Hello Sifted reader,

German neobank N26 first floated the idea of going public in 2018. It had been backed by Silicon Valley heavyweight Peter Thiel, counted Tencent, GIC and Allianz on its cap table and was predicting 100m customers in a decade.

But fast forward to today and a frozen IPO market, regulatory problems and an exec exodus mean any bell-ringing seems a country mile away.

Today Miriam Partington looks into the barriers standing in the way of the neobank floating, and why investors think it still has a long way to go if it's going to reach its goal when the IPO markets open up again.

Also from the Sifted newsroom:

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A bar chart showing VC funding into German startups by quarter.

Though Germany was no stranger to the downturn, investment in Q1 of 2023 seems to be inching back up. A large part of that total, however, is being propped up by early-stage companies drawing in investor cash. What else is going on in German tech? Sifted digs into data.

This piece is an accompaniment to our newly launched ranking of German startups and scaleups to watch in 2023.

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➡️ Investors say N26 has a long way to go before IPO. The neobank first floated the idea of going public in 2018, but five years later and it's no closer to crossing the line. Here's what needs to be done if it's ever going to tap the public markets?

🤔 What happens if Revolut doesn't get its banking licence? The neobank is set to meet with UK government ministers in the next couple of weeks — here's what's at stake if it isn't granted a licence, and what the implications for UK tech might be as a result.

💸 How consumer fintechs can fundraise in a downturn? Cofounder of modern credit card Yonder, Tim Chong, shares how they drummed up a £62.5m Series A round — even when investors were tightening the purse strings.

💪 7 ways to stay ahead of GenAI. Scared that AI could pose a threat to your livelihood? Éanna Kelly shares how to beat the chatbots at their own game.

📝 An updated list of all of 2023's new first-time funds. Think we've missed any? Let us know.

🌳 Sustainability is moving up the agenda for business schools — but how can it actually be impactful for startups? (Sponsored by HEC Paris)

💰 Series A+

Sastrify, a German SaaS platform that helps companies manage their tech stack, has raised a $32m Series B.
UK app development platform Builder.ai has raised a $250m Series D round led by the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA).
TISSIUM, a French techbio working on tissue reconstruction methods, has drummed up €50m in Series D funding.
Axelera AI, a Dutch startup that develops AI-powered software solutions, has announced a total of $50m in Series A funding.
Cybervadis, a French platform to manage cybersecurity risks, has raised €7m in Series A funding.
German startup Ariadne, which is an operating platform for commercial real estate, has raised a $7m Series A round.

💰 Pre-seed and seed

London-based employment and income verification system Konfir has raised £1.6m in seed funding led by Triple Point Ventures.
Twirl, a Stockholm-based platform for data teams, has secured €2.3m in a pre-seed round led by Creandum.
Berlin-based Minoa, a management and customer insights platform for SaaS teams, has raised $2.7m in pre-seed funding.

💰 Undisclosed

UNDO, a UK startup that uses volcanic rock dust to capture carbon in soil, has raised $12m led by Lowercarbon Capital and AENU.
UK event planning platform Togather, formerly known as Feast It, has raised $8.5m.