m.
Parloa, a German AI-powered platform for automating customer service, has drummed up a €20m Series A led by EQT Ventures.
AI-powered video compression startup Deep Render has raised a $9m Series A led by IP Group and Pentech Ventures, plus a grant from the European Innovation Council.

💰 Pre-seed & seed

Iteration X, a Paris-based platform for teams to collaborate on live products and websites, has secured $4.7m in seed funding.
Unique, an AI-driven meeting notes summary and analysis platform, has raised $4m in additional seed funding.
Belgian startup Relu, which uses AI to help dentists digitally plan treatments, has announced €2m in seed funding.
Package recycling startup Recyda has raised €1.75m in a round led by Speedinvest.

💰 Undisclosed

Cambridge-based blockchain startup Fetch.ai, which aims to improve communication between AI apps, has raised $40m from incubator DWF Labs.
Bootstrapped (until now) French home energy renovation startup Effy has secured €20m in a round led by Felix Capital.