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For the past week, our inboxes have been awash with one-line emails. 

“Are you going to be at [VivaTech/London Tech Week/insert other event here]?” 

Our question back to you, readers, is: which one of the 500k tech events will you be at this week? With events kicking off in Paris, London, Amsterdam and Stockholm, everyone is doing diary gymnastics to cram it all in.

The contrast between festivities in London and Paris seems particularly relevant. The speakers at the many scattered events that make up London Tech Week are a familiar cast of government folk, investors and founders. VivaTech, meanwhile, is headlined by none other than Elon Musk and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. 

It comes as London is facing a reckoning from its own biggest cheerleaders over its spot as the undisputed leader of European tech, as our reporter Kai Nicol-Schwarz explores today. Amid a global slowdown in tech, the UK has fared worse than many other ecosystems, with funding falling more than the US, Asia and VivaTech hosts France.

But then again maybe the biggest movers and shakers coming to participate in events this week aren’t going to be rubbing shoulders with the hoi polloi in London. They’ll be at the invite-only-and-don’t-they-like-you-to-know-it Founders Forum, usefully situated in a place only taxis and Teslas and helicopters can reach (which coincidentally, makes it very hard to leave).

The parties will be fun — who doesn’t love sipping champers surrounded by birdsong at golden hour — but what does it say about European tech that the best networking is always to be had by the people who’ve already "made it" and already know each other? 

From the Sifted newsroom today:

• How ETH Zurich is vying to become the Stanford of Europe
• Macron's plan to reverse French tech's poor IPO record

Why not empower them to use AI in the open — with a universal AI assistant trained on all your company's knowledge?

🇫🇷 "Even with this magnificent history of French tech over the past decade, these exits still happen in New York" — Macron’s got a plan to revive France’s sleepy IPO record, and it starts with the goal of 10 new IPOs by 2025, including two with valuations of more than €5bn. Today Chris O'Brien explains what the plan involves, why it's needed and where the money will come from.

🎓 Inside Europe's top spinout machine. It's the old stomping ground of Albert Einstein (where he apparently walked around sockless) and the birthplace of 545 European spinouts — including Sensirion, GetYourGuide and Climeworks — but should other universities follow ETH Zurich's spinout playbook?

☀️ Enpal secures €430m debt round. The SoftBank-backed German solar startup’s latest cash injection brings its total debt financing to €1.9bn.

✂ Checkout.com's latest internal valuation cut and a startup that wants to take on AWS — this week on the Sifted Podcast.

Don’t gamble with your startup’s data | Sifted Talks | June 14

As your customer database grows, so does the threat of cyberattacks. But where to begin with securing your business? Hear from Seedcamp, Boundless and Vanta as they explore how to keep your data safe in 2023 and beyond. Don't miss out!

Deeptech pitch event | June 27
Deeptech will be taking centre stage at our next subscriber pitch event on June 27 at 12:30pm BST. Join us to meet five of the very best from Europe’s early-stage cohort as they show off their cutting-edge tech and business models. RSVP today.

Check out our Sifted Summit partners!

Companies like Latham & Watkins, Morgan Stanley, Nato Innovation Fund, Twilio, Harmonic and BT line up on October 4-5 to bring you an incredible edition of Sifted Summit. Want to join them? 🫵 Chat to our team to find out more.

🥼 Medtech is the third most funded sub-category within European health... with the UK, France and Switzerland leading the way for total funding. Our latest briefing digs into the medtech trends you need to follow, the most active investors in the space and the rising stars to watch. 

😇 From angel investment to VC and venture debt, here are 10 types of startup funding explained.

🕵️ VC due diligence — what it is, how it works and the red flags to avoid.

💰 How much equity should you give to early employees?

🇬🇧 11 UK startups VCs from Balderton, Octopus, Northzone and AlbionVC have their eye on.

☀️ 9 solar startups to watch, according to Revent, Rockstart and Extantia.

Interested in more? Sifted's solar briefing covers the trends to follow, the most active VCs and rising startup stars.

🏭 15 DACH startups to watch, according to 3VC, La Famiglia, High-Tech Gründerfonds, Earlybird and HV Capital.

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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