Hello Sifted reader,

It's rare that much happens in France over the summer holidays unless you're a cycling fan. But Paris-based Eurazeo, one of Europe’s most influential investors, has been caught up in a big old drama. Four investors from its growth fund — which has backed companies like Tink, Back Market, Glovo and Doctolib — have quit to start a new fund.

What that means for Eurazeo’s growth strategy, which will now be overseen by the remaining managing partner, Hala Fadel — a relative newcomer to the team — is unclear. But it’s unlikely to make raising a new fund any easier…

In other people news, Sifted is hiring! We’re taking this newsletter daily from October and we’re looking for a curious, creative and energetic reporter to lead it. If you’re fascinated by European startups and tech and love hunting down a story, please apply.

— Amy, editor

Also from the Sifted newsroom:

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🇵🇹 Portugal is the most favoured destination for digital nomads, according to a new report from rental marketplace Flatio. Other European sunny spots catching the eye of the world's wandering workers are Spain and Madeira. The report also digs into digital nomads' salaries, how much they pay for accommodation and their biggest frustrations.

🤫 More and more founders are choosing to stay in the dark — erasing company names from LinkedIn, creating mysterious almost-blank websites and ignoring journalists' emails — and build in stealth. It's a trend that's booming, with the number of people working at stealth startups tripling in the last two years. Sifted finds out why.

🟢 All of Europe's Article 8 and Article 9 funds, listed. The EU's sustainable finance disclosures regulation (SFDR) codifies ESG into European law. Here's what VCs think, and which funds are designated "Europe's greenest".

🇺🇸 "Few French and European investors understand this model, so we have to seek funds elsewhere.” The US is luring away Europe's open source founders, with access to funding easier stateside — and that's only part of the problem for the sector's entrepreneurs.

👀 11 European open source startups to watch, according to VCs.

🇪🇸 Will Spain's next government continue its pro-scaleup policies? Government support has helped fuel the Spanish startup ecosystem's golden era. But after inconclusive results in Sunday's election, startups' hopes are in limbo.

💸 "We're unhooking ourselves from the drug of other people's money." Onfido CEO, Mike Tuchen, talks to Sifted about layoffs, reducing reliance on VC cash and focusing on Europe.

🪦 RIP OKRs — Jennifer Montague, VP of growth at Onomondo, explains why the company has scrapped OKRs in favour of a new approach.

🗣️ On the latest episode of the Sifted podcast: Eileen Burbidge. The cofounder of Passion Capital and reproductive healthcare company Fertifa reflects on the differences between Silicon Valley and London, her time at Monzo and how she wants to fix reproductive healthcare in Europe.

Check out our growing list of Summit speakers

We’ve got some BIG names coming to Sifted Summit. We’ve got speakers from Olio, Atomico, Swappie, Northzone, Enpal, Cleo, Bitpanda and many more. Don’t miss your chance to meet them in October.

See the full line-up and book your pass here!

💰 Series A+

Dutch neobank bunq has raised €100m in equity funding — €44.5m was closed this week, adding to a previously undisclosed €55.5m earlier this year. The investment comes from previous backers including Pollen Street Capital, Raymond Kasiman and founder and CEO Ali Niknam.
Mob-Energy, a French deeptech developing robots to charge electric vehicles, has closed a €10m Series A. The round was led by Axeleo Capital with participation from the likes of Santander AM, Bpifrance and InnoEnergy.
Portuguese startup Infraspeak, which provides companies with a centralised maintenance management platform, has secured a €7.5m extension to its Series A round.
Eflow Global has raised a £7m Series A for its regulatory compliance software.

💰 Pre-seed & seed

Constellr, a German agritech startup focused on food security, extended its seed round to €17m. It raised $10m in November 2022.
Dutch smart business card startup Mobilo has raised $4.1m in seed funding.
German home-office-as-a-service platform Nuwo has raised €2.75m in seed funding. The round was led by Redstone.
London-based Quench.ai, an AI coaching platform that helps users learn new skills, has raised $5m in pre-seed funding.
Space DOTS, a London-based spacetech that creates material testing devices that work in orbit, has raised £1.2m in pre-seed funding.

💰 Undisclosed

Coverzen, a B2B digital platform for the insurance sector, has closed a €3.3m investment round.

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🛠️ 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.

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