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The Sifted Summit excitement keeps on coming. The latest news? John Collison, cofounder of payments giant Stripe, will be making a rare stage appearance to join the fun in October, taking to the stage with Entrepreneur First cofounder Matt Clifford. Feeling the FOMO? Grab your ticket here.

From the Sifted newsroom today:

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🛒 Speedy grocery giant Getir exits Italy and Portugal. Just a month after leaving Spain and France, the struggling speedy grocery delivery company says that it’ll now focus on the five markets that generate 96% of its revenue — and that it’s “finalising” a so-far undisclosed funding round.

🕸 World’s most active Web3 investor, London-based Outlier Ventures, has let go of roughly 20% of employees, according to sources. The firm, which has invested in more than 200 companies globally, also had a smaller round of layoffs last November, sources say.

💰 A/O Proptech announces €100m first close of second fund. The VC is targeting €250m, will invest between seed and Series B and is looking to back 20-25 companies working on the energy transition within construction. It'll write cheques of €3m-8m — half of the cash will be set aside for follow-ons.

🔋 Bulb cofounder's energy storage startup Field raises £200m. Infrastructure fund manager DIF Capital Partners led the round for the UK startup, which develops battery systems to help the grid deal with power fluctuations by storing energy generated during periods of low demand and then releasing it when demand is high.

🇬🇧 Founders Forum to relaunch Tech Nation in autumn. The UK support programme was at risk of being shut down earlier this year, before it was snapped up by the Founders Forum Group. The company is now gearing up to get operations going again in September/October, but is still deciding which schemes will stay. [UKTN]

DACH funding has increased the last three quarters

🇩🇪 VC funding in DACH is on the road to recovery. A new report from B2B growth investor NGP Capital has found that funding in the region has been on the up since Q4 of 2022 — a welcome bounce-back after four consecutive quarters of decline.

Which countries are bulking up the region's numbers — and which sectors are leading the charge?

Map of Europe with locations of nuclear fusion startups

☢️ The nuclear fusion projects bringing in funding. The sector has caught investor attention of late, raising around $1.4bn of its total $6.2bn of global funding since the start of last year. Here's which companies in Europe are powering ahead and banking investor cash.

Series A funding: What you need to know right now

Ready to turn your startup dreams into reality? This Sifted Talks will reveal top tips for securing the funding round you need.

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🇩🇰 "People are a lot less grumpy here than they are in Germany." Toni Hohlbein, CEO and cofounder of RevOps startup Growblocks, shares the reasons he ditched DACH for Denmark.

🐶 How European pet techs are using GenAI. Nothing is immune from the grasp of AI. From diagnosing diseases to puppy portraiture, here's how pet techs are making the most of the technology's tools.

🌎 10 CEE-based startups to watch, according to investors.

🎙 Between speedy grocery company Getir shutting shops, e-bike startup VanMoof going bankrupt in the Netherlands and investment firm Eurazeo losing four of its growth team, it's been a rough week in European tech. In the latest episode of the Sifted Podcast, Amy and Eleanor delve into exactly what's been going wrong — and why.

Why your startup needs an advisor — and where to find one

Bringing in an advisor is a sensible step to support and guide your growing business. Sifted spoke to founders and CEOs about some of the benefits advisors can offer, including:

Sense-checking the business basics with a fresh eye. "That was really important to ensure that we’re going in the right direction," says one CEO — "we’re not falling into the obvious traps that people who’ve actually done this before know are the big red flags."
Offering a relatable sounding board. Finding advisors who have experienced similar circumstances can both boost confidence and provide tailored advice to overcome personal, business and sector-specific barriers.
Helping with things like building credibility, making introductions and securing meetings with valuable connections.

More startup life stories from around the web: How does a VC investment committee work?; the rise of the 'workcation' (paywalled); 9 signs that you need a better work-life balance

For insights on how (and how not) to run your business sign up to Sifted's Startup Life newsletter, dropped into your inbox every Wednesday.

💰 Series A+

Ev.Energy, a UK-based electric vehicle charging software platform, has secured a $33m Series B from investors including National Grid Partners, Aviva Ventures and InMotion Ventures.
Italy's Leaf Space, which is building a network for satellite operators, has raised €20m in Series B funding led by CDP Venture Capital.
French startup Dioxycle, which transforms CO2 emissions into sustainable chemicals, has raised a Series A round of $17m from Lowercarbon Capital, Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Gigascale Capital.
The UK's Entia, which offers at-home blood testing for cancer patients, has raised £16m in Series A funding.
Italian pharmacy marketplace 1000Farmacie has raised an additional $10m of Series A funding, bringing its total to $25m.
UK-based Nuada, a climate tech that "vacuums" CO2 out of industrial emissions, has added an additional £3.4m to its Series A round, bringing its total to £4.5m.

💰 Pre-seed & seed

ScorePlay, a Portuguese startup that has built an AI-powered content manager for sports professionals, has raised a $5m seed round. Investors included Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian’s fund Seven Seven Six, 35V and sports stars like NBA All-Star Kevin Durant and Manchester United's Raphaël Varane.
thymia, a UK-based startup building gamified AI tools to assess mental health, has secured $2.7m in seed funding from Kodori Ventures, Entrepreneur First, Syndicate Room’s Access, Calm/Storm and Form Ventures.
Sweden's DBtune, an AI startup for database management, has closed a €2.4m seed funding round led by 42Cap.
Bloom Money, a UK-based alternative banking provider for ethnic communities, has raised £1m in pre-seed funding.
UK-based debt management platform SuperFi has raised $1m in pre-seed funding.

💰 Undisclosed

The UK's AutogenAI, which uses generative AI to help companies write bids and tenders for public sector and corporate contracts, has drummed up $22.3m from Blossom Capital.
Germany’s ecoworks, which renovates properties to reduce their CO2 emissions, has raised €22m backed by investors including PropTech1 Ventures, Zacua Ventures and Blackhorn Ventures.