Good morning Sifted reader,

IPO markets have been firmly shut for 18 months now. But this week’s news about UK chip designer Arm shows that — amid the AI hype — they’re still open for the right company.

The FT has reported that the three-decade-old company has filed preliminary paperwork for a US IPO worth $64bn. Other than making it worth more than General Motors or Dell, why should startups care?

The massive datasets required to build and train AI models require ever-increasing compute power. This is especially the case for data-intensive foundational models like OpenAI’s GPT-3. That compute power requires chips — specifically, chips that are suited to AI tasks called GPUs (Graphical Processing Units).

Securing those precious GPUs is becoming increasingly challenging for the growing number of generative AI startups, which are competing against established tech giants with deep pockets. Some worry the incumbents will win before younger innovators even have a chance.

Some VCs are taking action. Index Ventures, for example, told TechCrunch that it has partnered with cloud vendor Oracle to help its portfolio companies access GPUs. The VC pre-commits and pays the bill on behalf of its startups, enabling them to access Oracle’s GPU clusters for free. Index confirmed to Sifted that the scheme will be rolled out for the firm’s European portfolio. It seems the race for GPUs is firmly on.

— Daphné Leprince-Ringuet, French tech reporter

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B2B SaaS rising 100 — our latest ranking

We’ve listed 100 B2B SaaS startups across Europe and Israel that will likely join the ranks of the $1bn-plus valuation startups. Our cohort is backed by more than 860 investors, angels and accelerators.

Who made the cut?

🔋 Northvolt, Europe's leading battery manufacturer, has raised a $1.2bn convertible note from North America-based investors including BlackRock. Its facility in Poland has also assembled its first energy storage battery to be delivered to customers later this year.

🛵 Speedy grocery startup Getir has announced it's letting go of 2,500 employees — that's 10% of its staff.

In other speedy grocery news, Oja, the UK-based African and Caribbean grocery delivery startup, has announced it has stopped operations. It is the latest casualty added to our list of companies that have gone under in 2023.

🩺 Copenhagen-based Embla has raised a €10m Series A to bring its digital weight-loss management clinic to the British market. It prescribes and delivers personalised doses of weight-loss medication — including Ozempic — to patients after they've been screened by a doctor.

🏥 Troubled UK telehealth Babylon hopes to find a buyer for its UK business by Friday. Sifted understands that the deadline to submit bids passed at 12pm on Monday.

🌱 London-based NatureMetrics has raised nearly £10m to tackle biodiversity loss via DNA sampling to track bacteria, insect and fungi species.

🇺🇸 Why Norwegian battery maker FREYR Battery is moving its HQ to the US. Earlier this month CEO Tom Jensen stepped away from the helm and replaced founder Torstein Dale Sjøtveit (who retired) as executive chair. The company also announced it is moving its headquarters stateside. Why?

For better access to the investors whose money the company is attempting to tap for cash, and to become profitable.
There's also the pull of America's $369bn Inflation Reduction Act, which offers big tax credits, loans and subsidies for companies working on cleantech solutions.
The company expects to rake in $1.4bn annually for five years in IRA tax credits for its US-made battery components, once its plant in Georgia is at peak production.

🎮 Microsoft has submitted a new deal to acquire video game maker Activision Blizzard, in an attempt to win over the UK competition regulator which previously blocked the $69bn takeover.

Nationality of foreign-born founders who have founded Top 100 UK startups

🇬🇧 Immigrants make up less than 15% of the UK's population, but they are outsize contributors to its tech sector — 39% of the UK's fastest-growing companies have a foreign-born founder.

But that number is on the decline, according to new data from The Entrepreneurs Network (TEN). When TEN last conducted a similar story, the comparable figure was 49%.

It suggests Brexit and Covid have knocked the UK's ability to attract foreign entrepreneurs. But that hasn't stopped some founders being bullish about the UK.

📱Gen Z has begun to make its mark on Europe's VC scene — but what sectors do VCs youngest generation have their eyes on?

A survey of more than 700 GenZers across eight of Europe's tech hubs by Gen Z VC community group founder, Meagan Loyst, found that:

AI is the sector on the mind in every city;
Fintech was an area of interest in all but one (Stockholm) of the European cities polled;
Climate tech is due its big moment, clocking in as the most or second most frequently cited area of interest in the majority of locations. "With younger investors, the need and desire to invest with a purpose is very high,” says Loyst.

💰 VC capital raised in Europe after Q2 2023 stood at $10.2bn. That's two-thirds less than last year's overall total of $30.1bn, according to new PitchBook data. But the continent's share of VC funds raised globally this year has risen to 13.1% — the highest it has been since 2014. Asia's share has also increased, while North America, Oceania and the Middle East each saw their percentage shares decrease.

The VC slowdown: Is it set to get even worse?

The European startup ecosystem has had a slow — and tricky — summer. As we look ahead, will things finally pick up, or continue on a downhill trajectory? Join Amy Lewin and Hussein Kanji from Hoxton Ventures on September 7 as they explore what’s next for venture capital.

RSVP

🔁 As more and more former founders try their hand at dealmaking, here's our list of European founders turned VC partners.

📑 We've also pulled together an updated list of the founders who have set up funds of their own . Well-known names on the list include Daniel Ek and Glovo founder Oscar Pierre.

😇 You can also keep track of more than 250 female angel investors in Europe.

👩‍💼 ... and more than 350 female VC partners.

We don't expect these lists to be exhaustive, so if we’ve missed anyone, please get in touch.

💰 Pre-seed & seed

London-based Borderless, a platform to help the care sector with hiring and sponsorship, has raised a £2.5m seed round led by Backed VC.
Norwegian startup Remora Robotics, which develops underwater robots to clean and inspect fish farming pens, has raised €2.5m.
Copenhagen-based Goodwings has raised $1.5m in seed funding for its SaaS platform, which allows users to offset their travel emissions.

💰 Undisclosed

Frankfurt-based Qualifyze has raised $12m equity for its pharmaceutical compliance platform. Investors include H14, an Italian family office linked to the country's late Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Kamma, the UK property data and analytics firm, has raised £3.6m.
Berlin-based Lykon has raised €2.5m for its personalised nutrition plans based on blood and DNA analysis.