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In the golden days at Typeform, employees enjoyed Silicon Valley-style perks like free lunches and smoothies of the day alongside Barcelona’s culture of work-life balance. Almost everyone in tech was using the service, operations were scaling rapidly and new employees were being welcomed one after the other.

But that all changed.

Former employees say that as the company grew, senior US-based hires tried to bring with them American "hustle culture" which jarred with the Spanish way of working. That soured the company's culture, led to employees leaving en masse and a loss of faith in leadership — and now, as cheaper copycats have cropped up, data seen by Sifted shows the startup’s market share is down and revenue growth has flattened. 

Today Tim Smith and Anna Freeman bring you the inside story.

Also from the Sifted newsroom:

• One of the world's biggest VCs invests in Sana Labs
• How to raise a pre-seed round in the current fundraising climate
• TotalEnergies sells entire climate tech portfolio

Digital marketplace specialist Adevinta’s product and tech teams aim to change the way the world buys and sells online — their blog explains new tools and technologies they’ve implemented, how they’re scaling existing solutions and more.

💸 One of the world’s biggest VC firms invests in Sana Labs. The Stockholm-based AI-for-enterprise startup says it wasn't looking for cash after raising $34m in December, but couldn't refuse the $28m extension to its Series B, led by New Enterprise Associates. 

⚡️ French energy giant TotalEnergies sells entire climate tech portfolio. The oil and gas giant has closed its CVC arm, TotalEnergies Ventures, and sold its portfolio to Paris-based VC Aster.

😇 HackCapital launches angel investment platform. It joins the likes of Odin, Bunch and Vauban in Europe making it easier to take investment from hundreds of small-cheque investors. It also wants to make it easier for users to sell their shares — transactions known as secondaries — so they can reinvest their cash back into the ecosystem. 

💰 Talis Capital announces first close of its third fund. With $100m of the targeted $175m secured, the fund — which is the firm's largest yet — will continue to lead seed and Series A rounds in the US, UK and Europe. Its average cheque size is $2m-7m and half of the cash will be reserved for follow-on investments.  

🌧 How Typeform's culture was ruined by US hustle culture. In an attempt to boost growth, the startup adopted a rise and grind mentality — but instead of accelerating progress, former employees tell Sifted that as turnover jumped, its culture soured. 

💭 Thinking about raising a pre-seed round? Investors and experienced founders share their tips on how to successfully secure early-stage funding in the current economic climate.

💻 How to build accessible products with no-code tools — Nile Frater, founder and editor of NoCode.Tech, shares his advice.

💼 From payroll partners to payments tech: Top tips for hiring contractors and freelancers in different countries. (Sponsored by Nium)

Because it's critical for steering a startup through investment rounds and calculating runway — even more important in this new funding environment. Our Sifted guide will help startups better understand the challenges of growing the finance function, avoid common pitfalls and get the most out of the team.

💰 M&A

• Estonian business marketing software provider TextMagic has acquired website building platform Voog for €1.1m. 

💰 Series A+ 

• Beem, a French startup that helps consumers install their own solar panels, has raised €13m in funding to bring its Series A round to a total of €20m. 

• UK-based Qualis Flow, a platform to decarbonise the construction industry, has raised £7.2m in Series A funding.

💰 Pre-seed and seed

• Cur8, a UK-based carbon removals brokerage startup started by serial fintech founder Marta Krupinska, has raised a £5.3m pre-seed round led by Google Ventures. 
• Swedish Zparq, which builds electric and propellor-driven watercraft, has raised €2.5m in seed funding. 

• Spain's INBENTUS Medical Technology, which builds medical ventilators, has raised €2m in seed funding.  

• German-based fusion power plant designer Proxima Fusion has raised €7m in a pre-seed round led by VC firm Plural and UVC Partners. 

Get the best of the rest of Sifted's coverage of European tech dropped into your inbox:

💳 Fintech — Every Tuesday Amy O’Brien drops the week's most exciting fintech scoops, hot deals and stats. Sign up here.

🛠️ Startup Life — Every Wednesday Miriam Partington and Anisah Osman Britton tell you how (and how not) to run a business. Sign up here.

🌴 Climate Tech — Every Thursday Freya Pratty shares where the money’s going, how the rules are changing and who the ones to watch are in Europe’s greenest sector. Sign up here.

🗣️ Up Round — Every Friday Amy Lewin and Eleanor Warnock give you a weekly snapshot of the latest VC funds, people moves, investing trends and industry goss. Sign up here.

Sadia Nowshin

Editorial Assistant

Get in touch with her at

sadia@sifted.eu

She tweets from 

@sadianowshin_

Tom Nugent

Digital Editor

Get in touch with him at

tom@sifted.eu

He tweets from 

@TJNugent92

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