Hello Sifted reader,

At Hinterland of Things in Bielefeld — a small city in the west of Germany that doesn’t exist, according to a decades-old German joke (no, really, just look up the Bielefeld conspiracy on Wikipedia) — the country’s corporates have been courting fledgling startups.

But the vibe among many founders was that working with incumbents is too slow — one VC also said they’re often “too intrusive”. They could play a role, though, in climate tech — where Germany is looking to become a European leader — by helping startups in the sector open new networks and navigate the legacy industries they're helping make greener.

Further north, at Sweden's Brilliant Minds, all the chatter has been about the scale of the UK government's charm offensive on the world of tech — we’re talking Sunak appearing on Stebbings's 20VC, Index and the PM trading office show and tells and tech Twitter filling up with selfies in front of Number 10. The love-in has already got some results too: after months of courting, Andreessen Horowitz is setting up shop on Blighty’s shores.

From the Sifted newsroom today:

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🤖 Tony Blair's AI plan for Britain. The former British PM launched a new report this week setting out how the UK could transform itself into an AI superpower. But, as Sifted found out, it's a little short on detail.

🏭 French gigafactory Verkor set to announce a €2bn fundraise. The round will included €800m in equity and €1.2bn debt financing, and will make the company the second best-funded gigafactory startup in Europe — behind Northvolt.

🚀 NATO launches defence tech accelerator. It has a budget of €50m a year to bring a new generation of military technology to Europe, and will write non-dilutive cheques of €100k-300k for its startups.

💻 UK gets £45m quantum boost. The new investment will be made through the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Technology Missions Fund, and includes:

£8m to fund 12 projects exploring quantum for position, navigation and timing (PNT)
£6m for 11 projects working on software enabled quantum computation
£6m for 19 projects conducting feasibility studies in quantum computing applications
£25m for seven projects working on quantum-enabled PNT via the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI)

Who is he? Harald Mix, the man behind three of Europe's leading climate tech companies.

Why does he matter? He could well be Europe's most successful climate tech builder. His holding company, Vargas, operates as an incubator and founding partner in other companies, and helped launch energy storage startup Polarium in 2015, battery maker Northvolt in 2016 and sustainable steel manufacturer H2 Green Steel in 2020. Those three companies have raised €12bn between them.

Why is he in the news? Mix is launching a fourth company, Aira, a direct-to-consumer startup making and selling heat pumps for homes. So far it's raised £30m — all from Vargas — and Mix reckons it'll need another £100m to get production going. If his past record is anything to go by, it'll be one to keep an eye on.

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🇫🇷 15 French startups to watch in 2023. VCs from Singular, Iris, Sofinnova, Elaia and Ventech share their picks.

🤝 Board meetings 101 — From how they work to who should be involved, here's everything you need to know.

📝 NDAs explained — What they are, what to include and the red flags to be aware of.

🧬 8 deeptech startups you need to know about.

👉 How to hire your first product manager — Mike Oliinyk, who led product at both Wise and Wolt, gives his top tips.

📉 Could embedded finance help reverse the fintech slowdown? (Sponsored by Airwallex)

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💰 Series A+

Nelly, a German healthtech digitising patient admin for doctors and medical professionals, has raised €12.5m in a Series A round led by Lakestar.

💰 Pre-seed and seed

Meshcapade, a German startup that creates 3D models of humans for e-commerce and fitness businesses using AI, has raised a $6m seed round.
Trezy, a French cashflow management platform for businesses, has raised a €3m seed round from investors including Seedcamp.
Dntox, a German startup that helps companies test chemicals without using animals, has raised €1.4m.

💰 Undisclosed

Thinksurance, a German insurtech for commercial and industrial clients, has raised €22m.
Soundtrack Your Brand, a Swedish music streaming service for shops, restaurants and gyms, has raised $15m in a round led by Balderton Capital.
Sparetech, a German supply chain platform for spare parts, has raised €10m from investors including Insight Partners and Headline.
Develhope, an Italian edtech for software developers, has raised €6m.
Beyonk, a UK-based travel booking platform, has raised $5.8m.
Glyphic AI, a UK-based AI platform that helps sales teams analyse customer interactions, has raised $5.5m.
Fintonic, a consumer focused money management app, has raised €5m.
Angsa Robotics, a German waste removal startup for green spaces, has raised €2.5m.